10-09-2008, 10:20
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חבר מתאריך: 02.06.07
הודעות: 6,168
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הומור לקראת סוף השבוע
“The story of the first military jet aircraft to fly in the United States—an aircraft that apparently no one could see.
The date was 1942; the location was Muroc Army Air Field (today Edwards Air Force Base). Whenever it was on the ground, the P-59 was fitted with a fake propeller for the sake of secrecy. Unfortunately for secrecy, at the local watering hole, test pilots mixed with P-38 pilots stationed nearby. After slugging down a few drinks, the test pilots bragged about flying a propellerless aircraft and were immediately labeled as liars by the P-38 crowd—fighting words for sure. Subsequently, test-pilot Jack Woolams decided to put them in their place, not with his fists but with something far more effective.
He rented a gorilla suit and took off wearing it along with a big cigar protruding from his mouth and a derby hat on his head. Once airborne, he found a lone P-38 pilot, pulled alongside, giving the P-38 pilot a clear view of the jet and gorilla suit, then waved, much to the shock of his intended target. The next day when queried at the local watering hole, not a single P-38 pilot had seen an "escaped gorilla" or knew anything about it. The explanation: why of course, it must be that P-38 pilots could only see what they believed was possible. Yeah, right. Apparently, the P-38 pilots never again questioned the possibility of propellerless aircraft, let alone the honesty of test pilots."
From the Snopes forum, now, this is such a good tale, even if it’s completely apocryphal. As Snopes further notes:
"Although the events are not even a century old, already there are more than one version of the Jack Woolams tale. All are slightly different. One version relates that there were multiple sightings of the gorilla-piloted jet and that the base psychiatrist talked several P-38 pilots out of believing what they saw. Who knows? The fact is, that even if someone sees and believes a phenomenon, it doesn’t mean they will honestly talk about it. And if they do, it doesn’t mean that the details will be perfectly remembered in the historical record—especially if there isn’t one."
I have just seen a History Channel documentary on the history of jet propulsion, where a former test pilot told that tale in camera, so at the very least we know that it’s a real rumor around the place. The fake propellers attached to the secret jet airplane when wandering in the ground is a fact, as can be seen in the photo below:
Though it’s not very plausible that Woolams may have used a whole gorilla suit, it’s not that wild to think he may have played a joke and used a gorilla mask to waive to another pilot. What that pilot may have thought of a propellerless aircraft piloted by a gorilla, we may never now. |
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