Wednesday, February 8, 2012

vinatge's favorite military aviation moment



LAKEWOOD, NJ
Tige forsook a landlubber;s life yesterday for that of an air sailor. The choice was fatal, for somewhere in the sandy, scrub pine waste which surrounds the naval air station at Lakehurst Tige lies dead, a victim of his greatest virtue.
True dog of the sea, Tige had a none-month old bull pup's penchant for tugging at rope ends, and his friskiness made him the favorite mascot of the air sailors at the station. Dangling ropes were his hobby, and the strength of his jaws was the marvel of men.
Those bulldog jaws were his undoing when the J-S took off for a short flight. Tige snatched a rope-end in his teeth and tugged as valiantly as any of his human friends holding the craft to earth until the motors started her aloft.
Every member of the landing crew cased off when the signal was given. Tige clamped his jaws tighter and hung on as the ship left the ground.
For several minutes the bull pup held on and was swung back and forth in the air as the dirigible gained headway. Soon the ship was 400 feet over the green sea of pines. Tige had to let go. He hurtled down into the leafy green sea.

Fortunately, Tige plummeting at terminal velocity didn't kill anyone on the ground. ~ vintage

The Calgary Daily Herald, May 6, 1931

1 comment:

Small Survivors said...

"a victim of his greatest virtue"

and there are so many innocent victims of their only "virtue."