RECOLLECTIONS OF MY FIRST AIRPLANE RIDE

BY: CHARLES E. WELLS CMSGT (USAF-RET)

I was a 22 year old A1C in the 48th FMS stationed at Chaumont Air Base, France , APO 119, NY, NY in August 1952. We received orders to proceed TDY to Furstenfeldbruck AB, Germany for 45 days. We were to depart in the afternoon on 30 August 1952 via C-119 from Chaumont AB to Furstenfeldbruck AB.

There were 27 men with all their baggage and tool boxes onboard the Aircraft. We cranked up and taxied out for takeoff. Once cleared for takeoff we started the takeoff roll and everything was going fine until moments after lift off, the No# 1 engine lost power and was struggling to gain altitude to avoid a small French village off the end of the runway. The pilot managed to clear the village and circled around to come back and land. I was sitting in the 1st seat inside the door where I could see up in the cockpit. I could see the pilot almost standing on the rudder pedals trying to control the Aircraft and the control cables were slapping the roof and sounding like the aircraft was coming apart.

The men in the back were getting shook up and one individual had grabbed a parachute, put it on and was at the door about to jump when someone grabbed him and pulled him back on the seat. He would have splashed all over the ground had he jumped out. We couldn’t have been more than a few hundred feet high. The chute wouldn’t have time to open before he hit the ground.

We got back on the ground okay and I realized how much trouble we had been in when the flight engineer jumped out the door and lost everything he had eaten for the last few days. The pilot & copilot didn’t look much better but they got that machine back on the ground and saved 27 souls plus the crew. The aircraft was repaired (engine had lost manifold pressure) and we got into Fursty the next day. Later I made trips to Wheelus AFB and back and also flew from Nellis to England AFB in the C-119 with no problems.