[DoolittleRaider]

This all makes me think of the Hollywood movies where an escaped Allied pilot sneaks onto a German airfield, climbs in a fighter, and takes off on his escape flight to the West. He only has seconds to look at and immediately understand the controls, switches, gauges, Start-Up procedure, etc...and he doesn't know how to read any German....and a dozen German guards are racing towards the aircraft.... No Sweat! He flys off into the setting sun to the West! Free at last!


One true story of such an escape was that of Bob Hoover who escaped after 18months or so as a POW in Stalag I, went over to an airfield from which he'd seen for many many months from the Stalag FW-190's conducting operations. Relatively late in the war, he "only" had to fly a short distance to the Netherlands to reach Allied lines.

I think his story is well detailed in various articles and books. I met him several years back and discussed this FW-190 escape. He told me that a fellow USAAF pilot prisoner had flown a captured FW-190 in England (or US??) before he was shot down on a combat mission over Germany. [Hoover was also a test pilot in US (and UK??) before he went into combat]. That other pilot taught Hoover all he could about the FW-190, including specifically the cockpit layout. As I recall, the pilot drew the cockpit for Hoover, in the sand (?) I think?... Thus, Hoover was familiar with the FW190 cockpit, instruments, controls, and start-up procedures, etc, etc...

Therefore, it was somewhat of a Piece of Cake for him. I doubt that any others could have pulled off such a Hollywood escape. Though, probably there were some...

Imagine this, yourself, the very first time you sit in a COD aircraft cockpit with Full CEM...whichever aircraft, LW or RAF...with NO manual of Instruction...and try to start-up in just 2-3 minutes or less, and then takeoff successfully. That would be a challenge for the best of Flight Simmers!