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A Real Sea Story...........

Fri Aug 08, 2008 6:31 pm

The people who make up these lies need to study up on thier history first!
Subject: WWII Carrier Flight Operations..
wonder what flight pay was back then???
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid ... 8234459087
Point of interest...about 3 minutes 20 seconds into the clip, you will see
an F6F Hellcat, it's hydraulics shot away during a strafing run, pancake on
the carrier deck and slew into the island. A deckhand was crushed between the
aircraft and the superstructure and killed. The number on the plane is 30.
The lanky pilot sitting dazed in the cockpit is a gentleman named Andy
Cowan, . He is hale and hearty at 87 and lives just north of Salinas, Ca.
To this day he cannot recall this accident without a tear coming to his eye.
The swabby who was killed was his crew chief.
Andy is a marvel. He has absolute total recall of those bygone days. He is
regularly invited back to the Naval War College to give a power point
demonstration to the young fighter jocks of today's Navy. They hang on his every word. A living link to the past... to the days when you got up close and personal to kill the enemy. No over-the-horizon missile kills...
Andy was the longest serving Navy fighter pilot in WWII. He was on his
shakedown cruise off Gitmo on December 7th, 1941. The carrier Ranger made flank speed to Norfolk and the pilots were transhipped to San Francisco bytrain, then sped to Hawaii by ship. He saw Pearl not long after the sneak attack, and again is unable to speak of it... a horrible disaster. He immediately went aboard the Lexington and in the course of the war had 4 carriers shot out from under hi m as he fought in every major Pacific battle. Coral Sea, Midway, Battle of Santa Cruz, Guadalcanal, Iwo Jima... you name it. Credited with 4.5 kills. Flew with Butch O'Hare, Cmdr Thatch (inventor of the 'Thatch Weave'), flew with high scoring ace David McCampbell... served under Admirals Nimitiz, Bull Halsey...
He has studied the Japanese side of the Pacific War and is a recognized
expert on their side of it. He can reel off the names of all their capital
ships and admirals and battles from memory. Remarkable man... and still alive to tell the tale...


From Barrett Tillman

The post about "Andy Cowan" needs serious scrutiny. I'm a professional author and historian with over 40 books and 500 articles published, mainly on aviation history, so I'm confident of my sources.
I tried registering to post on the blog but could not sign on so I'm sending you the info directly.
Here's the facts of the message and video, point by point:
The flaked-up Hellcat sliding to a stop against the carrier's island bears the "high hat" insignia of Fighting Squadron One, which flew from USS Yorktown (CV-10) in 1944. The name Andy Cowan does not appear on any VF-1 roster I've found.
When I first spoke aboard "The Fighting Lady" in Charleston, SC, I asked some ship's veterans about the oft-seen footage of Number 30 sliding into the superstructure, possibly crunching a fire fighter. I was told that the "hot papa" ducked inside the island just in time. Nobody was hurt.
Furthermore, the Navy doesn't have "crew chiefs." It has plane captains. Anyone who'd ever been in the U.S. Navy would know that.
The longest-serving Navy fighter pilot in WW II was the late Captain Jim Daniels, an Enterprise aviator whose Wildcat was shot down by American gunners on December 7 '41. On VJ-Day he was off Japan, flying from USS Boxer. The Pearl Harbor Survivors Association declared him the only fighter pilot airborne on the day the war started and when it ended. There's no mention of anybody named Cowan.
The Naval War College does not present "Top Gun" briefings to fighter pilots. It teaches national strategy and military theory to senior officers. Anyone who'd ever visited the War College would know that. In truth, "young fighter jocks" get their education at the Naval Strike Warfare Center in Nevada.
On December 7, 1941, USS Ranger was not in Cuba. She was off Trinidad. Anybody who had been aboard the ship would know that.
For someone who had four carriers shot out from under him, 'Andy' had to move around a great deal. Considering that we lost four flattops in 1942, he would have to transfer from Lexington in May to Yorktown in June, to Wasp in September, to Hornet in October. Since each had a different air group, nobody served in more than two of those ships in that period. So.presumably our hero was aboard the light carrier Princeton off the Philippines in October 1944, and-or one or more escort carriers between 1943 and 1945.
'Andy' claims 4.5 aerial kills, apparently believing that he could sneak in beneath the "ace radar." But Dr. Frank Olynyk's exhaustive study of Navy aerial victory credits shows nobody named Cowan scoring in any squadron. (Consider this: anyone who flew combat for 44 months and only scored 4.5 kills wasn't very good at his job.)
We are told that Andy served with Jimmy "Thatch" (I knew him: he spelled his name with one T), Butch O'Hare, Dave McCampbell, etc, etc. The First Team, John B. Lundstrom's exquisitely detailed two-volume history of Navy air combat in 1942, lists every pilot in the eight Pacific Fleet fighter squadrons. Nobody with AC's name appears in either book.
Dave McCampbell (whom I knew) commanded Air Group 15 aboard USS Essex in 1944, at the same time Princeton was sunk. Furthermore, nobody named Cowan ever served in VF-15.
We are told that Cowan is "a recognized expert" on the Japanese Navy. But a sampling of genuine historians-the New York Yankees of IJN history-have never heard of him before this email began circulating. Neither has any publisher, since Cowan the Expert has never written a single book on that subject. Nor, according to Amazon.com, on anything else (though his name appears in credits for books on cooking and music.)
Conclusion: Andy Cowan (reportedly he lives near Salinas) is a fake, trading on the achievements of vastly better men than himself. Furthermore, he spins tall tales to gullible people who unfortunately take such statements at face value. It would be interesting to know the original source of the story, which has been on email circulars for several months now.
Sincerely,
Barrett Tillman"

Fri Aug 08, 2008 6:43 pm

Met a similar fellow at an airshow at CCNAS several years ago who claimed to be a Viet Nam war hero. He conned several people into beleiving his retoric, and almost took me in. He did know enough to be somewhat convincing even knowing some of the Special Forces types I knew, but something was just not right. He did con himself into a ride on Texas Raiders , but I think that is as far as it went. A few months later we found out the FBI was looking for him. Don't know the final outcome of that.

Fri Aug 08, 2008 6:54 pm

Not much need to comment on the wannabes... :roll:

But that footage of the "real deals" is some powerful stuff!

I thought EVERY Corsair landing was going to end a crack-up!

Thanks for posting the link to the video and have a great weekend Jack.

SPANNER

Fri Aug 08, 2008 7:04 pm

So this an e-mail circulating about? That story just screams liar. :evil:

Back about 1981 I would hang out at the Fullerton airport everyday looking to fly any plane anywhere or just ride along in the backseat on instruction flights. One instructor I rode along with several times was Capt. Incredible. His stories then were nothing like he told by the time he wrote the book. Even then I knew he was blowing smoke when he told his stories. :roll:

Les

Fri Aug 08, 2008 7:12 pm

another kwato is exposed, Barrett knows his stuff

???

Fri Aug 08, 2008 7:17 pm

It's funny sometimes because of the stories absurdity. Franz Stigler's stories, Pete Hardiman's and Captain Incredible's ect.
Funny thing about the ole Capt aka Roland Sperry is that he was a real hero just not in his own eyes. He was a SSgt B-24 gunner in the 308th BG in China with 80+ missions and was awarded the DFC, Air Medal and Purple Heart.

Fri Aug 08, 2008 7:44 pm

Jack, you are right about the Capt. I guess he didn't feel worthy doing what he actually did. He just had to be a fighter pilot to really feel good. Very sad as he was a nice guy. It didn't matter how hot it was as he always wore his flight jacket when climbing in those Cessnas.

Les

Fri Aug 08, 2008 8:39 pm

I've been amazed at the number of Doolittle Raiders that I've heard about who are not on any of the official orders... :roll: :shock: The sad thing is when you have to write their family back asking questions about where they got their information. I generally try to be respectful in the way I break the news that their relative's name is nowhere to be found.

Ryan

I used to work with Lefty Gardner...(who didn't)....

Fri Aug 08, 2008 8:52 pm

..anyway I heard so many BS stories around the P-38 that you needed hip waders sometimes.
That being said, at a show I would usually see some old guy standing by himself just looking at the plane, usually at parade rest or some semblance to it. I would always talk to those guys and 99% of the time they had either flown the 38 or a mustang or something. One guy opened his wallet and pulled out a wrapped and very used picture and handed it to me "this one brought me home in Italy with one engine out" he told me and sure enough there he was standing on the wing of a bellied in 38 with one propeller gone.
I let him get in the cockpit after the hoopala was over for the day and told him he could stay as long as he wanted. I had to use a step ladder to get him up there as the drop down ladder was too much for him. He sat in the cockpit for about 10 minutes and then said "I should go" to which I replied that he could stay all night if he wanted.
He sat there for 45 minutes or so running his hands over the controls, reaching the switches, commenting on the slight differences in the l-5 model he was in.
I was just sitting there too enjoying the moment, but finally he lifted himself out and it was like he was a kid again. you could see all the emotion of the moment flow through him and he went back and dropped the ladder and hopped down himself!
I have never really shared that story before so don't poo poo it...that singular moment is why I believe that if it can fly...it should fly. thanks

Fri Aug 08, 2008 9:45 pm

So, does it matter if the term "razorback" as applied to Mustangs, has no historical grounds? BS is BS and shouldn't be passed off as fact, EVER.

Mustangs

Fri Aug 08, 2008 11:55 pm

I like calling the proper looking Mustangs, Highbackers.Thanks Big Julie.

Sat Aug 09, 2008 3:03 am

The crash was of a VF-1 Hellcat BuNo 41441, piloted by Ens. Alden "Silas" Morner on 15 Jun 44. He had tangled with some Zeros over Iwo Jima, taking a lot of 20mm & 7.7 hits & receiving some shrapnel wounds in his left leg. VF-1 lost two pilots on that flight. Barrett Tillman is correct about the Hot Papa, he made it through the hatch into the island & wasn't injured.

Silas died several years ago in Salem Oregon. I had the privilege of attending one of VF-1's reunions in '98 & they're a great bunch of guys.

Photobuckets down now. I'll post a copy of the Action Report later.

Mac

Sat Aug 09, 2008 4:33 am

visaliaaviation wrote:So, does it matter if the term "razorback" as applied to Mustangs, has no historical grounds? BS is BS and shouldn't be passed off as fact, EVER.

HeeHee..keep fighting the good fight brother! 8)

I find it amusing that some of the folks who despise Air Classics, ardently persist in referring to the
"highback P-51" as 'razorback'... :shock:

Go figure??? :?

????

Sat Aug 09, 2008 6:56 am

I find it amusing that some of the folks who despise Air Classics, ardently persist in referring to the "highback P-51" as 'razorback'...

It's simple for me. Most all the pilots I've known who've flown it
refer to it has a razorback. Where the CP/AC connection is I don't know :?:

Re: I used to work with Lefty Gardner...(who didn't)....

Sat Aug 09, 2008 7:35 am

n5151ts wrote:..anyway I heard so many BS stories around the P-38 that you needed hip waders sometimes.
That being said, at a show I would usually see some old guy standing by himself just looking at the plane, usually at parade rest or some semblance to it. I would always talk to those guys and 99% of the time they had either flown the 38 or a mustang or something. One guy opened his wallet and pulled out a wrapped and very used picture and handed it to me "this one brought me home in Italy with one engine out" he told me and sure enough there he was standing on the wing of a bellied in 38 with one propeller gone.
I let him get in the cockpit after the hoopala was over for the day and told him he could stay as long as he wanted. I had to use a step ladder to get him up there as the drop down ladder was too much for him. He sat in the cockpit for about 10 minutes and then said "I should go" to which I replied that he could stay all night if he wanted.
He sat there for 45 minutes or so running his hands over the controls, reaching the switches, commenting on the slight differences in the l-5 model he was in.
I was just sitting there too enjoying the moment, but finally he lifted himself out and it was like he was a kid again. you could see all the emotion of the moment flow through him and he went back and dropped the ladder and hopped down himself!
I have never really shared that story before so don't poo poo it...that singular moment is why I believe that if it can fly...it should fly. thanks


Nothing to poo poo, it is a good story man. Just remember that we do that with the static ones as well.
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