B-17 Bomber Flying Fortress – The Queen Of The Skies Little Miss Mischief

“Little Miss Mischief” returned from Cologne on October 15th, 1944. She was one of the B-17 machines which carried out the second of three day attacks on this town. Your fuselage was knocked a hole and her ball tower at the aircraft belly so tears to pieces that it seemed incomprehensible as the gunner could survive.

Paul McDowell from Bebraska was the second pilot of the “Little Miss Mischief”. As far as he was concerned, she was much too slow. She suffered from a damage to a support surface, resulting from a recent use. A set of new engines, however, brought them back to the old battleground.

Mcdowell looked by his thick wind protection pane on October 15th, flying a longer use again than he kicked an oar pedal emptily. As well the board speaking traffic was cancelled, however Mcdowell still be, knew Copilot, Herman Balaban, what had happened. Sergeant James Hobbs, the ship’s mechanic, left his command post in the top turret and squeezed by the bomb bay past at the radio room into the back part of the machine. He returned with rigid eyes a while later. MoDowell heard something as: As him to behind large hole accepted to have a look ” there ” he noticed that the hole was large enough, a calf hindurchzuschieben. The bombardier followed to behind to examine damage around which more nearly and came back, excited because of oxygen deficiency. He hairy with intense words on this that everyone must immediately jump down. It thought new possibilities over to put up of the oxygen mask quickly.

The gunner of the right fuselage side, Glenn Staughter, had felt a blow below his feet. He had been swept away by his weapon and was found lying again. He looked on the earth deeply under the machine by a number of large, small and middle holes around him all around. Incapably think he observed confusedly that he was still available as a whole, how blood ran from his heavy boot. The mass of his heel of the left foot was to and the other garrison took care of him soon.

All thoughts on the use of bombs and Cologne had vanished, Mcdowell fought with his top-heavy machine. The gunner Ed Abdo was hemmed in in the ragged ball turret under the belly of the aircraft. Somebody shoved a sheet for him by a hole to protect him in front of the icy stream of air.

Mcdowell was in a height of 8,200 m and had to go to below quickly. He returned his co. pilot to bring some apart separate control cables under control. This seized, however, a wrong cable and “Little Miss Mischief” got even more top-heavy. Mcdowell fetched Balaban back and gave him the order to use the control column itself. He got on the way through the front part of the machine, the radioman room and the bomb shaft. Sign of the pilot should to the co. pilot distance empires which statement about this had to give whether the radioman changed measures to the good or bad which was carried out in the back part. Mcdowell finally seized the right cable and they trimmed the aircraft so into a stable flight situation at 205 km/h.

The heavy pressure on the control column eased and the situation was mastered; however, Mcdowell still had problems. In the back part only landing and to be more precise one it was natural “for number one” and Ed Abdo jammed this one let the large hole perfect. He was honor nervously as chirpy. Looking into the sky back on his seat around him he was about this in the clear one that light was already his deepest fear, however if she should break at the landing, he unite parachute on this back since the Fortress breaking from each other he would have the possibility of jumping down, he was self-supporting.

When they reached Bassingbourn, the ship’s mechanic worked hard to use the strings for trimming and the control cables in the fuselage. The gunner in the ball turret which had taken morphine had frozen to death half but still lived. His roll cost him only a small toe later.

Mcdowell got down her and the “Little Miss Mischief” rolled to the hangar. Colonel Frank Kamykowski of the 444th supply backwardation, however, thought nothing to waste aircraft for a while looke her future gloomy. A remaining rear part of an old still had olive green colored B-17 and he made up, two patched together. After completion of the repair work “Little Miss Mischief” contained parts of 13 different aircraft. Her front B-17G still built from one for the Vega plants in the mass with the Ser.Nr while: Her rear part passed 42-97880, was established for the Boeing plants in Seattle. “Little Miss Mischief” flew even another 14 or 15 missions which she altogether brought about to 50 missions before she had to make a emergency landing in Bassingbourn.