NIGHT FLIGHT

Entry for April 11, 2007

I wish I had a picture of the bi-winged plane called the Yellow Demon we used to fly out of Glenview, Ill. It was adjacent to the land on which our Chicago temple now stands and was then surrounded by farmer's fields. We had been stationed there for a few weeks when it became time for us to do a night flight. None of us had been permitted to fly at night because we didn't fly instruments and we needed a brightly lit sky so that our depth perception could be more effective. The eventful night arrived and we began our taxiing to the take off area with an instructor assigned to each plane. We were flying 2 passenger tandem seats with about 80 horsepower engines in front of us. I think bicycles have almost as much power as did we in those days.I am now at the take off line and am told to advance the throttle and begin my charge down the runway. I quickly became aware the instructor had his hands on my flight stick and his feet on my rudders. Realizing he had no intention letting me fly that aircraft, I took my hands and feet off the controls. We circled the field and began our descent into the base. Landing we then taxied back to the original take off place, when he left the plane with the encouraging words "You did O.K. You won't have a problem". Being a little at ease, I nevertheless had enough confidence to begin to advance the throttle again and shortly after that I was airborne. I loved the night. The stars were bright as diamonds and the moon was exhilarating. I was smiling to myself,although a bit insecure, knowing I now had to land the plane by myself. It was all very unspectacular and I landed safely and made my way to the parking line. I remember as I got out of the plane thinking to myself "That dirty begger wasn't going to take a chance on a kid pilot killing him". At the same time I was quite proud knowing I didn't need his help and could do my own flying. That evening was quite exciting for me and many others. However, the excitement was chilled on hearing two of our friends were killed that night when one plane landed on top of the other and they both burst into flames. This was the first of seventeen more deaths that I knew of that followed over the next two years. I have often wondered how many of the original 150 I enlisted with made it safely through the war. I was very fortunate to go from base to base and was only closely involved in one climactic adventure. But that's another story--and maybe another blog!!