The birth of aviation in the early 1900s brought about a new dimension for man’s pursuit of adventure and challenges. To be free of earth’s bonds and experience the freedom of flight was an exhilarating experience sought by many. And the military provided the path for these men to achieve this lofty goal. The most modern and powerful flying machines were put at their disposal by the Army Air Corps and, later, the new US Air Force. After pushing the throttles forward and feeling the acceleration of the aircraft to speeds unseen on the ground, these men quickly learned to enjoy this new freedom. The poem High Flight brilliantly expressed this freedom in words.

High Flight was composed by Pilot Officer John Gillespie Magee,  Jr., an American serving with the Royal Canadian Air Force in England in 1941. He was born in Shanghai, China in 1922, the son of missionary parents,  Reverend and Mrs. John Gillespie Magee; his father was an American and his mother was originally a British citizen.

He came to the U.S. in 1939 and earned a scholarship to Yale. However, in September 1940, he enlisted in the RCAF and graduated as a pilot.

He was sent to England for combat duty in July 1941. In August or September 1941, Pilot Officer Magee composed High Flight and sent a copy to his parents. Several months later, on December 11, 1941 his Spitfire collided with another plane over England and Magee, only 19 years of age, crashed to his death. His remains are buried in the churchyard cemetery at Scopwick, Lincolnshire.

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No one knows what lies ahead of us – we wake up in the morning and expect another normal day awaits us. But there is always the unknown, events that happen that have enduring repercussions in our life and the lives of others.

Fate.

Some say fate is just superstition. Others say that whatever happens to us is the result of our own actions or our inactions. That’s true, but there is always the “what if”. What if I had turned left instead of right. What if I had waited one minute more. What if…? Fate. I am a firm believer in fate, that sometimes things happen that are beyond our control.

Some people may say fate is just an excuse to blame your poor planning or bad decisions on. Who knows? However, sometimes no matter what we do, or what decisions we make, things happen beyond our control. Flying is full of examples where a string of seemingly innocent or bad decisions end in disasters. Just read any aircraft accident report.

Four military aircraft have crashed within 5 miles of each other in the mountainous area of Tennessee near Tellico Plains

1. A World War II B17F bomber on April 9, 1945 on Whigg Ridge.

CLICK below for the story behind the Tellico Plains B-17.

FLYERS FATE: The 1945 Tellico Plains B-17 Crash

2. An F-51 Mustang fighter on Big Huckleberry Knob on April 27, 1952.

CLICK below for the story behind the Huckleberry Knob F-51 Mustang.

The F-51 Mustang on Huckleberry Knob

3. A C141B Starlifter transport on John’s Knob on August 31, 1982;

This C141 page is under construction

3. And a Navy T-45C training plane on October 1, 2017 near the Tellico Fish Hatchery.

The T45 page is under construction

Fate? This is the story of the circumstances and events that shaped the decisions made by those flyers who met their fate in the mountains of east Tennessee.