(Image removed from quote.) Kakaka "Shirley" Amphibious Pedal BomberThe originality of Japanese aircraft design was never in question after the Shirleywobbled onto the scene, albeit briefly, in the closing months of the Pacific War.This light (75lbs), cheap ($1.49), last ditch gesture of a desperate Japanese high command was in fact little more than a bicycle of the air, its propellor turned by pedal-power from the pilot. Towed behind a torpedo boat the Shirley would sooner or later rise and fumble skyward, staying aloft exactly as long as the pilot's stamina held out and his sprocket chain stayed intact.Hopefully a US ship would soone be sighted; then, braving massive ack-ack fire as well as large birds, the fanatic suicide candidate at the controls, or handlebars, aimed towards his quarry and pumped furiously until directly overhead.Then, at the flick of a lever, the underslung wicker basket fell away and hit the deck below - and one rabid dog was disgorged to run amok and wreak its mad havoc. The ravening animal , it was assumed, would take a few yanks with it by the time the end came. Ingenious! But not ingenious enough; the dogs proved susceptible to seasickness en route to the target and every known Shirley mission ended in anticlimax with a dazed mutt vomiting amongthe gobs while a paper airplane slowly sank off the starboard bow.
Hitler's Reckless Chutzpah A lone ME-109 buzzes the sacrosanct British House of Lords on August 2nd 1940. This mocking Nazi taunt at 'sissy' England backfired, however.The din awoke three members; their letters to The Times deploring the stunt were promptly forwarded to the German Embassy.
R.A.F Flyboys Beam for 'Grandpoppa Winston'Britain's crisis made skilled aviators of raw kids like those above. Tot at right is noted ace 'Snookums' Venables; credited with 12 kills in one day. He was awarded a big piece of cake and a model sailboat. Brave as they were, lads like this seldom flew into combat past sunset; night fighting would have kept them up way past bedtime.
