Balancing himself carefully on the root of the OS2U Kingfisher’s right wing, Chief Aviation Radioman Ruben Hickman waited for the opportunity to grab the cable and hook suspended from a crane aboard the heavy cruiser USS Baltimore.
Hickman and his pilot, Lt. (j.g.) Denver Baxter of the Baltimore’s aviation detachment, had minutes prior made a miraculous rescue under fire of a Hellcat pilot who had been shot down while attacking the Japanese naval stronghold at Truk Island on the morning of February 17, 1944.
First flown in 1938, the OS2U served throughout World War II from the attack on Pearl Harbor to the Japanese surrender in Tokyo Bay. It was used as a seaborne and land-based observation, antisubmarine, and rescue aircraft in addition to being used for training. A Kingfisher from the USS Pensacola even shot down a Zero fighter off the coast of Iwo Jima on February 16, 1945.
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Scourge of the Allied Fighters
IT HAD TO BE THE MOST HELPLESS FEELING in the world: you're at 25,000 feet over Europe knowing that your primary function is to drop bombs-or flying escort for the bombers while being a slow-moving target for some of the world's finest shooters. However, you have John Browning's marvelous .50 caliber invention to give some degree of protection. Unfortunately, you're absolutely helpless against flak. Piloting and gunnery skills play no role in a game where sheer chance makes life and death decisions. For that reason, the Krupp 88 mm Flak 18/36/37 AA cannon could be considered WW II's ultimate stealth fighter. You never saw it coming.
ZERO MYTH, MYSTERY, AND FACT
A test pilot compares the A6M5 Zero to U.S. fighters
Fw 190 STURMBÖCKE
The Luftwaffe's \"Battering Rams\" against the USAAF heavy bombers
American BEAUTY
\"Forgotten Fifteenth\" top-scoring Mustang ace John J. Voll
BANSHEE WAIL!
Flying Skulls over Burma
KILLER CORSAIR
Albert Wells, Death Rattlers Ace
BACKSTREET BRAWLER
A young man, his Hurricane and the Battle of Britain
Still Flying After All These Years
One of the oldest airworthy J-3 Cubs
NOORDUYN NORSEMAN
Canada's rugged, fabric-covered workhorse
A good landing is one you can walk away from
NO, THIS IS NOT A SCENE FROM A MOVIE where the hero staggers away from a \"good landing\" on Mindoro, Philippine Islands, after being shot down by a Japanese Zero.