Tuskegee in Philadelphia by Robert J. Kodosky

Author:Robert J. Kodosky [Kodosky, Robert J.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: History, United States, State & Local, General
ISBN: 9781467144674
Google: JHXADwAAQBAJ
Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
Published: 2020-02-03T03:07:20+00:00

Dr. James Williams, Airman and physician. Philadelphia Chapter, Tuskegee Airmen.

Flight school was very difficult for James Williams. The training was intensive and required him to learn a wide variety of skills and techniques, often in highly stressful situations. Williams’s first solo flight came after he had completed a series of touch-and-go drills, which involved him taking off and immediately landing over and over again. After a few hours of this sort of training, his instructor jumped out of the plane and said to Williams, “OK, now go up there and kill yourself.” Thankfully, Williams failed to do so. In a later training mission, Williams was tasked to fly low over some corn fields to simulate a bombing raid at minimal altitude. He later recalled that he flew so low that he hit corn stalks.

Despite the anxiety of his training, Williams became a skilled pilot and was assigned to fly important personnel here or there. He once flew a colonel from Tuskegee to a meeting in Washington, D.C., but during the flight, the colonel took over the controls and flew their plane right past the Washington Monument. Williams was terrified about flying so close to the monument, but the colonel was an accomplished pilot himself, and he dared not question the decision. Williams was not allowed to stay in any of the hotels in Washington, D.C., due to his race. He had to fly back to Tuskegee the very same night.

James Williams faced a number of instances much like the one in Washington, D.C., where he would be restricted by his race. On one occasion, a trip between bases, Williams along with a group of black bombers and white pilots were to take a bus to their next training facility. Upon arrival, the white pilots climbed aboard, followed by the black bombers. When the bombers attempted to set foot on the bus, the driver responded that he would not be accepting any black passengers. The pilots, in a show of camaraderie, stepped off the bus and informed the driver that he would be driving all of them or none of them. The driver relented. On another trip, Williams recalled observing German prisoners of war entering a facility from which he and his fellow bombers had just been turned away.

Bert Levy also had his share of tension while training, but what stood out to him was the level of expertise he needed to become a bomber. An understanding of physics, thrust, weight, torque, wind speed and a variety of other factors played a part in flying those planes. Pilots had to keep a close eye on their controls, and with the weight of the engine concentrated in the front of the plane, it was important for them to keep the noses up and maintain speed. The bombers had to train as pilots first to gain an understanding of aeronautics and then work their way up to twin-engine bombers like the B-25.

STANDING TALL

Levy stayed in the service until 1968. His time as a Tuskegee Airman opened doors later in his military career.

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