Flying in bad weather - Part 1 of 2

Heroes Remember

Flying in bad weather - Part 1 of 2

Transcript

To give the families an understanding of the conditions in which we flew, I told them that a, about an experience I had which almost duplicated that in which Bill Rogers and his crew lost their lives. It happened earlier during the same monsoon season over the same jungle covered mountains. We were returning empty from Meiktila in the central plain to our base in Tulihal in the Imphal Valley. It was late afternoon, we were flying our third mission that day. As we approached the jungle covered hills from the east, we were confronted by a wall of thunderheads in front of us. Carrying no oxygen and not being pressurized, we are at a ceiling limit of 12,000 feet to 14,000 feet, the cumulonimbus clouds normally towered above 25,000 feet, with their bottoms covering the 35,000 foot hills, I saw a patch of bright sunlight between two boiling clouds at about 6,000 feet. I commenced climbing to fly through it to the other side of the line of clouds and into the valley where our base was located. As we approached to the hole, it quickly closed and before I could turn the aircraft around we were suddenly caught in a steep and violent updraft.

Description

Mr. Romanow reads a piece he wrote concerning a crew lost to weather, and a similar experience he had.

Joseph Romanow

Mr. Romanow was born in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, in 1921, to parents who immigrated to Canada in 1911. Mr. Romanow grew up in a Ukranian community and he learned to speak English from his playmates. He joined the Air Force from a youth group, was a mechanic for two years and then trained in Canada and England. He was able to fly in India and Europe, flying many different types of planes. After his university education he returned to the Air Force and worked with the Avro Arrow team.

Meta Data

Medium:: Video
Owner:: Veterans Affairs Canada
Duration:: 01:39
Person Interviewed:: Joseph Romanow
War, Conflict or Mission:: Second World War
Location/Theatre:: Burma
Battle/Campaign:: Burma
Branch:: Air Force
Units/Ship:: 62, 435, 437 Squadron
Occupation:: Bomber Pilot

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Flying in bad weather - Part 1 of 2

Heroes Remember