A Tail of two P-40s

Rusty · Post by **Rusty** » Sat Sep 19, 2015 6:23 am

This link was sent to me by a friend.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/zS8HWFWaqa4

Griff · Post by **Griff** » Sat Sep 19, 2015 6:30 am

Did not know that.

boolitshooter · Post by **boolitshooter** » Sat Sep 19, 2015 1:10 pm

WOW!!!!!
Men of steel

Blaine · Post by **Blaine** » Sat Sep 19, 2015 2:32 pm

One of the true meaning of ballz....No, it would be BALLZ!

Joe Reilly · Post by **Joe Reilly** » Sat Sep 19, 2015 3:17 pm

A few more like that and the war would have been over before it started.

missionary5155 · Post by **missionary5155** » Sat Sep 19, 2015 6:17 pm

Greetings
That was well spent time. Years ago read "Day of Infamy" which describes the good job those two fighter pilots accomplished. Had those fighters not been dispersed to the small airfield none would have made it into the air. The japs pulled off a well planned attack but fortunately over looked the fuel tanks and dry docks.

Rusty · Post by **Rusty** » Sun Sep 20, 2015 12:32 am

The other side had men like that as well. Do a Google search on a German named Pips People.

Ji in Hawaii · Post by **Ji in Hawaii** » Sun Sep 20, 2015 6:09 am

They recreated their action in "Tora Tora Tora" even the convertible they drove, and now I know why having the actual pilot as an adviser on set.

That airfield in Haleiwa is still their though the runway is totally overgrown with weeds. The locals call it "Police Beach" because that section of coastline is closed to the general public but is used as a private recreation area for the Honolulu Police Department. I have friends in HPD so have had the privilege on camping on that beach. One evening I was diving for lobsters off the old runway and in about 20 feet of water came upon a intact 3 bladed propeller that I am sure came from a P-40. It was huge and I considered getting a couple guys and walking it to shore as keeping it as a souvenir. I was 16 at the time, and I'm glad I decided to leave it there letting it rest peacefully as a reminder to others who may have no idea what purpose that shoreline once served.

I also found a fuselage of a P-47 Thunderbolt with wings still attached in about 10 feet of water off the runway Bellows Army Airfield while diving for fish, even sat in the plane the bubble canopy long since gone. I was about 16 at the time too. Told my dad about it, and we went back to look for it but I could not relocate that crash sight to my dad's disappointment.

Police Beach (Haleiwa Airfield) today

Carlsen Highway · Post by **Carlsen Highway** » Sun Sep 20, 2015 5:45 pm

My grandfather was at Schofield Barracks when the attack happened. He might have seen those planes in the air.

I remember first reading about these two pilots in a magazine article in the 1970's that told their true story. It had been illustrated with stills from the movie Tora Tora Tora. I havn't seen that article since 1979 at least and it's funny how well I remember it, even that the car was brand new and one of the pilots had just bought it, and what some of the pictures looked like.

The article mentioned another pilot who took off but had no ammunition. (Unless he has been confabulated out of one of these two pilots into three in my memory)

Just out of interest, when that movie Tora Tora Tora came out in 1970's and being watched in the theatres, Lt Onoda still was fighting WW2 in the Phillipines, and had another four years of service to the Emporer to go...

jeepnik · Post by **jeepnik** » Sun Sep 20, 2015 6:44 pm

Among it's many accomplishments, the P-40 was the first American aircraft to score victories in WWII. It is the only type of aircraft that was used by all of the allied nations. That the pilots were able to survive a brush with Zeros that could out climb and out turn them was quite a feat of flying.

Richardx · Post by **Richardx** » Mon Sep 21, 2015 12:55 pm

Thank all the WW2 vets you can, now, because they are going to their rewards fast.

There were not flying models of the Japanese aircraft when the production work started for Tora Tora Tora, so a company outside of Memphis produced flying mock ups of Zero's and Val's out of surplus Texans and Hartfords, it became the norm on sunny weekends to see flights of "Jap" torpedo bombers flying over the Mid-South in 1969.

rock-steady · Post by **rock-steady** » Wed Sep 23, 2015 7:12 am

Hey Rusty, did you mean "Pips Priller"?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbxbEv2 ... detailpage

http://www.warbirdsresourcegroup.org/LRG/priller.html

gamekeeper · Post by **gamekeeper** » Wed Sep 23, 2015 9:39 am

A fascinating tail of heroism against overwhelming odds....

As for Pips Priller, he too was a brave and skillful pilot, pity he was on the wrong side.

Rusty · Post by **Rusty** » Thu Sep 24, 2015 12:04 am

rock-steady wrote:Hey Rusty, did you mean "Pips Priller"?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbxbEv2 ... detailpage

http://www.warbirdsresourcegroup.org/LRG/priller.html

Yes I did Rock. Sorry about the autocorrect. He and his wingman took off to meet the whole D-Day invasion force all by themselves.

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