As a Navy aviator during the Second World War, I was in command of a large patrol plane and a thirteen-man crew. Before each flight we repeated the Lord's Prayer in unison and read aloud the ninety-first Psalm. I silently repeated "the scientific statement of being," found on page 468 of "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" by Mary Baker Eddy, and earnestly prayed for guidance.
One night on a mission over the South China Sea, we encountered a severe tropical storm, and our plane was lashed by high wind, rain, and hail. As we continued toward the center of the storm, the electric altimeter indicated that the ocean was being whipped into forty to forty-five foot high waves.
We were being buffeted and tossed; suddenly both engines stopped, and we dropped down toward the sea. Hail had collected in the air-intake manifold, preventing air from entering and mixing with the gasoline; so the engines could not fire properly. I pushed the throttles forward once and returned them to flight position. Then we hit the ocean. It was a tremendous shock. We landed on the crest of a high wave, exactly at the center of gravity on the hull of the plane—not one inch too far forward or too far behind—and bounced back into the air just as the engines caught. We were airborne once again. The impact had cleared the jammed ice particles from the intake valves, and air rushed into the engines, enabling them to function perfectly.
