Actual Shadow, The
2nd Bomb Division, 8th Air Force

"This booklet is published for all members of a combat crew and is intended to make the crew as a whole..."Safety Conscious."

"The photographs are of actual accidents to 2nd Division aircraft and are presented as grim reminders of the destruction that carelessness and loose thinking can cause."

The photo in the center of page 18 is a 492nd plane, Lt. Elmer Pitsenbarger pilot. The description also matches the incident on August 6th, 1944 when a Lt. Fleming's plane slipped in under them on landing. Two were killed on Pitsenbarger's plane and 9 on Fleming's. The latter was flying only their second mission.

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Added: December 15, 2009

000200-01-00.pdf Flying safety booklet for combat air crews.

5.8Mb
35 pages; PDF (.pdf)
Original item: Booklet

Comments

[1] Lee Parmeter (15-Dec-2009 12:14 PM)

Very interesting the way our pilots WEREN'T trained very well during WWII. In the modern arena this would have never happened. Pushing pilots out the front door as soon as one is at the front door was the war time scenerio. At least we have more control now.

Nice old book. Lee Parmeter USAF retired Biloxi, Ms

[2] Scott A Fitzpatrick (23-Jan-2013 05:42 PM)

My Dad was the Aircraft Commander on a B-24J (399thBG) and had a propeller runaway forcing him to crash-land. He was considered a "highly experienced" pilot with 652 hours total time and had been out of pilot training for a year when the accident took place. MANY, MANY crews were killed in training because of inexperience, poor supervision and youthful exuberance.

[3] John Martin (09-Jan-2021 05:25 PM)

Interesting old book, but pretty simplistic. Keep in mind that landing an airplane is the most dangerous aspect of flying, and these front end crews were just a couple of years removed from being able to drive a Ford model T. Plus, our need for more and more pilots meant if he could take off and land he was deemed "qualified."

John J. Martin, Retired USAF, Kansas City, Mo.

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