Although many were shot down by Allied fighters, the menace continued until the Allies had driven the German ground forces so far back that the V-1s did not have the range to reach England. In those operations, a number of V-1s were captured intact and brought back to the United States for testing. Much of the testing of the V-1s and JB-2s was done at Eglin, for possible use against the Japanese, by the First Experimental Guided Missile Squadron, of which more later.
The captured buzz bombs, as we called them (the British called them doodle bugs), were launched over the Gulf from Santa Rosa Island, a narrow strip of pristine white sand, now filled with high-rise condominiums, between the inland waterway off Choctawhatchee Bay and the Gulf. The fighter test squadron was responsible for providing fighter cover for the buzz bombs until they crashed into the Gulf or were far enough from the shore to no longer pose a threat to the populace. Since the buzz bombs' speed was greater than that of any of the fighters, we were unable to keep up with them in level flight. In order to cover the launches we used two pairs of fighters (P-51s and P-63s). The first two fighters circled at an altitude of about 5,000 feet just inland from the launch site. As the launch countdown began, those fighters began a full-power dive toward the site, timed to be just behind and to either side of the buzz bomb as it was launched. They stayed with the buzz bomb during its short climb to 500 or 1,000 feet. Then they trailed it at full power until their speed began to drop off and they fell out of gun range. At that point, the second pair of fighters, following at about 10,000 feet, would dive down and take up the chase. In that way the fighters were able to stay within firing distance of the buzz bomb until it had reached a safe distance from the coast.
Of course we all hoped for the bomb to malfunction and start to turn so that we could shoot it down. This happened quite often; I shot down two with a P-51, and the next year, flying a P-80, which was faster than the bomb, I shot down two more. The last two had been air-launched from B-17 bombers and were shot down just off the beach as part of our firepower demonstrations. The JB-2s were much faster than the Japanese Oscars and Tojos I was used to fighting, but fortunately, they took no evasive action and never fired back.
I preferred to be in one of the first two fighters so as not to fly so far out over the Gulf. My engine always seemed to run rougher as the shoreline receded and then smooth out again as I approached the beach. Learning firsthand how to ditch a fighter was definitely not one of my goals.
On one launch, in addition to testing the buzz bomb, we were using it as a target to test a new type of proximity fuse. Our rockets were supposed to explode if they passed within about ten feet of the target, destroying the buzz bomb with shrapnel. In addition to the four regular fighters, I was flying a P-47D armed with eight proximity-fused, five-inch High-Velocity Aircraft Rockets (HVARs). I remained at altitude until the second pair of fighters had taken over, then dived to get into position behind the buzz bomb and fire the rockets. Approaching it, I noticed that I was closing too fast and had to S-turn sharply in order to stay behind it. Its autopilot had gone out of whack, causing it to slow down and fly in a nose-high attitude just above stalling speed. I slowed to about the same speed and tried to get into firing position, but the P-47 was at such a high angle of attack that I had to descend well below the buzz bomb to get my gunsight on the target. As I wallowed along I decided to fire before the target spun in on its own accord. I didn't have high hopes of hitting the target, and my fears were realized. None of the rockets got close enough to trigger the fuses. The buzz bomb flew along in a semistall for about fifty more miles before it ran out of fuel and dived into the sea.
On another occasion the buzz bomb ran amok as the fighter pairs were changing positions, leading to what could have been a disaster. It pulled up suddenly to about 5,000 feet, nearly stalled, then made a diving turn down to 500 feet and headed for the shore. The first two fighters were unable to catch up, and the high fighters lost sight of it momentarily against the water. It continued shoreward, but the fighters were unable to fire for fear of hitting someone. They doggedly continued to pursue it inland for about thirty miles until it crashed near De Funiak Springs, a small town northeast of Eglin. We were greatly relieved when the pilots reported that it had crashed in an open area and no one had been hurt. Shortly afterward, we received three separate reports of the crash through the state police, and two of the witnesses said they had seen the pilot bail out before the crash. So much for the accuracy of eyewitness reports.
The experimental guided missile squadron, or XGM, later did some extensive testing of methods for air launching the buzz bombs from B-17s, as I mentioned earlier, leading eventually to the air-launched cruise missiles in use today.
In addition to the buzz-bomb chases, most of the tests I flew while learning the test-pilot trade consisted of delivering some type of ordnance against ground targets. There was a wide variety of targets on the many Eglin ranges, including airplanes, trucks, cars, buildings, concrete bunkers, and groups of foxholes. We used .50-caliber machine guns, 20mm cannon, all types and sizes of bombs and rockets, and napalm. The type and amount of damage inflicted by each attack were carefully measured by specialists at the ranges.
When we dropped bombs or fired rockets to test the accuracy of the sights and delivery techniques, the impact points of each release were measured by triangulation from towers on the three corners of each range. The range controller would inform the pilot, as he circled into position for another pass, of the accuracy of his previous effort. One day I was firing five-inch HVARs in pairs from a P-51 at a ground target to test a new sight. I had fired four of the ten rockets on two passes and was starting my turn onto the target for the third pass when the controller radioed that my last rockets had been three feet over and one foot left of the target. I replied, ''Roger," but instead of pressing the microphone button on the throttle with my left thumb, I pressed the rocket firing button on the stick with my right thumb. Two rockets blasted off in the general direction of one of the range towers. Fortunately, they missed it by a wide margin, but apparently I was shaken up much more than the controller, because he came on the air and calmly said, "Your last rockets were one half mile short and one mile to the right." I apologized and subsequently made certain that the rocket arming switch was turned off between passes.
A short time later Major Muldoon called me in and said that he had received a request from Tyndall Field, an AAF field about sixty miles to the east on the Gulf coast near Panama City, Florida, to make a night napalm drop as a demonstration for an ordnance orientation course. A P-38 had been loaded with two 150-gallon tanks of napalm, and I was to fly it to Tyndall, contact the lieutenant in charge, make the drop at the prescribed time, and return to Eglin. Accordingly, in the late afternoon, I climbed into the P-38, flew to Tyndall, and went into operations to find the ordnance officer. He was waiting there and seemed excited that we had acceded to his request. He had a pilot, a P-38, and 300 gallons of napalm at his disposal.
I told the lieutenant that I wanted to see the target before the demonstration. Much to my surprise, he drove me to a vacant field, 150 feet square, in the middle of the barracks area. It was lighted and lined with bleachers for lectures and demonstrations. He blithely said, "I want you to drop the tanks in the middle of this lot when I finish my lecture. The tower will notify you."
"Lieutenant," I exclaimed, "you must be out of your mind. I don't know if your lecture will be done well, but I know your students will be well done if I drop the napalm here. It will fry everyone in these bleachers and burn up half the base!"