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====Pilot training accidents==== In the late afternoon of November 2, 1941, five weeks before the US entered the war, San Anselmo residents were startled when two low-flying [[P-40|Curtiss P-40]] warplanes roared up the valley at just above roof level and crashed into the east side of Bald Hill (often incorrectly reported as Mount Baldy or Bald Mountain) at 5:40 pm. Element leader Lt. Thomas "Bud" L. Truax and Lt. Russell E. Speckman were killed when their planes crashed, in low visibility, into Bald Hill, just shy of the peak. It was almost dark, was misty and they were under a low cloud ceiling. They were critically low on fuel and part of a larger training group that had gotten separated. They were under the wintertime marine layer of low clouds that are common in the Marin County area, searching for nearby [[Hamilton Air Force Base|Hamilton Field]] to land.<ref>[http://www.sananselmohistory.org/baldhill7.html] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100707071828/http://www.sananselmohistory.org/baldhill7.html|date=July 7, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=The Night it Rained P-40's in Marin|url=http://pacaeropress.websitetoolbox.com/post?id=3780727|publisher=Pacaeropress.websitetoolbox.com|access-date=July 29, 2012}}</ref> [[Dane County Regional Airport|Truax Field]] / Dane County Regional Airport, located in Madison, Wisconsin, was named in memory of Lt. Truax. A third pilot, Lt. Walter V. "Ramblin" Radovich,<ref>[http://www.dfcommand.com/walter_radovich_his_life.htm Walter Radovich life story] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110709020039/http://www.dfcommand.com/walter_radovich_his_life.htm|date=July 9, 2011}}</ref> had left the formation over San Rafael, almost hit the city courthouse on 4th Street, circled the Forbes Hill radio beacon (37Β°58'44.73"N,122Β°32'50.78"W), clipped a tree and then turned northeast, towards Hamilton Field. Unsure of what the oncoming terrain would be and critically low on fuel, he decided to climb up though the typically thin marine cloud layer to {{convert|2500|ft|m}}, trim the airplane for straight and level flight and bail out. According to USAAF accident reports, his left leg was broken when exiting the plane and he parachuted down, landing near Highway 101 in Lucas Valley, reportedly near where Fireman's Fund / Marin Commons is currently located (38Β° 1'10.66"N, 122Β°32'29.36"W). Ironically, after Lt. Radovich bailed out, the airplane slowly descended back down through the clouds and made a relatively smooth "gear-up" landing.
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