DURING WORLD WAR II, Polish pilots in Great Britain were famous for showing off their flying skills. One morning I was returning from a flight test and made the mistake of beginning my landing approach at too low a speed. Just as I crossed the airfield, my plane stalled, dropped from 20 feet onto the landing strip and bounced back into the air. I gave it full throttle but the plane leaned onto its left wing, and I was off the runway. In desperation, I cut all power and applied full right brake. The aircraft swung 180 degrees, back onto the landing strip, tail first. The sturdy P-51 was undamaged. “Did you see that plane?” gasped a visiting air commodore. “Not to worry, sir,” the RAF commanding officer replied. “It’s only one of those crazy Poles trying to show off.”

–Contributed to “Humor In Uniform” by Zyg Jelinski

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