Nazi Plane Yields Secrets

HERE’S ONE GERMAN BOMBER THAT FLEW TO AMERICA-
BUT IT TOOK A COUPLE OF USAAF MEN TO GET IT HERE

Perhaps the most closely guarded aircraft at Wright Field, Dayton, Ohio, is Baksheesh, the first German combat plane to fly the Atlantic - luckily, with an American crew.

This German Junkers Ju-88 high altitude bomber was deliberately flown into the hands of the Allied Command by a young Nazi pilot fed up with the whole business. The two arrived at a field on the island of Cyprus last September, to the delighted bewilderment of all concerned, except the pilot.

Almost brand new, with less than 50 hours’ flying logged, the plane was test flown by the British and then, through diplomatic arrangements, turned over to the AAF for evaluation. Marked with American flags and insignia, it was flown to Wright Field by Maj. Warner E. Newby and Lieut. G. W. Cook, AAF, giving some of our aircraft spotters a thrill on the way.

Baksheesh, Persian for "something for nothing," proved to be a fighting man’s airplane; rough-and-ready, tough and (to quote the Major) the "heaviest and most vicious airplane I had ever flown." It also had, still to quote the Major, "more damned gadgets than any plane I had ever seen."

The Ju-88 was minutely inspected and studied before leaving Africa and fitted with auxiliary gas tanks from a Lockheed Lighting. In testing the emergency dropping gear for the tanks, Lieutenant Cook received shrapnel wounds in his back. He was under the tank during testing, and the Bombenefreiung (bomb-release) button accidentally set off explosive charges in the wing, which blew the tank, shackle, and bomb rack to which it was attached right off the wing.

This incident led to another thorough inspection of the craft for other "tricky" devices. It was lucky this was done, for another button was found wired to set off explosive charges in the tail and completely demolish it. This explains why so many Nazi planes have been captured with their tails missing but otherwise undamaged.

Flying back to the United States in hops of from 900 to nearly 1500 miles at an average speed of 240 m.p.h., the Junkers clicked of the 12,000 miles in 5 ½ days.

The aircraft gave little trouble, considering the non-regulation fuel and equipment that had to be used and the myriads of unknown buttons and unfamiliar gadgets the two men had to work with. Their opinion of the aircraft is high; it flew well, the radio compass was very good, and the automatic pilot and navigational equipment were efficient. To these and to the skill of Major Newby and Lieutenant Cook, goes the credit for the first flight of a German combat plane across the Atlantic.