[Click on his photo to see who he is.] This is what American Navy TBM pilots looked like during World War Two. Clean cut and wholesome, this Princeton graduate flew TBMs as a matter of principle. This one survived the war and went on to a successful career as a politician in Washington, D.C. |
 Forty
years later we had: the seasoned TBM pilot of the 1980s,
a dusty and sweaty adventurer who sipped rum in the
evenings and smoked tobacco. Here, he rests his weary
bones on the carcass of an Avenger,Tanker 19, in the
woods near Sevogle Airstrip. New Brunswick was a TBM graveyard. Click on his photo to
see him at work. |
Under
the watchful eye of John Kirske, a young John Wood is shown the
secrets of the bungun at Dunphy Airstrip in June, 1981. At the
time John Kirschke had a permanent residence in Honolulu and, as
a consequence, was known as the "Kahuna". John the
elder, was a veteran of operations as a Grumman Hellcat pilot in
the Pacific during the Second World War. His courage remained
undiminished through the years. Once whilst flying a TBM on the
spray programme, he had a fire in the cockpit and had to return
to the base. After landing, the canopy opened to reveal a ghostly
face not from fright but from the fire extinguisher chemical. His
only comment was:"How soon can you have this plane ready?
I'm missing loads!". I'll always remember his greetings.
"Let's have a seance." he'd say as he wandered around
camp.
