King Nine will not return
The story is based on the story of the B-25 Mitchell bomber "Lady be good."
Lady was sent on a mission from Tunisia to bomb a target in Italy; from the start the mission was dogged by problems; of the nine bombers that set off, two turned by with engine problems, two had to ditch in the Mediterranean sea, and Lady was forced to return to the base with engine issues.
The problem Lady had was at the time the navigators were using a single beam tracking system, which meant you could be anywhere on the line of the beam.
Matters were further complicated because they were returning in the setting sun, and the sea, and sand were hard to differentiate between. The pilot was forced to crash the plane after the fuel ran out, thinking he crashed near the coast, he sent parties to the south to try to locate the base.
Sadly, he didn't realise, he had flown passed the base, if they had gone North, the men would have been at the base by dawn - the died in the desert - Lady was not found until late in 1969 by a BP oil research team.
This is the same problem Amelia Earhart had when she disappeared; she was flying using a radio system she'd never used, using a single beam tracking.
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