Word: crewmen
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Dates: during 1950-1959
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...that his offshore rights had been poached) had been friendly, but among the company of the Mayflower II there was no Thanksgiving. The difficulty: a falling-out, mostly over wampum, among the Pilgrim Fathers. The tourist turnout was below expectations, and Captain Alan Villiers was kept busy soothing his crewmen. There were complaints that some of them had not been paid. In London, Lloyds Underwriter Felix Fenston, who had ballasted the project with $98,000, jumped ship because the Mayflower promoters had not turned the vessel over to a charitable foundation, as planned. There was hope of fresh cash from...
...ninth jump. Now he dangled spread-eagled in the rushing, punishing torrent of the plane's slipstream and propwash. Air Force Lieutenant Thomas Ansberry took the C-123 up from 1,600 to 3,000 ft., let down flaps, slowed his plane to about 70 knots. With two crewmen the copilot went aft to try to pull on the slick, virtually gripless static line (two-inch wide, ribbon-thin nylon webbing) against the dead weight of Paratrooper Flugum's 170 Ibs. and the massive press of air. They could see Flugum desperately trying to claw at the choking...
Reaching Hands. The static line was hopeless. Next the aircraft crewmen put out a rope. Flugum grabbed it, and they pulled him three feet toward safety before the force of the airstream loosened his grip. They lowered the rope again, and Flugum tied it around his waist. Then, through a sweating two hours, the crewmen inched Flugum up with rope and static line. Finally he was at the hatch, his elbows almost in. A crewman seized each hand, a third grabbed at his fatigues. Flugum could not help himself, the sweat-slick hands of the rescuers could not hold...
...ground other airmen, following radioed reports of Flugum's plight, ordered another approach. A T-33 jet trainer went aloft, slowed near to stalling speed as the pilot tried to lift Flugum with his wing so the crewmen aboard the C-123 would have an easier time of it. The trick failed, possibly because by this time the paratrooper was hanging limp and apparently unconscious...
...landing that would give the dangling paratrooper half a chance to survive the high-speed impact with the ground. Ingeniously the Air Force ordered fire engines to spray a runway of Pope Air Force Base with slick, heavy foam. Just before the null wheels touched down, one of the crewmen cut Flugum loose. He shot along the runway back down, protected by his parachute pack, in a smooth, 100-ft. glide. Thanks to the split-second ingenuity, he was unbruised by the landing. But despite all the ingenuity, all the desperate effort, all the risk, Private Flugum was dead-literally...