In his first combat mission, Lieutenant William L. Harris Jr. dive-bombed a hydroelectric plant north of Hungnam. When he got back to the ship, he realized he had been hit. Concrete shards were discovered by maintenance technicians in the cowling and wings, confirming the precision of his bomb drops. “Cement Mixer” became Harris’ moniker
The following article is titled Skyraider Survival Stories and written by Capt. R.M. “Zip” Rausa, USNR (Ret.) appeared in July- August 2001 issue of Naval Aviation News.
The Korean conflict gave rise to a number of incredible stories of pilots who managed to escape dangerous situations or endured severe battle damage while riding a robust Skyraider:
After being attacked by Bon Homme Richard (CV 31) during a combat mission, Ensign John Rogers landed, but when he hooked a wire the engine froze. As evidence of the Skyraider’s durability, the mechs found a hole where an entire lower cylinder had been shot away.
When the hold-back fitting prematurely failed, a “Guppy” variant of the AD with a radome below and Commander William H. Rogers at the controls was on Valley Forge’s (CV 45) port catapult for a night mission. Along the ice-covered deck, the Skyraider slipped. Rogers hit the brakes while pulling back on the stick, but the AD kept sliding. In order to gather as much speed as possible, he rammed the throttle ahead while warning his two crew members of the impending ditch. As it plunged toward the water, the Skyraider sputtered off the end of the flight deck.
When the engine labored feverishly, Rogers retracted the gear and relaxed his grip on the stick. The “Guppy” thudded into the sea but then rebounded back into the air, spraying patterns of salt water in the process! In order to get the plane to safety, Rogers nursed it along the wave tops while gaining speed.
James Nesbit, an aviation electronicsman flying an AD-4N, felt a round of ground fire rip through the bottom of his aircraft. His parachute caught fire after the shell pierced the fuselage, perforated the fuselage again, careered off his cartridge belt, and was deflected out of the side of the aircraft. He made it through with an amazing tale to tell.
In his first combat mission, Lieutenant William L. Harris Jr. dive-bombed a hydroelectric plant north of Hungnam. When he got back to the ship, he realized he had been hit. Concrete shards were discovered by maintenance technicians in the cowling and wings, confirming the precision of his bomb drops. “Cement Mixer” became Harris’ moniker.
After recovering from a bombing raid on a target close to Kumson, Lieutenant (JG) Carl B. Austin was hit by a 37mm shell. The control stick whipped out of his grasp as he witnessed a burst of dazzling light. He strained to keep the bird under control and noticed that the fuselage, tail, and canopy were covered in shell shards. The port aileron was blasted away. The Skyraider managed to stay intact until he touched down without incident on a friendly airstrip on land. As soon as he exited the aircraft, he noticed shell bits that had pierced the canopy, scraped his neck, and lodged in his helmet. He returned to Princeton the following day in his repaired aircraft.
When Lieutenant Commander Lynn DuTemple of VA-195 was struck during a bombing run on a railroad bridge close to Hamhung in eastern North Korea, he earned the nickname “The Whistler.” Small weapons fire struck his canopy, leaving a pattern of broken glass. He managed to return to Princeton, but landing signal officer Lt. Roy Farmer became extremely concerned when he heard a whistling sound as he banked approaching the ship on final. He thought, “I don’t know what his problem is, but if he gets to the blunt end, I’m gonna ‘cut’ him, anyway.” When he did, the AD-4 normaly shifted into gear. It was later discovered that a 37mm round—rather than small arms fire—had passed through one of the four rotor blades, creating a softball-sized hole before striking the canopy. That’s what produced the sound.
After landing, mechanics counted 117 holes in the machine, ranging in size from miniature to as large as a basketball. Videto explained, “That shell had my name on it, but they had it misspelled.”
Photo by U.S. Navy
