Long Distance Flight

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“It was our final training preparation in Pyote, Texas. We were to take a long flight across the States. What we did was board the plane around mid-afternoon. It would be a 3,000-mile flight, equivalent to the flight to Japan. And we still didn't know – I believe even the officers didn't know – where we were going. So, we flew to Rochester, Minnesota. We were struck by lightning a couple of times up in the air. It didn't really affect the plane, but it did rock it. I know that I wasn't wearing a seatbelt, and my head hit the ceiling of the plane.

From Rochester, Minnesota – by the way, we were struck by lightning twice – we flew eastward to Cleveland. Then, our Bombardier's objective on this flight was to camera bomb the blimp hangers in Akron, Ohio. Even today, that's where the Goodyear Blimp is – that's its home port. So, he would do that, and then we would return back to Texas.

Well, as we were flying, our left gunner, who knew quite a bit about airplanes (not necessarily a B-29), told the pilot over the intercom that he could smell fuel coming out of the bomb bay. The pilot said, 'Well, go in the bomb bay and see if you can find out where the leak is. Make sure you have a parachute on.' Well, I guess you probably already know the answer. But anyway, I'm going to keep going.

Well, in the bomb bay, there's a catwalk where you can walk around the entire bomb bay. He was reaching into some of the lines and then radioed back to the captain that he couldn't find it. So, what he said was that he's going to lay on the closed bomb bay doors and reach in for some of the fuel lines to see if there's any leakage. Lo and behold, he pulled the wrong cord and opened the bomb bay doors, and out he went.

The rear gunner radioed the captain, 'Franz just fell out of the plane!' We were at about 12,000 feet then. 'Do you see a chute? Do you see a chute?' And nobody said anything. Finally, we saw his parachute. What our pilot did was radio the base that he'd lost a crew member. So, he put the plane in a dive and flew over the top of the oil wells, circling Franz (that was his name), circling him. Then we saw the ambulance come and pick him up. But he wasn't injured at all.

Well, we continued. Apparently, it was nothing of importance, even though everything is important. So, when we got back to base, we came to our barracks and heard Franz was sitting up on his bunk, really enjoying himself. Normally, when someone bails out, we wear a pair of wings, which has a wing on each side and also a center. Well, in his case, he would get half of a wing. So, he sought out who packed his parachute.

Well, there was a huge hangar, and there were all women in there that would pack parachutes. He got a box of candy and went to meet this woman who packed his parachute."