| No set of pictures of Can Tho would be complete without a shot of the
Major Garrison Memorial Hole in the CORDS building at the airfield. If you look
carefully just below the roofline of the building at about the center of the photo, you
will see a small hole with a cut in the sheet metal below it. The observant person
will also notice that the Caribou at the right is parked nose in. It had been the
practice at Can Tho to back the aircraft into the very tight parking area. The
problem with backing an airplane is that you cannot use the brakes to stop, lest the
aircraft settle on its tail. It is also a disadvantage that you cannot see where you
are going when you are backing. Of course, the flight mechanic is watching to the
rear and on interphone to tell you when to place the props back into the forward regime to
apply a little thrust to arrest the backing motion. In this case, poor Major
Garrison got the word just a little late and managed to push his rudder into the building
hard enough to puncture the building and damage the aircraft rudder to the extent that it
had to be replaced. (See the photo at Caribou Rudder
Replacement.)Thus, for ever more, this was known as the Major Garrison Memorial Hole.
I hope, Major Garrison, wherever you are, you will take this in the good humor that
is intended. |
