CSim: Many pilots went to war and never returned. What were the factors that contributed to your survival?

Well, first of all, tactics on our part. Then, when I finally got over there, the German air force was practically non-existant. We had awfully good leaders in my squadron and group, and, despite our losses, morale was high. But on an everyday basis, that airplane was a big contributing factor. I saw one come back and land with an 88mm hole in it's wing. I was with a guy that flew his T-Bolt home, over the Appinines, to land 50 minutes after getting holes shot in two cylinders of that Pratt-Whitney engine. It was still turning over when he taxied off the runway.

It was just really hard to shoot down.

Csim: You were pretty fond of the Jug? What did you like and dislike about it? If you had your choice, was there a plane you would trade it for?

Now you ask a difficult question... That's about like asking what do you like and dislike about your wife. There may be a few things you might want to change, alright, but there still wasn't anything out there you would trade her - or it - for. I would have appreciated some more speed at low levels, faster climb capabilities, and maybe better low altitude maneuverability, but there wasn't a P-51, P-38, Spitfire, or ME-109 that I would trade the P-47 for.

The '51 was a great plane...maneuverable, fast, long legged - and vulnerable. Get a hole in the radiator, the glycol lines, or the coolant jacket around the engine, and you had less than two minutes before the engine quit. And the P-47 could hold it's own at high altitude with it and just about any other plane of the time.

The P-38 was not even in the same league with the 51 or 47. It was great in the South Pacific but it had too many engine problems was not very maneuverable and since it did not have an engine out in front of the pilot it was terribly cold.

The ME 109 was a good airplane, but it had supercharger problems and was vulnerable to 50 cal. machine guns. The FW-190 was the only plane I just may have wanted to trade for the Jug, but I don't know enough about it to really judge.

I met one German officer right after the war, a ground officer, and all I remember about him was that he was sorry Roosevelt died, and he was happy the war was over, and now the Americans could join the Germans and go after the Russians!

CSim: What did you do after the war?

Well I got out for a while and then got recalled for the Korean thing. I did not have to go to Korea because things were winding down there at the time. I was checked out in the T-33 and F-80, but ended up in base operations where all I flew was some of the "pussy-cat" stuff, like C-47s, C-45s, B-25s, L-20s, and, occasionally, the T-33.

From there I went to England and flew an airplane that most people - even military people - have never heard of. And that was the B-45 Tornado. It was a 4-engined jet and was the first of its kind in the world. There were only 3 wings of them world-wide. It was a good old airplane, but was obsolete when it rolled off the line. It had a straight wing on it and was slow as molasses but could outturn even jet fighters at high altitude because of that wing.

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I did a year in Spain as a safety officer and then returned to the states to fly the KC135. I really can't say enough about that plane. For what it was designed, it was far, far ahead of its time. They say that they are retrofitting and up dating them and expect them to be in the inventory until 2020! That's 65 years! I flew it for 9 years and have great respect for the gallant old gal.

Oh, I forgot to mention that I flew the C-119 back in my base operations days and for that I was chosen to go to Vietnam in the AC-119 Gunship. They put 4 mini-guns, capable of firing 6,000 rounds per minute per gun. It had a night sight connected to a pilot's sight through a computer and I have gone up at night, fired over 20,000 rounds of ammo and never saw what I was shooting at!

It was a strange operation, and a different story I may tell you about in detail at another time.

My favorite (after WWII), as you have already guessed, was the KC-135 and the T-33...for vastly different reasons. The T-33 was such a joy to fly, and though it was extremely nimble, it was very easy to fly and had no nasty "gotcha's" to it. The 135 was just a comfortable, reliable, and easy to fly ole lady that you couldn't help falling in love with. The T-33 was the lady you wanted to "fool around with" and the 135 was the lady you wanted to marry.

CSim: Can you give some tips to "would be aces?"

Well, lessee...Keep your eyes open, stupid! If the enemy is off your right or left rear quarter, always turn into him - if he is off to your right, turn right, and V/V. Try to learn the enemies shortcomings and your own.

Then, study the enemy strengths and your own. From this you should be able to come up with a strategy. Try never get into a situation where he can pit his strengths against your weaknesses. Conversely, try to pit your strengths against his weaknesses. (We used to study this and try to get it so engrained in our minds so as to know them without having to stop to think.)

At least once a session fly the plane in the non-combat mode and practice turns, steep turns, rolls, loops, and immelmans, so you will learn to have smoother, and more positive control in the dog-fights. This will give you a better "feel" with the controls. Be cognizant of your air speeds...they are important!

To your readers I would say that without G-forces you are never going to simulate combat with any brand name simulator, but I will say that I did get sweaty palms and was all wrapped up in my combat sessions with the Microsoft Combat Flight Simulator. It's about as close you can get to being there, without being there!

The controls were somewhat too responsive to be realistic for those old, unboosted controls of that era, but they did say they were gonna boost the resistance somehow or another before they put them on the market. Can't wait until they come out!