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BuNo 136791's first duties involved
life as a test bed for future TF's to be built and modified. She served
in this duty only for roughly a year, and then joined the fleet. After
serving with VR-5 at N.A.S. Moffett Fld, in Sunnyvale,
CA., she was attached to VR-21 at Atsugi, Japan where she was assigned the
duties of being the personal " ride " for the Admiral
commanding the Seventh Fleet, or COMSEVENFLT, and the designation of TF-1Z,
with the radio call sign of" WHEEL CHAIR SEVEN ".
Wheel Chair Seven served in this duty until one day in Nov. of 1960 when
she launched off the U.S.S. ORISKANY carrying U.S. Sen. Hugh Scott
of PA. Sen. Scott was a Naval Reserve Capt. and was returning from
a two week Reserve Cruise. Also aboard was then Cdr. Charles Iaribenno,
who was to become the Skipper of the U.S.S. Oriskany. ( His brother, Capt. John Iaribenno, was also to
become a Skipper of the Oriskany
making them the only brothers to ever command the same U.S. Navy Man-of
War in history. )
On this day, as the aircraft proceeded from the Oriskany to M.C.A.S. Iwakuni
for fuel, and then to proceed on to N.A.S. Atsugi so that Sen. Scott
could catch a flight back to the states, a total electrical failure was
experienced while on a G.C.A. approach. Knowing they were below the
mountain tops, the Aircraft Commander, Lt. C.L. Priddy went into a
climbing left turn to get some altitude, then headed east were he felt
there was weather more favorable to their situation. After 20 minutes of
flight, they reached a low fuel state, and seeing a hole in the clouds
that reached to the ground below, he then circled down into this hole,
coming out at the bottom over the Yoshino
River bed on the Japanese Shikoku Island.
Feeling that the landing gear would not hold up to a landing on this rocky river bed,
Lt.. Priddy and his co-pilot, Cdr. Jack Ramsey, elected to make a wheels up landing. When the dust
settled, the aircraft was damaged, but all souls aboard were uninjured. Least
of all Sen. Scott, who when
approached by people of the local village of Mima, in the manner of
a consummate politician, said " I know you can not understand
English, nor a word I'm saying, but I'm running for re-election and I need your vote!!!! "
In a situation such as this, the Navy would have normally removed all
useable components, and written off the aircraft, but the local people of
Mima, the nearby city of Tokushima, and the Japanese Maritime Self
Defense Force stationed nearby, decided that they had to adopt this
aircraft, and get it flying again. The Navy then flew in some Sea Bee's
to help, some Marines for security, and when ready, two pilots to fly her
out. Also, as the local people did not speak English, nor the American's
involved speak Japanese, a U.S. Navy Lt. Fumico Nakura, whose parents
came from this same village prior to WWII, was sent as an interpreter.
After roughly 30 days of temporary
repairs to the belly of the aircraft, two
engine changes, and the building of 1600 feet of runway, partly
covered by Martson mating, Wheel Chair Seven took to the air again flown
by Cdr. Joe Massy and then Lt. Tex Houston. The take-off was witnessed by
some 10,000 Japanese locals who, until Wheel Chair Seven had arrived, had
never seen an aircraft up close, let alone one taking off, nor Americans
since the end of WWII, if then. She was flown to Shamua 25 minutes away
where a permanent repair was done, and then returned
to duty to retire in May of 1983.
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