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Ode to the Swoose*

Lt. Jerry Holsclaw and Dave Stacey

When the pilots gather
Behind the hangar
In the lee of the old latrine-
And the talk runs wild
Of the farmer's child;
In a story none too clean

Old Don* stumps in
On his wooden pin
And shines his Silver "C"
He lights his pipe
With a parachute flare
And nods at you and me.

A silence falls
Like Jericho's walls
As he leans on a broken prop
When they gathered round
This man renowned-
You could hear a needle drop!

"Oh you've heard men tell
Of flying hell
And terror in the air
But take the 'Swoose'-
That burlap goose-"
And he points to his greying hair

"I flew that ship
On many a trip
O'er the brow of Harris Hill
Its wings hung loose
Like a drunken goose
Fattened for the kill.

"Now on this hill
Man's greatest thrill
Was soaring high and wide
So I'd pour the juice
To the ancient 'swoose'
And tow them up to glide.

"I'd planked ships in
On the head of a pin
To win the boys' respect
But though I'd fight
With all my might
That throttle they'd reject.

"So one fine day
When the sky was grey 
And the wind howled from the West
I cut the switch
O'er Girton's ditch*
And prayed-'God, do the rest'!

"I got some lift
And a lot more drift-
It was then I hit that front!
THe wires screamed as the 'Swoose' careened 
On its back-sans instrument.

"The front spars creaked 
And the wires shrieked-
Then the fabric drifted away
And her wings she shed
Just past my head-
Like a 'Flying one-hoss shay.'

"I hit the ground
With a rending sound
That was heard for miles away
They gathered me up
Like a splattered pup
And buried me next."

  *The swoose is a challenger-powered Curtis Fledgling-the name is derived from the combination of swan and goose.
  *Don (Don Sanford) is the tow pilot whose ambition was to soar with his switch cut.
  *Girton's Ditch is named so, because a certain CAA inspector met with a minor disaster at a certain point on the local terrain.


Cover Photo
IN AND FROM THE HANGAR AT HARRIS HILL