WWII photo of Air Force Navigator Bob Von Bargen

Written by Bob Von Bargen

I want to commend you on the superb presentation regarding “Masters of the Air” that you facilitated on Greatest Generation Live on October 10. I was on a cruise ship in the Caribbean and desperately wanted to add to the conversation regarding the airmanship cited in Harry Crosby’s recount of their recovery after the Bremen raid.

In his book, Crosby recognizes the airmanship of the pilots and says that it is beyond his technical knowledge to explain in detail. While I am also not an expert on the subject, I can provide additional information on the matter as I have experienced a loss of both engines on the same side during a 911th MAW mission with a C-124 out of Pittsburgh back in the 60’s.

Getting back to events after the bombing of Bremen. You all did a great job in showing the complexities of these events.

Initially, getting any airplane out of a flat spin is no easy feat. It requires abrupt moves that put stress on the airframe. Doing that with an intact airplane is an achievement. Doing it successfully with a battle-damaged aircraft is a major accomplishment.

Someone mentioned that the pilot had muscle strain on his leg that impacted his walking after the mission. The B-17 did not have power assisted flight controls. As a friend of mine one commented, it used the Armstrong system… as in “Arms Strong.”

With both engines out on the same side the airplane wants to turn in the direction of the lost engines. Crosby’s B-17, with both number three and four engines out, wanted to turn to the right. The only way to fly straight was to use the rudder to maintain a heading. This causes drag and slows the airplane. When the airspeed drops to where the aircraft will not fly, the pilot must descend to maintain flying speed. Holding that rudder down for that long flight back to England was difficult.

Now you must also take engine performance into the picture. To maintain flying speed with only two engines requires high power setting on the remaining engines. Engines get hot at these high power settings; cylinder head temperature must be monitored. Reciprocating engines are air cooled. The temperature is controlled by moving the cowl flaps that encircle the engine. This allows flowing air into the nacelle to cool the engine. However, the open flaps cause additional drag and slow the airspeed of the aircraft.

So, there they are limping back to England. Playing airspeed against altitude; engine performance against cylinder head temperature and airspeed. With Crosby trying to get to the nearest recovery base with a flight path that takes them near German airfields and extensive flack batteries.

It is an amazing story.

Crosby’s mission report is indicative of his being chosen as the Group Navigator. The folks in Eighth Air Force leadership recognized his valued descriptive reporting. This would serve their objectives in their struggle to  compete for standing with allied forces within the European Theatre.

As a retired Air Force Master Navigator with over 5,000 flying hours, I was intrigued with Crosby’s description of the difficulty in navigating within a huge mission formation. The continual jockeying to maintain position in the formation often results in the lead navigator knowing their location, with the other navigators working with limited data when the ground was obscured by clouds.

I did not know that the Brits had developed an early Loran system. Crosby taught his radio operator how to use it. That assistance gave him “lines of position” while in formation.

I can’t thank you enough for bringing the book, the TV episodes, and this thorough discussion to VBC. As with so many other projects of VBC – it is a masterpiece.

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