#143 Fighter Pilot's Harrowing Dogfight: Aircraft on Fire, Enemy Closing In : Col Joe Peterburs
The Afterburn Podcast
John "Rain" Waters
4.9 • 1K Ratings
🗓️ 24 December 2025
⏱️ 104 minutes
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| 0:00.0 | I'm down to a thousand feet and I thought I'm not going to make it. |
| 0:04.0 | I'm going to have to bail out. |
| 0:05.0 | So I had a strap. |
| 0:07.0 | Just as I had strap, I look over to 3 o'clock and there's a FW 190 coming at me. |
| 0:15.0 | And I'm burning on the right side and so he's coming down at me and I'm burning on the right side and so he's coming down at me and I so I pull a hard right turn into him |
| 0:27.6 | and just as he fires his rockets and guns and he misses me and he just keeps going because he saw I guess I was burning and I was done for anyway. |
| 0:40.3 | So by this time I'm down to 500 feet and I'm looking around and I think, |
| 0:47.3 | dumb, you can't bail, I mean you can't belly the thing in. |
| 0:53.3 | I'm unstrapped and I don't have time to strap up. I'll kill myself. So off on the wing at about 350 feet and I let go. Tower at my respects release to you. We're waiting for 11.0.40. 0 and 5. Click off. Seats high. Out 2.0 eyes. We're clear for kickoff. Clear for the airspace. |
| 1:12.9 | Fire projector. |
| 1:13.8 | On my program, careful is at 3.5.4. |
| 1:18.7 | Sir, that's on. |
| 1:20.2 | Next day. |
| 1:20.9 | 16. |
| 1:22.4 | 13,000. |
| 1:23.3 | I'll argue. |
| 1:24.3 | Everybody on. |
| 1:26.4 | Today's conversation is with Colonel Joe Petersburg, who's one of the last surviving fighter pilots from the 20th fighter group of World War II. |
| 1:33.9 | Today we're going to dig into his career, his journey, his path, and it's an incredible conversation that I think you'll really enjoy. |
| 1:40.4 | But coming this spring, he's going to make a journey to England, partner with Delta Airlines, |
| 1:45.5 | to honor one of his wingmen that didn't make it home. |
| 1:48.6 | After 80 years from returning overseas, Colonel Petersburg is going to return to England to |
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