Grandma vs Hitler by Derek E. Miller

Author:Derek E. Miller [Miller, Derek E.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781940283494
Publisher: L. J. Emory Publishing

Nineteen

Tonight my plane was down for repairs, and the parts are supposed to arrive tomorrow. I hate not flying tonight, but I can still do my part by helping the ground crew. This gave me a real chance to see our fight from another point of view.

It gave me a whole new respect for the ground crews and what they do. It let me understand better why we are able to fly about forty planes a night—even more missions than our male counterparts.

On average, each flight crew flies eight missions a night. Of course, we all try to fly more than that, but bullet holes in our fabric, as well as our engines, pilots, and navigators can ground a plane for a while.

My personal best is fifteen missions in one night. I hope to beat that! Tonight is my personal worst at zero missions.

Watching the ground crew is almost like watching the Ballet in Moscow. A plane will come in. Even before it comes to a stop, I hear some of the other pilots beating the sides of the plane, screaming “More bombs, more bombs!” Usually someone will rush the pilot and navigator something to drink or a bite to eat. It’s always about how to squeeze in one more mission before daylight.

As the seasons change and the nights are shorter, we can only maybe fit in four or five missions. On the longer nights, we can do eight to twelve or even more, depending on how close we are to the targets.

I can see better how our “friendly” competition with men’s units means we are beating their numbers. Official Russian doctrine means teams only work on specific planes. So, a lot of time is wasted on teams waiting to find out which plane has landed, and the reloading team services that plane.

Our philosophy is that it does not matter what plane comes in. If you are refueling, you refuel whatever plane comes in. If you are an armorer, you will be putting bombs on whatever plane comes in.

We are turning planes around in four to five minutes. It is very much like how a tank assembly line runs. Everyone has a job, and it’s almost like the plane never stops moving when it comes in, much like a tank on a conveyor belt. Plane is refueled, rearmed, oil added, checked for damage, slapped on the tail, and off it goes!

Much to the amusement and frustration to the men’s units nearby, we are surpassing them every night now in number of missions.

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