4 FlightJournal.com
EDITORIAL
W
hen we started researching material for this
issue, a fairly unbelievable fact hit us right
between the eyes: We have been publishing
Flight Journal for 23 years! It doesn’t seem pos-
sible. Then, when we decided to reprint some golden oldies
in this special issue, and I was fl ipping through the archives
trying to decide which ones to use, I’d hear myself saying,
“Damn! I’d forgotten that one.” Or “That’s a really good
piece. It has a lot of information.” It was like laying out news-
papers in preparation for painting a room: You fi nd yourself
reading everything that catches your eye.
Because a lot of the pieces we selected go back more than
15 years, it was as if we were reading them for the fi rst time.
For instance, “Bomber Crew: A Day in Their Lives” by Mark
Carlson gives a nearly minute-by-minute recap of what led
up to a mission, what happened during the mission, and the
winding down afterward. Better yet, lots of vintage images
combined with modern ones by Heath Moffatt of each posi-
tion in a B-17 brings everything to life.
“Death at Daybreak,” in which Kiwi Tempest pilot Jack
Stafford tells of his combat in the European Theater of Opera-
tions, reminds us how dangerous warfare can be. His words
also remind us, however, that a chapter of history is closing
before our very eyes: Stafford left us a few years ago. The same
goes for authors Robert F. Dorr (“Sharp-Shooting Hellcat”)
and B-26 pilot/author Charles O’Mahony (“Right Place,
Right Time”).
In “Sharp-Shooting Hellcat,” Dorr contributes a sharply
etched portrait of Hellcat ace “Mac” McWhorter, who made
11 kills. More important, however, is the fact that he became
a major leading infl uence to scores of younger pilots at a criti-
cal time in Pacifi c combat. And Charles O’Mahony survived a
complete combat tour in B-26s; his article “Right Place, Right
Time” spells out what role luck played in bomber-combat sur-
vival. He explains how it worked for him but, unfortunately,
not for some of his squadron mates.
Another jet victory is recounted in “Jugs vs. Jets,” where
Warren Thompson describes one of the fi rst encounters the
Allies had with the Arado 234. At the time, it was relatively
unknown, so the pilot thought he had downed a 262 as that
was the only jet on which they had been briefed.
Geoffrey Wellum was still a teenager when he strapped
on a Spitfi re and did battle with the Germans. He was to be
the youngest pilot in the Battle of Britain, and author Rachel
Morris used his battle credo for the title of her article “Never
Stay Still.”
“Piggyback in a P-38” by Thomas McKelvey Cleaver
recounts a thoroughly unorthodox and wildly dangerous
rescue. Seeing his squadron mate shot down but make a suc-
cessful landing in a fi eld tempted a pilot to land and pick him
up. Getting both pilots into a single-seat airplane, however,
proved to be a problem in itself.
Twenty-three years of publishing Flight Journal adds up to
nearly 140 issues and more than 700 articles, and we’re add-
ing to that on a yearly basis. Just think what exciting bits of
history are still waiting to be unearthed. JDigging through the Archives
An Encore Performance by Flight Journal BY BUDD DAVISSON
A rare gathering of four P-47D Th underbolts for a
Planes of Fame Air Museum airshow at the Chino
Airport, California. (Photo by Frank B. Mormillo)