Posted By Kevin M. Pearson on November 07, 2007 at 06:45:22:
In Reply to: Re: interpreting flight records posted by James Gregory on November 06, 2007 at 18:37:28:
Please allow me to weigh in on this issue. A mission could have been abondoned for a number of issues, but usually because of weather. The term I have seen most is RECALL. Weather predicting was not like it is today and was often wrong.
The Wash was also an area where SPARE ordinance was dropped and was also a practice bombing range. I am not aware that there were designated areas in the English Channel that were "designated" for this purpose by the 8th Heavies, but it may have been so. However, damaged a/c that returned to base with a full bomb load could drop that load anywhere except on occupied territories of our Allies.
Many bombers did bring their ordinance back to base if recalled. By interting pins in the fuses, the risk was lowered dramatically, but I would not have wanted to land with 5,000 pounds of ordinance and a 2,000 gallon load of 100LL fuel.
Early model B-17s - Fs - did not have a fuel dump valve. If returning to base, the pilot had two options - burn up the fuel by flying around for several hours - or landing and taking the risk of explosion. I think, but am not sure, that later G models had a fuel dump value.
The story I heard about Glenn Miller is a group of RAF bombers aborted a mission because of fog and were returning to base. They salvoed their bomb load over the Channel. Weather was very bad the day Miller took off for Paris, and I have seen an interview with several members of the RAF that are believed to be responsible for dropping bombs on Miller's plane. Visibility was so bad, they had no idea other a/c were in the area. Miller was just in the wrong place at the wrong time, like sthe o many collisions that occured during assembly and when returning to base. The History Channel did a show back in 2002 on the search for the wreckage of Miller's plane. Here is an article I copied from back then:
SEA HUNT FOR GLENN MILLER PLANE IS SET
By BILL HOFFMANN
New York Post, Monday August 13, 2001 August 13, 2001 -- Divers are planning an ambitious deep-sea expedition to locate the remains of jazz legend Glenn Miller, whose plane crashed over the English Channel in 1944. The famed bandleader was declared lost at sea when his flight from England to France vanished without a trace 57 years ago. Mike Rossiter, a BBC producer, decided to recruit a team of expert divers to search for the wreckage after a fisherman contacted him, claiming to know the exact location of the crash. "It appears that this fisherman has trawled up a part of Miller's plane and knows where it is within a pretty small area," a member of the project team said. "[Rossiter] is very keen on finding Miller's plane and, hopefully, Miller himself." If the wreck is found, it could provide clues as to whether the plane was shot down by enemy pilots or crashed because of mechanical error - something that has never been known. Miller's sister-in-law Ann Miller said she doubts the wreck will ever be located. "Nobody has ever found him and each time they try it is mentally upsetting for us," she said. Miller - whose big band cranked out such standards as "In the Mood," "Chattanooga Choo-Choo" and "Pennsylvania 6-5000" - gave up his showbiz career to enter the Army Air Corps, precursor of the Air Force, in World War II. In December 1944, Miller - who had set up an Air Corps band for the military - was set to transfer to Paris. His band arrived for a Christmas broadcast, but Miller himself was lost in a small plane over the Channel on Dec. 15. Miller's life was made into a hit movie, "The Glenn Miller Story," starring James Stewart, in 1954.