 Autolight and its 98,000 dealers bring you Mr. Fred McMurray in a story based on fact tonight's presentation of so spins Tonight a story of courage the routine operational mission of a B29 bummer over Korea Autolight presents the flight of the bumblebee our star mr. Fred McMurray You will cocks well call me out if it's not Stan the chipper and chirpy baseball manager Not so chipper will cocks my car batteries out of water dead as a pop fly well Stan You should have an auto light stay full battery the peppy pitcher of potent power that needs water only three times a year in normal Car use a real good starter. Oh will cocks. I'll stand. It's the best and that auto light stay full needs no relief either It gives longer life as proved by tests conducted according to accepted life cycle standards Why money just can't buy a better battery than an auto light stay full Where do I pick up this prize package will cocks from your neighborhood auto light battery dealer? He services all makes of batteries and has an auto light stay full for your car if a replacement is needed To quickly learn his location just call Western Union by number and ask for operator 25 That's me and I'll gladly tell you where you can get an auto light stay full the battery that needs water only three times a year in normal Car use and remember from bumper to tail light. You're always right with auto light And now with the flight of the bumblebee and the performance of mr. Fred McMurray Autolight hopes once again to keep you in so spent On any given day in any given newspaper you can find a squib about a b-29 group carrying out a routine strategic bombing in Korea This is the story of one of those routine bombings and how it affected me Lieutenant Colonel Hutchins stone and the crew of the bumblebee lead ship of the 236th wing The mills of the gods began to grind I would say while we were completing our engine run up at the head of the runway Finish with a run up birth. This is 75 rpm drop on the front mags and number told but it shouldn't bother us any We've got them back. Okay, Raj Let's go Frank Flaps 25 degrees print tabs that Autopilot off Windows and hatches. We're doing escape hatch closed turbos number eight propellers high rpm Power from army three six zero five over over to you three six zero five ready to take off over clear on runway two six When 25 miles 45 degrees Prepare for takeoff prepare for takeoff 500 feet per minute raised laps easy Labs coming up easy How's the cylinder head temperature Murph? All in steady at 235 degrees. Okay, try to keep it there. We're going to 18,000 feet this time I hope you can read that cruise control chart Don't worry you fly this heap according to my figures. You have plenty of fuel left when we get back How much is plenty about 300 gallon? Oh big deal just enough for one trip around the pattern. Hey max Come on up see the view Not much damage I can do to water Hey, you what's the matter with you? I don't know Getting to me. I guess relax boy. Take it easy. How does an instrument of death take it easy by thinking how lucky he is Lucky me. Yeah, you your clean shaver. You're well fed You know I'd have to grub for your life and some filthy foxhole hoping some sniper doesn't blast you while you're opening up a can of ration What's the point points this In addition to living well, we never come into contact personal contact that is with the enemy We do our job and never see close at hand the damage we do It's one way you're looking at it. There's one other way and that is the more efficient We are now the sooner you can get back to doing what you were doing before all this But I don't want to be a soda jerk again Go look at the scenery. Okay, but you still haven't convinced me colonels don't sir. What is it sergeant big one tonight? Yeah, pretty big railroad Center How many groups just us? Expect any trouble? What's the matter you worried? Oh, no, not me Not exactly. What do you mean not exactly? well Well, my kid brother is coming in with a replacement unit tomorrow. I Sort of like to be on the welcoming committee Hey, anybody want to play some cards down here? I don't have anything to do for a while. Yes, sir. Hey, how about casino? Frank yeah fly for a while. I'm gonna grab some sack time. Okay, and don't forget to pressurize I won't and have Merv check the auxiliary electrical unit didn't look too great when we left You're gonna need the putt-putt relax go to sleep. Okay. Wait me in an hour. Good night Before I fell asleep I thought of my ship and its crew the thrill of being master of a hundred and thirty five thousand pounds of airplane And I thought of the words in the preface of my pilot's handbook You are the commander of a combat force all your own I said a small but specialized army And you as airplane commander will be responsible for the welfare and morale of that army. I thought briefly about max and the serge This momentary concern of theirs was perfectly normal to a fighting man with a conscience I decided that my army was doing all right and dropped off to sleep And Frank woke me. I relieved him and he grabs and shut I so it went The hours vibrated by Hodge talked to me Willie my trusty computer tells me you'd better correct two degrees left and Increase your indicated airspeed five miles an hour if you expect to lead these guys to the initial point on time We'll do where are we should hit the coastline in about three minutes guarantee? Hey, what's the name of that town? We're using for the initial point for the run Sanyaki with the prevailing winds It should give us a run of about 170 seconds think you can get synchronized in 170 max when I was at the dead I scored a shack bullseye to you from 12,000 with a run of 25 seconds Answer your question. No, it means you've got lucky ones. How'd you drift me to settle down? We're assembling our group assembled 67 ton birds of destruction flying almost 600 miles to lay their lethal eggs on the enemy My job was almost over Control would soon pass from my hands to the two synchronizing knobs of Max's bomb site He would fly us down the path to the target the path from which there was no turning The man's got to be a little frightened when he approaches something like this I wouldn't want a man in my crew said he wasn't Because when a man doesn't scare in a situation like this, he's a fool and a b29 is no place for a fool Two minutes to the initial point then you get your hundred and seventy seconds max right be pressurized How about not doing it this time much? I hate to put my mask on for just a few seconds Yeah, they haven't any flak or interceptors out here for at least three weeks besides We're only 18,000 can't hurt much even if we've got a hole or two. Well, okay, but if we get clobbered Don't say I didn't warn you approaching point autopilot engaged all but the elevator controls I can give you a better altitude control doing it manually, okay But don't give me more than 25 feet plus or minus. What's the corrected altitude 18,150 Bombay is open Bombay's open Okay, Max. You've got it Frank check the gunners right gunner left gunner tail gunner Radar Yeah, everything check okay. Hi. It's too quiet here. We got the right place I keep makes three o'clock high and closing fast. We'll start shooting. We can't move now There's a whole mess up and head right for us. Hurry up Max. That's just a couple coming this way one o'clock. Move it move it drop Max dropping any 15 more seconds Not sure they come sorry to get him get him. I can't stop him Bombay's closed. Let's get out Frank report from the app department for reading on the damage I'm sorry. I couldn't stop him. I hit him. I hit it easy settle down Emergency power on one and two come on up. What's the score Frank quick before they make another pass ever three and four engine direct I have the right flaps gone. No fire that the scanners can notice Willie We're losing a hundred and twenty feet a minute with full power Indicated airspeed is 180. I have to keep that right wing up and I can't drop my airspeed too much chance of stalling How far can we get before we hit the brining? I have it for you in a minute What have you got for me Murph so in the head temperature on one and two running a little high Started fuel transfer from number four tank the number one and three to two Gotta run engines and auto-rich to keep them cool manifold pressure 36 rpm 2100 Can we feather the bad ones both prop up smashed blades spent no chance anything yet Willie just getting it now I Think this is about right Assuming we maintain our present speed and rate of descent and don't run into any wind trouble We should hit the briney about 240 miles this side of home. Well, I guess that doesn't I hate to do this to you guys But I think we better break out the stone from Curley in the tail over go ahead Curley They're back me five o'clock four of them stand by they're back. They know we're crippled Do you want to fight or take your chances on bailing out? We bail out. We're good target practice. Let's fight I want another chance at him Colonel. What do you say Murph Willie? I shoot the guns. I'll keep my running me too Okay, then let's fight Curley. Yes, sir your gear operating back there. Yes, sir Then use it. We're gonna see if the bumblebee still has their sting Bringing you mr. Fred McMurray in the flight of the bumblebee tonight's production in radio's outstanding theater of thrills Suspense well Stan have you won that pennant already? I feel that way Wilcox It's that new auto light stay full battery of mine. It's quick as a shortstop eager as a rookie and powerful as a slugger Haha, and best of all the auto light stay full needs water only three times a year in normal car use And you know Stan that auto light stay full has more protection than a whole league of catchers Why it has fiberglass retaining mats around each positive plate to reduce shedding and flaking and give the auto light stay full longer life as Proved by tests conducted according to accepted life cycle standards that auto light stay full has made a hit with me Will cock my money just can't buy a better battery than the auto light stay full So friends to quickly locate your nearest auto light battery dealer who services all makes of batteries Just call Western Union by number and ask for me operator 25 I'll gladly tell you the location of your nearest auto light battery dealer where you can get an auto light Stay full the battery that needs water only three times a year in normal car use and remember from bumper to tail light You're always right with auto light And now auto light brings back to our Hollywood soundstage mr. Fred McMurray in Elliott-Lewis's production of the flight of the bumblebee a dramatic report well calculated to keep you in It wasn't much of a decision to make we all knew that to bail out meant we'd be target practice So we prepared for the fight with number three and four engines knocked out We were short three generators which meant there wasn't enough electrical power to drive the gun turrets and the computers I ordered the putt-putt the auxiliary electrical unit on the line and dropped to 10,000 feet Then without pressurization the three remaining generators plus the power generated by the putt-putt might be enough to do the job This of course assumed the auxiliary unit was working properly Also diving down to 10,000 gave us enough excess speed to eliminate for all practical purposes the possibility of more than one tail Passed by the enemy the men took up their positions and waited But not for long Here they come Now listen, I don't want the gunners to start the turrets moving until it's absolutely necessary We haven't got enough power wait till they're right on us before you pour the juice to them Keep the crosstalk to a minimum Go ahead Marty can you drop your right wing a little makes an awful blind spot for me can't do it You got to keep these dead engines high. Sorry. Okay, sir But if you really need it, I mean really yell and I'll drop it for you They'll probably come in that way at least once maybe we can trap them right sir Look out Al coming at you. I see him. We got him now, Sarge little to the right sir number two coming in Open the car the car flaps another two degrees cool them off It'll slow us down. I can't help it. These engines have got to get us back. Hold it right there Colonel. He's making a pass head on I got it sir. I got him back We haven't got much juice the generators are overloaded curly and Marty layout. I'm going to give you the shot For the left sir, I think I can take care of them somebody They're heading for my blind spot. Tell me when you want that right wing down Marty. Yes, sir Now don't miss Marty. We want to get home. I'll hold the crosstalk Here you are Marty. How is he willing? I've got a car. I'll bandage on on the bleeding stuff I think he may be going into shock. Did you use the solve ointment? Yes, but I didn't know what to do about the ribs Just a minute Max, how do you feel Ken? Your respiration is kind of slow. It's okay. Let me know if it gets too tough with you Not not not too bad Get me back die out here Please Get me back. You're not going to die max. Just try to lie quiet Willie right here put his oxygen mask on auto mix off You got a couple of shoots and put them under his legs. You know how to get plasma sure I'll do it put a couple of blankets over and keep them warm Roger Yeah Remember what I said before About being an instrument of death forget it. Don't worry. No wait. I Want to say yes, I don't care anymore. I Wouldn't even care if I could see all the damage I do just like quiet. I've got to go now What what are you gonna do? I'm going to get you home when I said that I didn't have the slightest idea of how I was going to do it I went up and talked to Murph and found that nothing we could possibly do to the engine was going to keep us from losing about a hundred feet a minute We looked at each other like a couple of stupid fools for a while and then Murph made a suggestion that gave me an idea He said that if we were anywhere near basic weight, we could maintain altitude First we tried to figure out how we could dump some fuel, but that would have been defeating ourselves Then I got the idea why not drop everything over the side that wasn't absolutely essential to keep the bumblebee in the air That might get us down to near your basic weight. How do you know it'll work? What are we lost if it doesn't? Nothing What are we waiting for? Okay, you fly for a while. I've got work to do Sarge. Yes, sir. I want you to start dismantling Max's gear up forward the bomb site Intervalometer track down all the electrical cables and rip them out the cables are all color-coded Frank. No, what is it? You have a set of technical orders aboard right here We'll check through and give Sarge the letter coding and the color coding of the bomb equipment I want everything pitched out. I can start it. It's practically out now How's your gear Willie? I can get rid of everything except my computer My drift meter got clobbered so I can't use it anyway the cabinet my tables can go to fine. Keep one pencil. Thanks Colonel Stohr to Marty over. Yes, sir. This is Marty. How's Al doing pretty good, sir? He's not gonna be running around for a while, but he'll be in shape. Okay, good. I'll be back there pretty soon Out Expect any more shooting. No, why the armor plate comes off really easy Just bolts and wing nuts. So does the bullet resistant glass behind the instrument panel. All right, dump that out, too Are you doing sorry? We're toss the hot food unit out save some extra water It hurts, but I'll do it Willie as soon as you finish with your stuff you and Murph tear down the army Armour I'm going after a good first-aid job, Marty. Thank you, sir. What happened to Al's turret? No power. Okay. Well the auxiliary never did get started. We didn't get one volt of power out of that putt-putt toss it out Yes, sir. Hey, wait a minute before you do that Do you know how to remove the lower turret guns and all guns and all? Yes, sir. We can but it's quite a job. I don't care how big a job it is Can we do it? Yes, sir, but I'll need some help. You'll get it. I'm going up front. Oh Colonel Yeah, Marty, and we toss out the putt-putt first. Yeah, kick open the rear door and toss it out Drop the lower turret and then anything else you can think of you've got to get down to basic weight There's anything else you're in doubt of why you call me in the intercom Runway in the world man. Am I glad to see it? Yeah, they're standing by on runway two six notify crew Prepared for landing we'll dispense with the rest of the checklist gear down here coming down The gear lights didn't go on check with Marty Frank the Marty over Is the gear all the way down? Well Check again It is okay out. No one right wheel isn't fully down and locked might be a bent worm gear. Yeah 3605 to tower over 3605 right gear not fully down and locked tell the meat wagons and the fire boys to stand by I've got two wounded men and two engines. I know my gear isn't all the way down I come in now or you pick us up and rubber sacks. Come on get with it Roger 3605 All that crafting pattern leave it once repeat all that crafting pattern leave it once 3605 you are clear for mercy landing Within a few seconds I could see the ambulance racing to where they figured the plane had stopped And I saw the full night boys turned down the taxi strip that paralleled the runway I knew what the procedure'd be they'd start down the runway and start throwing the stuff at the engines the minute We touched the ground They sure took chances those fireboys. They get positions for a crash landing somebody take care of max. I've got him Flaps coming down Don't forget about the right flaps half gone. I'm trim for it. The nose wheel holds together. We'll be okay All for the idle cutoff when you're ready, right? Give me the car Frank speed one thirty eight 130 120 10 190 got the switches were right on the ground We didn't catch fire. We didn't turn over. We were just ground loops And that was the end of our routine operational flight Max and Al made it okay. The rest of us had ourselves at weekend in Tokyo The bumblebee they had to junk it wasn't enough left to make repairs worthwhile And now if you'll excuse me, I have to go to a briefing another routine operational flight Presented by auto light tonight star mr. Fred McMurray This is Harlow Wilcox speaking for auto light world's largest independent manufacturer of automotive electrical equipment Auto light is proud to serve the greatest names in the industry They are members of the auto light family as well as are the 98,000 auto light distributors and dealers in the United States And thousands more in Canada and throughout the world Our family also includes the nearly 30,000 men and women in 28 great auto light plants from Canada from coast-to-coast and in still other auto light plants in many foreign countries as well as the 18,000 people who have invested a portion of their savings in auto light Every auto light product is backed by constant research and precision built to the highest standards of quality and performance So remember from bumper to tail light You're always right with auto light a story about fear and a man's difficult decision Find yourself or die The death of me starring mr. George Murphy. The program will be presented on South Spence Suspense is produced and directed by Elliott Lewis with music composed by Lucian Morrowick and conducted by Ludblustin The flight of the bumblebee was written for suspense by Ross Murray Featured in tonight's cast were Joseph Kearns, Byron Cain, Glenn Vernon, Edgar Barrier, Billy Hallop, Jack Krushen, Charles Calvert and Lee Millar Fred McMurray may currently be seen in the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer production of Callaway went that away And remember next week on suspense mr. George Murphy in The Death of Me Battery or auto light spark plug dealer or your nearest authorized auto light service station phone Western Union by number and ask for operator 25 switch to auto light. Good night. This is the CBS radio network