Ijn! / usn?

[Kirk R. Lowry]

Bonjour mes amis

I have been reading a most interesting book: Beyond Pearl Harbour: The Untold Stories of Japan's Naval Airmen by Ron Werneth who undertook great effort to interview veterans who served as pilots and crew members in the Imperial Japanese Navy during The Pacific War.

As would be expected there is a wealth of information to be learned and tales of great drama. Rather than offer details of combat, though, I thought to note one quote here explaining a practice in the Imperial Japanese Navy and to ask if a similar system existed in the United States Navy. Lieutenant Commander Zenji Abe, who was an aircraft carrier dive bomber pilot, related the following -

"There were about ten wires to stop our airplanes on the deck of a carrier. The first wire was on the edge of the boat, so it was impossible to use. If we landed using the second wire our landing was perfect. When we landed the wires stretched for about 20-30 meters, and the aircraft stopped.

I was very good at landing, and if I could stop at the second wire and do a perfect landing, I could get a five yen bonus. In those days sixty yen was the monthly salary. The maximum was six bonuses per month."

Does anyone know ... I suspect if anyone does it is Barrett ... if in the United States Navy pilots were given a standard of performance for landing and awarded a bonus for such success?

Abe continued to note "In the navy flight hours were important, but also the quality and number of times you landed on a carrier. I landed on a carrier 440 times, which was probably the most in the navy. I believe this is a very honorable thing. I worked only on a carrier, and in my opinion, only carrier pilots are real pilots."

How about that!

Salut
Kirk

[WarrenD]

Kirk,
That book has been on my wish list for a while.

Warren