After literally losing the nose of his B-17 Flying Fortress (398th BG) as the result of a direct hit by flak 88 over Cologne, Germany, on October 15, 1944, 1st Lt. Lawrence M. DeLancey, 25, of Corvallis, Oregon, returned to England and landed the crew safely at his home base. Each man walked away from the plane except the togglier, Staff Sergeant George E. Abbott, Mt. Lebanon, Pennsylvania, who was killed instantly when the flak struck.
They managed to make it back to base in England and land it despite having no instrumentation at all, no maps, no radio, and with a hydraulic brake leak that left them with no brakes. Landed by guess and by feel. Navigators were amazing as well, picking up on landmarks, and giving headings by memory...All this complicated by the sub-zero temperature at 27,000 feet blasting into the cockpit.
And that's how you land a pair of balls. #stayzero #zerofoxtrot #ww2 #pilot #getsome #hardcore