Posted 10 years ago
Rattletrap
(915 items)
Great Surprises do happen! As an old geezer I have found an automatic knee jerk reaction to most surprises, as most surprises in life tend to be bad news surprises! The other day as my wife and I returned from a great Antique Mall up in Northern Utah we finally stopped for a few minutes to see the Hill Air Force Museum. A thing we have said we are going to do for over 30 yrs now! As we entered the very first building my eye was almost immediately caught by this beautiful P-51 Mustang!!!! What a beauty I thought and how interesting that it has the name of my wife's Cousins wife on it? He was a very famous WWII pilot and was a very colorful and charming guy! As I inspected the plane I almost fell over to see that it was HIS plane I was looking at! Yep, cousin Chesley Peterson from Santaquin Utah. Our family war hero. (Well actually my wife's family) his wife Audrey was a famous English actress and quite the beauty. He was a very highly decorated war hero and was a 4 star general when he died, I was told.
Our P-51 Mustang at aaaLAKESIDE Storage in Provo does not have nearly the history as this one but will be seen by more people in one Summer than this famous plane will see in a decade. Location is still the king unfortunately, and we are on the main street in town. Hunting is the greatest sport around and hunting old signs and pumps is a great way to spend family time together! Keep on hunting!
That is Awesome!! How long has it been in there? Did your wife's cousin know it was there?
From what I have heard, no one in my wife's side of the family even knew that Cousin Chesleys plane was on display there. I have no idea how long it has been there but assume it has been there ever since they built the museum. It is an awesome museum and has everything from WWI stuff to a Blackbird and so much stuff it reminds me of the Smithsonian in DC. He actually was the first cousin to my wife's father. Not sure what you call that so we just say cousin. This was a guy famous for many things and one was that he parachuted out of a plane over the Atlantic and his shute didn't open and he free fell over 2000' and survived it and went back to war when he healed! This plane shows 18 kills but he had a lot more as well as damaging many more.
I should tell you that Chesley is long since dead as is Audrey. My wife's mother is the only one left of that era and she is about to be 97 and doing great! Still living alone! Good genes!
What a awesome story:) did Chesley and Audrey have children? He sounds like a awesome man to fall 2000 feet and live to tell about it and then went back to dumping hot lead on the enemy. And the mother in law 97 and living alone that's amazing too.
It is said that he had some broken bones and looked like hamburger when he was fished out. It was actually the English Channel not the Atlantic, I was told. For me it is the same Ocean? Re kids etc, I don't know the answer as it is on my wife's side of the family not mine. I don't ever remember hearing of them having kids however and don't think they did. You can google him and find out more info on him if interested. Look under Col Chesley Peterson. There's is middle initial but I can't remember it? Old age again! Yes he was quite the colorful guy and he had a lot of stories to tell and was a good story teller. Those Ace pilots really had some great stories as the P-51 was about 100mph faster than the M109 and turned better as well as having more range, higher ceiling, and 6 x 50 cal Brownings on the wings. They were such awesome fighters they actually shot down all the German fighter pilots while they still had planes available to fly but no pilots to fly them, I have been told. The Germans were at a huge disadvantage. In the Pacific it was not a lot different as the Zeros were pretty fast but had no armour and disintegrated easily upon being hit as well as not having the range or gun Power of the awesome P-51s. The only problem ever mentioned with the P-51 was mentioned by all pilots and it was the horrific noise that the supercharged Merlin Rolls Royce engines produced as they generated the 1650 hp they put out!!! Imagine all those horses under one hood and right in front of you only a few feet away and screaming right in front of you! U know that every pilot was deaf for life after he flew one lf those. I know that Cousin Chesley sure was deaf!
After checking in Wikipedia I find that Cousin Chesley "only" fell about 500' in to the water from his bailing out of the crashing bomber. The speed of fall would be exactly the same speed of approx 120-130 mph when impacting the water and perhaps slowed down a bit more by the trailing unopened chute. He was a Major General at the time of death at age 69. He was an extremely decorated war hero and the only American to receive some of the awards he received. He joined the RAF at 19 before the U.S. was in the war and flew bombers and eventually Spitfires and was the youngest squadron leader in the RAF. He transferred to the U.S. Army Air Corp when we got in the fight and flew P-48s and then P-51s. He flew over 130 missions! He fought hard and died young and was a real American hero!
Manikin,
Thx for the Love it.
Racer4,
Thx for the love it
Geodejam
Thx for the love it
Geodejem,
Ha ha on my iPad spelling