Warbird Information Exchange

And let's not forget that when flying a strike mission the guys on the ground tend to try and poke holes all over your airplane -- including the fuel tanks.

You also have to remember that if aircraft returning from a strike have wounded they get bumped to the front of the line for landing on a flat top. This one was probably bumped to the back of the line and did not have the fuel to wait, so had to land next to one of the Destroyer screen ships.

During the Marianas Turkey Shoot, the mission distance was at the edge of the planes' flight radius. They "turned on the lights" to illuminate the fleet and facilitate landings, but there were several accounts of returning planes either ditching or landing on the first available carrier they found. One can imagine the cornfusion in trying to account for all of the returning aircrews!

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"So there I was, knee deep in a river I couldn't pronounce..."

I remember an old co-worker telling me that when he was stationed on CV-64 "Connie" that they would stack those incomers just right, fuel wise, that if they could not clear an aircraft from the landing area for any reason, in less then 30 seconds, they had to shove it overboard or risk screwing all the planes still in pattern. He said he saw this happen once, aircraft wings would not fold, so the pilots jumped out and the jet was shoved over the side!

A great landing is one where you can re-use the airplane!

I seem to recall that George Bush ditched his Avenger in the sea in a similar manner to this photo when he ran short of juice. Does anyone have details?

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For JBrawner...I don't think that anyone runs out of fuel on purpose,but stuff happens.I ended up making a single engine landing at Williams AFB in a B-17.I had 75 gallons of fuel in each Tokyo tank (that wouldn't feed)and an indicated 60 gallons in each main tank.From the before take-off dipstick figures,we should have had more than that.However,I discovered that things aren't always as they appear.The last 13 miles were with just #4 running and the others feathered.I don't recommend it unless you're a stress junkie.I also came uncomfortably close to fuel starvation in a Twin Beech during the first bogus fuel crisis in the 70's when the fuel that I was promised at an airport turned out to not be available after all.Add in unforecast winds, some airframe icing and deteriorating weather on the way to the next stop and you get a very uncomfortable experience....At least I wasn't several hundred miles from land with a fouled deck....