Unbroken
Laura Hillenbrand 2010
Beaverton Lib 940.5472 HIL
USAAF Pilot Louis Zamperini , Japanese POW Camps
- scrambled timeline preface
- xvii preface 1943/6/23 raft in Pacific, 27 days after crash
- xviii strafed by Japanese bomber
003 1929/8/26 12yo L.Z. childhood home Torrance CA, Graf Zeppelin overhead at night
005 LZ born 1917/1/26 in Olean NY f. Anthony railway electrician, m. Louise
- 005-007 hellion, scared of airplane flights 008 older brother Pete, younger sisters Silvia and Virginia
- 013 1931 Louis steals tickets, brother Pete convinces school principal to let Louis run track, Pete coached him
- 015 Louis surrenders to Pete, seriously runs, 016 builds lungs, 225 seconds underwater
- 017 swivelling hips, seven foot stride, 1933 high school class president, wins races, breaks records
- 018 wins 1933 UCLA Cross Country two-mile race by more than a quarter mile
- 020 1934 National high school 4:21.3 mile, beating 4.23.6 record, broken by Bob Seaman in 1953
- 025 Wins 1936 Olympic trials 5000 meter race in New York, overeats on ship
- 034 7th in race, 14:46.8, fastest American 5000 in 1936, fastest last lap ever 56 seconds
- 035 Hitler says (translated) "Ah, you're the boy with the fast finish"
- 036 Steals chancellery flag, allowed to keep it
- 040 USC, Jimmy Sazaki p46 Japanese spy
- 041 June 1938, NCAA championship, attacked and boxed by other runners, still wins mile with 4:08.3, NCAA record until 1973
- 044 1940 Olympics Japan host withdraws, Finland alternate attacked, leaves USC a few credits short, welder at Lockheed
- 044 early 1941 joins Army Air Corps, washes out, joins army again September 29
- 052 Japan attacks Wake Island air base Dec 11, lose two destroyers and 1153 men, Americans lose 52, 98 captured Dec 23
053 kludge bombsight and an $8000 Norden bombsight
- 054 Louis visits home, then to Ephrata (WA) Army Airfield
- 055 pilot Russell Allen Phillips Indiana, Purdue U
058 Top turret gunner & engineer Stanley Pillsbury, Maine
058 Waist gunner & engineer Clarence Douglas, Virginia
058 Nose gunner & navigator Robert Mitchell, Illinois
058 Belly gunner & radioman Frank Glassman, Chicago
- 058 Tail gunner Ray Lambert, Maryland
058 Waist gunner & radioman Harry Brooks, Michigan
- 058 Co-pilot George Moznette
059 372nd Bomb Squadron 307th Bomb Group Seventh Air Force, B-24D
- 059 no steering, taxi with engine power and brakes, Flying Coffin
Aircraft |
||
Production |
18,188 |
12,731 |
Crew |
11 |
10 |
Length |
67 ft 2 in |
74 ft 4 in |
Wingspan |
110 ft |
103 ft 9 in |
Height |
17 ft 7.5 in |
19 ft 1 in |
Wing area |
1,048 sq ft |
1,420 sq ft |
Aspect ratio |
11.55 |
7.57 |
Zero-lift drag coefficient CD |
CD 0.0406 |
|
Frontal area |
42.54 sq ft |
|
Airfoil: root |
Davis (22%) |
Airfoil: NACA 0018 |
tip |
Davis (9.3%) |
|
Empty weight |
36,500 lb |
36,135 lb |
Gross weight |
55,000 lb |
54,000 lb |
Max takeoff weight |
65,000 lb plus |
65,500 lb |
Fuel capacity normal |
2,344 US gal |
|
long-range tanks in bomb bay |
3,614 US gal |
|
Oil capacity |
131.6 US gal |
|
Powerplant |
4 × 1,200 hp |
4 × 1,200 hp |
Propellers diameter |
3-bladed 11 ft 7 in |
3-bladed |
Performance |
||
Maximum speed |
297 mph at 25,000 ft |
287 mph |
Cruise speed |
215 mph |
182 mph |
Stall speed |
95 mph |
|
Range: 1,540 mi |
1,340 nmi at 237 mph |
2,000 mi |
normal fuel,maximum internal bomb load |
with 6000lb bombload |
|
Ferry range |
3,700 mi |
3,750 mi |
Service ceiling |
28,000 ft |
35,600 ft |
Rate of climb |
1,025 ft/min |
900 ft/min |
Time to altitude |
20,000 ft in 25 minutes |
|
Lift-to-drag |
12.9 |
|
Wing loading |
52.5 lb/sq ft |
38.0 lb/sq ft |
Power/mass |
0.0873 hp/lb |
0.089 hp/lb |
Armament |
||
Guns |
10 × .50 caliber M2 |
13 × .50 in M2 |
|
Browning machine guns |
Browning machine guns |
Bombs: |
||
Short range |
400 mi : 8,000 pounds |
400 mi : 8,000 lb |
Long range |
800 mi : 5,000 pounds |
800 mi : 4,500 lb |
Very long range |
1,200 mi : 2,700 pounds |
|
- 61 Army Air Force AAF 52,651 stateside accidents, 14,903 personnel killed, mostly trainees
65 November 1942 372nd flies to Hickam Field Oahu, crew names plane Super Man
- 68 aerial gunning 3x squadron average, Louie bomb scores outstanding, target dead center 7/9 times
- 68 10h/day boring sea patrol
- 72 Deploy to Midway, December 23, 1942 attack Wake
- 76 Admiral Chester Nimitz presents Distinguished Flying Crosses to pilots, Air Medals to crewmen
- 80 WWII, 35,933 AAF planes lost to combat and (mostly) accidents