With the exception of the FW190 and the ME262, I have never been a huge fan of German aircraft styling, but boy that is one beautiful and dangerous looking bird!
The Russian MIG 15 is also a German design.
Howard Ellsworth
By Don Vaught
12/1/2004
Capt. Howard Ellsworth, U.S. Army Air Corps, 1944.
I had just dropped a load of napalm on a rail yard east of Aachen, Germany, when antiaircraft fire struck the left engine of my P-38, forcing me to bail out. I landed safely but was taken prisoner by German soldiers and marched to a small airfield called Sohie Bslad. I was interrogated, then put to work filling the craters made by Allied bombers.
On Dec. 26, my fifth day of captivity, a group of German Me-262s landed just as Allied B-17s began bombing. A German pilot leaped from his cockpit and sprinted for cover, leaving his plane running. Quickly I climbed in and pushed the throttles full open. The engines began to scream and the plane accelerated as guards shot at me. I lifted the plane off the ground but kept it low to avoid fire.
I couldn’t read the instruments or raise the landing gear, and the canopy, which was open when I got in, had torn away. Luckily, the compass was readable, and I soon crossed into friendly territory. Almost immediately I came under heavy fire. I closed the throttles and landed on a small hillside.
I was greeted by an Army truck filled with troops. The second lieutenant advised me I was under arrest for impersonating an American pilot. Several soldiers suggested I immediately be shot as a spy. I quickly explained my situation, asked to use the phone, and called the 474th Fighter Group Operations. Eventually, I was retrieved and returned to base. After being debriefed about the German jet, I returned to my squadron on the evening of Dec. 31.
— Ellsworth lives in Alexandria, Va.
Source: Military Officer Magazine, December 2004, "Christmas In Combat" by Don Vaughan
Extract for discussion, in accordance with fair use provisions.
Howard Ellsworth was the first American to fly an ME-262.
bump!