The scuttle butt going around is that if this squadron does not prove its air and combat worthy is 6months that we will all be reassigned to various squads.
I cant speak for most of the guys here, while I am pretty sure they feel the same, but leaving the A's & 8's is not something I would look forward to. Its been 3 weeks. We have many of the once downed A/C flying, including one Typhoon that we helped Wolf rebuild for his Fighter of choice. The LA-7 rotation has been made, and the bird has been completely rebuilt thanks to the Maint department working many hours of overtime. In spite of all the over whelming work, its home... and it feels good to be a part of it.
A hand full of ground vehicles have been repaired and ready for service as well. The CO has really taken things by the "Balls" here, heh, as many of the fuel tanks have been emptied and moved, and the Airfield has been arranged in a way to correspond with the needs of the Aircraft. We requested and received, thanks to many favors called in from many pilots here, 3 detachments of Seabees, heavy equipment and all.
The runway was extended another 50yards for the Buffs, and we now have a larger.... rearm pad, this is so that we are "safer" in our refuel and rearm. The Co has fought tooth and nail, but in the end we simple could not do it any other way. The A/C is rearmed fully prior to taking on any fuel. The motor can be running, but the pilot is not to be in the Cockpit, a pit crewman will babysit the A/C. An NCO will always be present to ensure that the utmost safety is to be used... we have had Zero incidents so far, with the exception of 1 ham and cheese sandwich and the prop of an unfortunate P-39 that we use as a trainer for Basic flight hours.
I have my F4U-1A in prime condition, and ready to roll, and have spent some time with Wolf learning the basics of level bombing.
Jon has been driving his now adopted Tiger all over the base, like his personal chariot, however the grass seems to be less of a problem now....
Tool has been practising his Intel gathering, getting info about our sister squads nearby. This will come in handy as in 2 weeks we will fly a mission as aggressors against the Brits and their Spitfires.
It will be an interesting mission indeed. As we will have a Typh, 2-F4U's, LA-7, P-38s among other things, all matching up against Spits, that are dang near off the plant floor, while we fly rebuilt handmedowns.
We are however scheduled to receive several loads of new parts, and 3 new Aircraft, while we dont know the make and model yet, they will be welcomed additions of the family, once they arrive.
Called in a favor, along with 3 cases of scotch, couple dirty mags and captured sword from some Japanese officer, and we now have 3 new crates of flight suits on the way, WB, picked them up in the C-47 4 hours ago and is due in in about 2 more hours. Be a nice surprise for the guys, as many a wearing flight suits with holes already in them, from all the Maint that we have been doing on the base and A/C.
Well its time I hit the rack, 5am comes early and I have to take the A/C to the Fire range and set convergences.
As written by A8Jaraxal
