an explosive mixture to have built up over the head of the motor and the rocket is junked for parts without any launch attempt. Albert Speer witnesses this test failure. 23 March North American B-25B Mitchell, 40-2291, piloted by 1st Lt. James P. Bates, crashes on take-off from Auxiliary Field No. 3, Eglin Field, Florida, during training for the planned Doolittle Raid on Japan. This aircraft did not participate in the mission. Bates deployed with the Raiders aboard the but did not fly the mission. 25 March Test pilot Fritz Wendel takes Messerschmitt Me 262 V1, PC+UA, on its first jet-powered flight but experimental BMW 003 gas turbine engines both fail and he has to limp the prototype airframe back to Augsburg on the nose-mounted Jumo 210 piston engine installed for initial airframe testing. 26 March The first Bell XP-39E Airacobra (of three), 41-19501, with lengthened fuselage to accommodate the Allison V-1710-E9 engine, and used for determining handling qualities, armament tests, and maneuvers, crashes on its 36th test flight during a spin test out of Wright Field, Ohio. 26 March The fifth Republic P-47B Thunderbolt, 41-5899, is lost when pilot George Burrell is forced to bail out after fabric-covered tail surfaces balloon and rupture. Pilot dies when his chute has insufficient time to open. Future P-47s have enlarged all-metal surfaces. 27 March While Task Force 39 pushes through heavy North Atlantic seas near Sable Island en route to Scapa Flow, Rear Admiral John W. Wilcox, Jr., task force commander, goes overboard from USS Washington and is lost. USS Wasp launches four SB2U-2 Vindicator dive bombers to assist in the search, but one, BuNo 1362, of VS-71, piloted by Ens. Edwin S. Petway, crashes astern of Wasp while attempting to land, killing its two-man crew. The admiral's lifeless body is spotted briefly but not recovered. 3 April The 303rd Bomb Group, activated at Pendleton Field, Oregon, on 3 February 1942, suffers its first fatal aircraft accident when three flying officers and five enlisted crew are killed in the crash of Boeing B-17E Flying Fortress, 41-9053, c/n 2525, six miles (10 km) N of Strevell, Idaho during a training mission. 6 April Boeing B-17B Flying Fortress, 38-214, of the 12th Bomb Squadron, 39th Bomb Group, Davis-Monthan Field, Arizona, suffers engine failure with one bursting into flame, the bomber crashing into the desert 22 miles SE of Tucson, killing all five crew. "The