Fritzie

Today we continue a running series that focuses on mascots... this time 'round:   'Fritzie', a pooch of unclear pedigree, to us, anyway. This furry fella was kept by the boys of VJ-12 at Naval Air Station Sanford, Florida during the last good war. Here we see 'Fritzie' in the right seat of one of VJ-12's Martin JM-1s, taking a moment to not smile for the camera while checking #2 during run-up.

Sanford Museum

And for those of the readership of less than a few and hopefully more than nada who are not in the know... the JM-1 was the US Navy variant of the Martin B-26 Marauder.

Enjoy, and... whooo's a gooood co-pilot?

Wright State University (Walter Matthews Jefferies Aviation Collection)

Fade to Black...

SLUF Brawlers

 Today we present for your viewing pleasure a fine snap showing  a brace of A-7Es from VA-25, 'Fist of the Fleet', flyin' off'a Ranger (CV-61) over the South China Sea on May 13th, 1977.

Enjoy, and remember... sometimes when diplomacy fails, you just gotta clobber 'em...

National Naval Aviation Museum

Fade to Black...

San Jacinto Avenger

Today we present an atmospheric view showing a TBF-1C Avenger of VT-51 over Majuro Atoll on May 30th, 1944. VT-51 was at the time flying from the USS San Jacinto (CVL-30) and counted among its roster a certain Lt.(JG) George H.W. Bush.

National Naval Aviation Museum

Fade to Black...

A Rafale by any other name...

Today we either begin or continue a series we like to call 'Now there's sumthin' you don't see every day'.

The image below is from the 2026 La Ferté-Alais Air Show, called Le Temps des Hélices, held at the Cerny airfield in France during the last weekend of May. This year's show marked the public debut of a newly restored Caudron C.430 Rafale, and whut-yer-seein' here is a French 'heritage flight' performed by this little ship and a Dassault Rafale operated by Escadron de Transformation Rafale 3/4 'Aquitaine' (ETR 3/4), the French Air and Space Force's conversion unit for the type.

Profitez… et n’oubliez jamais notre passé...

PlanesTV - Youtube

Fondu au noir...

 

Flickertail Deuce

Oh geez, before we get started, I gotta ask... jeet? Don't wantcha'ta miss 'yer supper, so we got'sum hotdish'n tater tots waitin' 'for'ya. Maybe even a Jell-O salad dessert.

Anyhoo, this here's a wonderful pikshur of an F-102A Delta Dagger flown by the 178th Fighter Interceptor Squadron, North Dakota Air National Guard, don'tcha know? Those fellas were known as the Happy Hooligans... oh 'fer cute'... and they flew the 'ole Deuce 'fer just'a few years in the mid-ta-late 1960s. 'Perty neat, huh?

Oh yah, you betcha!

Okey-dokey, you enjoy, now. And remember, it's not the cold, it's the wind, so make-shur ya getcherself a shelterbelt pronto. Well... I s'pose it's about that time... gotta go on out there and cause a ruckus, ya'know. Oh, hey, did I ever tell'ya'bout th'time we went to Minot and...

North Dakota Air National Guard Public Affairs via DVIDS

Well, I better get goin'...

Stacked

 A quickie today... 'tis a fine pre-war snap showing a stepped formation of US Army Air Corps North American BT-9s from Randolph Field, Texas.

Enjoy, and keep your eyes open, mister...

Project 914 Archives (S.Donacik collection)

Fade to Black...

Tarbox Tomcats

As the readership may know, your blogmeister has a thing for Cats of the two-tail variety as well as 'purty pikshurs... so today we present a B-U-T-FULL snap of a pair'a Tomcats from VF-33, the Starfighters, near a place called Coffin Island, Puerto Rico back on April 1st, 1990.

VF-33 was at the time embarked aboard USS America (CV-66) as part of Carrier Air Wing One (CVW-1). Over the years, many an enthusiast has mistakenly attributed the callsign 'Tarbox' specifically to VF-33... 'tis not so... VF-33's tactical callsign at that time was 'Starfighter', while 'Tarbox' was the callsign for CVW-1. But an air wing's callsign could be adopted by any squadron of the wing under certain circumstances.  The more you know...

Nomenclature, Baby!

U.S. Navy photo by LCDR K. P. Neubauer

Fade to Black...

 

 

Вдоводел

Today we bring you a fine photo of a Tupolev Tu-22, known by NATO as the 'Blinder' and by her crews as the 'Widowmaker'... the latter because of the type's propensity for killing said crews. High landing speeds, unreliable engines, and squirrelly handling characteristics all combined for lotsa oopsies. And with the type's downward-firing ejection seats, well... that made low altitude punch-outs somewhat, shall we say... unattractive... so crews usually opted to ride it out during the many takeoff and landing accidents which occurred during the type's service history.

Anyhoo, this particular jet is a Tu-22R recce variant, operated by the 199th Independent Long-Range Reconnaissance Aviation Regiment (say that ten times fast), flying outta Nizhyn Air Base, Ukraine during the 1980s.

Enjoy, but you might wanna consider transferring to fighters...

Vladimir Aleksandrovich Kalinin photo

Fade to Black...

Caught Up in a Whirlwind

Today we present a fine photo of the Westland Whirlwind. Introduced in mid‑1940, this twin‑engine fighter packed a punch with its four nose-mounted 20mm Hispanos and was a fine performer at low to medium altitudes. But production was limited to just 114 airframes, largely due to its troublesome Rolls-Royce Peregrine engines. Seeing service with just three RAF squadrons, the type was retired from frontline duty in late 1943, fading into relative obscurity thereafter...

Imperial War Museum

Fade to Black...