Re: Captain Russell F Brownlee / Major Gerald C Gustafson
They were testing a new fuel-transference system that day. However it didn't work and they ran out of fuel. According to Russ, the runway at Tonapah was old (WWII) and soft. When they set down te gear went into the blacktop, the wingtip caught in sand and flipped over. They had to punch out from outside down. At the time it was said that it was the first Thud crash where the plane didn't immediately catch fire. Neither was hurt; Russ cut his thumb on the canopy when getting out. Ironic that if the system had worked they wouldn't have crashed.
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