Uncle Sam’s Gorilla Pilot
Inspiration for Ernie Kovacs’ Nairobi Trio?
Sorry about the lack of posts. Very busy getting ready for a trip!
Just came across this great post over at the wonderful forgetomori site about early jet pilot hijinks at Edwards AFB (then called Muroc Army Airfield) in the early 1940s:
After slugging down a few drinks, the test pilots bragged about flying a propellerless aircraft and were immediately labeled as liars by the P-38 crowd—fighting words for sure. Subsequently, test-pilot Jack Woolams decided to put them in their place, not with his fists but with something far more effective.
He rented a gorilla suit and took off wearing it along with a big cigar protruding from his mouth and a derby hat on his head. Once airborne, he found a lone P-38 pilot, pulled alongside, giving the P-38 pilot a clear view of the jet and gorilla suit, then waved, much to the shock of his intended target.
Relevant to our musings at ufomystic, this quote pulled from the discussion forums at the snopes site is telling:
The fact is, that even if someone sees and believes a phenomenon, it doesn’t mean they will honestly talk about it. And if they do, it doesn’t mean that the details will be perfectly remembered in the historical record—especially if there isn’t one.
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Sep 08 2008 
September 9th, 2008 at 10:12 am
Did you see the new doc on “lowland gorillas” in the Congo? Everyone thought gorillas didn’t like water but not only do they love water, gorillas walk upright in water. Propellerless flight retro-style. And those mangos that gorillas love? Not even African!
September 9th, 2008 at 11:39 am
Would Kucinich have talked about his UFO experience if Shirley McLaine hadn’t mentioned it in her book? I seriously doubt it.
September 9th, 2008 at 1:52 pm
Spoofing and baiting the ‘professional expert’ was considered good sport by folks who were grads of UHK(School of Hard Knocks) back in the last century. A similar tale was recounted in Tom Wolfe’s ‘The Right Stuff’ where no less than a young Neil Armstrong was put in his place by Gen. Chuck Yeager after Yeager told Armstrong the Expert that it would be unwise to land on the lake bed after a brief rain. Armstrong ended up sticking an aircraft in the mud during the landing. Muroc Lake had a reputation for being a strange place well before the military showed up during WW2. I pretty certain that there’s a picture or film on Woolams in his Gorilla suit and top hot flying the then Top Secret, Bell XP-59A Airacomet, the first jet aircraft built and flown in the US.
September 9th, 2008 at 6:52 pm
Strapping bombs to the back of bats was an early covert action scheme according to Tim Weiner’s new must-read: “Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA” (2007). It’s more reptilian than man-monkey yet the course was set for later “Artichoke” and “Ultra” experiments… if it fits.
September 11th, 2008 at 10:45 am
Drew,
More evidence for the quote at the end of the post!
I have an excellent book on the weird bomb project called The Bat Bomb by Jack Couffer.
September 11th, 2008 at 10:47 am
RPJ,
We Kucinich prompted to talk about this? Maybe you’re right, since he may have brushed off the question otherwise.
September 11th, 2008 at 10:49 am
Crg,
I’d sure like to see that footage of Woolams!
September 11th, 2008 at 3:09 pm
O.K. so lets say there is a sauropod lurking in the jungles of the Congo — is it communist or is it extraterrestrial? More importantly why do some wear a gorilla-skin mask in their spirit of the dead dance? Sounds like a missile gap in the works.