When I saw the thread title the first thought in my head was of "Johnny Alison" from Col. Robert L. Scott's memoir "God is My Co-Pilot", detailing his days in China as CO of the 23rd Fighter Group. Did not for a minute think the thread was going to be about that same guy! 98 years old, God bless him. RIP and well done pilot!

The reference to him ditching his shot-up P-40 in a river is detailed in Scott's book. The planes (and spare parts) were so scarce that the Chinese locals dived down into the river and constructed a raft of bamboo under the submerged plane and floated it back to the surface for recovery!