A very much belated Happy Birthday Danny. A Vultee story as a present, re Bob Hoover's experience.
When testing a Vultee Vengeance, he lowered the gear and reduced the throttle and flames spewed out. Opening the throttle caused the flames to disappear so he climbed for height in case they had to bail out. When he closed the throttle again there was an explosion which blew off the bomb bay doors.
With flames burning his legs he told the sergeant in the back seat to jump. He was reluctant to go but the flames finally convinced him and he climbed out. His harness snagged the machine gun mounting and he hung there, banging against the side of the fuselage. Hoover rolled the Vengeance inverted, managed to shake off the sergeant and switched off the engine. The flames subsided and he made dead-stick landing.