Lightning didn't strike this lucky pilot

There aren't too many people walking around who've survived bailing out of a P-38 Lightning.

The twintail, twin-engine fighter had a large horizontal stabilizer referred to by pilots as the cheese knife.

Carson City resident Howard J. 'Hod' Taylor was flying a Lightning during a training mission on March 1, 1943, when smoke started pouring into the cockpit.

In his official Air Corps statement, he said the smoke looked like it was coming from the nose of the aircraft, where the guns were located.

"I immediately opened the throttles to 27 inches and headed straight for the base at 1,500 feet, calling the tower to clear traffic for an emergency landing."

He later recalled that the cockpit was full of smoke.

"I couldn't see and I couldn't breathe," he said.

In his report, he wrote that he opened the aircraft's window and decided to bail out when it became obvious he wouldn't be able to land the plane.

"I called the tower: 'Can't see. Getting out,' slowed the plane to around 150 mph, throttled back, and slid off the trailing edge, clearing the horizontal stabilizer."

He said the trick was to stall the plane and then slip past both the stabilizer and the control weights.

"It was barely enough, believe me it was close," he said.

After surviving his near miss, Howard flew 48 combat missions in North Africa and Italy before finally being shot down by malaria.

These days Hod flies gliders with SoaringNV. When owner Fred LaSor heard his story, he did some research to get Hod his Caterpillar Club pin.

Begun in 1922 by the Irvin Air Chute Co. to encourage pilots to use a parachute when their aircraft becomes disabled in flight, the Caterpillar Club's symbol is a silkworm.

During World War II, 34,000 flyers became members of the club, but Taylor wasn't one of them.

Sixty-six years later, on June 17, LaSor awarded Hod a caterpillar pin and certificate in honor of his achievement.

Hod is still flying at age 90, though he has to have someone with him.

SoaringNV co-owner Laurie Harden said he is a fixture at the airport. La Sor researched the incident and managed to find a caterpillar pin for him.