Mid Air Collision (Marine Corps )
Three planes took off in echelon.
Tle pilots would test their skills.
To fly formation acrobatics
always was a thrill.
At one hundred feet, the third plane crossed
and pulled up under me.
His rudder got tangled in my prop,
But the prop soon shook it free.
The stick was jerked out of my hand
and a violent shudder ensued.
Several pieces of prop had sheered off
as though they had only been glued.
I was stunned by the sudden impact that I felt,
the sensation that it did impart-
like a giant hand had grabbed up the plane
and was trying to shake it apart.
I jettisoned my canopy then,
and tried to exit the plane,
but one look at the ground told me
more altitude I should gain.
So I sat down, but could not close
my safety harness again.
I had to add more power, or
my aircraft would spin in.
I pushed the throttle forward and
climbed to four hundred feet.
I tried to abandon the plane once again,
but I fell back into the seat.
Adding more power would force the stick
to shake out of my hand
so I made a quick decision then
that I would try to land.
I neared the runway boundary, and
the wheels dropped quickly down.
The plane was shaking violently
as they reached to touch the ground.
All during the time I was in the approach,
I feared that the engine would seize
And now, as the wheels just reached the ground,
the engine indeed did then freeze
To ever be safe here again on the ground,
I dared not to harbor belief,
but as the plane slowly rolled on to a stop
I breathed a deep sigh of relief.
Eager hands pulled me out of the cockit,
and an ambulance transported me
to the hospital, where awaiting there
was a doctor for me to see.
The skin was raw beneath the glove
and bloody from finger to wrist.
‘Twas caused by the violent vibration when
the stick would shake and twist.
I was so relieved to be alive,
but I guess I’ll never know
why this particular point in time
was not my time to go.