Beautiful Demons

Today we have another quickie for ya'll... a fine photo showing Hawker Demons of 23 Squadron, Royal Air Force, during the 1930s.

RAF Photo

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Jumping Tigers

Today we bring you a super-groovy quickie... a photo showing three AV-8A Harriers of VMA-542 'Tigers' during maneuvers sometime in the 1970s. Sorry folks, we don't know much more than that, except to say that VMA-542 was the second U.S.M.C. outfit to convert to the quirky little British jump-jet.

Project 914 Archives (USMC photo)

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Mr. Bones and the Six

Today we bring you a quickie...

A couple'a friends of the blogmeister have family who served with the 95th Fighter Interceptor Squadron while that outfit flew the Convair F-106 Delta Dart out of Andrews AFB, Maryland and Dover AFB, Delaware during the very late 1950s and early 1960s.

This one is for you, Kit and Sam!

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F-106A 57-2500 during an open house event at Dover AFB in the early-mid 1960s.
This jet was lost 32 miles WNW of Kwangju, South Korea on January 8th, 1970 while the 95th was deployed to Osan AB, South Korea.

San Diego Air & Space Museum (Ray Wagner collection)

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Águilas Aztecas

Of all the allied nations to take up arms against the axis powers during the Second World War, Mexico is not one that readily comes to mind, undoubtedly because its involvement was relatively minor.

Mexico's contribution to the allied war machine was the Fuerza Aérea Expedicionaria Mexicana (Mexican Expeditionary Air Force) which comprised a single fighter squadron, Escuadrón Aéreo de Pelea 201 (201st Fighter Squadron). The 201st consisted of thirty pilots and roughly 300 ground personnel, all of whom had undergone training in the U.S.A. before deploying overseas to the Philippines where they were attached to the U.S.A.A.F. 58th Fighter Group, Fifth Air Force.

Based at Porac Airfield, located in the Pampanga Province on the Island of Luzon, the 201st began combat operations in June of 1945, flying alongside the U.S.A.A.F.'s 310th Fighter Squadron and using borrowed aircraft. In July the outfit received its own complement of twenty-five P-47s that were marked with U.S.A.A.F. insignia and theater markings. To these the Mexicans added their own national markings on the upper right and lower left wings, with rudder stripes... all in Mexico's national colors of red, white, and green.

When all was said and done after roughly two months in combat, the men of Escuadrón Aéreo de Pelea 201, who had dubbed themselves 'Águilas Aztecas', the 'Aztec Eagles', had flown 96 combat missions, losing five pilots in the process. Not only did the outfit's pilots see combat, but the ground personnel, too, had occasion to face the enemy with a number of firefights taking place, some of which resulted in Japanese prisoners being taken.

Small as it may have been, the Aztec Eagles' contribution to the war against Japan was no less valuable or welcome than any other.

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Here's a fine shot of ship #18 that shows EAP 201's Mexican markings on the starboard wing and rudder.

Original image found on the Axis & Allies Paintworks forum

An earlier shot of the same ship shows the Mexican national insignia under the port wing.

NARA via Fold3.com

In his painting 'Strike of the Aztec Eagles!', Jack Fellows captures ship #18, resplendent in its combined American and Mexican markings, rolling in on a target.

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The Explorer's Air Yacht

Aside from being Sikorsky's first widely-produced amphibious flying boat, with a final production count of 101, the S-38 was also a pretty dang cool lookin' bird, reaffirming your blogmeister's belief that the world's best-looking airplanes were built in the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s.

The type was used by many airlines, both large and small, a few military air arms, and a number of private individuals, the exploits of some of whom, including Howard Hughes and Charles Lindbergh, led to the type being dubbed 'The Explorer's Air Yacht'.

Project 914 Archives

As mentioned earlier, the S-38 was used by a few military air arms, including the United States Army Air Corps. Here's a fine shot taken in the San Francisco Area on January 17th, 1931 showing C-6A serial number 30-397, essentially an S-38A. This particular ship was operated by the 91st Observation Squadron based at Crissy Field, San Francisco, California. She was damaged just a couple'a weeks after this photo was taken, on February 2nd, 1931, after experiencing 'excessive porpoising' upon landing. The ship was repaired, but was scrapped two years later, in 1933.

San Diego Air & Space Museum - Paul Fedelchak collection

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Even the Grim Reaper Spends His Summers in Florida

In this installment of 'TWW' we bring you a groovy shot of  'Gunfighter 054', an F-4N of VF-101 'Grim Reapers' leaving NAS Oceana in April of 1977. The Eagle-eyed among our readership of about half-a-dozen or so may notice not only the Bicentennial markings from the previous year, but also the unusual squadron designator, 'VF-101KW'. This identified aircraft assigned to the Reapers' permanent Key West detachment which served in an adversary role.

Jim Leslie photo

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Typhoon

For today's quickie we bring you a fine in-flight view of Hawker Typhoon IA R7700... enjoy...

From: Aeroplane June, 2002

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Delivering the Groceries

Today's installment of 'TWW' features one of our favorites... the Grumman F-14 Tomcat.

In this photo we see 'Gypsy 111', an F-14A of VF-32 Swordsmen passing over the USS Theodore Roosevelt during an UNREP... an underway replenishment. During an UNREP fuel, munitions, food, etc. are transferred to the carrier to keep the ship at sea for extended periods of time... basically, when they need to 'go shopping', the supermarket comes to them.

Anyhoo, we kinda thought this was a cool shot... enjoy...

US Navy photo

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Dead-Stick SPAD

Having polled our readership of about half-a-dozen or so as to subject matter for future installments of this-here cyber rag, one suggestion received was that we share some 'skin pix'... you know, birds sans some'a their feathers. (cue cat-calls and bronx cheers) So, then, here's one by request... and it may just be the start of a recurring series...

We don't have an exact date for this, but one day between September 1965 and December 1967 a US Navy SPAD pilot from VA-145, flying from the USS Kitty Hawk, found himself feet dry and in a bit-o-trouble, as the fan had stopped turning. His best option was to put 'er down at a friendly airfield, which turned out to be a little 'ole place called Duc Hoa, home to a US Army observation outfit, the 74th Recon Airplane Company which flew the O-1 Bird Dog. Anyhoo, our SPAD pilot brought his steed in dead-stick and gear-up, scratching up the runway some, as well as the bottom of the bird and ruining a perfectly good prop. When the crash crews reached the Skyraider, our Navy man apparently climbed out of the cockpit and nonchalantly inquired as to the location of the Officers Club. That guy certainly had his priorities straight.

So, here are some pix of the bird in question after having been stood on her gear again and looking a bit worse for wear while being prepped for a lift back to the flattop by a CH-54 Skycrane. Only a few feathers have been stripped away here, but we hope this is satisfactory for the fella who made the request.

 

 

 

 

All photos: Jack Walters via the 74th Recon Airplane Company Website

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Willows Singing On the Breeze

Today we bring you quite an atmospheric quickie... pre-war Japanese Naval Flying Cadets learning their trade with the Yokosuka K5Y 'Willow' under idyllic skies.

Project 914 Archives

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An Italian Observer

Today we bring you a groovy shot of a not-so-well-known bird from the land of pasta, meatballs, really tasty bread, and the Mafia. Admittedly, your blogmeister knows little about most Italian aircraft of the Second World War... or any other era for that matter. But he sure does dig 'em.

Anyhoo, here's what we know... or think we know... about this-here really cool pikshur: the bird is an IMAM (Industrie Meccaniche Aeronautiche Meridionali) Ro.37 Lince (Lynx) of 39 Squadriglia Osservazione Aerea (39th Aerial Observation Squadron), the paesaggio (landscape) down there is apparently France (France), and the anno (year) is apparently 1940.

Project 914 Archives

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Einhängung eines Jumo-motors bei einer Ju 87

Today we bring you a quickie... 'tis an original period post card showing a Ju 87 Stuka during engine installation at the factory.

Project 914 Archives

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Blue Streaks Sabre

A couple'a installments back we shared a photo showing two F-86As of the 91st Fighter Interceptor Squadron on takeoff. Well, since then we've come across this color shot showing one of the jets from that other photo... enjoy...

From: Before Centuries: USAFE Fighters, 1948–1959 by David Menard (via Wiki)

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Tails Of Independence

Around these parts we like us some color... particularly color as done by US Naval Aviation in the latter half of the 20th century, especially if it's emblazoned on birds that are painted gull-gray and white. So, from back in the colorful glory days of NAVAIR, we bring you some color, courtesy of a few RONs that were assigned to Carrier Air Wing Seven aboard the USS Independence during her Med Cruise from March to October 1977.

From top to bottom, we see:

F-4J Phantom II BuNo. 157309 of VF-102 'Diamondbacks'
F-4J Phantom II BuNo. 155748 of VF-33 'Tarsiers'
KA-6D Intruder BuNo. 15292? of VA-65 'Tigers'
A-7E Corsair II BuNo. 157443 of VA-66 'Waldos'
F-4J Phantom II BuNo. 157305 of VF-102 'Diamondbacks'

US Navy photo - published in 'All Hands', February 1978 via Wiki Commons

Most notable among the five is the A-7; this jet was VA-66's CAG bird. Each squadron from an air wing has one aircraft assigned to the air wing's commander, referred to as the 'CAG bird' or 'CAG jet', and it's almost always the most colorfully decorated aircraft of the squadron. The acronym 'CAG', which means 'commander air group', is actually a holdover from the days when a carrier's complement of aircraft was known as a 'carrier air group'. Why the old moniker was kept we don't know for sure... but our guess is that, as acronyms go, 'CAG' simply rolls off the tongue a bit more smoothly than 'CAW'. Anyhoo, VA-66's CAG bird is notable in this instance because it still carries the special markings applied the previous year for the USA's Bicentennial celebrations and is therefore just a bit more colorful than would otherwise be the case.


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Blue Streaks Scramble

Another quickie today... this time we bring you a super-groovy shot showing a pair of F-86A Sabres from the 91st Fighter Interceptor Squadron, the 'Blue Streaks', just after leaving the runway. The photo was possibly taken at Moses Lake AFB, Washington in 1950.

Project 914 Archives

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Satan's Kittens Gunfighter

A quickie this time 'round...

Your blogmeister has stated a number of times in the past that he rather fancies this bird or that a bit more than all the rest. Well, here's another he holds just a bit higher than the masses; the Vought F-8 Crusader... also known as the Gunfighter. And in this particular photo we see a Gunfighter from one of your blogmeister's favorite US Navy FITRONs, VF-191 Satan's Kittens, about to trap aboard the USS Oriskany, CVA-34, off the coast of California back in 1970.

US Navy photo via the National Naval Aviation Museum

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Brewster's Bane

Interrupting our series on the P-51 once again...


The Brewster Aeronautical Corporation's legacy is one of failure. Through a combination of poor designs and production techniques and, most importantly, utterly deplorable management, Brewster would seem to have been doomed from the start. Its greatest achievement, the F2A Buffalo, could be termed only a moderate success at best, with two other original Brewster designs, the SBA/SBN and SB2A Buccaneer, each barely worthy of the term 'successful'. Even the F3A-1, Brewster's license-built variant of the otherwise grandly successful Vought F4U Corsair, was deemed a failure because of substandard materials and components as well as poor overall workmanship.

When war came for America in 1941, only the Buffalo was to see action with American combat outfits... and then only very briefly during the early months of fighting. Past mid-1942, the Buffalo and all other aforementioned types, including the license-built Corsairs, would see service only with training units. Obsolete well before entering production in 1941, the mere thirty examples of the SBA/SBN to be produced (and produced by the Naval Aircraft Factory, not by Brewster) were withdrawn from service in August of 1942 and scrapped or relegated to duty as instructional airframes for ground crews.

If the poor records of all these types produced by Brewster were deemed detrimental to the company's health, then the XA-32 could be considered its death knell.


The XA-32 was slow in jumping from the drawing board to the production floor... its first flight was on May 22nd, 1943... nearly two years after it was originally designed. The type was also slow... well, it was just slow... and fell short in nearly every other category of performance. Maximum speed achieved by either of the two prototypes built was 279mph, which, on the surface, seems to be on par with the type's contemporaries... until you take stock of the fact that that speed was just barely attained without internal armament and other weighty equipment, or external stores... the addition of which naturally degraded performance.

1943... a fine inflight view of the first XA-32, serial number 42-13568.

Project 914 Archives

Long story short, the XA-32 was poorly designed and fell short of projected performance numbers. Waaaaay short. Brewster was already in hot water with the government for its piss-poor management practices and the apparent ineptness demonstrated by the company's design section was the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back. In April of 1942 the government literally seized control of the company, placing the head of the Naval Aircraft Factory, G.C. Westervelt, in charge.

Two views of the second XA-32, serial number 42-13569, circa 1944.

National Museum of the United States Air Force

National Museum of the United States Air Force

The XA-32 was the last original design to be built by Brewster and its failure is credited as having put the company out of business. Brewster was shut down in October of 1944, shortly after testing on the XA-32 ceased, and the company was officially dissolved by its shareholders in April of 1946.



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Working With the Colonials

So far in our series on the P-51, we've covered only the prototype and early, Allison-powered Mustangs of the RAF. After all, the type was designed and initially built for the Brits, so we figured we'd give 'em first billing. But the US Army eventually got into the derby as well. So as something of a segue before we delve into star-clad Ponies, we thought to share a groovy photo showing Royal Air Force and US Army Air Forces wrench-turners getting familiar with an RAF Mustang I, serial AG411, at RAF Burtonwood on April 1st, 1943.

Here's the NARA caption for this photo:

"Allied servicemen receive instructions on repairing airplanes at Burtonwood Repair Depot, Warrington, England. Shown, checking instruments and electrical connections on a P-51 Mustang are (left to right) F/Sgt R.A. Wellersman, Margate, England; S/Sgt Arthur Cunningham, Brewster, Minn.; T/Sgt F.L. Resnak, Washington D.C.; LAC S.H. Cooke, London, England; and T/Sgt Robert Root, Corbin, Kentucky."

NARA via Fold3.com

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The Independence Day Raid

During the early stages of the United States' involvement in the war against Hitler's Germany, the gears in the USA's war machine turned somewhat slowly. The first elements of the U.S. military to set up shop 'over there' were of the USAAF's Eighth Air Force, with the first contingent of personnel (mostly HQ staff) arriving in May of 1942. Soon thereafter, combat outfits began arriving... slowly... and it wouldn't be until the Fall of that year that the Eighth's VIII Bomber Command was able to mount its first heavy bomber mission against the Axis.

With the powers that be eager to see our boys in action against the Germans as quickly as possible, if only for the purposes of a morale-boost aimed at the folks back home, VIII Bomber Command's 15th Bombardment Squadron (Light), the only complete AAF combat outfit in the UK at the time, was tossed into the fray. Attached to No.226 Squadron of the Royal Air Force at Swanton Morley, the 15th was 'learning the ropes', so to speak, from their experienced compadres. Though we mentioned that the 15th BS was the only 'complete' AAF outfit in the UK, this was only so far as personnel was concerned. The squadron had no aircraft of its own and, for the time being, was flying 226 Squadron's aircraft... the Douglas Boston, known to us Yanks as the A-20 Havoc.

The date for the USAAF's first 'official' mission against the Axis was set for July 4th, 1942... no doubt an effort to stir the pot of patriotism that was boiling in the USA. The targets were four German airfields in Holland, at DeKooy, Bergen Alkmaar, Valkenburg, and Haamstede. Though labeled as the first USAAF mission in the ETO, this was to be a joint RAF/AAF operation. Of the twelve 226 Squadron ships participating in this mission, half would be manned by American crews.

The first Boston lifted off from Swanton Morley at 07:09 hours on the morning of the 4th. Within five minutes all twelve ships were airborne and, after forming up over the Norfolk countryside, headed toward the coast at low-level. While over the North Sea, the Bostons encountered some enemy coastal patrol vessels which probably alerted the Luftwaffe to their presence. On reaching the Dutch coast, the formation of twelve split up into four formations of three and headed toward their targets.

At Haamstede all three ships, 'G for George', flown by Flt.Lt. A. 'Digger' Wheeler, a New Zealander, 'F for Freddie', flown by Plt.Off. Eltringham, and 'M for Monkey', piloted by AAF Capt. Bill Odell, bombed and strafed the target successfully shortly before 08:00.

The attack on Bergen Alkmaar saw the mission's first casualties. Arriving at about 08:02 and led by Flt.Lt. R. 'Yogi' Yates in 'Y for Yorker', all three ships managed to bomb the target but AAF Lt. Stan Lynn's ship, 'V for Vic' was hit by flak within seconds of bomb release and crashed on the airfield, with all aboard killed. Minutes later, upon leaving the target area, Plt.Off. 'Hank' Henning's 'U for Uncle' was shot down by Uffz. Johannes Rothenow of IV Gruppe/JG 1. Rothenow had managed to get an Fw 190 from Bergen Alkmaar airborne during the attack and chased the remaining two attackers to the coast.

At Valkenburg, a navigational error and a mistake in using the bomb bay door controls by Sqn.Ldr. John Castle, flying 'A for Ac', saw this three-ship fail to drop its bombs, instead strafing only. Castle, along with AAF Capt. Martin Crabtree in 'D for Don' and AAF Lt. Leo Hawel in 'J for Johnnie' returned to Swanton Morley with full bomb loads.

The third loss of the mission, and very nearly a fourth, occurred at DeKooy. Another navigational error and intense flak saw this formation also fail to bomb its target. The leader of this flight, Sqn.Ldr. Kennedy in 'X for X-ray', was able to strafe anti-aircraft positions and personnel near the target, and would have had to return with a full bomb load had he not found some targets of opportunity on the way home... two trawlers in the sea. His bombs missed but he was able to strafe both vessels. The third loss of the mission was AAF Lt. Jack Loehrl's 'P for Pip'; the ship was hit by flak north of the airfield and crashed onto a beach, killing all aboard except the bombardier, AAF Lt. Draper who became a POW.

Boston 'Z for Zebra', flown by AAF Capt. Charles Kegelman, the 15th Bombardment Squadron's CO, almost became the fourth loss of the day. Taking a hit in the starboard engine that blew the prop off, Kegelman almost augered in... bouncing off the ground and at one point cutting a furrow in the grass with the starboard wingtip. Kegelman jettisoned his bombs and began to limp back home, strafing a flak tower on the way. 'Z for Zebra' was the last to arrive back at Swanton Morley, a few minutes past 09:00.

All in all, not the most auspicious of beginnings for the fledgling USAAF organization that would later become known as the 'The Mighty Eighth'.

But it was indeed only the beginning.

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With his painting 'The First Mission', Nixon Galloway depicts a very tense moment for Captain Kegelman and the crew of 'Z for Zebra'...

A closer look...

On July 11th, 1942, a recently-promoted Major Kegelman and his crew were honored in an awards ceremony. Kegelman received the Distinguished Service Order, while bombardier 2Lt. Dorton, and gunners Sgt. Cunningham and T/Sgt. Golay each received the Distinguished Flying Cross.

Left to right, Cunningham, Golay, Dorton, Kegelman.

American Airpower Museum (Roger Freeman collection)

Another view of the four honorees with a 226 Squadron Boston.

American Airpower Museum (Roger Freeman collection)

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A Pair of Ponies

Today we continue our series on the P-51 Mustang with a pair of photos showing a pair of ponies from 2 Squadron, Royal Air Force. The following is the Imperial War Museum's caption for the first photo:

"Mustang Mark Is, AG550 ‘XV-U’ and AM112 ‘XV-X’, of No. 2 Squadron RAF based at Sawbridgeworth, Hertfordshire, in flight over Cambridgeshire. AG550 is being flown by Wing Commander A.J.W. Geddes, the squadron commander."

Imperial War Museum

And here's a second view that shows these same two Mustangs on the ground...

Project 914 Archives

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