Bulldog Barrel

Nothing fancy today... just a fine shot of a Grumman F3F-2, BuNo. 0975 of Marine Fighting Squadron 2 (VMF-2). This bird was assigned to the fella who flew left wing in the second section, as indicated by the airplane number '6' and the white lower cowling.

Sadly, 0975 was damaged in a taxiing accident at NAS Ewa, Oahu, TH on March 10th, 1941 while a 2Lt. Davidson was behind the stick... though I've no info as to her ultimate fate.

Anyhoo, enjoy, roll out the barrel, and ring out a song of good cheer...

San Diego Air & Space Museum (Ray Wagner Collection)

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Forgotten Tiger

Today we present this air to air snap, dated September 26th, 1969, showing a Northrop F-5 of the 425th Tactical Fighter Training Squadron. Newly-re-designated from the 4441st Combat Crew Training Squadron, and flying out of Williams AFB, Arizona, the outfit was at the time tasked with training South Vietnamese pilots to fly the F-5.

The jet in the photo is an F-5C, formerly used for the 'Skoshi Tiger' program, which was an evaluation of the F-5's combat effectiveness in an attempt to promote foreign sales of the type. Your blogmeister wrote an article about 'Skoshi Tiger' for another blog, which you can see HERE.

Enjoy, and Tổ Quốc - Không Gian...

Project 914 Archives

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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)

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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

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