On Mon, 14 Jun 2004 12:31:02 -0400, "nice guy"
wrote:

Not anywhere near Chicago, but this might be interesting to someone..

http://www.radiodiaries.org/transcri...ocs/wasps.html
THE WASPS: Women Pilots of WWII
"...NELL MICKEY BRIGHT (Pilot): We were in a tow target squadron. Our
main mission there was training these boys at Ft. Bliss in
anti-aircraft because they were going to go overseas and try to shoot
the enemy planes out of the sky. And to learn how to do that, they had
to have somebody up there flying these targets for them to shoot at.
And we were the ducks..."

"...BRIGHT: And one night we were towing in a B-26 and the flak
started bursting in front of us. And the target was behind us. So we
had to take some evasive action to get-and called the ground forces
and told them that we are not completing this mission. We're rolling
in our target and going home. We'll come back tomorrow and see if you
can shoot any better..."

I believe you're refering to the Douglas B-26 Invader, also known as the JD.
These were used as tow aircraft by the VU squadrons. Look it up on Google
for more information.

"RPT217" wrote in message
...
I am researching a feature on a target tow squadron that was based at
Glenview
Naval Air Station near Chicago, Illinois in July 1945. They flew Martin
B-26
bombers and towed targets over the shoreline of Lake Michigan for gunners
from
Great Lakes Naval Training Center.

I was in boot camp at the time, and observed several near-misses during
gunnery
practice where the aircraft was nearly hit by badly aimed fire. During
our
training, we would joke that those pilots should all receive combat pay
for
extra-hazardous duty.

From a historical perspective, I think this would make an interesting
article.
Any information will be appreciated. I would especially like to interview
some
of the pilots if they can be located.

Richard T.