Today we bring you a bonzer portrait of two Aussie Mirages.
The photo was taken back in September of 1980, during a joint US-Australian exercise called PACIFIC CONSORT. The two jets are a Mirage IIIO(F), serial A3-11, and Miarge IIID, serial A3-113, both of No.2 Operational Conversion Unit, Royal Australian Air Force.
Enjoy, hooroo, and have a good one...
Here at TWW we generally present images that we've found around the interwebz. However, aside from trawling the net for other folks' scans of their old photos, your blogmeister also has his own collection of old photos to scan, and every now and again he likes to share 'em here and there. So today we picked something at random from the blogmeister's vault for your viewing pleasure.
This golden oldie is a Consolidated PB-2A. Originally introduced in 1934 under the designation P-30, the type was re-designated PB-2 (PB = Pursuit, Biplace) within its first year or so of service. Though relatively successful and an example of somewhat forward-thinking in being equipped with a turbo-supercharger (the first Air Corps pursuit in regular squadron service to be so-equipped), by the time of the type's introduction the two-place pursuit was already a dated, largely obsolete concept. So further development of the PB-2 was not pursued (pun intended), with just sixty being constructed.
The ship in the photo is serial number 35-25 of the 1st Pursuit Group, based at Selfridge
Field, Michigan. That she bears the group heraldry and not a squadron emblem makes her a ship from the group headquarters flight. This scene was snapped by Bob Cavanagh at Selfridge, likely during the winter of 1935-'36.
Enjoy, and remember: flying is way-more-funner with a friend...
For our first post in a while, we bring you a way-cool pikshur showing a Lockheed F-94 Starfire lighting up in the barn at Thule Airbase, Greenland waaaay back in November of 1953.
The F-94 was the first operational jet in USAF service to be powered by an engine that had an afterburner, and was also the first USAF all-weather jet fighter to see combat. That former fact is very well illustrated in the photo, which was taken by George Silk for a little 'ole rag called LIFE Magazine.
Oh... the jet is an F-94B, serial number 51-5494 of the 318th Fighter Interceptor Squadron. The 318th was stationed at Thule for just over a year, from June 1953 to August 1954.
Enjoy, and light 'em if ya got 'em...
Today we bring you a photo from 1978-79 showing the Confederate Air Force's B-17, named 'Texas Raiders', performing the iconic one wheel touch and go that was inspired by a scene from the flick 'TORA! TORA! TORA!' in which a Fort crash-landed on one wheel. Beginning in the early 1970s, this touch and go was performed by 'Texas Raiders' at countless airshows for about ten years, until it was determined that repeated performance of the maneuver put too much stress on the airframe.
Enjoy... oh, and there's a Jap on your tail... juice your engines and get outta here!
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Your blogmeister has probably once or twenty times in the past mentioned that he really digs the Grumman F-14, and the type has undoubtedly appeared on the pages of this-here cyber-rag more often than any other. We're not sure of the exact number of said appearances, but today that number increases by one, as we present a super-groovy and rather dramatic shot showing an F-14A of VF-33 (known as both the 'Tarsiers' and 'Starfighters' during the RON's time in Tomcats) loosing an AIM-7 Sparrow sometime in the mid-ish 1980s. Further details are unavailable at this time, but we're workin' on it.
Enjoy, and punch some chaff...
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During the late 1930s in the USSR, Joseph Stalin was doing the whole 'cancel culture' thing before it was... well, such things have never been 'cool', so let's just say that he really went to town while clearing out his friends list. In what came to be known by most as 'The Great Purge', Uncle Joe began a paranoia-fueled campaign of oppression that affected hundreds of thousands within Russia. Many were sent to the gulag labor camps or to plain 'ole prisons, while many others were simply 'disappeared'.
With talents and skills making them too valuable to toss into the gulag or to simply 'disappear', many from various areas within the industrial sector were sent to prison, including an aeronautical engineer and aircraft designer named Vladimir Petlyakov, who had been accused of sabotage, espionage, and membership in the Russian Fascist Party. Initially sent to a plain 'ole pokey, Vlad was soon moved to a 'sharashka', a special prison where talented guys like him could continue to work in their areas of expertise, albeit under close scrutiny. This particular sharashka, located near Moscow, was reserved exclusively for aircraft designers and aeronautical engineers, and soon after his arrival Vlad was tasked with designing a high altitude fighter. Then, after requirements had changed from fighter to dive bomber, he was ordered to pull a redesign, with the result being the Petlyakov Pe-2. Despite classification as a dive bomber, the Pe-2 became quite a versatile type for the Red Air Force. In addition to its primary functions as an attack aircraft and bomber, the Pe-2 filled the roles of heavy fighter, night fighter, and reconnaissance bird. The aircraft was quite fast and was able to evade German fighters more often than not, making it one of the more successful bomber/attack types in the Red Air Force early on in the 'Great Patriotic War'. It was also the most numerically significant Soviet twin-engine bomber, with more than 11,000 being built.
Your blogmeister doesn't know Red Stars all that well, and has both vague and conflicting info as to the who/what/where/why/when and how of the Pe-2s shown in the photo below. All he knows is that it's a pretty cool shot of a cool lookin' jailbird.
Enjoy, and remember: if you ever wind up in the slammer, single out the biggest, toughest lookin' guy on your first day and clobber-hell-outta the SOB...
Исчезнуть до черного...
The Convair XP-92 (redesignated XF-92 in 1948) was originally developed in response to a requirement issued by the USAAF in August of 1945 for a supersonic interceptor. However, the single prototype would eventually become a test vehicle that paved the way for more well-known and successful Convair types such as the F-102 Delta Dagger, F-106 Delta Dart, and B-58 Hustler. Anyhoo, today we present a way-cool inflight photo of the XF-92A.
Enjoy... and remember: AR = 4/tan(D)
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Today we present the latest in our mascot series: a fine photo showing 'Pincher', resident mouser aboard the Royal Navy seaplane carrier HMS Vindex, perched atop the propeller hub of a Sopwith Camel during the Great War.
Enjoy, and remember... happiness is being owned by a cat...
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Today we bring you a rather passively dramatic shot from 1968 showing a Blackburn Buccaneer of the Royal Navy loaded up for the SEAD (Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses) role, displaying an impressive load of four Matra AS.37 Martel anti-radiation missiles.
Enjoy, and keep that radar set switched off...
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Your blogmeister likes his running series, but cannot recall if he's already started one in which today's photo would fit. And he's too lazy to go a'lookin' at the moment. So, we shall either begin or continue our running series known as 'How Low Can You Go?' with this here shot of a Vickers Wellington from 11 Operational Training Unit, Royal Air Force, beatin' up the field for an undoubtedly nervous but thrilled photographer at RAF Bassingbourn in July of 1940.
Enjoy... and duck...
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Aside from real purty pikshurs, we here at TWW also kinda like just plain-'ole nice pikshurs. And this one here certainly qualifies. Hawker Hunter F.6 XF389 of the Royal Air Force was snapped in fine fashion by an unknown (to us) shutterbug for 'The Aeroplane' during a demo flight at the Farnborough Airshow back in 1958. This jet was later transferred to the Royal Jordanian Air Force, then to the Royal Air Force of Oman.
Enjoy...
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Hält die Klappe Karl.
Zu Schwarz verblassen...
Today, a purty one. An F-16 of the Flyvevåbnet captured before a beautiful Danish evening sky.
Nyde...
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Today we bring you a real purty pikshur showing a flight of P-38Es from a well-known series of photos, taken just off the Southern California coast for Lockheed by Eric Miller during early-mid 1942. Miller was able to grab this stellar shot and others in the series from inside the open bomb bay of a Lockheed Hudson.
Enjoy...
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Today we start a new running series that your blogmeister hopes to make a regular thing here at TWW... a series we shall dub 'Planes & Dames'. 'Tis'nt all that original, we concede, but what the hey, sometimes you have to run with the standards.
For the inaugural edition of 'Planes & Dames', we present this atmospheric photo showing a lovely gal posing all gorgeous-like on the assembly line at Consolidated-Vultee's Fort Worth facility with a B-24 as backdrop. And it's not just any B-24; the ship in the photo was B-24J 44-44501, which we believe was the last Lib to roll off the line at Forth Worth in 1944, hence all the extra paint seen applied over the standard OD and gray paint job.
Enjoy... but don't ogle...
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Your blogmeister doesn't know a whole helluvalot about Meatballs, but he sure do dig 'em. So today we present a neato-keen shot showing fifteen Meatballs of the Mitsubishi variety... the Mitsubishi G3M 'Rikko', allied code-name 'Nell' variety, to be exact. The Nell was dubbed the 'Flying Cigar' by allied airmen, for obvious reasons.
The ships shown here are from the Genzan Kokutai, which took part in the sinking of HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Repulse on December 10th, 1941, though we don't know where or when the photo was taken.
Enjoy...
A closer look at the trio closest to the camera ship:
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We're partial to the F-14 around these parts, and for today's quickie we bring you an F-14D Super Tomcat of VF-31 'Tomcatters' that's pulling some streamers during a demo put on for the benefit of sailors aboard the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower in June of 2006. Just a few months later, in September, the mighty Tomcat would be retired from active U.S. Navy service.
Ahhhh... Memories, Baby...
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Say that ten times fast...
In today's installment of TWW we bring you a purty pikshur showing an English Electric Lightning operated by 23 Squadron of the Royal Air Force during an interception of a Russkie Tu-95 'Bear' that came'a snoopin'. We don't have an exact date for this particular meeting, but 23 Squadron, then based at RAF Leuchars, flew the Lightning from 1964 to 1975, so that narrows things down some. More digging on the net would undoubtedly yield something more precise, but your blogmeister is a bit short on time at the moment, so y'all'll hafta grab your own cyber-shovels. Have fun...
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During the Vietnam War, inadequacies within the USAF fleet of KC-135
air-refuelers were brought to light, and so the KC-10 Extender was developed as
result. Here's a rather picturesque McDonnell Douglas promo photo showing the first two KC-10s built for the US Air Force during an early test flight over the Mojave Desert, waaaaaay back in the early 1980s. The jet closest to the camera is the first KC-10A, USAF serial 79-0433 (though here she wears the civil registration N110KC), while the other is Extender number two, 79-0434.
Drink up and enjoy...
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Today we bring you a quickie showing a pair of one of your blogmeister's faves, the F-14 Tomcat. These particular Toms are from what was arguably the most famous F-14 RON, VF-84, the Jolly Rogers. We're not sure of the exact date here, but judging by the paint schemes and other details, it was the late 1970s or early 1980s. Photo-bombing in fine fashion off in the distance is the USS Nimitz (CVN-68), roost to VF-84 and the rest of Carrier Air Wing 8.
AAAARRRRR!!!!
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