He had to keep his fingers relaxed so he wouldn’t lose his feel for the plane.He checked the clock on the instrument panel and put the plane into a left-hand turn, peering into the black murk for the Aldis lamps in the tail of each B-17. Every once in a while, a “dot-dash” flashed in the clouds, the letter A for the 94th.Two minutes later, he pulled out of the 180-degree turn. In six minutes, he’d turn again. Each rectangular loop assembled the elements, then the squadrons, and then the group into formation.“Radio to pilot,” Marvin Cox called on the interphone. “Adjust heading one degree south.”“Roger.” Jack nudged the wheel right. Back in the radio room, Cox had his ear tuned to Buncher Twelve, the radio beacon over Bury, which guided the 94th in assembly.Jack adjusted the throttles to keep his airspeed at 150 and tilted the wheel to keep his rate of climb at three hundred feet per minute. Assembly in the clouds, especially before dawn, required precise instrument flying.Ralph Purcell, the newest pilot riding as copilot for training, let out a sigh.
