For you air force types I am now going to share various snippets from my brothers' autobiography,at least the funny parts.They flew the North Star,a converted US design with four Rolls Royce engines.
"On one flight from Anchorage Ding Dong(the pilot's last name was Bell) had to shut down one of the engines and feather the propellor.so he advised Air Traffic Control that our airspeed would now be 175 knots versus the normal four emgine speed of 200 Knots.The USAF immediately dispatched a Rescue B-17 ,which had a small boat strapped to its underside.W saw our Rescue escort as we met north of Vancouver Island and that was the last we saw of him as the North Star was faster on three engines than he was on four".That was the last time a B-17 was sent to intercept a North Star.
T.J.Upton,our USAF exchange pilot soon became well indoctrinated on the aircraft.During a flight to Itami AFB to pick up a load of Airrevacs for a trip back to the States,we came up alongside a C-54 travelling in the same direction,so it was decided to formate on and fly alongside the American aircraft.As T.J. was in the captains' seat he decided to impress his fellow countrymen in the C-54.He had the flight engineer shut down one of the engines which the other aircraft could see,and then to really show off he shut down the engine next to it.The Americans must have been impressed to see this aircraft with two engines shut down on the same side maintaining the same speed as they were.T.J. certainly enjoyed that bit of showmanship.
More to come
