A customer’s “strange noise” becomes a diagnostic lesson, starting with how people describe symptoms—“Is it a squeak? Is it a rattle? Is it a clunk, a growl, a chirp, a bang?”—and even spilling into “marriage counseling” when the car is driven “mostly when my husband drives it.” The shop also deals with emotional context, where “the most dangerous phrase” is “while I'm here.” Between repair stories, the show turns solemn for Memorial Day, then shifts into Uncle Steve’s WWII and air-sea rescue accounts.
This Memorial Day weekend on Ron Ananian, The Car Doctor, Ron mixes humor, heart, and history in a powerful hour about the way cars become part of our everyday lives. It starts with a noisy Honda CR-V carrying landscaping rocks under a loose splash shield — and turns into a story about marriage, memories, and why vehicles become so personal to all of us.
Ron talks about the strange relationship people have with their cars, the conversations that happen at the repair counter, and why sometimes mechanics become part technician, part therapist, and part referee.
Plus:
Advice for a listener shopping for a used Toyota RAV4 for his teenage daughter
A heartfelt Memorial Day reflection on veterans, sacrifice, and the meaning behind the holiday
And a special archive conversation with Ron’s Uncle Steve Ananian, a North American P-51 Mustang pilot from World War II, recounting surviving combat, being shot down over the English Channel, and the incredible story of bringing a damaged fighter plane home.
It’s an unforgettable hour about cars, family, freedom, and the people who keep all of us moving forward.
"...in in the neck. I had a customer this week with a Honda CRV that came into the shop. Nice lady, a sweet perso..."
The Honda CR-V is a small SUV meant for daily driving and family use. It has room for people and luggage, and it’s popular enough that many repair shops see them often. That’s why it can come up when a mechanic talks about problems they’ve helped customers with.
The Honda CR-V is a compact SUV designed for everyday driving with a comfortable ride and practical space for passengers and cargo. It’s a common vehicle that shows up frequently in repair shops, so it’s often discussed in the context of real-world maintenance and common service needs. In a “Car Doctor” style podcast, it may come up because owners bring them in for issues that are typical for the model or for aging components.
"I'm a Toyota guy, have an absolutely stellar relationship with my local dealership. I'm looking for a RAF four as"
The Toyota RAV4 is a popular compact SUV. In this segment, they’re using it as the specific car they’re shopping for and comparing two used options.
The Toyota RAV4 is a compact SUV that’s commonly chosen as a first car because it’s practical and easy to live with. Here, the hosts are comparing two RAV4 listings by model year, mileage, and warranty coverage.
"he's narrowed it down to two vehicles at twenty twenty three with fifteen thousand miles on it, a clean carfax. It was a trade in and a local Ford dealer there in southern California where he lives. Or a twenty two Rev four with fifty thousand miles meticulously serviced as he put it at the dealer every five thousand, and it comes with the Toyota Gold warranty seven years, one hundred thousand miles from the time I purchased it. The only negative is a minor accident reported on Carfax."
Carfax is a report that shows a car’s history, like reported accidents and title events. They’re using it to judge whether the used car has any red flags.
Carfax is a vehicle history report service that compiles records like reported accidents, title/ownership events, and service-related data. In the segment, it’s used to flag a “minor accident” and to support the claim that the car is otherwise clean.
"It was a trade in and a local Ford dealer there in southern California where he lives. Or a twenty two Rev four with fifty thousand miles meticulously serviced as he put it at the dealer every five thousand, and it comes with the Toyota Gold warranty seven years, one hundred thousand miles from the time I purchased it."
A trade-in is when you turn in your old car to the dealer to help pay for the next one. They’re saying that history can affect what you can (or can’t) know about how the car was cared for.
A trade-in is when a dealer takes your current vehicle as part of the purchase price for a new or used car. The speaker uses the fact that one RAV4 was a trade-in to question how well it was maintained and serviced before it reached the dealership.
"Or a twenty two Rev four with fifty thousand miles meticulously serviced as he put it at the dealer every five thousand, and it comes with the Toyota Gold warranty seven years, one hundred thousand miles from the time I purchased it. The only negative is a minor accident reported on Carfax."
A Toyota Gold warranty is extra protection that can help pay for certain repairs if something goes wrong. Here, the big point is that it lasts a long time and covers up to a high mileage.
“Toyota Gold warranty” refers to an extended warranty program offered by Toyota that provides coverage beyond the standard factory period. The speaker focuses on the length and mileage limit—seven years/100,000 miles from purchase—as a key reason to prefer the older, higher-mileage RAV4.
"Granted, fifteen thousand miles isn't a lot, but they did they even do one oil change? And if they did, who did it and was it done right?"
An oil change is routine maintenance where the old engine oil is replaced. They’re wondering if the car really got that basic upkeep.
An oil change is the scheduled replacement of engine oil and filter to keep the engine lubricated and protected. The speaker questions whether the lower-mileage RAV4 actually received even basic maintenance like an oil change, and whether it was done correctly.
"I like the idea of the seven year, one hundred thousand mile warranty. I know what I'm getting, I know where it's been right. I mean maybe the twenty three was a lease return, in which case did they even do any kind of service to it?"
A lease return is a car that’s going back at the end of a lease. The host is suggesting that some lease cars get less careful day-to-day treatment, since they’re not owned long-term by the driver.
A lease return is the vehicle you bring back to the leasing company at the end of the lease term, after which it may be sold as used. The speaker argues that lease returns can be “the worst possible vehicle” because drivers may treat them more like rentals and not maintain them as carefully.
Term
anti aircraft fire
"I was, for we were flying over the Haligo and in occupied Holland, and I was hit by anti aircraft fire and my engine just would not give us, give me any power."
Anti-aircraft fire is ground-based fire meant to shoot down planes. The speaker says it hit his aircraft and caused problems with power.
Anti-aircraft fire refers to weapons designed to damage aircraft, typically using ground-based guns or missiles. The transcript uses it as the cause of the damage that led to loss of power and a forced descent.
"I had been hit in my supercharger. And when I got down to about ten thousand feet, I had enough power to sustain flight."
A supercharger is a device that forces more air into the engine so it can make more power. The speaker says their supercharger was damaged, which affected engine power.
A supercharger is a forced-induction device that compresses incoming air to increase engine power. In the transcript, the supercharger is specifically implicated in the pilot’s loss of power and later recovery.
"and so I realized then that I was losing oil and the engines started to overheat."
Overheating means the engine is getting too hot. The speaker says they were losing oil, and that led to the engine getting hot.
Overheating happens when an engine’s temperature rises beyond safe operating limits, often due to insufficient cooling or lubrication. Here, the speaker connects oil loss (from a hit supercharger) to the engine starting to overheat.
"And of course I was heading back home by this time, and we I flew the airplane and I noticed that my oil pressure was dropping and the EPI fifty one mustein the supercharger is engaged by engine oil pressure, and so I realized then that I was losing oil and the engines started to overheat."
Oil pressure is how strongly the engine’s oil is being pumped around. If it drops, it can mean the engine isn’t getting enough lubrication, which can cause overheating.
Oil pressure is the pressure of engine oil as it circulates to lubricate and cool internal components. The speaker uses dropping oil pressure as a clue that the supercharger system was losing oil, leading to overheating.
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You're listening to Ron and Nanian The Car Doctor, nationally recognized auto expert trusted by Mechanics, Weekend wrenchers and vehicle owners alike. Ron brings over forty years of hands on
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Join the Conversation Live every Saturday from two to four pm Eastern by calling eight five to five five six zero nine nine zero zero. That's eight five to five
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start your enginies. The Car Doctor is in the garage
and ready to take your call.
You ever notice how people treat their cars like members of the family, right up until the moment the check angela comes on. Then it's like get out, you know,
It's like suddenly, oh, maybe it'll go away, or maybe you should go away. It's sort of like that member
of the family that's being a pain in the neck.
I had a customer this week with a Honda CRV that came into the shop. Nice lady, a sweet person.
She walked in carrying one of those giant pocket books and an even bigger insulated coffee cup. This thing was
so big it looked like it would keep soup hot until after labor day. You know, I'm not sure how
much coffee she drinks, but she definitely was on that caffeine kick. Ron, My car's making a strange noise. Well,
whenever I hear strange noise, you know, strange noise to a mechanic, you start playing twenty questions in your head.
You do, I mean, it's just part of being a mechanic.
Is it a squeak? Is it a rattle? Is it
a clunk, a growl, a chirp, a bang? You know,
or they'll hit you with that. That my favorite description.
I always think of the movie Goodfellows. They go, it
sounds funny, funny? How like do you make me laugh?
You know? It's is it funny? To who? Jerry Seinfeld? So,
you know, in order to diagnose it a little fur before we go out for the inevitable ride that I know we're going on. When does it make the noise.
And this is the scariest thing a customer will ever say to you, mostly when my husband drives it. So
now you're heading into marriage counseling territory. You're ready to
turn your shirt around, get the white collar, become the priest, you know, And you say, can you describe the noise?
And she thinks for a second, and her description of the noise, I swear to God, I should write a book.
She said, it sounds expensive. What the heck does expensive
sound like? I don't know what that is. So, you know,
after all these years in the business, that's probably the most accurate description a customer has ever given me. You know,
what does it sound like? It sounds expensive? Great cars
have a category of noises they do. There's probably okay,
there goes my Saturday, or oh god, turn the radio up.
So we get outside to the parking lot and we go for a ride. Now the husband's sitting in the
car and he's paralyzed. He's just you know, he's got
the steep belt, seat belt on, he's got that stoic look.
He's just sitting there locked on. You know, Oh God,
my wife's gonna yell at me. Nice guy quiet nervous.
He's just staring straight out the window. It's like we're
either going to a funeral or a court. I couldn't
quite figure it out. And every time he accelerates, there's
this grinding, rattling noise from under the vehicle. You ever
watch You ever watch two people have a fight without saying a word, right, the wife kind of folds her arms and she gives him that married person look. Married.
Guys know what it is. It's the look your wife
gives you when when you say no, I can fix that myself. And the wife kind of gives him the
mhmm look, right, which is male code. As a guy,
I can tell you that's mail code for this is gonna cost me triple so I better listen, yes, dear.
So we go back to the shop, they get out of the car. They sit in the waiting room, at
opposite ends of the waiting room, I might point out, because now they're kind of not talking to each other because she's mad at him, he's mad at her. And
now they're sitting at opposite ends of the row of chairs.
And I get it up in the air ten seconds later, literally ten seconds after it's in the air. I find
the problem. There's no other way to say it. There's
like a half a bag. You know those you know
landscaping rocks that you see around properties. Well, they had
these landscaping rocks at the end of their driveway, and I guess when he's going in, it's like he's scooping these landscaping rocks up with the engine shield that had fallen off because they had been to a quick Jiffy lube.
They had been to a quick loob and they didn't scoop, they didn't get it secured in place. And he's scooping
up rocks every time, and it's banging against the exhaust pipe and the plastic and they're rolling around in the plastic shield. And the husband when I explained this to
them and I brought them out, and you know, here's you know, she gave him that look and the husband kind of looked at the ground and you know, scratched his shoe across the ground and he said, well, I'm kind of cutting corners a little bit, and okay, And the truth is the rocks are he's picking up rocks and he's they're sliding around every time he accelerates and here's the best part, right again, father Ron. The wife
looks at me and she says, I knew it. I
knew it was him. Not oh, thank goodness, not oh
is that all it was? Not? Oh it's not a fortune.
I knew it. You see. And this is the God's
honest truth. Not to make this a show about marriage,
but every married couple, or every everybody that's together with a partner, we all reach a point where the car isn't transportation anymore. It really isn't. It's evidence, all right,
It's it's just because the husband goes into defense mode.
Well maybe if somebody didn't put giant boulders next to the driveway. Danny's running, Danny's running out the front door.
I'm going to lunch. Danny, It's ten thirty in the morning.
What do you mean you're going to lunch? Right, And
she fires back, well, if somebody drove like a normal person.
And I'm standing there in the middle of this, I'll call it an automotive episode of Judge Judy. And I'm
holding a handful of home Depot river Rock. You know
what amazes me. Cars become the center of everyday life,
They really do. They are so much the focal point
of our lives, and we don't even realize it because every important moment, every big moment, a lot of great moments happen around a car. First dates, road trips, family vacations,
driving your kid to school for the first time, late night food runs, arguments, makeups, singing badly to the radio when nobody's looking. I've seen Tom. I have a camera
in his car. Tom's out there, whale in a way.
Cars are where life happens. It does. Life happens in
an automobile, and I think that's why you guys get emotional about them, because even though mechanics think they are, we don't just fix transportation. I think a lot of
us we're fixing your memories, We're fixing your routine, were fixing your ability to get through the work. And then
sometimes we become therapists. I'm not sure. I'm not sure
if that's a good thing, because I can't tell you how many customers start a conversation with And this is the most dangerous phrase that a customer can give you is while I'm here, which is another way of saying I forgot to tell you. By the way, add this
on or increase the pile up. Boys. Sure hope this
doesn't cost more. But I need this to because while
I'm here can mean the dog is sick. It's all
the things you hear about. It's got nothing to do
with the car. While I'm here. By the way, you
know the dog is sick. I really need the car
because the dog is sick and I'm gonna have to take them to the vet in three days or to put them down. And then you got to hear that
whole story. I had somebody called the shop this week
for an inspection, and I got to hear. As I
gave her a date for the inspection, I got to hear everything she was doing for next week that started off with a colonoscot beyond Tuesday, to attending physical therapy on Thursday, which I couldn't undermagine how bad the alenoscopy is going to be. To leaving for vacation on Friday.
She can't make it next week. I'll need to come
in the following week. TMI brother. Sometimes they hear the
kids away at college, the husband's retired, the wife wants a new car, the neighbors annoying or dying. I hear
that a lot. Oh, my neighbor's kind of annoying, So
I need to get a new car, or can you fix this because I can't stand looking at my neighbor and having them tell me what they think is wrong because I really don't like them. But maybe I'll move,
but I can't really find out.
I don't care.
I just want to fix the car. Sometimes you guys
need another human being just to listen to you for five minutes. It's the God's honest truth. The things people
tell me at the counter, it's just hysterical. And all
you came in for was an oil change. I, honest
to God, think it's you want an oil change in fifteen minutes of therapy. And to be honest with you,
that's why I love doing this radio show, and that's why I'm still in the business after all these years, because underneath all the technology and the scan tools and the software and the updates, and cars still connect people, and people connect the cars. And you know, even when
the driveway's full of rocks or you think the customers got rocks in their head, well, it's still a connection and it's still important. It makes us all human. I'm
not an any in the car Doctor, Yes, sir, Oh no, oh no, I thought I was going to get out of this segment. Yes, sir, no, no, I'm just busting
your jobs, busting your job. I'm getting better at this. Huh.
By the way, have you been down Route seventeen yet? No?
I haven't. I haven't had a chance. There's a there's
a rumor I've seen it. By the way, anybody in
North Jersey, if you want to go see something really neat, if you drive down Route seventeen or up Root seventeen.
If you get to Root seventeen in Rutherford, New Jersey, you go find the quality Ford Dealership right there after the railroad trestle. All right, And if you look up
up in the sky, it's a bird. It's a plane.
It's ron An Annie In the car doctor, We've got a thirty by sixty billboard, and I'm sitting here looking at you right now on a video link. Why do
I need to see you on a billboard?
Oh?
Tom, it's the greatest thing known. It talks about us
being America's number one automotive show, about America's favorite working mechanic.
Everybody loves me. They don't like you so much. You're
not on the billboard yet, but if you keep trying, I'll get you. I promise. Let's pull over and take
a pause. Car advice done right. I'm Ronning, Andy and
the Guard Doctor. We're back right after this. Before I
tell you what's going on at the bottom of the hour, I just I want to get through this portion of the show. I want to do a quick email. This
is for Justin out in Orange County, California. Justin's a
longtime listener of the show, sends me an email. Hey, Ron,
I really enjoy the show as always. I'm in the
market for a vehicle with my youngest daughter, she's sixteen.
I'm a Toyota guy, have an absolutely stellar relationship with my local dealership. I'm looking for a RAF four as
they tend to be in our price range and my kid like which is important. You want your kids to,
you know, if you can give them a positive first experience with an automobile. And Justin goes on to say
he's narrowed it down to two vehicles at twenty twenty three with fifteen thousand miles on it, a clean carfax.
It was a trade in and a local Ford dealer there in southern California where he lives. Or a twenty
twenty two Rev four with fifty thousand miles meticulously serviced as he put it at the dealer every five thousand, and it comes with the Toyota Gold warranty seven years, one hundred thousand miles from the time I purchased it.
The only negative is a minor accident reported on Carfax.
And he asks me which one would you choose, The newer one with lower miles and less warranty, the older one with the gold warranty. This might surprise a lot
of people. I'd take the older one. I'd take the
one with more miles on it. Number one. It went
fifty thousand miles without any major failure, which shows that it's a well assembled piece of machinery. The thing that
catches my attention about that twenty three is for somebody to trade in a two or three year old vehicle with less than fifteen thousand or almost fifteen thousand miles on it. What's wrong with that vehicle? Has that vehicle
got and would be weird for a Toyota to have it?
But is there something wrong with that vehicle or did they just not fit the car, plus you can't get an answer on how well it was serviced or maintained. Granted,
fifteen thousand miles isn't a lot, but they did they even do one oil change? And if they did, who
did it and was it done right? I like the
twenty two. I like the idea of the twenty two.
I like the idea of the seven year, one hundred thousand mile warranty. I know what I'm getting, I know
where it's been right. I mean maybe the twenty three
was a lease return, in which case did they even do any kind of service to it? Because times sometimes
that lease return is the worst possible vehicle because like a rental, people don't take care of it. That's why
I say, by the twenty two, by the twenty two, with the with the more miles on it. But you're
also getting a warranty for that surprise, for that oops, for that uh oh, because the uh oh always seems to come at the worst possible time. Justin get her
the twenty two. Let her have a good experience. And
you're a great dad for doing that. And you know,
God bless you're fortunate you can do it as we wish all of our parents all of our moms and dads could do for their kids. I want to talk
a little bit about Memorial Day, right Uncle Steve, who happens to be in the wings, if you know what I'm saying, because he's got his he's coming up at the bottom of the hour. And if you're new to
the show, Uncle Steve was, I still think of him as is. Right. Uncle Steve is my father's brother, my
World War Two fighter pilot. Uncle shot down on his
first combat mission the age of nineteen, running the bombers into Munster. And Uncle Steve he was that wild eyed
kid with the big years. As he always said, he
never needed a parachute. He said, he could fly like Dumbo.
We've had Uncle Steve, or we had Uncle Steve on the show many times during his lifetime, and he would talk to us about what it was like to be a mechanic during the Second World World War and maintain what he called performance aircraft under all sorts of conditions, working on the planes after they came back from their daylight bombing missions in the dark and the rain, in the mud, and how difficult it was. Uncle Steve also said,
he said, don't ever think it's happy Memorial Day. There's
nothing happy about Memorial Day. You know, a lot of
us see Memorial Day as barbecues and days at the beach and all of that. But it's not like so
many of the veterans. Uncle Steve, you know, spoke up
and he said, Memorial Day is an observance. It's a
solemn day. It's a day to commemorate those who have
died to keep us free. And it's the truth. It
really is the truth. I catch myself because I'll make
the mistake of happy Memorial Day, and then I'll think back, No, that's not right. There's nothing happy about it. I think
about the veterans and what they've gone through and what they continue to go through. I think about some of
the stories that I've heard over the years. I used
to have a salesman by the name of Rich. He
sold me my information system many many, many years ago.
Rich was a young kid, he was eighteen years old in Vietnam, and he would tell me stories. He was
a mechanic and he would tell me stories about he's lying in the mud changing the oil in a big truck, you know, the army military trucks, the three wheeled back versions or the eight wheeled back versions whatever they were, and they'd be draining oil right into the mud because they didn't have containers that would hold it because it was thirty six quarts or however many quarts of oil the things had. And he'd be listening to the radio
and he said, this was sometime, I want to say, the late sixties, and he said, here, I am listening to the president talk about how we're not going to go into Laos or Thailand, and you know your boys will be coming home soon, and YadA, YadA, yad. And
he said, he said, I'm lying here thinking what a big liar this guy is, because I'm lying here in the mud in Thailand, draining oil doing an oil change on a truck, and I'm exactly where he says, I'm not going. And I'm already here with the rest of
the group. And you know how the military is work
so hard to keep us and do what we have to do, and with the mechanic put up with under all weather conditions. And I'm sure I'm just touching a
tip of the spear of what really happens. I know
somebody had a family member she was overseas and she would tell me stories about being in Afghanistan and what it was like and how if you went out at night to use the latrine in the dead calm of evening two o'clock in the morning, there was a thousand eyes on you and from the hills of Bagram Airfield, and how lonely it felt and how far away from home.
And there's a whole bunch of them out there doing that. So,
you know, I want to say that this next segment coming up, Uncle Steve talking about what it was like, you know, military flying a P fifty one for all our service people, men and women, past, present, future. We
dedicate this segment and it's not Happy Memorial Day, it's we observe Memorial Day because it's just it's just that important.
You know, you talk to a veteran and they're just amazing people. Uncle Steve had this can do personality, this
can do temperament. Never heard him say I can't do
that or I don't know how you would. Always hear
Uncle Steve say, I'm not sure, let me look it up.
And there's actually a funny story about that. You know,
real quick that Uncle Steve. When he graduated flight training,
he graduated ahead of his group, and they were going to send him on ahead, and he said, no, I want to stay with the group. I want to stay
with the guys that I know. And they decided to
organize a band. And the group captain said, well, anany
and if you can organize a band, I'll let you stay with the group. Uncle Steve didn't know how to
do it. He went to the library, took out a
book dated the librarian, organized the band, and had a great time until he went overseas. Sometimes he couldn't say
what the great time was in front of van Isabelle.
But that's a story for another day. Hey, I'm running
any in the car. Doctor coming up next, Uncle Steve,
what a story. I'll be right back. Hey, hey, hey,
welcome back. You know, America, in her times of need
have always has always been fortunate to have her son's rise to the challenge. And one of America's sons, I'm
very proud to say, as my uncle Steve, Stephen and Aian in the Second World War rose to the challenge and rose to the crisis that the Second World War obviously was, and went overseas. And we're joined today with
Uncle Steve. We've actually got him on the phone here,
and we're going to talk to him a little bit about his tour of duty, his combat mission, but specifically about some of the adventures and some of the things he found out that a P fifty one Mustang can do when it absolutely has to. Uncle Steve, are you there.
I'm very proud and happy to have you here today, Uncle Steve. I can't tell you how much it means
to myself and obviously to all the listeners because they've heard me talk about you over the years, and you're some of your exploits, and I guess we're sort of here to set the record straight, but for posterity sake, just bring to air for the listeners of today to hear what happened back then during the Second World War.
You know, the Second World War ran from forty one to forty five. What year did you enter the war?
What are some of your earliest memories with regard to that.
Well, the Japanese attacked Proaba on Sunday, December seventh. When
I heard over the radio, I went home to discuss it with our family when we were having a runch luncheon at the time, and then before I could get my words out, My father said to me, son, your country needs you. What are you going to do about it?
And I said, well, I'm gonna enlist in the Army Air Force. I want to become an aviation coldbet. And
so the next very next day, I went down to Grand Central Palace in New York and enlisted, or tried to.
At that time. The officer in charge, the captain in charge,
you know, was a very smart gentleman, and he said to me, what are you doing now? Said and I said, well,
I'm going to NYU. I attended the College of Engineering
as an aaron, I as co engineer. And he said, well, look,
I'll enlist you, but i'll put you on an an active's status until we're ready for you, because we really don't have training facilities for pirates and if we I've signed you up now, you'll probably wind up in a cavalry or someplace. So that was a story that I
was called to active duty in nineteen forty three January nineteen forty three, and I went over the seas in August of nineteen forty four.
How old were you?
I was about twenty twenty one, I.
Guess twenty years old. Pilot training where'd you take pilot training?
I flew Stateside and I threw My first airplane was a PT seventeen, which is a by wing aircraft. It's
very similar to the one that they flew during World War One. And I flew at seven Field in Waitcoat
in the Americans, Georgia, at the save field that Charles Limberg flew his first flight and soloed, and I solos there too.
Now is the story of wasn't there a story when I was a kid, Uncle Steve, Because I grew up at your need listening to the exploits. Wasn't it that
you took pilot training one day and the plane didn't start and you had to start the plane and jump in at the same time in order to complete training or some such thing.
Well what happened was, actually it was not heroic. I
was flying in the Reading, Pennsylvania. They had a school
there for the aviation cadets. And the first flight I
ever took was in a Piper cub and the instructor was, of course at the stick, and we took off. We
got the fifty feet off the ground, the engine cut out.
He ran out of gas, and I thought that was a pretty stupid thing myself. So it was a good
lesson for me because after that, every time I climbed into my plane, I always put my finger into the gas filling cap on the airplane, and if I couldn't feel the gasoline, that tank was empty, and it made him fill it up right to the top.
You knew it was a problem. So you went over
seas in August of forty four. Your first combat mission
was when was it? Was it right away or did
they give you some time to break into the operations and circumstances we had?
You know, would call it training in the P fifty one because I had never thrown the P fifty one before, and I guess I had about five or six hours flying time in the P fifty one. But we did
have ground training where we learned the operation of mechanical operations of the Mustang, and we were fairly briefed on the flying characteristics and the routines that you had to go through. But my first flight was October fifth, nineteen
forty four.
And there's something special about that, isn't it. And that's
really the point of all this today, that that really was a very special flight for you because you almost didn't make it back.
It sure was I was, for we were flying over the Haligo and in occupied Holland, and I was hit by anti aircraft fire and my engine just would not give us, give me any power. I lost power and
I came down. I called my element leader and told
him that I was hit and I was going down.
But as I lost altitude, I started to recain some power and I realized then that what my problem was.
I had been hit in my supercharger. And when I
got down to about ten thousand feet, I had enough power to sustain flight. And of course I was heading
back home by this time, and we I flew the airplane and I noticed that my oil pressure was dropping and the EPI fifty one mustein the supercharger is engaged by engine oil pressure, and so I realized then that I was losing oil and the engines started to overheat.
And I remember once one of our enginey off engineering officers jokingly said that there's plenty of oil in the sump of the engine. If you could ever get it
up to the top as you you'd be able to lubricate the engine and cool it off. And so I
shook the wings of aircraft finally and splashed some of the oil in the stump on to the sidewalls of the cylinders, and it worked that the engine started the cool oi you know, just start dropping and I was able to sustain and fight for about forty five minutes.
So that plane flew for an addition, and you started out at what twenty thousand feet?
How high up were you on you twenty twenty one thousand.
Feet, So you took a round through the supercharger, oil cooler line or the oil feed line. The plane started
to lose oil pressure and power and you basically dead sticked it or flew with no power from Holland, and you eventually were able to glide out to the English Channel.
Correct, No, I had power, okay, because the power was you know, below ten thousand feet you don't need a supercharger, and the engine had enough power to sustain flight. So
the engine was running and we flew across the channel.
As we got out to the you know, water from Holland crossed out into the North Sea, we were met by three sevens from Air Sea Rescue, so they escorted me.
And of course the real the tough part was at that day there was joel force winds over the North Sea and the English Channel.
All right, hold it right there, Uncle Steve, because I want to keep everybody in a little bit of suspense, and let's pull over. Let's take a pause for the cause.
When we come back, we'll talk a little bit about what those gel force winds did to you. So if
you could just sit tight and hold your propeller as it were. I'm Ronningeni and the Car Doctor, joined by
my uncle Steve here talking about what went on that day in October nineteen forty four, and we'll both be right back right after this.
Must have enough, baby, Hey, hey, hey, welcome back.
I'm Ronning Aye and the Car Doctor, joined this hour by Uncle Steven Andanian. We've got one of the elder
and Indians with us today and we're just discussing his exploits during the Second World War. Uncle Steve, when we left,
you were talking about the plane that you were in which had the oil pressure line taken out by anti aircraft fire. You were somewhere over the English Channel with
gail force winds. So pick it up from there and
tell us what happened.
Well, what happened is eventually had you know, loss was losing oil steadily, and I had lost the oil that they kept the propeller pitch, and I had developed a runaway propeller. And then the it starts the overheat and
the flags were coming into the cockpit and I had to bear out, and so I beare out into the English Channel or North Sea. Actually, uh, and.
In October, that's got to be a little bit cold.
Well, the week before we had one of our powers went down in the English Channel and he was alive for six minutes before he died from the water temperature and a shot. So, yeah, it was cold.
I'm sure that was on your mind that day.
Yeah. But I was being escorted by Tom Rich who
was my element leader, and when he when I hit the water, my parachute skipped, dragging me across the top of the waves from one wave up to another. And
he came down and with his propeller he deflated the parachute.
I guess the prop wash from the propeller was successful.
He made two or three passes before and suddenly it succeeded and I stopped being dragged, And of course then there was all sorts of die markers and I was in the water. It was cold. I was hanging on
to my dingy. I couldn't care climbing to the dingy
because my parachute was acting like a sea anchor, dragging me under. So I had just barely enough strength to
keep on the side. And what I did is, when
I was in the water it was cold, I just started to exercise my feet and my ankle and my you know, moved my arms around to keep the circulation going.
And it worked. I was in the water for about
forty five minutes, I guess.
And you're spread out now, yet you have dime markers on a quarterm sorry you have you have die markers down.
You're hanging on to your to your life preserver, your your inflatable dinghy, and and you know, and how big of a square area of ocean this, this can't be an easy thing for people to find.
Oh no, this is in fact the problem was there with all the Air Force windows there were, there was white tops all over and they had trouble locating me initially, but Tom Rich was able to find me and he meanwhile, I'd gotten on the radio and called uh any may day to any ships in the area, and there was a couple of there was an air sea rescue and the minesweep were heading my way, and but I was actually were rescued by a flying seaplane that the British
had for every air sea rescue was called Wallace, and the pilot was able to successfully ran on those ten foot seas and uh uh, they couldn't pull me out of water, but they hung onto me and there was minesweeper came up and put a boat over the side and rescued me.
Now memory serves me correct from from what I remember when you would tell me this story as a child, that the Coastguard cutter or the British seaplane or the mine sweeper I'm sorry, came along, picked you up, They got you on the ship. And then when the when
the flying boat tried to take off the Walrus, it broke a pontoon and sunk. Is that if am I
correct in that? So basically, you know everybody was trying
to help and the waves were so high that you know it's by the grace of God that you're really here today. Well, yeah, it really becomes that sort of
a thing. And I guess that's going through your mind.
It's it's probably a very lonely feeling hanging on to a life jacket or a dingy in the middle of the English Channel, waiting for something to happen.
Well it is, and but I'll tell you what Torus day.
I remembering the Union jack flying from the the mind sweeper the Georgia Ago when they came up to rescue me, and I always cherished that thought of seeing their flight flying over the ship.
You know, two quick thoughts, Uncle Steve, before we go.
You were also noted and it was in the New York Times. Back here in New York City, you actually
shot down in one of the first to shoot down a German jet. Back towards the end of the war,
the Germans were developing jet aircraft. Were you surprised, Well.
Actually no, because you're always a fighter pilot has three tremendous ego and he knows that he's the best in the world, and they could there's nothing that would stop him.
And we always we used to see the jets flying over ahead, and a couple of our men were shot down by jet planes, of three of them, and so you're always sort of what you would do, how you would combat them. And then at this time the ten
jets came up to attack the armors and I saw them and they came on. They came is buzzing close
to me, and I gave chase and three of them broke off, and I engaged the three of them in an actual dog fight at fifteen thousand feet and was successful in shooting down the read plane.
God bless Uncle Steve. It was the What was the
name of the fighter group?
You were part of the Sea thirty nine Fighter Group?
And where can the listeners go get some more information about the three thirty nine because I understand you operate a website now.
Yes, well there's a website and there's also two histories of the three thirty nines that were published. They're out
of print now probably, but you could pick it up on the Eber or use bookstore somebody someplace like that.
And the three thirty ninth website addressed do you know what off the top of your head? No, okay, you
know what, I will I will get a.
Hold of it Google three thirty nine Fighter Group And there's three or for a website that have as one of his little friends in England and the other one is an a last that they have a great website about World War two combat then scored War Verse.
Great Uncle Steve, thanks for your time today, and I can't tell you how proud I am of you. I
love you just as much today as I as I always have. Thank you very much.
We're welcome and a feeling.
It's good. I take good care. I'm running any and
the car doctor and we'll be back right in for this.
Ste Well, that's unthome Steve. Right, that's a cut back
to Paul. What do you say after that?
You know, he didn't get into it in that conversation.
We did have other conversations with him, and you'll probably hear it in the future episode because you know, we play Uncle Steve. We reserve Uncle Steve a Memorial Day
every year, you know. Every once in a while we
go through the archives and we find another interview or another conversation. But one of the things he did not
talk about. There's one interview where he talks about what
does Memorial Day mean to him? And he said it
was a solemn observation of our dead. There's just no
other way to put it. He said there were times
when his fighter group lost two out of every three men that were assigned to it, which is just staggering.
He told me stories where you know, the next newest pilot would show up. They were, you know, quartered three
men to a tent, and you know, the new guy would show up and the other two they really didn't want to get to know the guy because he could be gone the next day, he could be gone that week, and then the next guy was rotated in. If you
lasted two weeks, then you got to know him. I'm
ronning any and the car Doctor. The mechanics aren't expensive,
they're priceless.
To see it, Doctor curR advice, don't ride
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