His squadron mates laughed at the pistol he carried. Three magazines welded together. A Thompson grip bolted to the frame. Twenty-one rounds of fully automatic fire from a Colt .45. They called it Frankenstein's pistol.
David Schilling didn't modify that pistol because he was eccentric. He modified it because he refused to accept any disadvantage — no matter how small. That same mind would soon face the ultimate test: alone with one wingman, two P-47s against thirty-five Luftwaffe fighters climbing toward eight hundred unprotected American bomber crew.
Most pilots would have turned away. Schilling pushed the throttle to the firewall.
That decision set off a chain of events that led to one of the rarest achievements in American fighter aviation — and eventually to a moment that changed military aviation permanently. But it also led to a narrow English road, a stone bridge, and a fraction of a second that no amount of engineering could fix.
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David Schilling didn't modify that pistol because he was eccentric. He modified it because he refused to accept any disadvantage — no matter how small. That same mind would soon face the ultimate test: alone with one wingman, two P-47s against thirty-five Luftwaffe fighters climbing toward eight hundred unprotected American bomber crew.
Most pilots would have turned away. Schilling pushed the throttle to the firewall.
That decision set off a chain of events that led to one of the rarest achievements in American fighter aviation — and eventually to a moment that changed military aviation permanently. But it also led to a narrow English road, a stone bridge, and a fraction of a second that no amount of engineering could fix.
Subscribe for forgotten WW2 stories ▶️ https://www.youtube.com/@ww2dispatchh
Like if you think this story deserves to be remembered.
Comment below — where are you watching from?
#worldwar2 #ww2 #militaryhistory #ww2stories #ww2dispatch
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LearningTranscript
00:00At 11.02 on April 9, 1944, Lieutenant Colonel David Schilling hauled his P-47 Thunderbolt
00:07into a hard left bank over German-occupied France and realized he was alone.
00:1325 years old, 52 combat missions, 6 confirmed kills, 30 to 35 Luftwaffe fighters were climbing
00:21fast toward an American bomber formation 3 miles ahead, 800 aircrew with no protection.
00:27His entire fighter group had vanished into cloud cover 2,000 feet below.
00:32Radio discipline had collapsed.
00:34Formations had scattered.
00:35All that remained was Schilling and one wingman, 500 yards off his right wing, two P-47s against
00:42more than 30 Germans.
00:44Three months earlier, his squadron mates had laughed at what he carried in his shoulder
00:48holster.
00:49Schilling had taken a standard M-1911 Colt .45 and welded three magazines together, 21 rounds
00:56instead of seven, bolted a forward grip from a Thompson submachine gun onto the frame, modified
01:02the action for fully automatic fire.
01:04His commanding officer, Colonel Hubert Zemke, called it his latest engineering gadget.
01:10The other pilots called it Frankenstein's pistol.
01:13Schilling's logic was direct.
01:14If he went down behind enemy lines, no German patrol would expect 21 rounds from a handgun.
01:20No German would expect automatic fire.
01:22That was David Schilling.
01:24Every problem had a solution.
01:26Every disadvantage could be engineered away.
01:28He had graduated Dartmouth with a geology degree in 1939, joined the Army Air Corps three
01:34months later, arrived in England with the 56th Fighter Group in January 1943, commanding
01:41the 62nd Fighter Squadron.
01:43His first kill came October 2nd, 1943, a Messerschmitt Bf 109 over occupied France.
01:50The 56th flew P-47 Thunderbolts, seven tons of American steel, eight .50 caliber machine guns.
01:57The aircraft absorbed punishment that would shred a German fighter.
02:01But the Luftwaffe pilots who met them were experienced, aggressive, and deadly.
02:06By early April 1944, the 56th had lost 17 P-47s, 11 pilots dead, six captured.
02:14Their first ace, Major Walker Mahurin, had gone down over France on March 27th.
02:20Mahurin survived, evaded capture.
02:23But losing him hit the group hard.
02:25Escort missions deep into Germany were savage.
02:28Luftwaffe fighters attacked in coordinated waves, 30 to 40 aircraft simultaneously.
02:33Focke-Wulf 190s, Messerschmitt 109s, fast, maneuverable, flown by men with hundreds of
02:41hours of combat experience.
02:43American bomber crews called them wolves.
02:45They hunted in packs, struck from multiple angles at once.
02:49A single B-17 could absorb enormous damage, but concentrated fire from six German fighters
02:55could rip one apart in seconds.
02:57The P-47s existed to prevent that.
02:59Break the German formations before they reached the bombers.
03:02Force the Luftwaffe to fight the escorts instead of slaughtering the heavies.
03:06But on April 9th, none of that mattered.
03:09Schilling's group had scattered in the clouds.
03:11And now, he was watching 35 German fighters close on unprotected American bombers with a
03:16three-minute head start.
03:18Every tactical rule said break off.
03:20Find the group.
03:21Reform the escort.
03:23But in three minutes, 800 American aircrew would face those 35 fighters without a single
03:28escort between them.
03:29If you want to see what Schilling did next, please hit that like button.
03:33It helps us bring more forgotten stories like this one to light.
03:36Subscribe if you haven't already.
03:38Back to Schilling.
03:39He checked his instruments.
03:41Airspeed 320 miles per hour.
03:43Altitude 22,000 feet.
03:46The German formation was climbing through 18,000.
03:49His wingman held position.
03:51Steady.
03:52Waiting.
03:52Schilling armed all 8 .50 calibers, 400 rounds per gun, and somewhere against his ribs, still
03:59strapped in its holster, sat Frankenstein's pistol, with 21 rounds that might never matter.
04:04He shoved the throttle to the firewall and rolled into a dive straight at 35 German fighters.
04:10The Germans spotted them at 19,000 feet.
04:13Schilling counted as he dove, 18 Messerschmitt BF 109s in the lead element, 17 Folkwolf 190s stacked behind.
04:22Classic Luftwaffe attack pattern.
04:24The 109s would tie up the escorts.
04:26The 190s would tear into the bombers.
04:29Standard fighter doctrine said never attack head-on, closing speed too high, firing window too short.
04:35But standard doctrine assumed you had a squadron behind you.
04:39Schilling had one wingman, and 30 seconds before the Germans reached the bombers,
04:42bombers.
04:43He opened fire at 800 yards.
04:458 .50 calibers ripped the air apart.
04:48Tracers streaked into the German formation.
04:50The lead 109 broke left.
04:52Two more broke right.
04:54The formation fractured.
04:55That was the only goal.
04:57Shatter their attack run.
04:58Force them to fight instead of killing bombers.
05:01The Germans reformed in seconds.
05:03Professional.
05:04Experienced.
05:05They read the American tactic instantly.
05:07Four 109s peeled off toward Schilling.
05:10Six more went after his wingman.
05:11The rest pressed on toward the bombers.
05:14Schilling rolled inverted and pulled through hard.
05:16The P-47 could out-dive anything in the Luftwaffe inventory.
05:20He dropped 4,000 feet in 12 seconds.
05:23Leveled at 15,000.
05:25Six G's crushed him into the seat.
05:27Vision narrowed to a tunnel.
05:29Blood drained from his skull.
05:30The thunderbolt held together.
05:32One Bf 109 stayed with him through the dive.
05:35Good pilot.
05:36Disciplined.
05:37Opened fire at 600 yards.
05:3920mm cannon shells detonated around the cockpit.
05:43Heavier than American .50 caliber.
05:45Far more destructive.
05:46Schilling broke hard right.
05:48The 109 overshot.
05:49Three seconds.
05:50The German hung directly ahead.
05:52Perfect firing solution.
05:54Schilling pressed the trigger.
05:55All eight guns.
05:57The 109's engine blew apart.
05:59Black smoke erupted from the cowling.
06:02Canopy separated.
06:03The pilot tumbled out at 14,000 feet.
06:06One down.
06:06Then Schilling's cockpit came apart.
06:08Debris from the destroyed 109 slammed into his P-47 at combined closing speed.
06:14Fragments of German aircraft punched through the windscreen.
06:18Something hit the right wing.
06:19The thunderbolt shuddered violently.
06:21Oil pressure plummeted.
06:23Coolant temperature spiked.
06:24A second 109 was already on him.
06:27Schilling pulled up into cloud cover at 12,000 feet.
06:30Lost visual.
06:31His engine was running rough.
06:33Temperature climbing past every limit.
06:35Maybe ten minutes before it tore itself apart.
06:38Radio crackled.
06:39His wingman's voice.
06:41Four Germans on him.
06:42Schilling broke through the cloud base.
06:44Found his wingman three miles east.
06:46Surrounded.
06:47He drove his crippled thunderbolt straight toward the fight.
06:50Engine temperature pinned on red line.
06:52The airplane was dying underneath him.
06:54But his wingman was alone out there against four.
06:57He reached the fight at 11.18.
06:59Fired on a 109 diving at his wingman from above.
07:03Missed.
07:03But the German broke off.
07:05Schilling's engine started trailing smoke.
07:07White first.
07:08Then black.
07:09Fire warning lights snapped on.
07:11His wingman killed one.
07:12The rest scattered.
07:14Two Americans turned west.
07:16Toward England.
07:17280 miles of open sky between them and safety.
07:21Schilling's oil pressure hit zero at 1124.
07:24Engine temperature blew past every limit.
07:27The Pratt and Whitney radial was destroying itself from the inside.
07:30But it kept turning.
07:32Kept dragging seven tons of steel toward the English Channel.
07:35They crossed into Allied airspace at 1141.
07:38Schilling's engine locked solid at 1147.
07:41Dead.
07:42He glided the silent thunderbolt toward an emergency strip near the coast.
07:46Set it down with no power.
07:47No hydraulics.
07:49The landing gear buckled on rollout.
07:51Schilling climbed out and walked away.
07:53His wingman landed safely ten minutes later.
07:55Two American fighters against 35 Germans.
07:58They had broken the attack run.
08:00One confirmed kill.
08:02Three more probably damaged.
08:04An entire bomber formation still in the air.
08:06The Distinguished Service Cross citation arrived six weeks later.
08:10But that night, Schilling sat in the officers club at Boxted with Frankenstein's pistol
08:15still strapped under his arm.
08:16Eight months left in his combat tour, and the Luftwaffe was not getting weaker.
08:21The Distinguished Service Cross arrived in May 1944.
08:25Schilling pinned it to his uniform, walked to the flight line, and flew another combat
08:29mission that same afternoon.
08:31Twenty-six years old, second in command of the deadliest fighter group in the 8th Air Force,
08:36the 56th fighter group had destroyed more enemy aircraft than any other American fighter
08:41unit in Europe.
08:42By summer 1944, the group's kill count exceeded 400 German planes.
08:48Colonel Hubert Zemke commanded.
08:50Schilling ran daily operations, planned missions, managed pilots, handled logistics.
08:56Together they built something the Luftwaffe learned to dread.
08:58Zemke named the group the Wolfpack.
09:01The philosophy was simple.
09:02No defensive flying.
09:04No waiting.
09:05No hesitation.
09:06When German fighters appeared, the 56th attacked first.
09:09Always.
09:10Every time.
09:11Shilling was the embodiment of that philosophy.
09:14But his contribution went beyond the cockpit.
09:16He spent every free hour between missions modifying equipment, redesigning gunsight calibrations,
09:22testing different ammunition belt loading sequences, experimenting with external fuel
09:27tank configurations, tearing things apart to figure out how to make them better.
09:31Other pilots called him the Gadget Man.
09:33Zemke said David was up to some engineering gadget all the time.
09:37Most commanding officers would have told him to stop tinkering and focus on flying.
09:41Zemke let him work.
09:43Because those gadgets produced results.
09:45Schilling's fuel tank modifications extended P-47 combat range by 40 miles.
09:5040 miles deeper into Germany, 40 miles further the escorts could protect the bombers.
09:56His ammunition loading pattern reduced gun jams by 15%.
09:59Small numbers on paper, but in a dogfight, a jammed gun meant a dead pilot.
10:0515% fewer jams meant pilots coming home who otherwise wouldn't.
10:09On August 12, 1944, Zemke transferred to command the 479th Fighter Group.
10:16Schilling took his place.
10:1725 years old, Lieutenant Colonel, commanding 120 pilots and 75 P-47 Thunderbolts.
10:25Promoted to full colonel on October 1st, aged 25 years, 9 months.
10:30One of the youngest full colonels in the entire Army Air Forces.
10:34By then, he was flying a P-47-coded LMS, his personal aircraft.
10:40Shark teeth painted across the cowl, red noseband.
10:44On the port side, a cartoon character called Hairless Joe from the Dogpatch comics.
10:49Club-wielding, savage.
10:51The name fit the pilot as much as the plane.
10:54Schilling flew Hairless Joe on every mission after July 1944.
10:58His ground crew maintained it like a weapon.
11:01Every system checked twice.
11:03Every gun bore cleaned after each flight.
11:05Oil changed every ten hours.
11:08The P-47 became an extension of Schilling himself.
11:11His hands on the stick.
11:13His eyes through the gun sight.
11:14His instincts wired into the airframe.
11:17His victory count climbed steadily.
11:19Two Folkwolf 190s on September 21st.
11:23One Messerschmitt 109 on October 4th.
11:26Another 109 on November 2nd.
11:29By December, 17 and a half aerial victories.
11:33Third ranking ace in the 56 fighter group.
11:36Behind only Francis Gabreski with 28 and Robert Johnson with 27.
11:41Then December changed everything.
11:43On the 16th, German forces launched a massive offensive through the Ardennes forest.
11:48200,000 troops.
11:5012 Panzer divisions.
11:52The largest German attack since the fall of France in 1940.
11:56The Americans called it the Battle of the Bulge.
11:59Weather shut down Allied airpower for the first week.
12:02Heavy fog.
12:03Snow.
12:04Cloud ceiling below 500 feet.
12:07German forces advanced 40 miles in six days.
12:10American infantry fought desperate defensive actions in frozen forests.
12:15Without air support, they were outnumbered and outgunned.
12:19The 56 fighter group sat at Boxsted Airfield in England.
12:22Grounded.
12:23Schilling watched the weather reports come in.
12:26Watched German armor push deeper into Belgium.
12:29Watched American casualty figures climb.
12:31And could not fly.
12:32Fog smothered the English Channel.
12:35Clouds sealed France shut.
12:36Visibility under one mile across most of Europe.
12:39The Germans had planned their offensive around the weather.
12:42They knew Allied air superiority would crush them in clear skies.
12:46So they attacked when there were no clear skies.
12:48For seven days the weather held.
12:50German spearheads reached within four miles of the Meuse River.
12:54One more breakthrough would split the Allied armies in two.
12:57Some officers feared it could force a negotiated peace.
13:00Then on December 22nd, meteorologists detected a high pressure system sliding south from Russia.
13:06Cold air.
13:07Clear skies.
13:08The weather would break on December 23rd.
13:11Schilling called his squadron commanders together that evening.
13:14Briefing at 0500.
13:15Target.
13:16German fighters supporting the bulge offensive.
13:19Expected opposition.
13:20Over 100 Luftwaffe aircraft.
13:22The largest air battle of the winter was 12 hours away.
13:26And Schilling intended to lead it personally from the cockpit of Hairless Joe.
13:30At 0615 on December 23rd, 1944.
13:34The fog over Boxsted airfield dissolved for the first time in seven days.
13:38Ground crews had worked through the night.
13:41Every P-47 in the 56th fighter group was armed, fueled, and sitting on the line ready to go.
13:47Schilling walked to Hairless Joe in full flight gear.
13:5028 degrees Fahrenheit.
13:52Frost on the grass.
13:53Clear skies from horizon to horizon.
13:56Visibility unlimited.
13:58The kind of weather fighter pilots pray for.
14:00The kind of weather that kills.
14:02The mission briefing had been blunt.
14:04Luftwaffe fighters were providing cover for panzer columns pushing toward the Meuse River.
14:08German command had thrown everything into the air.
14:11Fighter units stripped from airfield defense.
14:14Training squadrons pressed into combat.
14:16Night fighter crews flying daylight missions for the first time.
14:20Desperate measures from a desperate command.
14:22Intelligence estimated 100 to 150 German aircraft would be airborne over the bulge.
14:28Messerschmitt Bf 109s.
14:30Folk Wolf 190s.
14:32Some Messerschmitt 410 twin-engine destroyers.
14:36The largest concentration of Luftwaffe fighters since D-Day.
14:40The 56th would fly alongside three other P-47 groups.
14:44160 American Thunderbolts total.
14:46The job was straightforward.
14:48Find the Germans.
14:49Destroy them.
14:50Keep them off the bombers hitting German supply lines.
14:53Schilling climbed into Hairless Joe's cockpit at 0642.
14:57Strapped the harness tight.
14:59Checked instruments.
15:00Oil pressure steady.
15:01Fuel tanks full.
15:03All eight guns loaded.
15:04400 rounds per gun.
15:063200 rounds total.
15:08Engines start at 0648.
15:10The Pratt & Whitney radial coughed once.
15:13Twice.
15:14Then caught and roared to life.
15:162,000 horsepower shaking the entire airframe.
15:19He let it warm for three minutes.
15:21Checked magnetos.
15:22Propeller pitch.
15:24Everything where it should be.
15:25The 56th launched in flights of four.
15:2864 P-47s rolling down the runway one after another.
15:31They formed up over the airfield at 8,000 feet.
15:35Turned southeast.
15:36Toward Belgium.
15:37Toward the bulge.
15:38Toward whatever was waiting on the other side of the channel.
15:41They crossed the water at 0723.
15:44France unrolled beneath them.
15:46Snow-covered fields.
15:48Frozen rivers.
15:49Roads choked with military vehicles crawling toward the front.
15:52At 0751, they crossed into Belgium.
15:56Schilling could see the war from 20,000 feet.
15:59Smoke columns from ground fighting 30 miles ahead.
16:02Artillery flashes.
16:03Burning vehicles.
16:05The bulge was visible from the air.
16:07A massive dent punched into the Allied line.
16:10The radio broke the silence at 0804.
16:13Multiple bogeys.
16:14Bearing 120.
16:15Angels 22.
16:17Fighter command estimated 40-plus contacts.
16:20Schilling banked right.
16:22The entire 56th followed.
16:2464 Thunderbolts turning as one.
16:27He climbed to 24,000 feet.
16:29Altitude advantage.
16:30The first rule of fighter combat.
16:32Take the high ground and never give it up.
16:35At 0811, he saw them.
16:37Not 40.
16:38The estimate was wrong.
16:4080.
16:40Maybe 90.
16:41A wall of German fighters stretching 5 miles across the sky.
16:45BF 109s in the lead echelon.
16:48FW 190s stacked behind.
16:50All heading southwest toward American bomber formations.
16:54This was not a fighter sweep.
16:56This was not a patrol.
16:57This was the Luftwaffe throwing every aircraft it had left into one coordinated offensive.
17:03A final attempt to claw back air superiority over the battlefield.
17:07Schilling scanned his own formation.
17:09All 64 P-47s in position.
17:12He looked back at the German mass.
17:1480 to 90 aircraft against his 64.
17:17Better arithmetic than April 9th.
17:20Much better than 2 against 35.
17:22He armed his guns.
17:24Altitude 24,000 feet.
17:26Germans at 22,000.
17:282,000 feet of height advantage.
17:31Sun behind him.
17:32Every tactical edge a fighter pilot could ask for.
17:35The Germans had not seen them.
17:37Still climbing.
17:38Still focused on reaching the bombers ahead.
17:40Schilling rolled hairless Joe inverted.
17:42Pulled the stick back.
17:44Tipped the nose toward the German formation.
17:46Behind him, 63 Thunderbolts followed their commander into a dive.
17:51The Germans spotted them at 0813.
17:53Two seconds too late.
17:55The Wolfpack was already falling on them.
17:57Already committed.
17:58Already bringing 512 .50 caliber machine guns to bear on a formation that had no idea what was coming.
18:05Schilling opened fire at 1,000 yards.
18:078.50 calibers.
18:09The tracer stream hit a Messerschmitt Bf 109, climbing through 21,000 feet.
18:14The German pilot never saw anything.
18:17Rounds punched through the wing route.
18:19The fuel tank ruptured and blew.
18:21The aircraft came apart in mid-air.
18:23No parachute.
18:24One down.
18:260814.
18:27Then the sky tore open.
18:2964 P-47s smashed into the German formation from above.
18:34Luftwaffe fighters broke in every direction.
18:36Some dove.
18:37Some turned into the attack.
18:39Most were just trying to stay alive through the first 10 seconds.
18:42Schilling pulled out of his dive at 19,000 feet.
18:466 Gs.
18:47Vision collapsed to a narrow circle.
18:50Blood left his brain.
18:51He fought to stay conscious.
18:53Held the stick.
18:54The Thunderbolt groaned but held together.
18:56He blinked his vision back and found another target.
18:59Fock Wolf 190 at his 11 o'clock.
19:02One mile out.
19:03Turning hard left, trying to slide behind a P-47.
19:07The American pilot saw the 190 coming.
19:09Rolled inverted.
19:11Dove away clean.
19:12The P-47 could outdive anything the Germans had.
19:15That left the 190 hanging in the turn.
19:18Exposed.
19:19No energy.
19:19No escape.
19:21Schilling closed to 600 yards.
19:23Pressed the trigger.
19:24The 190's canopy blew inward.
19:26The pilot went limp against his harness.
19:28The aircraft rolled over and began a slow death spiral.
19:3217,000 feet of empty air beneath it.
19:35Two down.
19:3608-16.
19:38The battle was everywhere now.
19:39Aircraft diving.
19:41Climbing.
19:42Crossing.
19:42Firing.
19:43P-47s tangled with BF-109s and FW-190s across miles of sky.
19:50Contrails carved through every turn.
19:52Tracers stitched across every gap.
19:54Black smoke columns marked every kill.
19:57Each one a man's life ending in fire.
20:00Schilling registered at least 12 German aircraft already destroyed.
20:04Three P-47s were damaged and heading west.
20:07One Thunderbolt trailed heavy smoke but stayed airborne.
20:10The numbers were tilting American.
20:12But the Germans were not breaking.
20:14They fought harder.
20:15More recklessly.
20:16This was not a routine patrol.
20:18This was the last of the Luftwaffe.
20:20Every pilot.
20:21Every machine.
20:23Thrown into the sky for one final gamble.
20:25A BF-109 cut across Schilling's nose at 500 yards.
20:29Classic deflection shot.
20:31He led the target.
20:33Squeezed.
20:34All eight guns.
20:35The 109's engine detonated.
20:37The pilot punched out instantly.
20:39Parachute opened at 18,000 feet.
20:42Three down.
20:4308-19.
20:45Five minutes of combat.
20:46Three kills.
20:47And Schilling's brain was still tracking everything.
20:50Friendlies.
20:51Bandits.
20:52Altitude.
20:53Airspeed.
20:54Ammunition.
20:55Three kills meant roughly 900 rounds expended.
20:582,300 remaining.
20:59Enough for five or six more engagements at current rate.
21:02A 190 appeared high at his two o'clock.
21:05Diving fast toward a damaged P-47 limping below.
21:09The American pilot was trailing smoke.
21:11Wounded aircraft.
21:12Easy prey.
21:14Schilling hauled the stick back.
21:15Climbed 1,000 feet in eight seconds.
21:18Rolled inverted.
21:19Dropped onto the 190's tail from directly above.
21:22The German was locked on the crippled thunderbolt.
21:25Tunnel vision.
21:26Didn't check six.
21:27Didn't see Schilling settling in behind him.
21:29Didn't see eight gun barrels tracking his aircraft.
21:32Didn't see the tracers until they were already tearing through his fuselage.
21:36Three second burst.
21:38Rounds hit just behind the cockpit.
21:40The 190 snapped in half.
21:42Front section tumbled forward.
21:44Engine still spinning.
21:45Rear section fell away in a flat spin.
21:47Two pieces of what had been a fighter aircraft three seconds ago.
21:51Four down.
21:5208-21.
21:53Seven minutes of combat.
21:55Four confirmed kills.
21:57Schilling's score jumped from 17.5 to 21.5 victories.
22:01Three and a half away from Robert Johnson's 27.
22:04Four and a half from Francis Gabreski's 28.
22:07But the fight was far from over.
22:09He scanned the sky.
22:1030 to 40 German fighters still airborne.
22:13Still engaged.
22:14Still dangerous.
22:15His radio crackled.
22:17A squadron commander reported a second massive dogfight five miles southwest.
22:22Another 40 Luftwaffe aircraft engaging P-47s from a different group.
22:26This was not one battle.
22:28This was a dozen battles raging simultaneously across 50 square miles of sky over the Ardennes.
22:34Schilling checked his fuel.
22:35Half remaining.
22:3720 minutes of combat.
22:38Ammunition down to 2,300 rounds.
22:41Still enough.
22:42He spotted a 190 at 10 o'clock.
22:442,000 yards.
22:46Turning toward a flight of P-47s.
22:48Schilling pushed the throttle forward.
22:50Hairless Joe surged toward kill number five.
22:52The Focke-Wulf 190 was diving on three P-47s, flying in tight formation.
22:58The German pilot had positioned himself perfectly.
23:01High 6 o'clock.
23:03Dead astern.
23:04Closing fast.
23:05The Americans had no idea he was there.
23:08Schilling dove steeper.
23:09Hairless Joe blew past 400 miles per hour.
23:13The airframe vibrated.
23:15Control surfaces went heavy.
23:16But the P-47 was built for this.
23:197 tons of steel that could absorb speed and punishment that would rip a lighter aircraft to shreds.
23:25The 190 opened fire on the lead P-47.
23:2820mm cannon.
23:30Schilling saw the tracer's arc toward his wingman.
23:32800 yards.
23:34Still too far for an accurate shot.
23:36He closed the gap.
23:38600 yards.
23:39Schilling put the 190 dead center in his gun sight.
23:43Calculated deflection.
23:44Adjusted for the 30 degree dive angle.
23:47For air speed.
23:48For gravity drop.
23:49Exhaled.
23:50Fired.
23:51All eight guns.
23:533 second burst.
23:54Roughly 240 rounds.
23:56The 190's left wing tore off at the root.
24:00Clean separation.
24:01The aircraft snapped right instantly.
24:03The pilot fought the stick.
24:05Useless.
24:06You cannot fly half an airplane.
24:08The 190 entered a flat spin.
24:1117,000 feet.
24:1316.
24:1315.
24:14The pilot finally blew his canopy and bailed at 14,000.
24:185 down.
24:200824.
24:2110 minutes since the first dive.
24:23David Schilling was now an ace in a day.
24:25Only 38 Army Air Force pilots achieved that distinction during the entire Second World War.
24:31Five aerial victories in a single mission.
24:33The rarest accomplishment a fighter pilot could earn.
24:36Rarer than the Medal of Honor for aviators.
24:39And Schilling had just done it in 10 minutes over the Ardennes in December.
24:42His total score stood at 22 and a half.
24:46Sixth ranking ace in the 8th Air Force.
24:48Fourth among pilots still flying combat.
24:51Gabreski and Johnson had already completed their tours and gone home.
24:54Only two active fighter pilots in the entire theater had more kills than Schilling at that moment.
24:59But he was not counting victories.
25:01He was counting fuel.
25:0340% remaining.
25:05Ammunition down to 1,800 rounds.
25:07Maybe 20 minutes of combat time before he had to turn for home.
25:11Below him, the German formation was disintegrating.
25:14Luftwaffe fighters were pulling east, running for their bases inside Germany.
25:18The Americans owned this piece of sky now.
25:21Schilling looked down, counted impact craters on the snow-covered ground.
25:2523 columns of black smoke rising from the Belgian countryside.
25:29German aircraft.
25:31American aircraft.
25:32Each crater a cockpit.
25:33Each column of smoke a pilot who did not get out.
25:36Some had bailed.
25:38Parachutes dotted the landscape.
25:40Most had not.
25:41High-speed impacts at low altitude leave no time to reach for the ejection handle.
25:46His radio crackled with squadron reports.
25:4861st Fighter Squadron.
25:5011 confirmed.
25:5262nd Fighter Squadron.
25:5313 confirmed.
25:5463rd Fighter Squadron.
25:578 confirmed.
25:5832 German aircraft destroyed in a single mission.
26:0132 kills.
26:02The 56th Fighter Group's greatest single day of the war.
26:06That number pushed the group's total to 807 enemy aircraft destroyed.
26:10Air and ground kills combined.
26:13The first American fighter group in the European theater to break 800.
26:16A record that would stand.
26:18Schilling called for formation.
26:20The surviving P-47s assembled at 20,000 feet.
26:23He counted them in.
26:2558 Thunderbolts.
26:266 missing.
26:273 shot down over Belgium.
26:293 more damaged and limping home on their own.
26:32The formation banked northwest.
26:34England.
26:35Boxted.
26:36Debriefing.
26:36Whatever came next.
26:38Schilling's hands were trembling on the stick.
26:40Adrenaline draining out of his bloodstream.
26:4210 minutes of combat.
26:445 kills.
26:4522 and a half total.
26:47A second Distinguished Service Cross already earned, though the paperwork wouldn't arrive for weeks.
26:52They crossed the English Channel at 09.15.
26:55The White Cliffs of Dover appeared through the haze.
26:58Boxted was 40 miles northwest.
27:00Schilling brought the formation down.
27:028,000.
27:036,000.
27:054,000.
27:06He set Hairless Joe down at 09.38.
27:09Smooth touchdown despite 1,400 rounds fired and multiple high-G maneuvers.
27:15The ground crew swarmed the aircraft.
27:17Found three small-caliber bullet holes in the left wing.
27:20Machine gun rounds from a 109.
27:23Nothing that mattered.
27:24Schilling pulled himself out of the cockpit.
27:26Walked to debriefing.
27:28Sat across from an intelligence officer.
27:30Reported five confirmed kills.
27:32Times.
27:33Locations.
27:34Aircraft types.
27:35Witnesses for each engagement.
27:37The officer wrote everything down.
27:39Looked up.
27:39Said congratulations.
27:41Schilling was officially an ace in a day.
27:43One of 38 men in the entire war.
27:46Schilling nodded.
27:47Then asked about the three pilots who went down.
27:50Intelligence had nothing yet.
27:52Search and rescue was out looking.
27:53Two had been seen under parachutes.
27:56The third had gone in with his aircraft.
27:58Schilling stood up.
27:59Walked to the officers club.
28:01December 23, 1944.
28:04Eight months left in his tour.
28:06The Luftwaffe had fewer pilots tonight than it had this morning.
28:09But it still had pilots.
28:11Schilling flew his last combat mission on January 5, 1945.
28:16Hairless Joe carried him over Germany one final time.
28:19Clear skies.
28:21Empty skies.
28:22No enemy contact.
28:23The Luftwaffe was broken.
28:25Fuel reserves gone.
28:27Experienced pilots dead or sitting in prisoner of war camps.
28:30Training programs collapsed.
28:32There was nothing left to fight.
28:34He handed over command of the 56th Fighter Group on January 27.
28:38Twenty-six years old.
28:40Full colonel.
28:41One hundred thirty-two combat missions.
28:43Twenty-two and a half aerial victories.
28:46Two distinguished service crosses.
28:48Eight distinguished flying crosses.
28:50Nineteen air medals.
28:51Under his and Zemke's leadership, the 56th had destroyed 677 enemy aircraft in aerial combat.
28:58More than any other fighter group in the 8th Air Force.
29:01The Wolfpack had earned every letter of its name.
29:04Germany surrendered on May 8, 1945.
29:08Most combat pilots took off their uniforms.
29:10Went home.
29:11Started families.
29:12Found jobs selling insurance or managing factories.
29:16Tried to sleep without dreaming about flak and tracers.
29:19Schilling stayed.
29:19The Army Air Forces became the United States Air Force in September 1947.
29:25Schilling stayed.
29:26Propeller fighters were finished.
29:28Jet engines were the future.
29:30And the future needed pilots who understood it.
29:32In 1948, Schilling took command of the 56th Fighter Group for the second time.
29:37But now, his pilots flew Lockheed P-80 Shooting Stars.
29:41America's first operational jet fighter.
29:44460 miles per hour.
29:45Faster than any propeller aircraft ever built.
29:48A different world from the Thunderbolt.
29:50That summer, the Soviet Union sealed off West Berlin.
29:54Every road.
29:55Every rail line.
29:56Every canal.
29:57Two and a half million civilians cut off from food, fuel, and medicine.
30:02The United States answered with Operation Vittles.
30:05The Berlin Airlift.
30:06Transport aircraft flying around the clock.
30:09But the airlift corridors needed protection.
30:11Schilling deployed the 56th to Germany in July, 1948.
30:16Mission name.
30:17Fox Able.
30:18First mass deployment of American jet fighters across the Atlantic.
30:22A message to Moscow.
30:23But they shipped the jets by cargo hold.
30:26Loaded them on freighters.
30:27Sailed them across.
30:29The aircraft couldn't fly the distance.
30:31Jets burned fuel too fast.
30:33Range too short.
30:34No way to refuel in the air.
30:36Schilling looked at that problem the way he looked at every problem.
30:39The same mindset that built Frankenstein's pistol.
30:42The same instinct that redesigned fuel tanks and ammunition belts.
30:46If something didn't work, you engineered a solution.
30:49Jets could cross the Atlantic.
30:51They just needed fuel on the way.
30:53By 1950, the British had developed probe and drogue aerial refueling.
30:58A tanker trailed a hose behind it.
31:00The fighter extended a probe.
31:02Connected in mid-air.
31:04Transferred fuel at altitude.
31:06Simple concept.
31:07But nobody had ever attempted it across an ocean.
31:10Schilling volunteered.
31:12Planned the route himself.
31:13Three refueling points.
31:15A Lancaster bomber tanker over Scotland.
31:18A Lincoln bomber tanker over Iceland.
31:20A KB-29 Superfortress tanker over Labrador.
31:24Three connections.
31:25Three chances for something to go catastrophically wrong at altitude over open water.
31:30On September 22, 1950, Schilling took off from Royal Air Force Manston in an F-84E Thunderjet.
31:38Colonel William Ritchie flew a second F-84E alongside him.
31:42Two jets.
31:43Pointed west.
31:44Nothing but the Atlantic Ocean ahead.
31:47First refueling.
31:48Prestwick, Scotland.
31:49Lancaster tanker.
31:51Schilling connected.
31:52Fuel transferred.
31:53Clean disconnect.
31:55He continued west.
31:56Second refueling.
31:57Iceland.
31:58Lincoln tanker.
31:59Schilling connected again.
32:01Successful transfer.
32:02Ritchie connected too, but his probe cracked during the process.
32:06Small fracture in the fitting.
32:08He pressed on anyway.
32:09Third refueling.
32:11Offshore Labrador.
32:12KB-29 tanker.
32:14Schilling hooked up without incident.
32:16Full tanks.
32:17Ritchie attempted his connection.
32:19The damaged probe wouldn't seal.
32:21Fuel sprayed into the slipstream instead of flowing into his tanks.
32:25He tried again.
32:26Same result.
32:27The fitting was finished.
32:28Ritchie's fuel gauges dropped toward zero over Labrador.
32:32He ejected at 12,000 feet.
32:34Landed safely.
32:35Search and rescue picked him up within two hours.
32:38Schilling flew on alone.
32:40Across Canada.
32:41Across Maine.
32:42Descending toward Limestone Air Force Base.
32:45Ten hours and eight minutes after leaving England, he touched down.
32:48First non-stop transatlantic crossing by a jet fighter in history.
32:53Another first.
32:54Another boundary broken by the same man.
32:56The Harman Trophy arrived in 1951.
32:59International Aviation's highest honor.
33:01It joined his two distinguished service crosses.
33:04His eight distinguished flying crosses.
33:06And his 19 air medals in a collection that was running out of wall space.
33:10In 1952, he did it again.
33:13Fox Peter won.
33:14First non-stop jet crossing of the Pacific.
33:17England to Japan via aerial refueling.
33:20Another ocean.
33:21Another record.
33:22The Air Force Association created a permanent award for outstanding flight achievement.
33:27They named it the David C. Schilling Award.
33:29Given annually.
33:30Still given today.
33:31By 1956, Schilling was assigned to Strategic Air Command's 7th Air Division in England.
33:37Inspector General.
33:39Staff work.
33:39No more cockpits.
33:41No more combat.
33:42The war was 11 years behind him.
33:44He was 37 years old.
33:46On August 13, 1956, he flew one last time.
33:50A B-47 Stratojet.
33:52Staff orientation flight.
33:54Routine.
33:55Uneventful.
33:55He landed safely and walked away from the aircraft.
33:58The next day, he climbed into his Cadillac Allard sports car and drove toward Royal Air Force Lakenheath.
34:04The road between Royal Air Force Lakenheath and Royal Air Force Mildenhall was narrow.
34:10Two lanes.
34:11Stone walls tight on both sides.
34:13An English country road cutting through Suffolk farmland.
34:16Schilling had driven it dozens of times.
34:19August 14, 1956.
34:2272 degrees.
34:23Clear skies.
34:24A perfect English summer afternoon.
34:26Schilling was behind the wheel of his Cadillac Allard sports car.
34:30High-performance machine.
34:31Built for racing.
34:32He was part of a racing stable with General Curtis LeMay and several other officers.
34:37Sports Car Club of America events.
34:40The Allard could reach 120 miles per hour.
34:43It was built for speed.
34:44The narrow roads of Suffolk were not.
34:46At approximately 1400 hours, Schilling approached a stone bridge near the village of Eriswell.
34:52Small bridge.
34:53Stone railings on both sides.
34:55A stream running underneath.
34:57The kind of structure that had been there for a hundred years and would be there for a hundred more.
35:01His cap caught the wind.
35:03Started to lift off his head.
35:05He reached up to grab it.
35:07Reflex.
35:07The kind of thing a person does without thinking.
35:10A fraction of a second.
35:11The car skidded sideways.
35:13Hit the stone railing.
35:14The impact split the vehicle in two at the driver's seat.
35:17The front section dropped into the stream below.
35:20The rear half stayed on the bridge.
35:21David Schilling died instantly.
35:2437 years old.
35:25The day before, he had flown a B-47 Stratojet.
35:29Routine staff flight.
35:30Safe landing.
35:31Walked away from the aircraft under his own power.
35:34Survived 132 combat missions over Nazi Germany.
35:37Survived a dead engine over the English Channel.
35:40Survived diving alone into 35 Luftwaffe fighters.
35:44Survived 10 minutes of combat that made him an ace in a day.
35:47And then a country road.
35:48A stone bridge.
35:50A cap in the wind.
35:51The Air Force investigation found no mechanical failure.
35:54No external cause.
35:56An accident.
35:57A moment of inattention on a narrow road.
36:00That was all.
36:00They buried him at Arlington National Cemetery.
36:03Full military honors.
36:05The list of decorations read like a history of the air war itself.
36:08Two Distinguished Service Crosses.
36:10Eight Distinguished Flying Crosses.
36:13Nineteen Air Medals.
36:14British Distinguished Flying Cross.
36:16French Croix de Guerre.
36:18The Harman Trophy.
36:19Twenty-two and a half aerial victories.
36:22First Transatlantic Jet Crossing.
36:24First Trans-Pacific Jet Crossing.
36:26The night before the funeral,
36:28the fighter community gathered at the Carleton Hotel in Washington.
36:31Pilots from the 56th Fighter Group.
36:34Aces from the European Theater.
36:36Veterans from the Pacific.
36:37Men who understood what it meant to roll inverted
36:40and dive toward a formation that outnumbered you 10 to 1.
36:44They remembered December 23, 1944.
36:47They remembered the modified pistol.
36:49They remembered Hairless Joe.
36:51They remembered a 25-year-old colonel
36:53who never asked his pilots to do anything he wouldn't do first.
36:57Francis Gabreski came.
36:59Twenty-eight victories.
37:01Hub Zemke came.
37:02Nineteen and a half victories.
37:04Robert Johnson could not attend, but sent his condolences.
37:07They had all flown with Schilling.
37:09They all knew what the 8th Air Force had lost.
37:12On March 15, 1957, Smoky Hill Air Force Base in Salina, Kansas,
37:17was renamed Schilling Air Force Base.
37:20Named for the geology major from Dartmouth,
37:22who became one of the deadliest fighter pilots America ever produced.
37:26The base operated until 1965.
37:29The David C. Schilling Award is still given today by the Air Force Association,
37:33annually, for outstanding flight achievement.
37:37Named for a man who crossed oceans in jets when the world said it could not be done.
37:42Who attacked 35 enemy fighters with one wingman
37:45because 800 men in bomber formations had three minutes to live.
37:48Who carried a homemade automatic pistol because he refused to accept any disadvantage,
37:54no matter how small.
37:55David Carl Schilling rests in Section 8, Site 459, at Arlington National Cemetery.
38:02His wife Georgia died in 1950, age 28.
38:05They lie together.
38:07White headstone.
38:08Simple inscription.
38:09Full military honors for a man who earned every one of them.
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