The CISCO KID II (PIC 2)

NAME

SER

BLK

SERIAL #

RCL/#

V#-P

PHOTO CREDITS

CISCO KID II, The

42-73307

00-2

N/A

Info Contributor - Robert Livingstone
Crashed into Seabee Mess Hall on Morotai 20 Apr 44 - Pilot Leon C. Martin (see account on p57 A Call to Arms): "The Kid was the second in formation to take off from Los Negros. Airplane started down the mat for about 3,000 feet when #1 engine began back-firing, belching black smoke from exhaust and the engine started to cut out. After an additional 1,000 feet, #1 prop started to windmill, the plane now skidding sideways. It now appeared that Martin forcefully pulled the plane off the ground. Rising 150 feet into the air in a steep climb, with the left wing quite low, the plane took a slow turn to the left. The nose dropped and after making a 180 degree turn from its starting position, the plane plowed into the ground. Upon crashing, the gasoline caught fire. Two seconds later the nine 500 pound bombs on board exploded. It was later learned that the plane had gone down in the 40th Naval Construction Battalion encampment containing a mess hall (tent city). A large number of Seabees were having breakfast. It was to be the last meal for 165 of them! None of the ten crew members of the Kid survived."