2 US Navy Bailouts VN5D8 Pensacola 1936 and 1937

[paulmcmillan]

In his book The Dive Bombers on Page 77
By Robert Alexander Winston he writes


" A friend of mine was the first cadet to join the Caterpillar Club,
when his fighter went into an inverted spin while he was practicing slow rolls
over Perdido Bay. He fought the plane down to a thousand feet in an unsuccessful effort to
bring it out of the spin, then tripped his safety-belt and took
to his parachute. The plane spun on down, while the pilot
landed in the bay, where he managed to keep afloat by tying
the legs of his khaki trousers together, scooping them full
of air, and using them for water-wings until he was picked
up by a seaplane "

OK So who was this ?

Winston joined US Navy in 1935 and learned to fly through to 1936 when he earned hi US Navy Wings

There are 2 incidents I could find that fit the bill in the time line - I suspect the first (Proctor) based on the dates but I was wondering if anyone could provide more details of the losses and also Proctor Rank ? He may be just Aviation Cadet

1) October 6, 1936

Boeing F4B-2 A-8626
Pilot: Robert Huntington Proctor Jr (later Capt)
Location: Perdido Bay, FL
Squadron: VN5D8



2) 16th July 1937

Boeing F4B-2 A-8793
Pilot: Lt (Jg) Irwin Chase Jr (later Rear Admiral)
Location: Perdido Bay, FL
Squadron: VN5D8

Thanks Paul