... April 18, 1942, 8:20 As there is no question of half-round, the Hornets quickly jumped into the wind to launch its sixteen B-25, whose mechanics start the engines one after the other.
Noblesse oblige, the first to rush to Japan is none other than 02344, the plane Doolittle himself.
brakes locked, two Wright screaming at full throttle, the plane vibrates all its parts, as if to disintegrate from one moment to another. In signal mate, Doolittle finally released the brakes, and slowly, impossibly, the B-25 begins to roll, swallows few hundred meters of available deck, disappears for a moment at the end of it, then, more incredible still, rises gradually turns on the wing, and immediately take the direction of Tokyo, more of 1000 kms away.
Decidedly, there is a miracle for fools, and even a miracle repetitive since, plane after plane, the scene will now be repeated identically. After about twenty minutes, so it is around the 02,261 "Ruptured Duck" , the seventh on the list and the seventh to take the direction of Tokyo. Three others will follow.
Then comes the turn of the 02,240 "Hari Kari-er", the first to leave for Yokohama ...
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