That narrowed it down nicely and the answer is obvious.... Erik 'Winkle' Brown, first to many, many things and only Allied pilot to fly the ME163.

SimonCraig, you have a great answer. Winkle was the first in many things. Bu I have to wonder if the answer is quite that simple. Top_Gunn isn't normally that straightforward. Thanks; Ernie P.

An excellent answer, but not the pilot I am looking for, though he might have been if I'd known about him. So here's another clue, which will narrow the field even more:


Looking for the name of a pilot.

1. A well-known pilot who has one of his country's "first pilot to ..." achievements and also one of its "only pilot to ..." accomplishments, both very impressive.

2. Fighter pilot.

3. Before scoring the first of his victories in combat, he caused the loss of two of his own side's aircraft, one of them his own.

Well, that should narrow it down quite a bit. You have a PM, Top_Gunn. Thanks; Ernie P.

Today's clue.

Looking for the name of a pilot.

1. A well-known pilot who has one of his country's "first pilot to ..." achievements and also one of its "only pilot to ..." accomplishments, both very impressive.

2. Fighter pilot.

3. Before scoring the first of his victories in combat, he caused the loss of two of his own side's aircraft, one of them his own.

4. Fought in two wars and was shot down in each of them.

Today's clue.

Looking for the name of a pilot.

1. A well-known pilot who has one of his country's "first pilot to ..." achievements and also one of its "only pilot to ..." accomplishments, both very impressive.

2. Fighter pilot.

3. Before scoring the first of his victories in combat, he caused the loss of two of his own side's aircraft, one of them his own.

4. Fought in two wars and was shot down in each of them.

5. Both times over enemy territory.

Francis Gabreski, just on a whim here.

Close!

Today's clue.

Looking for the name of a pilot.

1. A well-known pilot who has one of his country's "first pilot to ..." achievements and also one of its "only pilot to ..." accomplishments, both very impressive.

2. Fighter pilot.

3. Before scoring the first of his victories in combat, he caused the loss of two of his own side's aircraft, one of them his own.

4. Fought in two wars and was shot down in each of them.

5. Both times over enemy territory.

6. Avoided capture the first time he was shot down, but not the second.

Today's clue.

Looking for the name of a pilot.

1. A well-known pilot who has one of his country's "first pilot to ..." achievements and also one of its "only pilot to ..." accomplishments, both very impressive.

2. Fighter pilot.

3. Before scoring the first of his victories in combat, he caused the loss of two of his own side's aircraft, one of them his own.

4. Fought in two wars and was shot down in each of them.

5. Both times over enemy territory.

6. Avoided capture the first time he was shot down, but not the second.

7. Known, among other things, for unauthorized border crossings.

Hub Zemke, only because he also flew the P-47

Again, close! So here's a bonus clue.

Today's clue.

Looking for the name of a pilot.

1. A well-known pilot who has one of his country's "first pilot to ..." achievements and also one of its "only pilot to ..." accomplishments, both very impressive.

2. Fighter pilot.

3. Before scoring the first of his victories in combat, he caused the loss of two of his own side's aircraft, one of them his own.

4. Fought in two wars and was shot down in each of them.

5. Both times over enemy territory.

6. Avoided capture the first time he was shot down, but not the second.

7. Known, among other things, for unauthorized border crossings.

8. One of the planes he flew was the P-47.

Don Gentile, who flew Spits, T-bolts and Mustangs

Not Gentile, but keep trying. There can't be many pilots who satisfy clues 4, 5, and 6.

I agree; not many. And this particular one survived a lot more. Thanks; Ernie P.

Today's clue.

Looking for the name of a pilot.

1. A well-known pilot who has one of his country's "first pilot to ..." achievements and also one of its "only pilot to ..." accomplishments, both very impressive.

2. Fighter pilot.

3. Before scoring the first of his victories in combat, he caused the loss of two of his own side's aircraft, one of them his own.

4. Fought in two wars and was shot down in each of them.

5. Both times over enemy territory.

6. Avoided capture the first time he was shot down, but not the second.

7. Known, among other things, for unauthorized border crossings.

8. One of the planes he flew was the P-47.

9. Received extremely harsh treatment as a POW.

Top_Gunn; you have a PM. I did a little research about the man I strongly suspect is the subject of your question. And suddenly, I saw something that made me go "Hey; wait a second!" and which makes me wonder if there is a personal connection, though perhaps once removed, with the subject of your question. If there is the connection I suspect, that is 'way,'way cool. Thanks; Ernie P.

Correction for clues 5 and 6 (Thanks, Ernie!):

Looking for the name of a pilot.

1. A well-known pilot who has one of his country's "first pilot to ..." achievements and also one of its "only pilot to ..." accomplishments, both very impressive.

2. Fighter pilot.

3. Before scoring the first of his victories in combat, he caused the loss of two of his own side's aircraft, one of them his own.

4. Fought in two wars and was shot down in each of them.

5. Twice over enemy territory and once over the ocean.

6. Avoided capture the first two times he was shot down, but not the third.

7. Known, among other things, for unauthorized border crossings.

8. One of the planes he flew was the P-47.

9. Received extremely harsh treatment as a POW.

Colonel Walker "Bud" Mahurin

That's the pilot. First American double ace in the European theater and the only American pilot to shoot down an enemy plane in Europe and the Pacific in WWII and in Korea. In Korea, among other things, he, along with Francis Gabreski and others, followed enemy planes beyond the Yalu river into Manchuria. This was something that pilots were "not supposed to do," in the same sense that people are "not supposed to" jaywalk, even if it's late at night and there is no traffic: Everyone knew it was done and that it would be foolish to object, but it wasn't to be admitted.

Before achieving a victory in WWII, Mahurin got too close to a bomber he was escorting and his plane was damaged so badly that he had to bail out; the bomber crashed. He went on to score a number of victories, earning many awards, including the DSC. He was shot down over occupied France by a bomber he had attacked and destroyed but was saved from capture by French partisans. As a result, he was sent to the Pacific, where he flew P-51's, because it was Army policy to transfer people who knew details about the French resistance away from Europe. On one occasion he was shot down over the Pacific by ground fire but was picked up.

In Korea, he flew F-86's. He was shot down by ground fire while strafing a truck, an event which he later said was caused by a sort of "combat fatigue" that took the form of a feeling of invulnerability. He spent 16 months as a POW in appalling conditions, subjected to physical and psychological torture. Eventually he, like a number of other prisoners, signed a confession of instigating germ warfare against North Korea, a confession containing absurd details that would make it plain to any westerner, at least, that it was false. On returning to the US, he and the others who had signed similar documents were denounced by a senator. Perhaps because of this, he was informed that he was low on the list of those eligible for promotion to full Colonel and so he left the Air Force after 16 years' service, not enough for a pension. He did join the Air Force Reserve and eventually retired as a full Colonel.

In his autobiography, Colonel Mahurin mentioned that most of the MIG-15 pilots in Korea were Russians, a fact which is widely known today but which, at the time, was being kept quiet.

A great if occasionally careless pilot who was treated badly by the Air Force.

You're up, Hydro!

I figured it had to be one of four that were shot down over Manchuria, just picked the right one. Give me a bit to come up with something. Back Later:D

Hydro Junkie; please post your question. Thanks; Ernie P.

Okay guys, sorry for the delay but I did finally came up with something. Hopefully it's not a repeat of something prior.
Looking for an aircraft:
1) This plane was designed and built by the same company that built two other legendary aircraft

I can't resist long shots. Thanks; Ernie P.


Answer: The XB-70 Valkyrie


North American Aviation (NAA) was a major American aerospace manufacturer, responsible for a number of historic aircraft, including the T-6 Texan trainer, the P-51 Mustang fighter, the B-25 Mitchell bomber, the F-86 Sabre jet fighter, the X-15 rocket plane, and the XB-70, as well as Apollo Command and Service Module, the second stage of the Saturn V rocket, the Space Shuttle orbiter and the B-1 Lancer. Through a series of mergers and sales, North American Aviation became part of North American Rockwell, which later became Rockwell International and is now part of Boeing.

The North American Aviation XB-70 Valkyrie is the prototype of the B-70 nuclear-armed, deep-penetration strategic bomber for the U.S. Air Force's Strategic Air Command. In the late 1950s North American Aviation designed the Valkyrie bomber as a large, six-engined aircraft capable of reaching Mach 3+ while flying at 70,000 feet (21,000 m).

At these speeds, it was expected that the B-70 would be almost immune to interceptor aircraft, the only effective weapon against bomber aircraft at the time. The bomber would spend only a few minutes over a particular radar station, flying out of its range before the controllers could position their fighters in a suitable location for an interception. Its high speed also made the aircraft difficult to see on the radar displays, and its high altitude flight could not be matched by any contemporary Soviet fighter.

The introduction of the first Soviet surface-to-air missiles in the late 1950s put the near-invulnerability of the B-70 in doubt. In response, the US Air Force (USAF) began flying its missions at low level, where the missile radar's line of sight was limited by local terrain. In this low-level penetration role, the B-70 offered little additional performance over the B-52 it was meant to replace. It was, however, far more expensive and had shorter range. Other alternate missions were proposed, but these were of limited scope. As the strategic role passed from bombers to intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) during the late 1950s, manned bombers were increasingly seen as obsolete.

The USAF eventually gave up fighting for its production, and the B-70 program was canceled in 1961. Development was then turned over to a research program to study the effects of long-duration high-speed flight. As such, two prototype aircraft were built, and designated XB-70A; these aircraft were used for supersonic test-flights during 1964–69. In 1966, one prototype crashed after colliding in mid-air with a smaller jet aircraft; the remaining Valkyrie bomber is in the National Museum of the United States Air Force near Dayton, Ohio.

Nope, that was last time. I'm not crazy enough to repeat the same quiz twice in a row. Time for another clue.
Looking for an aircraft:
1) This plane was designed and built by the same company that built two other legendary aircraft
2) All three aircraft were designed and built to fly long range missions

Oh yeah; I had forgotten that. You see, I have really good memory, but it's also pretty short. Thanks; Ernie P.