변기 폭장에 대해.arabozi

때는 1965년 10월 4일, 월남전 당시 미 항모 CV-41 USS 미드웨이.

기체는 A- 1H 스카이레이더, 조종사는 Clarence W. Stoddard Jr. 중령(당시 소령)으로 미 해군 제 25 비행공격대대 VA-25의 대대장.

USS 미드웨이의 함교에서는 출격하는 비행기를 보고는 이렇게 소리친다.

"What the hell was on 572's right wing?"

이 에피소드는 폭탄 6백만 파운드 투하를 기념하기 위해 일부 항모 승조원들과 조종사들이 합작해 만든 변기폭탄 투하 에피소드다.

상부 몰래 고장나서 버리는 변기를 주워다가 신관과 꼬리날개를 달아서 개조한것으로 투하 당일까지도 들키지않기 위해 갑판 승무원들이 몸으로 가리거나 해서 출격할때까지는 들키지 않았다고 한다.

사진은 오른쪽 날개에 한대의 변기밖에 없지만 실제로는 총 4개로 왼쪽에 변기 3개가 더 있었다고 한다.

당시 비행대 생존자의 증언

I was a pilot in VA-25 on the 1965 Vietnam cruise.

572 was flown by CDR C. W. "Bill" Stoddard. His wingman in 577 (which was my assigned airplane) was LCDR Robin Bacon, who had a wing station mounted movie camera (the only one remaining in the fleet from WWII).

The flight was a Dixie Station strike (South Vietnam) going to the Delta. When they arrived in the target area and CDR Stoddard was reading the ordnance list to the FAC, he ended with "and one code name Sani-Flush". The FAC couldn't believe it and joined up to see it. It was dropped in a dive with LCDR Bacon flying tight wing position to film the drop. When it came off, it turned hole to the wind and almost struck his airplane. It made a great ready room movie. The FAC said that it whistled all the way down.

The toilet was a damaged toilet, which was going to be thrown overboard. One of our plane captains rescued it and the ordnance crew made a rack, tailfins and nose fuse for it. Our checkers maintained a position to block the view of the air boss and the Captain while the aircraft was taxiing forward. Just as it was being shot off we got a 1MC message from the bridge, "What the hell was on 572's right wing?" There were a lot of jokes with air intelligence about germ warfare. I wish that we had saved the movie film. CDR Stoddard was later killed while flying 572 in Oct 1966. He was hit by three SAMs over Vinh.

Stoddard 중령은 이후 1966년 9월 14일에 작전 수행중 지대공 미사일에 격추되어 전사했다고 한다.