Friday, August 18, 2017

Flying Double For Freaky Friday...!

Here is something a little different for ya today. One pilot flies two planes and lands them both!

It takes some real fancy flying to do what this guy did, let me tell ya. Pretty gutsy move on his part, I'd say!

Brocklesby Midair Collision



Photo credit: ozatwar.com

On September 29, 1940, two Royal Australian Air Force Avro Anson airplanes on a training exercise collided in midair above Brocklesby, New South Wales, Australia. The pilot and reconnaissance officer in the lower airplane immediately bailed out, along with the reconnaissance officer of the upper airplane.

This left only Leading Aircraftman Leonard Fuller, the pilot of the upper plane, aboard. Both airplanes did not enter a steep dive and crash as expected. Instead, they remained airborne and locked together, with one above the other.

The engines of the upper airplane controlled by Fuller had stopped working, but the airplane was kept airborne by the engines of the lower airplane. Fuller soon discovered that he could control the lower engines by simply controlling his airplane.

So he flew both airplanes 8 kilometers (5 mi) before landing in Brocklesby. The lower airplane was written off after the landing, but the upper airplane was repaired and returned to service.

Sounds to me like this pilot doesn't need any more training to fly his plane, except maybe a little to learn not to collide with another aircraft. I found this article over at Listverse...so thanks to them!

Coffee out on the patio this morning. Maybe we'll get some shade this early.

7 comments:

Momlady said...

That takes guts. The pilot was a natural! Thank you for the interesting story.

linda m said...

That is some impressive flying. Hope he got a promotion or at least a medal for that. I'll bring some danish to share with everyone. Have a great weekend.

HermitJim said...

Hey Momlady...
Sure seems like it, doesn't it?
Thanks for stopping by today!


Hey Linda...
Probably didn't even get a pat on the back. That's the way it goes, sometimes!
Thanks for coming by today!

JO said...

That was great flying and landing. Man was a smart and fast thinker.

Another gorgeous morning here out mornings are great right now but they say the rains will return which will bring back the humidity again.
I'm ready for coffee

Dizzy-Dick said...

Good blog posting. My Father-in-law would have loved it, too. He was the guy who taught the new Air Force recruits how to fly.

Terry said...

I thought I had some good stories from my many years in the aircraft business but nothing like this. Absolutely amazing. And I knew some really great pilots.

HermitJim said...

Hey Jo...
You're right about him being smart and a fast thinker. Hard to do in his circumstance.
Thanks for dropping by, sweetie!


Hey Dizzy...
Always glad to hear you liked it, buddy.
Thanks for coming over today!


Hey Terry...
Pretty good flying, I'd say.
Thanks for the visit today!