A P-47 Thunderbolt nicknamed "Magic Carpet" of the 366th Fighter Group, in the snow. Lt Colonel Harold Holt’s “Magic Carpet” of the 390th Fighter Squadron, 366th Fighter Group, 9th Air Force. On January 1, 1945, green pilot Bob Brulle flew his bosses ride off the primitive runway Y-29 near Asche, Belgium, when the Luftwaffe descended. Operation Bodenplatte, a daring (and foolhardy) plan to disrupt Allied air superiority during the Battle of the Bulge, was underway. Brulle bagged a FW190.