El Grifo
20th Jun 2022, 09:53
Some of you may recall a thread which I started away back, about an old American visiting me in Scotland asking if I would accompany him to the WW11 crash site of his Spitfire, located about 6 miles from my Photo Studio. He wanted photographs of the site and surrounds.
Here is a link to the closed thread :-
https://www.pprune.org/military-aviation/474261-spitfire-crash-landing-scotland-ww11.html
The thread raised a lot of interest as well as a fair sprinkling of cynicism and even a dash of ridicule.
It went on for a long period of time before eventually being closed !
Last week, out of the blue, I received a letter no less, from a family member of the pilot, explaining that he knew a lot about the story, but had been restricted by family in coming forward. Recent events had freed him up to be able to talk about it
The pilot was indeed American, involved in intelligence gathering whilst attached to a photo reconnaissance squadron or group.
He took off on a mission, but suffered some kind of unspecified equipment failure not connected with airframe or engine.
He turned back, but was faced with thick cloud or fog which had formed soon after take-off.
He headed along a track which he believed took him up the East Coast.
As the fog or cloud thinned, he spotted the landmark of the Eildon Hills and turned in that vague direction.
The fog started clearing quickly as the air temp raised, but his fuel was very low.
He spotted what he thought was a fairly flat field and made a preliminary pass.
On his return leg his fuel gave out and he managed a tight turn and a landing in the aforementioned field, but hit some soft ground before coming to a halt. The aircraft dug in and almost ground looped, luckily only leaving him with minor injuries.
Due to the nature of his mission or operation, he made his way to Selkirk, reported to the local bobby and caught the train to Edinburgh where he then reported to RAF Turnhouse.
The aircraft was recovered, as reported by the several witnesses and the rest is history as they say.
The pilot who already flew for US intelligence went on to continue a successful career in that field until finally retiring.
This was one of the reasons why the family, although initially very helpful, clammed up totally at the end when the enquiry deepened !
So, far from being a "Walt" or any of the other things some on Pprune described him as, it turn out he was actually the "real deal"
a fact that I fully believed from the moment he walked through my door.
It has taken time to get to the bottom of this and I thank all of those who helped in my quest !
El Grifo
Here is a link to the closed thread :-
https://www.pprune.org/military-aviation/474261-spitfire-crash-landing-scotland-ww11.html
The thread raised a lot of interest as well as a fair sprinkling of cynicism and even a dash of ridicule.
It went on for a long period of time before eventually being closed !
Last week, out of the blue, I received a letter no less, from a family member of the pilot, explaining that he knew a lot about the story, but had been restricted by family in coming forward. Recent events had freed him up to be able to talk about it
The pilot was indeed American, involved in intelligence gathering whilst attached to a photo reconnaissance squadron or group.
He took off on a mission, but suffered some kind of unspecified equipment failure not connected with airframe or engine.
He turned back, but was faced with thick cloud or fog which had formed soon after take-off.
He headed along a track which he believed took him up the East Coast.
As the fog or cloud thinned, he spotted the landmark of the Eildon Hills and turned in that vague direction.
The fog started clearing quickly as the air temp raised, but his fuel was very low.
He spotted what he thought was a fairly flat field and made a preliminary pass.
On his return leg his fuel gave out and he managed a tight turn and a landing in the aforementioned field, but hit some soft ground before coming to a halt. The aircraft dug in and almost ground looped, luckily only leaving him with minor injuries.
Due to the nature of his mission or operation, he made his way to Selkirk, reported to the local bobby and caught the train to Edinburgh where he then reported to RAF Turnhouse.
The aircraft was recovered, as reported by the several witnesses and the rest is history as they say.
The pilot who already flew for US intelligence went on to continue a successful career in that field until finally retiring.
This was one of the reasons why the family, although initially very helpful, clammed up totally at the end when the enquiry deepened !
So, far from being a "Walt" or any of the other things some on Pprune described him as, it turn out he was actually the "real deal"
a fact that I fully believed from the moment he walked through my door.
It has taken time to get to the bottom of this and I thank all of those who helped in my quest !
El Grifo