Warbird Information Exchange

There is an account of a Korean War Skyraider pilot named Ken Schecter. He was blinded during a mission. The plane's canopy had been blown off and he had become concussed, blanking out for a short time. Another pilot became his wingman, providing support. During the initial moments of direction the wingman called for Schecter to "push over" to stop his plane from going into a heavy cloud cover at 10000 feet. Schecter states that if he had gone into the clouds there would have been no hope for him. There is no explanation why this would have meant his death. Does anyone know why this scenario would have been fatal? Was it because the wingman would have lost sight of him? Anything to do with air temperature?

Michael,

As the pilot could not see his instruments, he would not have been able to tell if he was flying straight and level, his wingman did the correct thing in keeping him out of the clouds.

Disorientation can happen to even the most experienced pilot when flying in cloud or at night when you have no terms of reference in respect of the horizon, except your instruments.

Hope this helps

Stuart

Ens. Schecter USN ret was awarded the DFC about a year ago aboard the USS Midway.

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Don't touch my junk!!

First off, the wingman would have lost sight of him and would not been able to steer him in the right direction.

Second, if he would have gained more altitude, there would have been the danger of him passing out from lack of o2, if his mask was ripped away from his face.

This story, if I remember correctly, was published in the Chicken Soup for the Veterans Soul book.

Great book!

Actually ADs never flew high enough to need O2. This was a low level ground support mission he was hit on. The full complete story written by Schechter was in the HOOK a few years ago.

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Don't touch my junk!!

This is true, but if by going through the clouds, he could have been gaining altitude as well, unknownling right?