Sturzkampfflugzeug über Spanien

Today we bring you a quickie in the form of this rather dramatic snap showing a Kette of Legion Condor Junkers Ju 87B-1 Stukas on their way to support Franco's Nationalists by dropping things that go boom on Republican forces. Disfrutar...

 

AP photo via The Atlantic

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A Penguin in the Desert

We love us some purty-pikshurs around here... so for today's quickie we offer this super-freakin-groovy shot of F-35C BuNo. 168735 of the VX-9 Edwards Detachment at Edwards Air Force Base, snapped at sunset during September of 2013. Enjoy...

 

Lockheed Martin photo by Matthew Short

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Guards MiGs

Today we present a pikshur that is well-known to those who dig Soviet aviation of the Great Patriotic War.

The photo was taken at Vnukovo Airfield near Moscow on March 7th, 1942 and shows MiG-3s of the 120th Fighter Aviation Regiment on occasion of said regiment being renamed as the 12th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment.

 

 

Project 914 Archives

 

For the model builders out there and/or for those who simply appreciate colors and markings... contrary to decades of popular belief, the outer wings of the ship closest to the camera were undoubtedly not red, but green. More info on that HERE.

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Stalking a Bear

A long time back we shared a photo from 1977 showing an F-14 Tomcat of VF-14 'Tophatters' during an intercept of a Russkie Tu-95 'Bear', and mentioned that we kinda-sorta dig stuff like that. Also mentioned was that more such photos would be forthcoming.

Well, it took a while but today we offer another coolish intercept shot. This time the Tomcat squadron is currently unknown to us, as any identifying markings are hidden in high-contrast shadow. However, a little messin' 'wit the image in Photoshop has revealed an 'N' as the first letter of the air wing code, making it a RON from the left coast. We do have a date for the photo, August 1st, 1985... though we're not sure if that was the date on which the shutter was tripped or if that's when the photo was released to Joe Q. Public. Whatever the case, the ballpark date, 'N_' code, and '2XX' modex combine to provide a good basis for some digging and eventual ID of the RON. However, your blogmeister is more than a bit tired and lazy at the moment, and said digging won't take place just yet.

Anyhoo, for now we simply offer up this atmospheric image from the height of the Cold War and ask that you enjoy...

 

 

US Navy photo

 

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Hawgs

Your blogmeister grew up during the height of the Cold War, and often found himself daydreaming of various potential World War III combat scenarios, many of which involved the Fairchild A-10 Warthog roving at low-level, down in the mud, ripping up scores of Russkie tanks and other commie targets across numerous European battlefields. 

Back then the A-10 was generally decked out in one of a few variations of the basic and way-cool Europe I paint scheme, consisting of various shades of green and dark grays... perfect camo to blend the low-level Hawgs into the backdrop of those aforementioned fields of battle, hiding 'em from prying, higher-flying eyes.

So, with that in mind, today we bring you this fetching shot showing a four-ship of A-10s, circa the days of green...

 

Don Spering photo via Eric Bannwarth on Flickr

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One of the Last Gunslingers

Today we present a photo showing the Vought F-8 Crusader, known as 'The Last Gunfighter' on account of being the last US fighter to be equipped with guns as its main armament. The example shown here is an F-8J, BuNo. 149154 of VF-194, the Red Lightnings, about to launch from USS Oriskany (CVA-34). VF-194 was embarked aboard Oriskany as part of Carrier Air Wing 19 on a Vietnam combat cruise that ran from April to November of 1969.

VF-194 and its sister squadron, VF-191, were the last two US Navy fighter squadrons to fly the F-8, trading in their Gunfighters for Phantoms in 1976 before being disestablished two years later, in March of 1978.

 

US Navy photo

 

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Cat at Dusk

We've said it before... we love us some purty pikshurs around here, and we also dig the mighty Tomcat mightily. The photo we present in today's quickie installment of TWW delivers on both counts... an F-14D snapped in silhouette with a gorgeous backdrop courtesy of Mother Nature... enjoy...

 

 

US Navy photo

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Halifax After Dark

Here at TWW we generally prefer to present 'period' photos of the older things with wings. That is, photos taken when said older things with wings weren't too awful old. Every now and again, however, we come across a pikshur that's just too damn purty not to share... regardless of when it was taken. And we do like our purty pikshurs around here, as has been mentioned once or thrice in the past.

Anyhoo, today we present an absolutely bee-yoo-tee-full and somewhat kinda-nice shot of the Yorkshire Air Museum's Handley-Page Halifax III, marked as LV907, named 'Friday the 13th', of 158 Squadron.

 

Nick Jennings photo

See more of Nick Jennings' stuff HERE, and more info about this particular Halibag, HERE.


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Polski Sokół

Today we bring you a quickie in the form of a few way-cool pikshurs showing the first F-16C built for Poland on her maiden flight over Ft. Worth, Texas on March 14th, 2006. Lockheed-Martin test pilot Paul Hattendorf was in the recliner for the occasion...

 

Lockheed-Martin photo

 

Lockheed-Martin photo

 

Lockheed-Martin photo

 

Lockheed-Martin photo

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Stuka im Schnee

As it's the middle of the cold season in your blogmeister's neck of the woods, he thought it appropriate to make today's quickie a chilly one. Here we see a Ju 87D of 7 Staffel, Stukageschwader 1 on the Ostfront surrounded by that with which the Ostfront is often associated... a buncha white stuff. Tante Ju is providing the obligatory fotobomb. Genießen...

 

 

Bundesarchiv (Photographer: Reiners)

 

Zu Weiß verblassen...

 

 

Spirits and Astronauts in Cuba

Today we bring you a couple'a shots showing US Navy jets at NAS Guantanamo Bay, Cuba during February of 1960.

VF-33 'Astronauts' and VA-76 'Spirits', flying the Grumman F11F-1 Tiger and Douglas A4D-2 Skyhawk respectively, were both part of Carrier Air Group Six (CVG-6), normally embarked aboard the 'Fighting I', USS Intrepid (CVA-11). We're not sure of the circumstances that led to these usually sea-faring birds taking roost on terra firma in Cuba, or even the exact location shown in the photos, but the latter would be either McAlla Field or Leeward Point Field. (A quickie digging session on the interwebz indicates that it may have been Leeward Point, as McAlla seems to have closed during January of 1960.)

Other aircraft shown are Vought F8U Crusaders from what looks to be two USMC squadrons, though we're not sure which at the moment, at least one recce Crusader (whose outfit is also currently unknown to us), and some North American FJ-3 Furys from NAS Guantanamo Bay's resident Utility Squadron Ten (VU-10).

Anyhoo, that's about all the commentary your blogmeister is prepared to offer. We'll let the pikshurs do the rest of the talking. Enjoy...

 

  

LIFE Photo Archives via Google Arts & Culture (Hank Walker photo)

 

LIFE Photo Archives via Google Arts & Culture (Hank Walker photo)

 

 

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Spirit of New York at Sunset

Today we offer y'all a purty pikshur...

B-2A serial number 82-1068, 'Spirit of New York' of the 13th Bomb Squadron was photographed on October 26th, 2014 at Whiteman AFB prior to takeoff for a sortie during Exercise Global Thunder 15. This jet was the third B-2 built and was used as a radar and navigation test ship before joining the operational fleet.

 

 

USAF photo by Airman 1st Class Joel Pfiester

 

That's actually a crop of the full photo...

USAF photo by Airman 1st Class Joel Pfiester

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First in Fours

For today's quickie we bring you a rather nice shot of F4H-1 BuNo. 148381 of VF-74, taken on November 8th, 1961. VF-74 was the first USN fighter squadron to deploy with the then-new Phantom II, from August of 1962 to March of 1963 as part of Carrier Air Group 8 (CVG-8) aboard the USS Forrestal (CVA-59).

 

 

National Naval Aviation Museum

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Moving Van

Today we present a plain 'ole nice shot of what some regard as the greatest transport aircraft in aviation's short history... the Lockheed C-130 Hercules.

Also known as the 'Herk'.

This particular Herk is C-130E 63-7788 of the 36th Tactical Airlift Squadron. The 36th was part of the 62nd Military Airlift Wing and flying out of McChord Air Force Base when this photo was taken on May 9th, 1978. Oh, and that huge pile of rocks in the background is Mount Rainier.

Enjoy...

 

Project 914 Archives (S.Donacik collection)

USAF photo by Sgt. J.P. Childs

 

 

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Pacific Sunset

We've told y'all that we like us some purty pikshurs around here, right? Well today's quickie is a bee-yoot...

This freakin' gorgeous shot was snapped from the USS Philippine Sea (CV/CVA-47) during one of her three cruises during the Korean War.

In the foreground are a couple'a AD-4 Skyraiders at rest.

Enjoy...

 

Roland H. Baker photo

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Cleaning up a Messerschmitt...

Here at TWW we usually prefer to present images that are... well... presentable. To that end, your blogmeister will often spend a fair amount of time working on the images posted here, dollin' 'em up to look nice and spiffy for your viewing pleasure. So today we're doing something a bit different, and are offering up a little 'before and afterage', to give you, the readership of right around half-a-dozen, an idea of some of the schtuff that goes on 'behind the scenes' at this cyber-rag.

 

Your blogmeister started with this scan of a photo showing a Messerschmitt Bf 109G (or Me 109G, if you prefer... both are correct, no matter what your buddy who thinks he knows all about Luftwaffe Flugzeuge tells you) from an unknown (to us) Jagdgeschwader. Whatever the outfit, it looks like this Gustav is decked out in a pretty cool looking field-applied camo scheme.

Project 914 Archives

 

After a little bit-o-fiddlin' with his freakin' oooooooold but still-more-than-sufficient copy of Photoshop CS2, your blogmeister produced this image, which is way more than a bit more-gooder-lookin' than the original. To his rapidly aging eyes, anyway.

 

Project 914 Archives

We're not gonna go into great detail as to how this was achieved, we'll simply say that your blogmeister adjusted the levels for better contrast, and that a fair amount of cleanup was done to remove most of the unsightly stuff from the image. (For any photoshoppers out there, your blogmeister's tool of choice for that task is the 'Healing Brush'.) Many if not most folks might think that scratches are to be counted as 'unsightly stuff', but your blogmeister rather likes some of them and will often leave them untouched, as he thinks they lend a certain character to many old photos. The finishing touch was to flood the image with a bit of sepia via the 'Photo Filter' and then end with a small amount of sharpening with 'Unsharp Mask'. Not too much, though... a little sharpening, and everything else involved, can go a long, long way.

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The Flying Elk

The Westland Wapiti wasn't a pretty airplane by any stretch. So today's quickie is also the latest edition of a recurring series we like to call 'So ugly only a mother could love it'.

This particular Wapiti IIA was operated by 1 Flying Training School, Royal Australian Air Force. That is, it was until it crashed shortly after take off from RAAF Point Cook in Victoria on August 13th, 1935.

Ken Rowland via ADF-Serials

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Magnifiques Mirages

A quickie today, and it sure is a purty one. (We may have mentioned in the past that we dig purty pikshurs around here.)

Though we're not entirely sure, we here at TWW suspect that today's offering is somehow connected with 'Opération Chammal', the ongoing French campaign over in Camel-ville to rid the world of fanatical rag-headed religious extremist nut-jobs.

All we know for sure about this somewhat surreal photo is that it shows a pair of Mirage 2000Ds (some sources say 2000Ns) from SPA 75 of the Armée de l'Air.

And that it's super-freakin'-groovy.

Ministère des Armées

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Si vis pacem, para bellum

We may have mentioned once or thrice in the past that we've got a thing for aerial combat of a nocturnal nature around here. (After all, night-time is the right time.) Well, among the earliest books that your then-young blogmeister read while still a fledgling nut for things with wings was one titled simply, 'Night Fighter', by C.F. Rawnsley and Robert Wright.

That book caught your blogmeister's imagination and held it as tightly as any, and he has since read it again, numerous times. Matter of fact, so often have its pages been turned, that old paperback is now on the verge of falling to pieces.

Anyhoo, 'Night Fighter' is a wartime memoir; that of Cecil Frederick 'Jimmy' Rawnsley. It's also largely the story of one of the more successful aerial collaborations of the Second World War; that between Rawnsley and his pilot, John Cunningham. The two were pre-war members of 604 (County of Middlesex) Squadron of the Auxiliary Air Force, which was in those early days flying the Hawker Demon. Rawnsley started off as a seemingly ground-bound aircraftman, but soon finagled his way into the back seat of a Demon, something which he managed more and more often, eventually training to become an air gunner. As 604 Squadron's mission changed from that of a day-time fighter outfit to night-time, Rawnsley again trained for a new job; that of radar operator. The Squadron's equipment also changed, first to the Bristol Blenheim, which was outfitted with some of the early AI (airborne intercept) radar sets and flown as an ad-hoc night fighter, then to the Bristol Beaufighter, a type that was built specifically for the purpose. Ultimately the outfit would transition to the fabled de Havilland Mosquito, as would 85 Squadron, the outfit with which the pair would fly their last tour in night fighters together. Cunningham ended the war as one of the most successful RAF night fighter pilots, scoring twenty victories (one during daytime), and Rawnsley was there for most of them.

Success rarely comes outright, however, and many a page of the book tells of the frustrating struggle to develop the equipment, operating procedures, and tactics involved in conducting early night fighter operations over England. Your blogmeister found all of this to be rather enthralling, but it was the parts of the book that dealt with the Beaufighter which truly had his imagination off and running.


Here's what 'yer typical Beaufighter from 604 Squadron looked like. This is Beaufighter IF T4638, 'F for Freddie', finished in the oh-so attractively ugly 'sooty' black paint scheme typical of British night fighters of the period, and equipped with the Mk.IV AI; note the aerials on the outer wings and that just visible on the nose.

604 Squadron Association via 600 Squadron Association Newsletter: 'The Right of the Line' Nov. 2013

Here's the duo in question, 'Jimmy' Rawnsley on the left, and 'Cat's Eyes' Cunningham on the right, with a Mossie.

Source of original image

Cunningham disliked the 'Cat's Eyes' nickname, which sprang from the whole 'carrots improves your eyesight' myth that may or may not have originated in Britain during the war, but was certainly popularized and perpetuated there. The connection of this myth with that of successful RAF night fighter pilots was an attempt at disguising the actual reason for the success of the night-flyers; radar. Radar was still a tightly-held secret in those days and the RAF wanted to do all it could to keep it that way, even if it meant telling tall tales. Cunningham was touted as having such good eyesight, even without the benefit of a carrot-rich diet, that he could see in the dark like a cat. Ridiculous, but the public ate it up, apparently, and the name stuck.



Oh, and here's the old paperback in question...

There's much, much more to this book than what little is described above, and your blogmeister truly recommends it, with two thumbs up, for anyone interested in air warfare of the Second World War.

One last thing... for those wondering about the title of this installment of TWW, it's a Latin phrase meaning: "If you want peace, prepare for war."

'Twas 604 Squadron's motto, as well as a sad and timeless truth.


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A New Kind of Cat

Today we bring you a quickie...

The F9F was the first of Grumman's jet-powered Cats, and arguably the most-goodest-lookin' one, too. Here we present the very first example, XF9F-2 BuNo. 122475, snapped in the vicinity of Long Island during her first flight on November 21st, 1947. Famed test pilot Corwin 'Corky' Meyer was behind the stick.

Enjoy...

San Diego Air and Space Museum Archives (Charles M. Daniels collection)

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