Pilots with tin legs

Postwar…
Film pilot Frank Tallman eventually lost his leg after a go-cart mishap.*
He later requalified for all of his previous FAA ratings….single, multi, helicopter, seaplane, sailplane, hot air baloon, blimp…etc. I believe he was the only one-legged pilot ever to do so.
He later went on to do the flying for The Great Waldo Pepper, Catch 22, Murphy’s War and Black Sheep Squadron and others.

*His partner Paul Mantz then took his place doing the flying for the original
Flight of the Phoenix…and was killed.

Stormbird 262 –
I have only just come back to this thread. The name you were looking for would be James Maclachlan, 261 Squadron. See “One-Armed Mac” by Brian Cull and Roland Symons ..
Cheers

Have not found the one armed Malta dude just yet!!!!!!!!!!

BUT I VIL!!!!!!!!

Fascinating thread.
I met a WWII veteran at the weekend who had lost an eye in a crash but returned to flight after undergoing experimental plastic surgery. Yet I lost my PPL to a rare sight condition even though I still have both eyes.
It demonstrates the need of the country at that time. If a pilot could show they could still fly, then they were needed back in the air.

Interesting stuff guy’s

Now I’m sure I read of the dude getting his arm blown off over Malta,

In Warby’s War!

Got me going again now, I know someone took him straight up after he got out of hospital, and could fly well with one arm, he did later get a falsey arm I think.

He went back to serve in the UK.

Not sure if he survived the War!

I get digging again!!!!!!!!!!!!

Capt. Roman Grzanka had lost one leg in a flying accident in SPAD-61 fighter in 1930s. During the war he got to Britain. He was a ferry pilot during 1940-41, and then volunteered for operational flying. He was posted in 1942 to the night fighting 307 (Polish) Squadron. He was killed in accident of Mosquito NF.II DD644 EW-Y on 27 June 1943.

On 18 April 1944 Spitfire VC EE643 PK-R crashed at Coolham while taking off. The aeroplane was going to be ferried away from 315 Sqn as the unit converted to Mustangs. The ferry pilot was 1st Officer R. G. Baker, and the accident card recorded ‘pilot had an artificial leg’.

Do I remember someone asking about pilots (other than DB) who had artificial legs a while back? Damned if I’m going to trawl all through the two DB threads to try and find it :p

In reading up for another thread I came across a reference to ‘famed’ legless RAF pilot Colin “Hoppy” Hodgkinson. He lost his ‘pedal extremeties’ whilst training blind flying in a Tiger Moth but went on to fly Spitfires with 611 Sqdn.
A bit more info (from the article I was reading) if required.

Roger Smith.

There is a paragraph in the old Purnell’s ‘Spitfire’ – by John Vader – about Sub-Lieutenant(?) Colin Hodgkinson….

“In 1942 another legless RAF pilot got back into flying and he too flew Spitfires. This ‘tin legs’ pilot was Colin Hodgkinson, who feared that if he were shot down and forced to bail out into the sea his artificial legs would fill with water and pull him under before he could inflate his dinghy, so he filled his legs with ping-pong balls, and thought he was being attacked when he heard explosions at high altitude – in fat the ping-pong balls were bursting as a result of the reduced atmospheric pressure”.

Ken

There was a senior Luftwaffe pilot who led the Bf110s that turned back on the morning of August 13th 1940 who, IIRC, had lost a leg in WW1. Name currently escapes me, I’m afraid.

Adrian

64th Sentai veteran and double ace Yohei Hinoki. Returned to combat after losing most of right leg.

Don’t forget Reggie Marix DSO RN (later AVM)- crashed in France in October 1916 and lost his right leg. He stayed in the RAF and requalified as a pilot in 1929 .

Who was the young dude, who had his arm blown off in the cockpit over Malta?

And then went back in service with only one.

Flight Lieutenant Roberts Christian (Robert) Dunstan, DSO..Sorry know he isn,t a pilot.Had leg amputated in Egypt,returned to Australia then applied to be a gunner.Completed training then over to England to 460 squadron to be an air gunner in Lancs.After war became polli.

Pilots with tin legs

There was also a pilot with only one arm, not only that, but he only had one eye, his name was Keith Jopp. He was an ex ww1 pilot and served in the ATA, delivering spitfires etc to various units.

Rudel the famed Luftwaffe Stuka ace lost one leg and returned to flying. Unfortunately he went on after the war as a committed Nazi and was very prominent in the post-war neo-Nazi movement.

This was brought up and the “Bader” thread !!!!

Do I remember someone asking about pilots (other than DB) who had artificial legs a while back? Damned if I’m going to trawl all through the two DB threads to try and find it :p

In reading up for another thread I came across a reference to ‘famed’ legless RAF pilot Colin “Hoppy” Hodgkinson. He lost his ‘pedal extremeties’ whilst training blind flying in a Tiger Moth but went on to fly Spitfires with 611 Sqdn.
A bit more info (from the article I was reading) if required.

Roger Smith.

In all seriousness, he never stayed at the Stork Hotel, did he?

G’ day RP mate, how’s it hangin.

There is another!!

Alexei P.Marseyev, Soviet Union’s Legless pilot, who returned to action with the 63rd GuIAP after losing his leg’s when shot down and surviving 18 day’s in the wild.
He claimed 19 Victorie’s.

Now I’ve heard of a few with a false arm, but their may have been some with only one false leg, certainly after flying Mossie’s sometime’s I read.

Ciao for now I must be Off.

” Gut Nacht ” all