CREW'S STORIES
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F6F PILOT SURVIVES ODD CRASH LANDING
One of the weirdest crash landings of the war on the USS BENNINGTON occurred during the operations against Okinawa in April of 1945. ENSIGN J. B. HOAG, a photo plane pilot of VF-82, was the principal. Enemy fighters jumped him over Kyushu, his wingman shot down and his own Hellcat badly damaged. He made it back and landed without the use of his flaps. His tail-hook failed to catch any arresting wires, he sailed through two barriers and his F6F broke up. The engine stayed aboard but Hoag and the rest of the plane slid over the side. He was rescued uninjured by the destroyer USS SCHROEDER.
Ted Storb provided (this information to Joe Pires who retyped the article for all to see and read.)
Joe Pires
USS BENNINGTON HISTORIAN
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