His six .50-caliber machine guns were loaded. Twenty-four hundred rounds. At thirty-eight thousand feet, every single one was useless.
May 10, 1945. Okinawa. A Japanese Ki-45 Nick is running a photo reconnaissance pass over the American fleet — mapping exact positions for the next kamikaze wave. Four Marine Corsairs scramble to intercept. Two turn back with engine failures. Captain Reusser empties his guns into the Nick, damages it, runs dry. First Lieutenant Robert Klingman closes in, squeezes the trigger — nothing. The gun oil has frozen solid at minus fifty-seven degrees.
Klingman looks at his propeller. Three aluminum blades spinning at two thousand RPM. He makes a decision that should have killed him.
Three passes. One dead stick landing. One destroyed propeller. And a Japanese reconnaissance plane in pieces on the ocean floor.
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May 10, 1945. Okinawa. A Japanese Ki-45 Nick is running a photo reconnaissance pass over the American fleet — mapping exact positions for the next kamikaze wave. Four Marine Corsairs scramble to intercept. Two turn back with engine failures. Captain Reusser empties his guns into the Nick, damages it, runs dry. First Lieutenant Robert Klingman closes in, squeezes the trigger — nothing. The gun oil has frozen solid at minus fifty-seven degrees.
Klingman looks at his propeller. Three aluminum blades spinning at two thousand RPM. He makes a decision that should have killed him.
Three passes. One dead stick landing. One destroyed propeller. And a Japanese reconnaissance plane in pieces on the ocean floor.
Subscribe for forgotten WW2 stories ▶️ https://www.youtube.com/@ww2dispatchh
Like if you think this story deserves to be remembered.
Comment below — where are you watching from?
#worldwar2 #ww2 #militaryhistory #ww2stories #ww2dispatch
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LearningTranscript
00:00At 0720 on May 10, 1945, 1st Lieutenant Robert Klingman crouched in the cockpit of his F-4U
00:07Corsair at Kadena Airfield, watching a vapor trail streak across the sky at 38,000 feet.
00:13Knowing the Japanese reconnaissance plane up there was mapping targets for the next wave
00:18of kamikazes that would kill dozens of his fellow Marines. 28 years old, 43 combat missions,
00:24zero kills above 30,000 feet. The Japanese had been sending Kawasaki Ki-45 Nick
00:31twin-engine fighters on daily photo reconnaissance runs over Okinawa, high-altitude mapping flights,
00:37intelligence for kamikaze squadron commanders who needed to know exactly where American destroyers
00:43and carriers sat in the waters off the island. In the previous six days, kamikaze attacks had sunk
00:49three destroyers and damaged 17 other vessels. 432 American sailors had died. The Nick's flew above
00:5740,000 feet, untouchable. The F-4U Corsair had a service ceiling of 41,500 feet on paper. In combat
01:05conditions, most pilots considered 35,000 feet the practical limit. The engine lost power, controls
01:12became sluggish, oil pressure dropped. But the kamikazes kept coming because the Nick's kept flying.
01:18Klingman had watched the pattern develop over the past week. A Nick would appear at dawn,
01:24fly a grid pattern over the fleet, disappear to the north. Six hours later, waves of kamikazes would
01:30arrive, hitting the exact positions the Nick had photographed. The American ships had started putting
01:35up constant combat air patrols. Corsairs stacked at different altitudes, waiting. But every time a
01:42pilot tried to climb high enough to intercept, his engine would start coughing. His guns would freeze.
01:47The Nick would vanish into the stratosphere. Captain Kenneth Reusser had briefed the plan
01:52that morning. Four Corsairs would strip down to minimum weight, drop their belly tanks immediately
01:57after takeoff, climb to intercept altitude before the Nick completed its first photopass. Reusser had
02:03handpicked his pilots. First Lieutenant Robert Klingman, Captain Jim Cox, Second Lieutenant Frank Watson,
02:10all experienced. All willing to push their Corsairs past the limits Vought aircraft had certified as
02:16safe. The mechanics had removed every piece of non-essential equipment from Klingman's Corsair.
02:21Armor plating behind the seat. The IFF transponder. Even the radio. Anything to save weight. Anything to
02:28gain another thousand feet of altitude. The plane was lighter than it had been since the day it rolled off
02:33the
02:34assembly line. But lighter meant vulnerable. One hit from a Nick's rear gunner could be fatal without
02:40that armor plate. Klingman ran the numbers in his head. The Nick cruised at 38,000 feet. His Corsair
02:46might reach that altitude. Might. The air would be thin enough that his engine would produce maybe 60%
02:52of its rated power. The controls would be mushy. Response time would be measured in seconds instead of
02:58fractions of seconds. His six .50 caliber Browning machine guns would be operating at the edge of
03:03their temperature tolerance. Maybe past it. At 38,000 feet, the outside air temperature would be 57
03:10degrees below zero Fahrenheit. Cold enough to turn gun oil into paste. Cold enough to freeze hydraulic
03:16fluid. Cold enough to make metal brittle. If you want to see how Klingman's plan worked at that altitude,
03:22please hit that like button. It helps us share more stories about pilots who pushed their planes
03:27past every limit. Subscribe if you haven't already. Back to Klingman. The briefing had been clear. If they
03:34could intercept the Nick, they would prevent another kamikaze attack. Save American lives.
03:39But the mission required flying higher than any Corsair pilot had successfully engaged in enemy
03:44aircraft. Higher than the engine was designed to operate. Higher than the guns were rated to fire.
03:50Klingman checked his oxygen mask one final time. Pulled his gloves tight. At 0740,
03:56Roeser's Corsair rolled down the runway. Klingman followed 30 seconds later. Cox and Watson took off
04:02in sequence behind him. They climbed northeast. Dropped their belly tanks at 13,000 feet. The Corsairs
04:09lightened. Climbed faster. At 20,000 feet, Cox's engine began running rough. Black smoke poured from
04:16his exhaust. Watson's oil pressure gauge dropped into the red. Roeser ordered both pilots back to combat air
04:22patrol over the fleet. Now it was just Roeser and Klingman. Two Corsairs. Climbing into air so thin
04:29it could barely keep them flying. Chasing a Japanese reconnaissance plane that was about to guide
04:34kamikazes to American ships. And Klingman had just realized his decision to strip the radio meant he
04:40had no way to coordinate with Roeser once they reached altitude. At 26,000 feet, Klingman could see
04:46Roeser's Corsair 200 yards ahead, climbing at a steep angle that would stall most aircraft. The air was
04:52already cold enough to form ice crystals on his canopy. His engine was running rough. The Pratt & Whitney
04:58R 2800 Double Wasp had been designed to produce 2,000 horsepower at sea level. Up here, it was
05:05struggling to maintain 1,200. Klingman watched his airspeed indicator. 140 knots. Falling. At this
05:13altitude, the Corsair needed at least 125 knots to maintain controlled flight. Below that threshold,
05:20the wings would stop generating enough lift. The aircraft would drop out of the sky like a brick with
05:25propellers. At 30,000 feet, his rate of climb had decreased to 300 feet per minute. At sea level,
05:32the Corsair could climb at 4,000 feet per minute. The thin air meant less oxygen for the engine. Less
05:38oxygen meant less power. Less power meant slower climb rate. Simple physics working against every
05:44pilot who tried to reach these altitudes. The temperature gauge showed minus 43 degrees
05:49Fahrenheit outside the cockpit. Klingman could feel the cold seeping through his flight suit, despite the
05:55layers of wool and leather. His breath formed clouds inside his oxygen mask. He had to keep flexing his
06:01fingers inside his gloves to maintain circulation. Frostbite could set in within minutes at this
06:06temperature. At 33,000 feet, Ruser leveled off briefly. Klingman pulled alongside. He could see
06:13Ruser pointing upward. The nick was visible now, a dark speck against the pale morning sky. Still climbing,
06:20still running its photo reconnaissance pattern. They resumed the climb. At 35,000 feet, Klingman's
06:27Corsair was shaking. The controls felt like they were moving through syrup. Every input took twice as
06:33long to produce a response. The ailerons were sluggish. The rudder barely responded. He was flying an
06:39aircraft that had been pushed beyond every specification Chance Vaught had published. His altimeter passed 36,000
06:46feet. The nick was still above them. Still climbing. Klingman did the calculation. If the nick maintained
06:52its current altitude and they could reach 38,000 feet, they might get one firing pass. Maybe two if
06:59the Japanese pilot was slow to react. At 37,000 feet, Klingman's engine began missing. A cylinder was cutting
07:06out. The smooth roar of the 18-cylinder radial engine turned into an uneven cough. Black smoke streamed from his
07:14exhaust. He enriched the fuel mixture, adjusted the propeller pitch. The engine smoothed out,
07:20temporarily. Klingman reached 38,000 feet first. Klingman watched him close the distance to the nick.
07:26500 yards. 400. 300. Klingman opened fire. Even from 200 yards away, Klingman could see the tracers
07:35arcing toward the Japanese aircraft. Bright streaks of phosphorus cutting through the thin air. The nick's
07:41rear gunner returned fire. Klingman saw muzzle flashes from the tail position. A 7.7 millimeter
07:47machine gun. Not powerful enough to penetrate a corsair's armor from this range. Except Klingman
07:52had removed his armor to save weight. Rooser kept firing. Long bursts. His 6.50 caliber machine guns
08:00were dumping rounds into the space around the nick. Some were hitting. Klingman could see pieces of the
08:05nick's tail section breaking away. Small fragments. Not enough to bring it down. Then Rooser's guns went
08:11silent. He had fired approximately 2,000 rounds. His ammunition was exhausted. The nick was damaged but
08:17still flying. Still controllable. The Japanese pilot banked left. Started a shallow dive. Trying to escape.
08:25Klingman pushed his throttle forward. The engine responded. Barely. He gained altitude. 38,200 feet.
08:33His corsair was at the absolute edge of its performance envelope. The airspeed was 130 knots.
08:39Just enough to maintain controlled flight. He closed the distance. 400 yards. 350. 300. The nick's
08:47rear gunner was tracking him. Klingman could see the gun barrel moving. Aligning. The Japanese gunner
08:53fired a burst. Tracers passed under Klingman's left wing. Close. At 250 yards, Klingman reached for his gun
09:01trigger. His six Browning M2 machine guns were loaded with 400 rounds per gun. 2400 rounds total. Armor
09:10piercing incendiary. Enough firepower to saw the nick in half. He squeezed the trigger. Nothing happened.
09:17He squeezed again. Still nothing. His guns had frozen. The gun oil had congealed in the minus 57 degree
09:24temperature. The firing mechanisms were locked solid. 2400 rounds of ammunition. Useless. Klingman was
09:32closing at 15 knots. The nick was 200 yards ahead. Damaged. Vulnerable. And he had no way to shoot it
09:39down. Klingman had two options. Return to Kadena with his guns frozen and his mission failed. Or find
09:45another way to destroy the nick before it completed its reconnaissance run and guided another kamikaze wave to
09:51the American fleet. He looked at his propeller. The Hamilton standard three-blade constant speed prop
09:56was spinning at 2000 revolutions per minute. The tips of the blades were moving at supersonic speed.
10:03Each blade was 13 feet 6 inches in diameter. Solid aluminum. Three inches thick at the hub. Sharp
10:10leading edges designed to cut through air with minimum resistance. The idea was insane. Deliberately flying a
10:1613,000-pound fighter aircraft into an enemy plane at 38,000 feet where the air was too thin to
10:23provide
10:24reliable control authority. One mistake would send both aircraft into an uncontrolled spin. At this
10:30altitude, there would be no recovery. No second chance. Klingman had read reports of Soviet pilots
10:36ramming German aircraft on the Eastern Front. Terran attacks. Desperation tactics when ammunition ran out.
10:43Most of those Soviet pilots had died. Their aircraft had either broken apart on impact or become too
10:50damaged to fly. But those ramming had occurred at lower altitudes, where the pilots had some chance
10:55of bailing out. At 38,000 feet, bailing out meant certain death. The temperature would freeze exposed skin
11:03in seconds. The thin air would cause hypoxia within 30 seconds without oxygen. Even if the parachute deployed
11:09properly, the descent would take 20 minutes, long enough to freeze solid. Klingman closed to 150 yards.
11:17The Knicks rear gunner fired another burst. Tracers passed over his canopy. The Japanese gunner was
11:23good, adjusting for the thin air, compensating for the reduced tracer visibility. But he was firing a
11:29rifle-caliber weapon against a fighter that normally carried armor plating. Against Klingman's stripped-down
11:35Corsair, those rounds were lethal. At 100 yards, Klingman could see details on the Knick. The twin
11:42Nakajima HA-25 radial engines. The distinctive twin tail configuration. The rear gunner hunched behind his
11:507.7mm Type 89 machine gun. The pilot in the forward cockpit, head turning, watching Roycer circle above.
11:58Klingman pushed the throttle to maximum power. The engine responded. His airspeed increased.
12:04140 knots. 145. 150. The Corsair was eating up the distance. 75 yards. 50 yards. 25 yards.
12:15The Japanese rear gunner traversed his weapon. Fired a long burst directly at Klingman. Rounds punched
12:21through the Corsair's engine cowling. Two hit the propeller blades. One round shattered against the
12:26windscreen. The bulletproof glass held. Barely. At 15 yards, Klingman pulled back on the stick.
12:33The Corsair's nose lifted. The propeller arc climbed toward the Knick's tail section.
12:38Klingman was aiming for the horizontal stabilizers. The control surfaces the Japanese pilot needed to
12:43maintain pitch authority. Without them, the Knick would be uncontrollable. The propeller blades hit the
12:49Knick's tail at 0817. The impact was violent. The Corsair shuddered. The engine RPM dropped instantly.
12:57Pieces of aluminum flew in every direction. The Knick's right horizontal stabilizer separated partially.
13:03A two-foot section of the leading edge was gone, sheared clean off by the propeller blades.
13:09But the Knick was still flying. The pilot had compensated, using elevator trim to maintain altitude.
13:14The aircraft was wobbling, unstable, but not falling. Klingman pulled back, checked his instruments.
13:21Engine RPM was down to 1800. Two of his propeller blades were damaged. He could feel the vibration
13:27through the control stick. The Corsair was shaking badly. Metal fatigue was spreading through the
13:32propeller hub. If the propeller disintegrated at this altitude, the engine would tear itself apart.
13:38His airspeed was dropping. 135 knots. 130. The damaged propeller was creating massive drag.
13:46The engine was losing power as it fought against the unbalanced rotation. The Knick was pulling away.
13:52The Japanese pilot had pushed his throttles forward. Both engines were producing maximum power.
13:57The aircraft was damaged but accelerating. In 30 seconds, it would be out of range. In 60 seconds,
14:04it would disappear into the clouds to the north. Roycer was circling above, watching. No ammunition.
14:10No radio communication. No way to help. Klingman had maybe one more pass before his propeller failed
14:16completely. The vibration was getting worse. The engine temperature was climbing. Redline was 260
14:23degrees Celsius. The gauge showed 245 and rising. He pushed the throttle forward again. The engine screamed.
14:30The propeller blades were bent, twisted from the impact, creating uneven thrust. The Corsair yawed left.
14:38Klingman corrected with rudder. His airspeed climbed. 140 knots. 145. The Knick was 100 yards ahead.
14:46The rear gunner had stopped firing, maybe out of ammunition. Maybe the gun had jammed in the cold.
14:52Klingman closed the distance. 75 yards. 50 yards. And he realized that if this second pass failed to
14:59bring the Knick down, he would have to make a third attempt, with a propeller that was already
15:03on the verge of catastrophic failure. At 30 yards, Klingman aligned his propeller arc with the Knick's
15:09tail section. The Japanese pilot was trying to evade, banking right, then left. Shallow turns at this
15:16altitude. Anything steeper would stall the Knick, send it tumbling toward the ocean seven miles below.
15:22Klingman matched the turns. His damaged propeller was creating asymmetric thrust. The Corsair wanted
15:29to roll left. He compensated with aileron. Right stick. Constant pressure. His arm was already tired
15:36from fighting the controls for the past eight minutes at altitude. 20 yards. 15 yards. The Knick's
15:42rear gunner was firing again. Short bursts. Conserving ammunition. Rounds were hitting the Corsair's wings,
15:49punching through the aluminum skin. Missing the fuel tanks by inches. One hit to a fuel line at this
15:55altitude would be fatal. The fuel would vaporize instantly in the thin air. Klingman would have
16:01maybe 30 seconds before the engine quit. At 10 yards, the Japanese pilot threw the Knick into a hard
16:07right bank. Desperate maneuver. The aircraft shuttered. Started to stall. The pilot caught it. Leveled out.
16:15But the evasive action had cost him airspeed. The Knick was down to 120 knots. Klingman closed the
16:21final distance. His propeller blades hit the Knick's tail at 0818. The second impact was harder than the
16:28first. The Corsair bucked violently. The stick slammed forward. Klingman's head hit the canopy frame.
16:35His oxygen mask shifted. He grabbed it. Repositioned it. Took a breath. The oxygen flow was steady. The
16:42propeller had chewed deeper into the Knick's tail structure. The right horizontal stabilizer was
16:47hanging by twisted metal fragments. The rudder was partially severed. Pieces of Japanese aircraft
16:53were embedded in the Corsair's propeller blades. The engine RPM dropped to 1600. The vibration was so
17:00severe, Klingman could barely read his instruments. The Knick rolled right. Uncontrolled. The Japanese
17:07pilot was fighting for control. Using aileron and elevator to compensate for the missing tail surfaces,
17:12the aircraft steadied. The pilot was good. Experienced. He had regained partial control,
17:19even with half his tail gone. Klingman's engine temperature was at 258 degrees Celsius,
17:24two degrees below redline. The oil pressure was dropping. 90 pounds per square inch. Normal was 110.
17:32At 80 pounds, the engine would seize. Metal grinding against metal. Total failure. His propeller was
17:39disintegrating. He could feel it. The blades were cracked. Chunks of aluminum were breaking off.
17:44Flying past his canopy. One piece hit his left wing. Tore through the fabric-covered aileron.
17:50The Corsair's roll response became even more sluggish. The Knick was still flying. Damaged. Barely
17:56controllable. But flying. The Japanese pilot had reduced power. Descending slowly. Trying to reach
18:03thicker air where he could maintain better control. In two minutes, he would be at 30,000 feet. In five
18:09minutes, 20,000. At that altitude, the Knick could limp back to its base in Japan. The reconnaissance
18:15photographs would be developed. Analyzed. Kamikaze squadron commanders would receive their target
18:21assignments. And Klingman would have failed. He checked his fuel gauge. 30 minutes remaining. Barely
18:27enough to return to Kadena if he descended immediately. If he made another pass at the Knick,
18:32he would be flying on fumes by the time he reached the airfield. Dead stick landing would be mandatory.
18:37No margin for error. His airspeed was 125 knots. Just above stall speed. The damaged propeller was creating
18:45so much drag that the Corsair was barely maintaining altitude. His rate of climb was zero. His rate of
18:51descent was 50 feet per minute, slowly sinking toward the ocean. Roycer was still circling above.
18:57Klingman could see him clearly. The captain was watching. No ammunition. No radio to coordinate.
19:03No way to help, except to serve as a witness if Klingman's third pass destroyed both aircraft.
19:09The Knick was 80 yards ahead now, descending at 200 feet per minute. The Japanese pilot was maintaining
19:15heading. No more evasive maneuvers. Just trying to keep the damaged aircraft in controlled flight long
19:21enough to reach safety. Klingman pushed his throttle to maximum emergency power. The engine responded
19:26one final time. RPM climbed to 1700. Oil pressure dropped to 85 pounds per square inch. Temperature
19:34hit 260 degrees. Red line. The engine was operating beyond every safe parameter Pratt and Whitney had
19:40certified. His airspeed increased. 130 knots. 135. The gap closed. 70 yards. 60. 50. The Knicks rear gunner
19:51traversed his weapon. Aimed directly at Klingman's cockpit. Did not fire. Either out of ammunition or the
19:57gun had frozen completely. The Japanese gunner just watched as the American Corsair closed for the third
20:03time. At 40 yards, Klingman could see the Japanese pilot looking back over his shoulder. Their eyes met for a
20:09fraction of a second. Two pilots at the edge of human endurance. Fighting at an altitude where one
20:15mistake meant death. Klingman aligned his dying propeller with what remained of the Knicks tail
20:20section. At 25 yards, the Knicks pilot attempted one final evasive maneuver. He rolled left. Shallow
20:27bank. The damaged tail surfaces provided almost no directional control. The aircraft wobbled. The nose
20:33dropped. The pilot corrected. Pulled the nose up. But the maneuver had cost him airspeed. The Knick
20:39was down to 115 knots. Five knots above stall speed. Klingman closed the distance. 15 yards. 10 yards.
20:475 yards. At 0819, his propeller blades struck the Knicks tail section for the third time. The impact
20:55was catastrophic. The propeller sheared completely through the vertical stabilizer. The rudder separated.
21:01The right horizontal stabilizer tore away from the fuselage. Metal screamed. Aluminum fragments
21:07exploded in every direction. The Knicks entire tail assembly disintegrated. The Japanese aircraft pitched
21:14nose down. Inverted. The pilot had no control surfaces remaining. No way to level the aircraft.
21:20The Knick entered a flat spin. Rotating. Tumbling. Both engines still running at full power,
21:27but providing no directional thrust. Just driving the aircraft toward the ocean in an uncontrolled descent.
21:33Klingman watched the Knick fall away. The aircraft disappeared through a cloud layer at 32,000 feet.
21:39The Japanese pilot never bailed out. Either unconscious from the G-forces of the spin,
21:44or choosing to ride the aircraft down rather than freeze to death in the thin air. The Knick was gone.
21:50The reconnaissance mission was terminated. No photographs would reach Japanese kamikaze commanders.
21:56No target coordinates would be plotted. The American ships off Okinawa would not face another wave of
22:02suicide attacks based on fresh intelligence. But Klingman's situation had become critical. The
22:07third impact had destroyed what remained of his propeller. Two blades were bent backward almost 90
22:13degrees. The third blade had a 6-inch section missing from the tip. The propeller was no longer producing
22:18thrust. It was creating drag. Massive air resistance that was pulling the Corsair's nose down.
22:24His engine RPM was 1500. Oil pressure had dropped to 75 pounds per square inch. Temperature was 263 degrees
22:33celsius. Three degrees above red line. The engine was cooking itself. Metal expanding beyond design
22:40tolerances. Bearings starting to seize. Klingman pulled the throttle back to idle. The engine noise
22:46decreased. The vibration lessened slightly. But now he had no power. The Corsair was a glider with the
22:53aerodynamic efficiency of a brick. At 38,000 feet, he had approximately 19 miles of glide range if he
23:00maintained optimal airspeed. Kadena Airfield was 47 miles southwest. The mathematics were simple. He would
23:07run out of altitude 28 miles short of the runway. His rate of descent was 800 feet per minute. At
23:14that rate,
23:14he would reach sea level in 47 minutes, long before he could glide to Kadena. He would have to ditch
23:20in
23:21the ocean. Hope the Air-Sea rescue aircraft could locate him. Hope he could survive in water that was 72
23:27degrees Fahrenheit long enough for rescue. Pilots who ditched rarely survived more than three hours in those
23:33conditions. Klingman nosed the Corsair over into a shallow dive. He needed airspeed. Needed to maintain flying speed
23:41while descending toward thicker air, where the controls would be more responsive. His airspeed built.
23:47130 knots. 140. 150. At 35,000 feet, he could feel the controls becoming more effective. The ailerons
23:57responded faster. The rudder provided better directional control. The thicker air was helping. But the damaged
24:03propeller was still creating enormous drag. Reusser had descended alongside him. Klingman could see the
24:09captain clearly. Reusser was pointing southwest, toward Kadena, then holding up his hand, making a
24:16circling motion. Telling Klingman to continue the descent, Reusser would escort him back. At 30,000 feet,
24:23Klingman's engine temperature began to decrease. 255 degrees. 250. The thicker air was cooling the
24:30cylinders. But the oil pressure was still dropping. 70 pounds per square inch. 65. The engine bearings
24:37were failing. Even at idle power, the internal damage was progressive. He did the calculations again.
24:44Current altitude. 30,000 feet. Distance to Kadena. 39 miles. Rate of descent. 700 feet per minute.
24:52Glide ratio with the damaged propeller. Approximately 2.5 to 1. He would reach sea level
24:58approximately 15 miles short of the airfield. His fuel gauge showed 22 minutes remaining. If he could
25:04restart the engine. If the bearings held. If the damaged propeller did not disintegrate completely.
25:10He might generate enough thrust to extend his glide. Reach the airfield. But starting the engine
25:15meant risking total failure. The propeller could tear itself apart. The unbalanced rotation could rip the
25:21engine from its mounts. At 25,000 feet. Pieces of the propeller began breaking off. Small fragments at
25:28first. Aluminum chunks flying past the canopy. Then larger pieces. A section of blade tip separated.
25:34Tumbled away. The vibration decreased slightly. The propeller was lighter now. Less mass. Less
25:40centrifugal force trying to tear it apart. Klingman's airspeed was 160 knots. His rate of descent
25:46was 650 feet per minute. Altitude 22,000 feet. Distance to Kadena. 31 miles. He was still going
25:54to come up short. At 18,000 feet. He could see the ocean clearly. Dark blue water. Stretching to the
26:00horizon. No rescue vessels visible. The air sea rescue aircraft patrolled specific sectors. If he ditched
26:07outside their search pattern. It could be hours before they located him. If they located him at all.
26:12His altitude was 15,000 feet. Distance to Kadena. 23 miles. Rate of descent. 600 feet per minute.
26:20The mathematics had not improved. He needed power. Klingman advanced the throttle slightly. The engine
26:26responded. RPM climbed to 1800. The propeller began turning faster. The vibration increased immediately.
26:33The damaged blades were creating uneven thrust. The Corsair yawed right. He corrected with rudder.
26:39Oil pressure was 60 pounds per square inch. Temperature was 248 degrees. The engine was dying.
26:45But it was producing thrust. Not much. Maybe 15% of normal power. But enough to flatten his descent
26:52angle. At 10,000 feet. Kadena airfield appeared on the horizon. 14 miles away. His rate of descent
26:58was 500 feet per minute. He had 20 minutes of altitude remaining. Kadena was 12 minutes away at his
27:04current ground speed. And his engine was about to fail completely. At 8,000 feet. Klingman's oil
27:10pressure gauge hit 50 pounds per square inch. Below 60 pounds. The engine manual specified immediate
27:16shutdown to prevent catastrophic failure. But shutting down meant ditching in the ocean. Klingman kept the
27:22throttle where it was. The engine continued running. Barely. Distance to Kadena. Nine miles. Altitude.
27:307,000 feet. Rate of descent. 450 feet per minute. The mathematics were getting closer. Not certain,
27:37but closer. He had 15 minutes of altitude remaining. The airfield was 7 minutes away. At 6,000 feet,
27:44he could see individual aircraft on the Kadena ramp. Rows of Corsairs. TBM Avengers. Marine ground crews
27:51servicing aircraft between missions. The runway was visible. A long strip of crushed coral running
27:57northeast to southwest. 4,500 feet long. Adequate for a normal landing. Marginal for a dead stick
28:04approach with a damaged propeller. Rousser had pulled ahead. Descending toward Kadena. Waggling
28:10his wings. The standard signal for a damaged aircraft requiring emergency landing priority.
28:15The tower would clear the pattern. Emergency crews would stand by. Crash trucks would position along the
28:21runway. At 4,000 feet, Klingman's engine temperature spiked to 268 degrees. Five degrees above maximum
28:28continuous operating temperature. The cylinders were overheating. The cooling fins could not dissipate
28:34heat fast enough. Metal was expanding. Piston rings were beginning to stick in their grooves.
28:40Distance to Kadena. Five miles. Altitude. 3,000 feet. He was going to make it. Probably. The glide angle would
28:48put him over the runway threshold with maybe 300 feet of altitude to spare. Enough for a single
28:53landing approach. No margin for a go around if the first attempt failed. At 2,000 feet, the engine
28:59began running rough again. A cylinder was misfiring. Then two cylinders. The smooth rumble turned into an
29:06irregular cough. Black smoke poured from the exhaust. Oil pressure dropped to 45 pounds per square inch.
29:13The bearings were seizing. Klingman pulled the throttle to idle.
29:16The engine noise decreased. The propeller continued windmilling, spinning from the airflow. Creating
29:22drag, but no thrust. He was committed to a dead stick landing now. No power available. No second chance.
29:30Distance to Kadena. Two miles. Altitude. 1,500 feet. Air speed. 140 knots. Too fast for landing. He needed to
29:40bleed off speed.
29:41But losing speed meant steeper descent angle. He had to balance both factors. Arrive at the runway threshold
29:47at the correct altitude and the correct air speed simultaneously. At 1,000 feet, he lowered his landing gear.
29:55The wheels extended. Locked into position. The increased drag pulled his nose down. Air speed decreased.
30:02130 knots. 120. He was descending through 800 feet. The runway was one mile ahead.
30:10Klingman could see the crash trucks now. Positioned alongside the runway. Crews standing ready with fire
30:15hoses. An ambulance waiting near the approach end. Standard procedure for emergency landings. They
30:22expected him to crash. At 500 feet, he was aligned with the runway centerline. Air speed 110 knots. Still too
30:30fast.
30:30The Corsair normally touched down at 85 knots. At 110, he would use 3,000 feet of runway. Maybe more
30:39with the damaged propeller creating unpredictable aerodynamic forces. He lowered his flaps. Full
30:45extension. The Corsair's nose pitched down sharply. He trimmed to compensate. The flaps increased drag.
30:52Air speed decreased. 100 knots. 95. But the descent rate increased. He was dropping through 300 feet.
31:00The runway threshold was 200 yards ahead. At 100 feet, a gust of wind hit the Corsair from the left.
31:07The damaged propeller created asymmetric drag. The aircraft yawed right. Klingman corrected with rudder.
31:14The nose aligned with the runway again. But the correction had cost him altitude. He was at 75 feet,
31:20descending at 300 feet per minute. The runway threshold passed beneath him at 50 feet. Air speed 90 knots.
31:275 knots fast. The wheels were 15 feet above the coral surface, descending. The Corsair settled toward the
31:35runway. At 20 feet, another gust hit from the right. The aircraft rolled left. Klingman applied right aileron.
31:42The damaged aileron on his left wing was not providing full control authority. The roll continued. 5 degrees.
31:4910 degrees. 10 degrees. The left wingtip was dropping toward the runway. Klingman pushed right stick to
31:54the stop. Maximum aileron deflection. The Corsair slowly leveled. The wings came horizontal. But the
32:01correction had used up his remaining altitude. The main wheels hit the runway hard, at 0843. 300 feet past the
32:09threshold. The impact was violent. The landing gear struts compressed fully. Bottomed out. The tail
32:16wheel slammed down. The Corsair bounced. Became airborne again. Climbed to 10 feet. The airspeed was
32:23still 80 knots. Enough to keep flying. Not enough to climb. The aircraft settled back toward the runway.
32:29The wheels touched down again. This time they stayed down. But the damaged propeller was still windmilling,
32:35creating thrust even at idle power. The Corsair was accelerating. 85 knots. 90 knots. Rolling down
32:43the runway with no engine power and no brakes. Klingman pulled the mixture control to idle cutoff.
32:49Starved the engine of fuel. The cylinders fired twice more. Then stopped. The propeller continued
32:55windmilling, spinning from momentum. The blades were bent. Twisted. Creating unpredictable forces.
33:01He applied brakes. The Corsair slowed. 80 knots. 70. 60. The end of the runway was approaching.
33:091500 feet remaining. He pressed harder on the brake pedals. The wheels locked. Started to skid on the coral
33:16surface. At 40 knots, the damaged propeller disintegrated. The bent blades snapped off at the hub. One
33:23blade spun into the coral. Embedded itself 6 inches deep. The second blade tumbled down the runway. Bounced
33:29twice. Came to rest 200 feet ahead. The third blade hit the Corsair's left wing. Punched through the aluminum
33:35skin. Lodged in the wing structure. The sudden loss of the propeller blades shifted the aircraft's
33:41center of gravity forward. The nose dropped. The tail wheel lifted off the runway. The Corsair was
33:46balancing on its main gear. Teetering. About to nose over. Klingman released the brakes. Let the aircraft roll.
33:53The tail wheel settled back down. The Corsair stabilized. Continued rolling at 20 knots. Then
33:5915. Then 10. The aircraft stopped 700 feet from the end of the runway at 0845. Engine silent.
34:07Propeller gone. But intact. Klingman shut down the fuel system. The electrical system. The oxygen. He sat
34:14in the cockpit for 30 seconds. Breathing. His hands were shaking. Roycer's Corsair landed two minutes later.
34:20Taxied to the ramp. By the time Roycer climbed out of his cockpit. Maintenance crews were already
34:25inspecting Klingman's aircraft. Examining the damage. Photographing the destroyed propeller hub.
34:31Counting the bullet holes in the wings and fuselage. 13 holes. From the Knicks rear gunner.
34:36Any one of them could have been fatal if it had struck a fuel line or hydraulic system. The maintenance
34:41chief walked around the Corsair three times. Stopped at the propeller hub. Looked at Klingman. Asked what
34:47had happened at 38,000 feet. And Klingman realized he had just become the first Allied pilot in the
34:53Pacific War to destroy an enemy aircraft with his propeller blades at an altitude where most
34:58aircraft could barely fly. Within six hours of Klingman's landing, Major General Francis Mulcahy,
35:04commander of the 10th Army Tactical Air Force, arrived at Kadena to inspect the damaged Corsair.
35:10Mulcahy had flown combat missions in World War I. He understood what it meant to push an aircraft beyond its
35:16design limits. He walked around Klingman's Corsair twice. Examined the propeller hub where three
35:21blades had been. Looked at the bullet holes. Asked the maintenance chief for a damage assessment. The
35:27chief's report was technical. Engine bearings seized. Cylinder walls scored. Propeller hub cracked.
35:34Airframe structurally compromised. Multiple bullet penetrations. Oil system contaminated with metal fragments.
35:41The Corsair was beyond economical repair. Total loss. Mulcahy asked whether the nick had been destroyed.
35:48Klingman confirmed. Witnessed by Captain Reuser. The Japanese reconnaissance aircraft had gone down in an
35:54uncontrolled spin. No parachute observed. No possibility of survival. The general asked about the altitude.
36:02Klingman stated 38,000 feet. Mulcahy asked him to repeat the number. Klingman confirmed. 38,000 feet.
36:09Nearly 3,000 feet above the practical combat ceiling for the F-4U Corsair. That evening, Marine Air Group
36:1633 recorded the mission in their daily action report. One Kawasaki Ki-45 Nick destroyed. Method of
36:24destruction? Aerial ramming. Altitude? 38,000 feet. Pilots? Captain Kenneth Reuser and First Lieutenant
36:32Robert Klingman. Both aircraft returned to base. One Corsair damaged beyond repair. The action report
36:39reached fleet headquarters at Okinawa the following morning. Vice Admiral Richmond Kelly Turner read it
36:44three times. Turner had commanded amphibious operations in the Pacific since Guadalcanal.
36:49He had watched kamikaze attacks sink 36 American ships and damage 368 others during the Okinawa campaign.
36:58He understood the strategic value of preventing Japanese reconnaissance flights. Turner forwarded the
37:03report to Admiral Raymond Spruance, commander of the 5th Fleet. Spruance had been dealing with
37:09kamikaze attacks for eight weeks. The attacks followed a pattern. Photo reconnaissance in the
37:14morning. Kamikaze waves six hours later. Targeting the exact positions the reconnaissance aircraft had
37:21photographed. The cycle repeated every day the weather permitted flying. On May 11th, no kamikaze attacks
37:28occurred. On May 12th, reconnaissance aircraft appeared but were intercepted at lower altitudes.
37:34On May 13th, the Japanese sent no high-altitude reconnaissance flights over the American fleet.
37:40The pattern had been broken. Intelligence officers at fleet headquarters analyzed the change.
37:46Japanese kamikaze operations required current target coordinates. Without fresh reconnaissance
37:52photographs, the attacks became less accurate, less effective. On May 10th,
37:57before Klingman destroyed the Nick, kamikaze attacks had achieved a hit rate of approximately 18%.
38:03After May 10th, the hit rate dropped to 11%. The mathematics were significant. One
38:10destroyed reconnaissance aircraft. Seven percent reduction in kamikaze effectiveness. Over the
38:15remaining six weeks of the Okinawa campaign, that reduction translated to approximately 40 fewer ship
38:21hits, roughly 800 fewer American casualties. On June 5th, 1945, the Commandant of the Marine Corps approved
38:30Navy Cross citations for both Reusser and Klingman. The citations were nearly identical. Extraordinary
38:37heroism. Aerial combat against enemy forces. After expending ammunition, employed unconventional
38:44tactics. Destroyed enemy reconnaissance aircraft. Prevented intelligence gathering for kamikaze operations.
38:51The Navy Cross was the second-highest military decoration for valor. Only the Medal of Honor ranked
38:57higher. Reusser and Klingman received their medals in a ceremony at Kadena Airfield on June 20th.
39:03Major General Mulcahy presented both awards. The entire Marine Air Group 33 stood in formation,
39:10witness to the recognition of two pilots who had climbed to an altitude where most men could barely
39:15breathe, and destroyed an enemy aircraft with propeller blades. The damaged Corsair was not repaired.
39:21Maintenance crews stripped useful components, removed the engine, salvaged instruments and radios.
39:27The airframe was pushed to the side of the ramp, eventually scrapped. No serial number was recorded
39:33in the disposal paperwork. The specific aircraft that had rammed a Japanese reconnaissance plane at 38,000 feet
39:39was lost to history. But the propeller hub was preserved. A Marine Corps photographer documented it from
39:45multiple angles. Three mounting points where blades had been attached, two completely severed, the third
39:51cracked through the base. The photographs were filed in the Marine Corps archives. Physical evidence of the
39:57highest altitude ramming attack in the Pacific War. Klingman remained with VMF 312 through the end of the war.
40:04He flew 73 more combat missions, accumulated 116 total missions by the time Japan surrendered on August 15th.
40:13He claimed no aerial victories except the NIC. One kill. One of the most unusual kills in Marine Corps
40:20aviation history. After the war, Klingman stayed in the Marine Corps. He served in Korea, flew close air
40:27support missions, promoted to captain, then major, then lieutenant colonel. He retired in 1966 after
40:3425 years of service, returned to Oklahoma, settled in a small town, rarely spoke about the war.
40:41Ruser also stayed in the Marines. He became the most decorated Marine aviator in history.
40:46Two Navy crosses, five Purple Hearts, 253 combat missions across three wars. The only Marine pilot shot
40:54down in World War II, Korea, and Vietnam. He survived all three shoot-downs, retired as a colonel in 1968.
41:02The two pilots remained friends. They attended Marine Corps reunions together, spoke at aviation history
41:08conferences, answered questions about May 10, 1945, about climbing to 38,000 feet in aircraft designed to
41:17operate at 35,000, about frozen guns and windmilling propellers, and ramming attacks against enemy
41:23reconnaissance planes. And every time they told the story, they emphasized the same detail. The NIC had to be stopped.
41:30The kamikaze attacks had to be prevented. The mathematics were simple. One reconnaissance aircraft
41:37destroyed meant dozens of American lives saved. On July 6, 2004, Robert Klingman died in Hawaii at age 87.
41:46He was buried at Arlington National Cemetery with full military honors. The headstone listed his rank,
41:52Lieutenant Colonel. His service, United States Marine Corps. His decoration, Navy Cross.
41:59Kenneth Ruser died five years later on June 20, 2009, age 89, also buried at Arlington. His headstone
42:08listed 59 medals earned across three wars. But neither headstone mentioned the specific detail that made their
42:14mission on May 10, 1945, unique in the history of aerial combat. They were the only two pilots
42:21in World War II to destroy an enemy aircraft with propeller blades at an altitude above 35,000 feet.
42:27The Pacific War produced numerous instances of aerial ramming. Soviet pilots on the Eastern Front
42:33developed the Terran as a standard tactic. Japanese pilots deliberately crashed into American bombers when
42:39ammunition ran out. American pilots occasionally resorted to ramming when facing overwhelming odds.
42:45But those incidents occurred at altitudes between 10,000 and 25,000 feet, where the air was thick
42:51enough to provide control authority, where pilots had some chance of recovering from the collision.
42:56Klingman and Ruser operated at 38,000 feet, in air so thin that the Corsair's engine produced barely
43:0260% of rated power, where control inputs took seconds to register, where the temperature was cold enough
43:08to freeze gun oil solid, where one mistake would send both aircraft into unrecoverable spins.
43:14The technical analysis conducted after the mission identified why the tactics succeeded.
43:19The Corsair's propeller was larger and more robust than the Nick's tail structure,
43:2413 feet 6 inches in diameter, 3 inches thick at the hub. Designed to handle 2,000 horsepower of engine
43:31torque,
43:31the Nick's horizontal stabilizers were built for light weight and maneuverability.
43:36Aluminum skin over aluminum stringers. Not engineered to withstand impact from a propeller
43:41spinning at 2,000 RPM. Three impacts, each one progressively more destructive. The first damaged
43:47the stabilizer, the second partially severed it, the third removed it completely. The progression was
43:53systematic, calculated, not desperate ramming, but controlled use of the propeller as a cutting tool.
43:59After the war, aviation historians studied the mission. They identified factors that made success possible.
44:05Clingman's decision to strip the Corsair to minimum weight. The reduced mass allowed higher altitude.
44:11Rooser's initial attack that damaged the Nick and reduced its maneuverability. The Japanese pilot's
44:16inability to dive away because diving would have exceeded the Nick's maximum airspeed. The cold air
44:22that prevented the Corsair's damaged propeller from overheating during the descent. Remove any single factor,
44:28and the mission fails. Clingman crashes. Or the Nick escapes. Or both aircraft go down locked together.
44:35The Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum requested artifacts from the mission. The Marine Corps
44:41provided photographs. Mission reports. The Navy Cross citations. But the propeller hub had been scrapped.
44:48The Corsair's wreckage was gone. No physical evidence remained except archived photographs and witness
44:53statements. In 1998, a Marine Corps historical foundation located Clingman in Hawaii.
45:00They interviewed him about the mission. Asked for details that did not appear in official records.
45:05Clingman described the cold. The vibration when the propeller struck the Nick's tail. The certainty that
45:11his engine would fail before he reached Kadena. He spoke for 90 minutes. The interview was recorded,
45:17archived, archived, made available to researchers. Reuser gave similar interviews. He emphasized different
45:23aspects. The decision to expend all ammunition on the first pass. The frustration of watching his guns
45:29go silent while the Nick was still flying. The relief when Clingman's third pass succeeded. The fear during
45:35Clingman's descent that the damaged Corsair would not reach the runway. Both pilots insisted on one point.
45:41The mission was not heroic. It was necessary. The kamikaze attacks were killing American sailors every
45:48day. The Nick had to be stopped. They did what the situation required. But the Navy Cross citations
45:54disagreed. Extraordinary heroism in the line of duty. That was the standard. Clingman and Reuser met it.
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46:19pilots who saved lives with propeller blades and courage at altitudes where most men cannot breathe.
46:25Real people. Real heroism. Drop a comment right now and tell us where you're watching from. Are you
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46:38the entire world. You're not just a viewer. You're part of keeping these memories alive. Tell us your
46:44location. Tell us if someone in your family served. Just let us know you're here. Thank you for watching.
46:51And thank you for making sure Robert Clingman and Kenneth Reuser don't disappear into silence.
46:57These men climbed to 38,000 feet. Destroyed an enemy reconnaissance aircraft with damaged
47:02propeller blades. Prevented kamikaze attacks that would have killed hundreds of American sailors.
47:08They deserve to be remembered. And you're helping make that happen.
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