Bill Bruce on Forest Patrol

by Henry Harley Arnold

As the plane started to turn over on its back, Bill debated as to whether or not he should unfasten his safety belt. The somersault of the plane had come so suddenly that he did not have time to do much debating and had left it fastened. When the plane came to rest, he was glad that he had.

Both Bill and Breene were suspended head downwards from their cockpits. While they hung there the loose articles in the plane showered all around them, falling to the ground. Bill then looked carefully around and saw that they were some six or seven feet above the ground. It was too great a distance to fall on one’s head, and therefore great care had to be exercised in loosening the belts.

“Be careful when you loosen your belt,” said Bill. “You will hurt yourself if you fall that distance on your head.”

“But, Lieutenant,” replied Breene, “I can’t hang here forever. The blood is rushing to my head. I am not a blooming monkey.”

“Let your conscience be your guide,” said Bill. “I am going to try to get down feet first.”

“Just how does one get his feet past his body from a position like this?” asked Breene.

“That’s what I am trying to figure out,” replied Bill.

With the plane upside down, there was nothing for the hands to grasp to support the weight of the body. The cockpit was so small that Bill could not force his head and shoulders alongside his waist. Then again, gravity working against his every move, made it more difficult. Finally Bill hooked his feet under the rudder bar and opened his belt. The force of his weight falling that short distance pulled his feet from the bar and he found himself doing just what he had tried to prevent—falling head first.

“Be sure and go down feet first, Lieutenant,” he heard Breene say as he dropped.

Bill stretched out his hands and landed on them. The force of the fall was taken up on his arms and shoulders. He was out of the plane O. K. Breene watched Bill fall and then opened his belt. As he dropped he doubled up like a ball. He hit on his shoulders and rolled over on his back. Both were out without any physical injuries.