FLC astroflyer
Private
Offline
MULLIGAN driver
Posts: 6524
Milford, N.S.
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I'm going to post this story in two sections as it is too long for one post.
By LtCol. A.J. D'Amario USAF Ret. From the pages of the American Rifleman, November 2013.
On my first solo flight at K-13, Suwan, Korea, in June 1952, I took off in anF-80 Shooting Star. It was not a combat mission. All I had to do was go up and have fun boring holes in the sky for about an hour and a half. Immediately after takeoff, I felt the left wing was heavy and determined that the left tip fuel tank was not feeding properly or not at all. Afraid it might fall off and rupture during landing, potentially melting asphalt on the runway, the tower would not let me land with the full tank.
I was instructed to make a bomb run and drop the whole tank. Arriving at the bomb range, I set up my bomb-release switches to release the tank. Flying over the impact area, I pushed the button but nothing happened. I tried a second time and again there was no response.
On my next pass, I tried the manual release handle but to no avail. Making one final run, I used the button we called the "panic button" because it allegedly released everything hanging on the airplane. It worked as advertised and dumped everything, save my errant left tip tank.
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