Low Level Attack - The Pacific

All young pilots had the urge to fly near the ground and experience the speed of flight, a sensation that is lost at higher altitudes. Most only got to sneak in a bit of what was variously called buzzing, beating-up, or flat-hatting, all activities forbidden by service regulations. Altitude was life. You could recover from a spin, side slip, a bad acrobatic maneuver, or a sudden down draft if you had sufficient air under your wings. Meeting the ground at high speed invariably spelled disaster. Hence, instructors and senior members of the flying fraternity harangued at youthful pilots that low level antics were a fool's game, an invitation to sudden death. Then as the war progressed it became apparent that the best way to get at smaller targets, an enemy ship, grounded aircraft or rail lines, was to get down low - tree-top, masthead - for best result.