^{Pilots making forced landings into the sea during World War II often became disoriented when the aircraft flipped over and sank. To train aviators to survive such a crash, the Navy developed a training device, affectionally known as the Dilbert Dunker. The Dunker was a simulated airplane cockpit mounted on rails above a deep-water swimming pool. After a pilot strapped in fully clothed in flight suit, parachute harness, and helmet, the Dunker slid down the rails and crashed into the water with a explosive sound as it flipped inverted and sank. Underwater and upside down, the pilot learned to unstrap, check the direction of the bubbles, and swim to the surface. Some student pilots, not comfortable in water, dreaded dunker training. However, hundreds of Navy pilots survived actual water landings because of their training in the Dilbert Dunker.}

^{A year after getting his wings, Jim Donovan, one of my Preflight classmates, found himself poised for a night takeoff on the catapult of the USS Lexington. Just as he received the launch salute, the holdback fitting broke prematurely and his aircraft was flung off the bow of the carrier at half the normal acceleration. Even with full power on the engines, the plane stalled and pancaked into the water in front of the onrushing bow of the Lex.}

^{Jim said the cockpit quickly filled with water, but that old Dilbert Dunker training paid off as he sank in the dark. “I looked for the bubbles, unbuckled my seat belt, and followed them to the surface.” Jim’s troubles were hardly over. Just as he surfaced he saw the ship about to run him down. Swimming frantically, he still scrapped along the hull and could hear the ship’s screws churning toward him.}

^{Luckily, the ship’s Captain had just come onto the bridge and witnessed the cold cat shot. Fearful of running over the pilot, he ordered full rudder over, and basically did a weave around Jim’s position. The evasive maneuvers threw many of the crew from their bunks with lots of broken wardroom china.}

^{A rescue swimmer from an overhead helicopter picked up Jim and returned him to the carrier deck. Greeted by the XO and a flight surgeon, he was taken to the sick bay where he received a shot of Jack Daniels to calm himself.}

^{The accident report found defective holdback fittings on 49 other fleet aircraft.}

^{Jim owes a special debt of gratitude to the carrier’s Captain and good ol’ Dilbert Dunker.}