Even the rookies had accumulated high flight hours, and the outfit’s 10 veterans included several with more victories than Boyington. Later portrayed on TV as misfits and rejects awaiting courts-martial, the “Black Sheep” (the first choice, “Boyington’s Bastards,” was nixed as not press-friendly) were in fact among the most experienced pilots in the theater. Louis Cardinals, VMF-214’s stellar lineup of aces includes (front row, from left): Chris Magee (9 victories), Bob McClurg (7), Paul Mullen (6 1/2), Boyington (24), John Bolt (6, plus 6 more in Korea) and Don Fisher (5). No longer would we have to fight the Nips’ fight, for we could make our own rules.” Sporting caps and bats sent to them by the St. In Boyington’s opinion: “The Corsair was a sweet-flying baby if I ever flew one. The Navy judged it unfit for shipboard ops, but good enough for the Marines. In the Solomons his pilots called the 30- year-old major “Gramps.” After claiming six victories in China while piloting P-40s with the American Volunteer Group-but only being credited with two by the Flying Tigers-Boyington had arrived in the Solomons just as the Marines replaced their Grumman F4F-4 Wildcats with new Corsairs.ĭesigned behind a bombersize prop more than 13 feet across (the inverted gull wings and long nose were necessary to give it ground clearance), the F4U was the first American single-engine plane to average more than 400 mph, but it was prone to unrecoverable spins and landing stalls, and that “hose nose” blocked the pilot’s vision on straight-in carrier approaches. Most Americans think of “Pappy” Boyington as actor Robert Conrad portrayed him in the TV series Baa Baa Black Sheep, yet even that nickname was invented by the press. That’s when he realized he had completely forgotten to switch on his gunsight and guns. ![]() Boyington was suddenly amazed to see, not 30 feet away, a red-balled A6M Zero practically flying on his wing. “We must be over the mission.”įollowing him down, the other Corsair pilots found the bombers pounding Ballale and dozens of Japanese fighters coming up to do battle. formation suddenly dived under a layer of stratus. In his 1958 memoir, Baa Baa Black Sheep, Boyington admitted he almost didn’t notice when the rest of the massive U.S. Without victories, his cobbled-together squadron of shiny new lieutenants and disbanded-unit orphans would soon be washed back into the replacement pool. High atop the four-mile-tall array, squadron commander Major Gregory Boyington was feeling sorry for himself. ![]() VMF-214 was a newly reorganized squadron on just its third mission, and flying an ill-starred fighter to boot: the Vought F4U-1 Corsair, or “Bent-Wing Bird.” ![]() And way up over 20,000 feet-either for altitude advantage or their own protection-were some two-dozen Marines. Navy F6F-3 Hellcats and Royal New Zealand Air Force P-40 Kittyhawks flew cover. Marines landed on Guadalcanal, Navy TBF Avengers and SBD Dauntless dive bombers were to hit the Japanese base on Ballale, at the far end of the island chain, on September 16, 1943. It was one of the biggest air raids in the entire campaign for the Solomon Islands. Boyington’s Bastards: The Legendary Black Sheep Squadron Close
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |