During a take-off in an F-86 (I think. might be an F-8, but I'm pretty sure he said '86...) a certain Navy Pilot, who shall remain nameless (wound up as the CO of Survival Training at Pensacola for his final tour, back in late 70's. A close friend of my father and the former POW Capt. Kosky...) had a flame-out shortly after lift off. He pulled the face curtain, but due to the very short delay of ejection seats, the plane had nosed over and was a fraction of a second from impact. He said he skipped across the rice paddy he was about to impact like a stone on a pond, until the chute opened, and he stopped. He just stood up and waited for the SAR bird to arrive, still holding the face curtain. H had it on a plaque on his desk at home, when I went to his house, along with the end or the tail-hook from his last ever trap on a carrier.
This same pilot also nearly shot himself down during a mission over Korea. He had been cruising for ground targets but had found nothing, and was getting frustrated. On the way back to the field, he saw a junk on a river. Thinking to take his frustration out on the poor thing, so he nosed the bird over, popped the speed brakes, and chopped the throttles. When he was in perfect firing position he fired off ALL his Zuni rockets at once. For whatever reason, not a single fin on any of them opened, with the result that there were rockets going in every direction, none, naturally, towords thee junk. He said he nearly bent the stick he was moving it so fast in so many directions in such a short period of time trying to avoid his own rockets!
Just two of the stories I collected...
Pat☺
