"Brian Paul Ehni" wrote in message
...
On 2/10/08 8:23 PM, in article ,
"Billzz" wrote:


I'm another Bill, but thank you, very much, for looking out for the "old
soldiers." The story is very much true. If you see the film, "The
Longest
Day," Henry Fonda plays an intelligence person who gets a ride on an
artillery spotter plane to hunt for attacking German tanks. They are in
the
vicinity when he asks the pilot to cut the engine so he can hear the
unmistakable sound of the tank treads. He hears them, and then the pilot
re-starts the engine, at tree level. I was told that the story was true
and
I do not doubt it as I flew as a spotter in the 1960s in an L-19
"Birddog"
(made by Cessna) the follow-on to the L-4 (and later) series aircraft
made
by Piper and their civilian name was Piper Cubs. The object was to fly
as
low and slow as possible, to avoid anti-aircraft fire, while maintaining
a
stable platform for the observer (it was usually two people, the pilot
and
the observer.) At the time of WWII he was in the US Army, and even
though
the 1948 act made a separate USAF, the artillery spotter planes remained
with the US Army, in the field artillery. In Vietnam I was the
operations
officer (advisor) for a province and we had both Army and USAF L-19s
spotting for airstrikes, and artillery strikes, respectively. At that
time
we kept them above 1500 feet to avoid small arms fire, there being no
Viet
Cong airplanes or serious air defense. But they were true to their code
and
never hesitated to dive right in on some suspected position - and I am
sorry
to say that we lost one USAF FAC that way. It is a very strange person
that
can operate that close to the ground, looking this way and that, while
marking a map, calling on the radio, and estimating changes in
trajectories
for artillery that is not seen. He has my respect. You have to see the
movie.


That would be "Battle of the Bulge" http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0058947/

He played Brigadier General Theodore Roosevelt in "The Longest Day"
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0056197/

I don't know about the L-4, but my friend's Piper Cub (as all Piper Cubs)
has no starter motor; it has to be hand spun to start. The Super Cubs did
have starters, and perhaps the L-4s did, too.
--
Brian Ehni

Yes, you are right. My faulty memory is compressing all old WWII movies
into one long epic. The L-19 (Cessna) was an upgraded version of the
civilian version, so I suspect (but I do not know, never been in one) that
the Piper series was also upgraded, to include a starter. But Pipers in
WWII - I don't know.