Grasshopper Pilot: A Memoir, by Julian W. Cummings with Gwendolyn K. Cummings, Kent State University Press, Ohio, $19.95.

摘要

Julian Cummings a Piper Cub "Grasshopper" pilot, was one of a small cadre who flew hair-raising reconnaissance and attack missions in the flimsiest of aircraft at treetop level to support U.S. Army ground troops during World War II. His memoir provides an excellent example of a small part of the air war that would be virtually unknown today if Cummings and a few others had not documented their personal experiences. When the Army needed to observe enemy ground troops close up and then direct fire toward them, fabric-covered single-engine lightplanes were seen as the answer. Several different manufacturers answered the call. Most numerous were Piper Cubs, designated as L-4s. They were capable of taking off and landing in tight spaces, could use the same roads and gas as armored vehicles, and were easily maintainable in the field.