A F4U Corsair, a P-39 Airacobra, and Sinclair Lewis

the summer of 1947, I was back on production in mid-afternoon flight and was happy. I had a good bird with only a few minor problems. When I called the tower for clearance in the sample, the regulator said I had a guest, south of Milford off Pond Point, waiting for me to meet.

It was weird. I'd never had that happen. In less than five minutes, I was there and saw the P-39 Airacobra orbit. When I pulled up, shook the pilot did not "want to race" maneuver of short ups and downs.

Bell P-39 Airacobra was recognized by the carburetor intake faring behind the cockpit. It saw combat mainly in Russia, the Mediterranean and the Pacific. She had a nice line with a long nose to accommodate the 37mm cannon. It was powered by Allison engine that gave it a max speed of 380 km / h, compared towith the Corsair F4U -5was 462 km / h.

We climbed to 10,000 and raced eastward toward the ocean. I reflected Airacobra speed to remain at the same level for three or four minutes. Suddenly, I shot ahead and did a slow roll plus a loop, ending up in the right wing position, where I was flying, and I welcome and returned to base

.

As I was finishing my paperwork in our pilot in the control room, I received a phone call from Shack (a small café between Vought and civilians), Airacobra pilot wanted to meet me

I was sweaty and had not changed from my pilot's suit, but went anyway. Upon arrival, I looked around the hut. Everyone knew each other, but this time was one exception and that is an attractive lady in the corner. I started to turn and go back to Vought, realizing it was a great time flying, and I had a chance to get one or two ahead of our production quotas for the month. But I took a second look. Wow, she is a beautiful woman in her twenties, and I also saw a flight helmet on her desk.

Everyone in the shack began to laugh. I went to her table. She was pushed out of the chair with the legs, and said: "Sit down, cowboy. I'll buy a cup of coffee ."

We have become close, in fact, had a few dates. Her father was extremely successful in the business of book publishing. Her family lived in two places - a very large, imperial estate in Connecticut and an equally large 5th Avenue townhouse in New York. At a party there, I even met Sinclair Lewis. Boy, was I impressed.

In January 1948, I told her I was going back to Ft. Smith married in June. She said that she was only supposed to get some of their pilot group (in the Second World War Air Force is a group of women pilots to ferry aircraft) to come to Ft. Smith and fly-over during our wedding ceremony.

But it did not happen ... and my college friends who were there for the wedding were super disappointed! I, on the other hand, is quite relieved!