From: Carol
Date: 7/21/2014 11:16:12 PM
Subject: good read.....WWII veteran 1st Lieut. Kennon B
Sorgenfrei/WCA Capt. Ken Sorgenfrei
of interest ....passing along a good read....one
of the chapters in this book chronicles WWII veteran WCA/RW (NWA) Capt.
Ken Sorgenfrei and his crew....
read more of his personal story in this 1994 news
article at http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=19940724&slug=1921802
Kennon Boyd Sorgenfrei, born 12-31-1921 in Oregon,
was raised in Washington state and was a 1939 graduate of Snohomish High
School. He enlisted May 27, 1942 in the Army Air Corps. A July 1943
archived Seattle news article reads: “Among the men reporting to Brooks Field,
Tex., for advanced flying training, which will lead to winning their ratings of
pilot and aerial observer, were the following men from Washington
state.....Kennon B. Sorgenfrei...”. Salute to our Service Men, a Sept.
19, 1944 news article column reads: “A second Oak-Leaf Cluster to the Air
Medal to 1st Lieut. Kennon B. Sorgenfrei, son of Mr. and Mrs. Jack D.
Sorgenfrei of Snohomish, for action as a pilot, from bases in Italy”. An
Oct. 18, 1944 article notes The Purple Heart awarded to 1st. Lieut. Kennon B.
Sorgenfrie.
Heros Of WWII -- A Hero's Welcome In France (1994 article)
The French have told the story of
the Sorgenfrei crew for 50 years.................How 11 American fliers and
their 21-year-old commander from Seattle fell out of the sky and into the
washboard foothills of the Alps during World War II.............How they joined
the French maquis who were in guerrilla warfare against
Germany............................How they climbed a mountain to help evacuate
a rebel field hospital from avenging German
troops..........................And, finally, how they came down off the
mountain at war's end to a champagne welcome, greeted by village women who wore
silky blouses sewn from their parachutes..............................
Sorgenfrei, a retired commercial airline pilot from Seattle........... knighted
by the French government into the Legion of Honor.................The order -
France's highest award - was created in 1802 by Napoleon to honor anyone of any
nationality for service to France.....................Sorgenfrei,
..........accepting the award on behalf of his crew. ........................The Sorgenfrei crew were trained to fight World War II from a B-24
bomber................ for 37 days after their plane was shot down over a
mountain village in France, the 11 young American fliers belonged to the
maquis, the scraggly guerrillas who harassed the German occupation forces
across France, keeping the dream of freedom until the war was
over............Ken Sorgenfrei was 21 when he was sent to Europe to fight for
that principle.He and the crew had been together for six months, training in
Texas and Kansas. He had 250 hours of flying time when he signed them up for
their first B-24.They were assigned to a base in Spinazzola, Italy, and began
flying bombing missions over industrial and transportation targets in
Germany.............Just one more raid . . .Fifty years ago last Tuesday - July
19, 1944 - the Sorgenfrei crew was on its 43rd combat mission. One more raid on
one more German bridge, railyard or highway and their tour would be
over.......................
more information
at http://forum.armyairforces.com/losses-of-460-BG-07191944-m92953.aspx ..... information about the 460th Bomb Group losses on 19 July
1944. This was a bad day for us. We lost seven planes. The
target was the Allach Engine Factory at Munich. Here is a list of the
losses.
Veterans History
Project
Kennon B. Sorgenfrei Collection
(AFC/2001/001/75583), Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress
(AFC/2001/001/75583), Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress
++++
THE SHELBURNE ESCAPE LINE
Anacortes author Réanne Hemingway-Douglass announces the release of her new book: The Shelburne Escape Line – Secret Rescues of Allied Aviators by the French Resistance, Britain’s Royal Navy and London’s MI-9. A lifelong Francophile, Réanne tells the true story of the Shelburne Line, a secret escape route for Allied aviators stranded in WWII France, and the only line not infiltrated by the Gestapo. The book pays tribute to the audacity and heroism of the French Resistance members and Allied military and intelligence personnel who made the escapes possible. It also recounts the experiences of some of the numerous Allied airmen who were shot down over Occupied France. Réanne brings a personal touch to these histories, as many of the people she writes about are her friends.
Anacortes author Réanne Hemingway-Douglass announces the release of her new book: The Shelburne Escape Line – Secret Rescues of Allied Aviators by the French Resistance, Britain’s Royal Navy and London’s MI-9. A lifelong Francophile, Réanne tells the true story of the Shelburne Line, a secret escape route for Allied aviators stranded in WWII France, and the only line not infiltrated by the Gestapo. The book pays tribute to the audacity and heroism of the French Resistance members and Allied military and intelligence personnel who made the escapes possible. It also recounts the experiences of some of the numerous Allied airmen who were shot down over Occupied France. Réanne brings a personal touch to these histories, as many of the people she writes about are her friends.
Subject: Captain Ken Sorgenfrei, WCA
Captain Ken Sorgenfrei, WCA
(1922- )
Thought I would pass along that a lady author Reanne
Hemingway-Douglass, has written a book entitled The Shelburne Escape Line,
and it has an entire chapter dedicated to Ken and his comrades during their
escape out of harms way.A great read if anyone is interested in that history
during WW II. Please pass along and hope you enjoy the book.
Vern Jones
The Shelburne Escape Line
by Reanne Hemingway-Douglass
(Goodreads Author)
5.0 of 5 stars 5.00 · rating details
· 2 ratings · 1 review
This book tells the story of the
"Shelburne Line," a secret Breton evacuation route for Allied airmen
stranded in occupied France during World War II. It pays tribute to the
audacity and heroism of the men and women—French Resistance volunteers and
Allied military personnel—who made the Line possible. It also recounts the
experiences of some of the numerous Allied airmen w...more
Paperback, 197 pages
Published February 4th 2014 by
Cave Art Press
ISBN13 9781934199053
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/21566837-the-shelburne-escape-line
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
From: David L. Roberts
Date: 7/19/2014 6:42:39 PM
Subject: Fwd: Air India Flight Newark to Mumbai
Air India Flight Newark to Mumbai
On Sunday
evening 13th July 2014, the Air India's flight AI-144, a B-777, was ready for a
routine flight from Newark to Mumbai with 300 passengers and 15 crew. The
weather in New Jersey was heavy passing showers here and there.
It was a routine departure at about 5 pm (local time) for a long 15-16 hrs flight to Bombay nee Mumbai. The aircraft naturally was at its maximum take off weight, as it was fully loaded with the fuel required for this long transcontinental flight.
The take off run was a normal routine one. Immediately on lift off the worst nightmare of a pilot, the loss of an engine at maximum takeoff weight, happened. The left engine caught fire, and at the same time the cockpit engine fire warnings did not function. The passengers and crew sitting on the left side were horrified to see flames from the left engine. Other airplanes and Air Traffic Control warned the Pilot of the engine being on fire. The Pilots till that time unaware of the engine fire, checked up and carried out the emergency drills as per the required procedures. The B-777 is a 2 engine aircraft, and losing one engine (50% power) at the maximum a/c weight on takeoff is a nightmare for the best of Pilots and in the best of circumstances.
In such an emergency, the Pilots will first think of making the aircraft light, which is done by dumping the extra fuel. For this Pilots need to climb up to a designated minimum height and dump the fuel in areas already specified by the local airport authorities. The time to reach the dumping height and area could have taken 15 to 30 minutes, because of heavy weight and loss of an engine. The actual fuel dump can take another 30 to 40 minutes, depending on the amount of fuel to be dumped out. The exercise of dumping fuel to lighten the aircraft would have taken any thing around 60 to 70 minutes, a valuable time they did not have.
The Pilots had a serious emergency of an engine having been on fire at hand. This could have caused, secondary as yet unknown failures. They had to take an instant decision, which they rightfully took to land as soon as possible, rather than use up precious time to try and dump fuel.
The immediate landing back, of course had its own problems. The very high landing weight. This in turn will need the aircraft to be landed at a much higher speed. The immediate anxiety of the Pilots in this case would have been three fold. Firstly, will the airplane stop in the available runway length, landing at about 200 Knots (which is 370 kms/hr), the minimum speed required at the weight. Secondly, will the landing gear take the load of landing at such a high speed and weight (85 tonnes more than the maximum design landing weight). Thirdly, they were flying only on one engine, which has its own problems of aircraft handling and control.
The Pilots averted a major emergency into becoming a possible catastrophe by landing the aircraft successfully back. The handling skills and good cool airmanship displayed by the Pilots was the primary reason of this emergency being converted into just an incident, which the Indian media thought was of no consequence of being reported or being commented upon. The visual media (all channels of TV) was only concerned on a non issue of why one 'Ved Pratap Vaidik' met a certain ' Hafiz Saeed' on a visit to Pakistan. The print media was merely interested in printing and commenting some dubious statistics where the ATC Controllers and Pilots have erred. Regrettably the media just shut their eyes to this incidence as it made no juicy news for them. They were not interested in how a major catastrophe was averted and lives of 315 persons were saved by the good professional handling and competent decisions of AIR INDIA PILOTS.
My congratulations to Capt Gautam Verma and his crew (2nd Commander Capt Niranjan Singh & First Officers Capt Pankaj Wadhawan & Capt Shilpika Das) for displaying airmanship and professional competence of the highest order in handling a most difficult situation competently and successfully.
It is disappointing that the PRO of Air India has also failed in bringing the true facts of the incidence to the notice of the visual and print media and getting the competence and proficiency of their employees due national recognition. It should also be a matter of great national concern that the Indian media had nothing to say about the competent handling of this grave in flight situation and preventing it becoming a catastrophe.
Capt GS BAKSHI
The writer is a retired Air India & Indian Air Force Pilot with over 40 years of fight experience.
Friends do share this with others, as the National media has failed to recognize and give due credit to our Indian Pilots, who have done a great and creditable job and not let a grave emergency develop
Air India Flight Lands Safely After Engine Fire
NEWARK,
N.J. Jul 13, 2014, 9:14 PM ETIt was a routine departure at about 5 pm (local time) for a long 15-16 hrs flight to Bombay nee Mumbai. The aircraft naturally was at its maximum take off weight, as it was fully loaded with the fuel required for this long transcontinental flight.
The take off run was a normal routine one. Immediately on lift off the worst nightmare of a pilot, the loss of an engine at maximum takeoff weight, happened. The left engine caught fire, and at the same time the cockpit engine fire warnings did not function. The passengers and crew sitting on the left side were horrified to see flames from the left engine. Other airplanes and Air Traffic Control warned the Pilot of the engine being on fire. The Pilots till that time unaware of the engine fire, checked up and carried out the emergency drills as per the required procedures. The B-777 is a 2 engine aircraft, and losing one engine (50% power) at the maximum a/c weight on takeoff is a nightmare for the best of Pilots and in the best of circumstances.
In such an emergency, the Pilots will first think of making the aircraft light, which is done by dumping the extra fuel. For this Pilots need to climb up to a designated minimum height and dump the fuel in areas already specified by the local airport authorities. The time to reach the dumping height and area could have taken 15 to 30 minutes, because of heavy weight and loss of an engine. The actual fuel dump can take another 30 to 40 minutes, depending on the amount of fuel to be dumped out. The exercise of dumping fuel to lighten the aircraft would have taken any thing around 60 to 70 minutes, a valuable time they did not have.
The Pilots had a serious emergency of an engine having been on fire at hand. This could have caused, secondary as yet unknown failures. They had to take an instant decision, which they rightfully took to land as soon as possible, rather than use up precious time to try and dump fuel.
The immediate landing back, of course had its own problems. The very high landing weight. This in turn will need the aircraft to be landed at a much higher speed. The immediate anxiety of the Pilots in this case would have been three fold. Firstly, will the airplane stop in the available runway length, landing at about 200 Knots (which is 370 kms/hr), the minimum speed required at the weight. Secondly, will the landing gear take the load of landing at such a high speed and weight (85 tonnes more than the maximum design landing weight). Thirdly, they were flying only on one engine, which has its own problems of aircraft handling and control.
The Pilots averted a major emergency into becoming a possible catastrophe by landing the aircraft successfully back. The handling skills and good cool airmanship displayed by the Pilots was the primary reason of this emergency being converted into just an incident, which the Indian media thought was of no consequence of being reported or being commented upon. The visual media (all channels of TV) was only concerned on a non issue of why one 'Ved Pratap Vaidik' met a certain ' Hafiz Saeed' on a visit to Pakistan. The print media was merely interested in printing and commenting some dubious statistics where the ATC Controllers and Pilots have erred. Regrettably the media just shut their eyes to this incidence as it made no juicy news for them. They were not interested in how a major catastrophe was averted and lives of 315 persons were saved by the good professional handling and competent decisions of AIR INDIA PILOTS.
My congratulations to Capt Gautam Verma and his crew (2nd Commander Capt Niranjan Singh & First Officers Capt Pankaj Wadhawan & Capt Shilpika Das) for displaying airmanship and professional competence of the highest order in handling a most difficult situation competently and successfully.
It is disappointing that the PRO of Air India has also failed in bringing the true facts of the incidence to the notice of the visual and print media and getting the competence and proficiency of their employees due national recognition. It should also be a matter of great national concern that the Indian media had nothing to say about the competent handling of this grave in flight situation and preventing it becoming a catastrophe.
Capt GS BAKSHI
The writer is a retired Air India & Indian Air Force Pilot with over 40 years of fight experience.
Friends do share this with others, as the National media has failed to recognize and give due credit to our Indian Pilots, who have done a great and creditable job and not let a grave emergency develop
Air India Flight Lands Safely After Engine Fire
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Officials say an India-bound flight out of New Jersey was forced to return to the airport because of an engine fire.
A spokeswoman for the agency that operates Newark Liberty International Airport says no one on board Air India Flight 144 was injured.
Port Authority of New York and New Jersey spokeswoman Erica Dumas says the flight departed for Mumbai with 313 passengers around 4:35 p.m. Sunday. The pilot reported a fire in an engine on the plane's left side shortly after takeoff and the engine soon shut down.
The plane landed safely around 5:05 p.m., and the passengers were taken off the plane without incident. Dumas says the plane had "multiple" blown tires.
The fire was initially attributed to a bird strike but Dumas says that information was incorrect.
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