Update 12-27-11

Hi,

Happy New Year, of course, a few days late.  And because I was away for a week, there's enough mail for two newsletters, so I'll backdate this one and keep it focused on the continuing information about Jim Lorey's father Fred.

First, the second article from The New York Times, this one from 1954.  It was sent by both Amy Bentley and Alan Finder:
    NAVY PLANE HITS OIL STORAGE TANK
    Reserve Pilot Escapes With Cuts and Bruises in Crash Landing at Cedarhurst
    Special to The New York-Times
    Cedarhurst, L. I., April 23 – A Navy Reserve flier trying to land a plane with a dead engine hit an oil storage tank and crashed here today, but he escaped with only cuts and bruises.
     Lieut. (j.g.)  Frederick Lorey, 32 years old, flying a Navy Corsair as part of a two-week training tour he started last Monday, said he nosed the disabled craft toward the "clearest space" he could see to avoid crashing into near-by houses.  The plane struck a thirty-foot oil tank at the Paragon Oil Company depot and crashed 200 feet away, breaking in half.
     Lieutenant Lorey ran about forty feet before he collapsed.  He was taken to St. Joseph's Hospital, Far Rockaway, Queens, and then to the Naval Hospital, St. Albans, Queens.
     "I abandoned my first idea to bail out," he said, "and in trying to ditch I looked for the clearest space.  I saw a lot of houses to my left.  But over my right wing it looked very clear, nothing but marshes and fields.
     "I was about to hit the center of those storage tanks and I realized that if I pulled back on the stick I'd spin.  So I made a gentle turn to the left and hit the last tank.  My right wing touched it and must have dented it."
     He said he tried to reach New York International Airport, Idlewild, Queens, "and would have in another minute or so if I had any power."
     A Navy spokesman at Floyd Bennett Field, Brooklyn, said Lieutenant Lorey was on a tactical flight with two other planes.  The flier, a salesman for the Knickerbocker Beer Company, lives at 51 Flower Road, Valley Stream.  He is married and has two sons, James, 6, and Frederick, Jr., 2.

Amy also included the paid obituary from The New York Times in March 1955:
    The New York Times – Deaths-- March 26, 1955
    Lorey – Lieut. (j.g.) Frederick Frank, U. S. N. R., beloved husband of Rosemary, dear father of James Fred and Fred John, devoted son of Fred E. and Theresa Emma Lorey, darling brother of Theresa Petti.  High Requiem Mass, Monday 10 A. M., the Church of the Holy Name of Mary, South Grove St., Valley Stream,  L. I.

[Rich -- It seems both weird and reassuring to hear Fred Lorey almost speaking again.]

Next, some further information about the two planes involved in the two crashes.  I'm not sure if the people who responded have a life-long interest in planes, so simply knew about this, or if they did some research.

First, from Terry Shields:  Very sorry to hear of Jimmy Lorey's passing.  We were in Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts together for a time (Troop 254).
    To answer the newsletter question, "Does anyone know if an F4U is the same kind of plane as a FG-1D, or does the story mean they were both single-engine planes?"
    Essentially, they were the same aircraft, with FG-1D being manufactured by the Goodyear Company and the F4U being manufactured by Vought Aircraft (Chance Vought ).  Both were referred to as 'Corsair' and can be easily identified by the gull-wing type wings.  The Corsair was considered to be one of the finest Navy single engine fighters in WWII.
    Happy holidays to all.

Second, from Robin Feit Baker:  Just a little information in response to the the inquiry with regard to Frederck Lorey's airplane.  Essentially, they were the same plane; however, the FG-1D was a later model with more horsepower and a four-blade prop.  The earlier F4 was built by Chance Vought in Stratford, Connecticut, and later contracted to Goodyear, which explains the letter G.  The same plane was flown by Pappy Boyington in the Black Sheep Squadron.  Perhaps some of you saw Robert Conrad portraying him in the television program quite a few years ago.  The show was also called The Black Sheep Squadron. 

Third, from Steve Zuckerman:  In the last  newsletter, you had an inquiry as to the aircraft that Jim Lorey's dad was flying when he had his  fatal crash.  If it was indeed a Corsair, then it had to be the F8  Corsair produced by the Vought Aircraft Company.  The Corsair was a carrier-based Navy fighter plane. Piston engine (prop driven), it was one of the most advanced  aircraft ever in service during the Second World  War.  It was also one of the fastest and had one the highest altitude ceilings.  It entered service in late  '43 or early '44 -- I may stand corrected on that.  If you happened to recall the TV series in the seventies called The Black Sheep Squardron, which starred Bob Conrad, the plane he and his men flew was the F8 Corsair.
    I would also assume from reading in the newsletter about Jim's dad that he may have been a flight instructor during his flying career, due to the fact that one of the planes he sustained a crash in was a  piston engine trainer.   Hard to believe that the U.S. Navy continued to use piston engine aircraft well into the fifties.  I knew that they did use that type of aircraft throughout the Korean War and the Vietnam conflict.  It was known as the A6 Skyraider.  For the record, the Navy used F designations for fighter planes, and the  Army Air Force used P for pursuit plane.  The jet fighters of today still use the F designation for all the fighter  jets in service -- F14 Tomcat, F15  Eagle,  through to the most recent F22 Raptor, and  the  new advanced F35, whose name is  kept classified.  I could  be  way off on some of my facts, but you could  check my information with either Eric Hilton or Robert Fiveson.  They may have a little more aviation knowledge than I do.  The F8 Corsair reappeared again as a U.S. Navy jet fighter in 1964 , when it was one of the very first supersonic carrier-based  fighter jets.

Fourth, related, from Eric Hilton:  Please thank Bernie Scheidt and Alan Finder for their fine detective work in finding the articles about Jimmy Lorey’s dad Fred.  How tragic an accident and freaky that he had two life- threatening experiences in the same type of plane in less than one year.

Also, Alan Finder added:  The oil tank Fred Lorey struck and managed to walk away from belonged to a Paragon Oil Company depot.  I think this name sounds familiar.  Maybe those were the people who filled up our heating oil tanks at home?

[Rich -- I suspect there were several home oil delivery companies servicing Valley Stream and Long Island, but I don't know how people chose among them, and I can't remember which my family used.]

Finally, from Marc Fishman, whose thoughts after Jim Lorey died started this whole round of thinking:
    Memory is strange.  I clearly recall the story about Fred Lorey crashing into an oil storage tank.  I guess I assumed that the storage tank blew up and that he died in that crash.

The South '65 e-mail addresses: reunionclass65 . blogspot . com

The South '65 photo site: picasaweb . google . com / SouthHS65

As usual, please delete the spaces.


Rich