True Aviation Picture-Stories #4

Four American flyers crash-land in the Amazon jungle in March 1943, and what follows is a desperate struggle for survival against man-eating crocodiles, flesh-hungry fish, and a prowling jaguar. With almost nothing but a lighter and a penknife between them, the stranded airmen must build a makeshift raft and send one of their own downriver on a perilous journey to find help. "Jungle Peril" is a harrowing true account of courage and quick thinking in one of Earth's deadliest environments.

Pilot Sid Gerow faces an impossible choice when his compass adjuster Harry Griffiths accidentally falls through the trap door of their bomber at 7,000 feet, left clinging to the open hatch as the aircraft barrels through the sky. With quick thinking and nerves of steel, Gerow must bring the aircraft low enough over a frozen lake to give Griffiths a chance at survival—a feat that will test both men's courage in ways no rulebook could prepare them for. Based on a true incident from Canada's R.C.A.F. Ferry Command, "Leap for Life" is a gripping account of airmen pushed to their absolute limits.

Captain Joe Foss of Sioux Falls, South Dakota rose from humble beginnings—learning to shoot as a boy and working his way through university—to become a Marine Corps pilot with nerves of steel. When the fighting erupted at Guadalcanal in August 1942, Foss seized his chance to prove himself in combat, flying his Wildcat against overwhelming odds and weathering everything from malaria to enemy fire. His skill and determination in the Pacific skies would establish a record that made him America's top flying ace.

During a bombing run near Tripoli in January 1943, the B-17 Flying Fortress "Thunderbird" tangles with German fighters over the Castelbenito airfield, taking heavy damage that leaves the crew flying on just two engines. With their crippled bomber struggling to clear an 1,800-foot mountain range and fuel running critically low, the aircrew must rely on quick thinking and nerve to find their way home. This true account captures the grit of Lt. Dana Dudley, Sgt. Fred Wolf, and their fellow airmen as they push a damaged warbird to its limits.

In 1932, Douglas Aircraft produced a DC-2 transport plane that proved to have something special—a personality that endeared her to every pilot who flew her. Over the next eight years, "Old 315" served with distinction on civilian routes for TWA, earning her reputation as a "mercy ship" by rushing supplies and rescue victims during the Mississippi floods and New England hurricane, before being transferred to British service in 1940. From forced landings in the African jungle to surviving enemy strafing runs over Iraq, this remarkable aircraft became a legend, proving that sometimes the best machines are the ones that refuse to quit.

During World War II, night bombing has evolved into a precise military science—and this story walks through the entire operation, from reconnaissance photography and weather checks to the moment bombs are loaded and pilots take to the skies under cover of darkness. Discover how navigators chart irregular courses to confound enemy detection, how advance planes drop flares to guide the heavy bombers to their targets, and the clever tactics pilots use to slip past anti-aircraft fire and searchlights during the attack.

Technical Sergeant Aaron F. Moses faces a desperate choice when enemy fire tears open the fuel line of his B-17 bomber, the "Ball of Fire," during a bombing run over occupied France in October 1943. With the aircraft bleeding precious gasoline over the English Channel on the journey home, Moses crawls into the bomb bay and uses his own hand to seal the leak, fighting numbness and brutal cold to keep the crew's lifeline intact. It's a harrowing race against time and frostbite to bring his crewmates safely back across enemy territory.