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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Six Shooter

The last two installments of this-here little cyber-rag have got us hunting for pix of the 'Six'. And today we present a couple'a beauties taken on June 28th, 1985 showing F-106A 59-0024 of the 49th Fighter Interceptor Squadron which flew out of Griffiss AFB at Rome, NY from 1959 to 1987.

The pictured 'Six' is equipped with an M61A1 20mm cannon, one of a dozen supplied to the 49th FIS. Read more about this interesting mod for the F-106 HERE.

Enjoy...

USAF photo (SRA William Lamoureux, photographer) via NARA

USAF photo (SRA William Lamoureux, photographer) via NARA

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В Советской России Медведь перехватит тебя!

Здесь, в TWW мы ... oops.

Here at TWW we are loath to publish anything with a watermark because we loathe watermarks.

Can't stand 'em.

But every now and again we come across something which has that which we loathe but which is also entirely waaaaay-too-freakin'-groovy to pass up.

Kinda like today's offering.

In our last installment, we shared a couple'a photos showing the 159th FIS Bicentennial jet, F-106A 58-0760. As some of you, our readership of not more than half-a-dozen may be aware, the 'Six' was a pure interceptor. When the Russkies came-a-knockin' on CONUS' door back in the 1970s and 80s, chances were good that a Six or two would be there to greet 'em.

Anyhoo, back in the mid-1970s, 'ole '760' made at least one intercept while decked out in her party dress, as evidenced by this neat-o-keen pic, snapped by someone aboard the Bear that was being intercepted. (presumably an Ivan named A.Rubljov)

Наслаждаться... errr, enjoy...

 

 

Image source: F-106DeltaDart.com

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Spirit of '76

Seeing as today is July 4th, and TWW is brought to you from the good 'ole US of A, today's installment has a patriotic twist to it.

Back in 1976, many a USAF squadron (as well as USN and USMC) celebrated the USA's Bicentennial by decking out at least one of their birds in a special paint scheme. Some outfits were fortunate enough to have an aircraft whose serial number included a '76', and incorporated this into the design of their paint jobs.

F-106A 58-0760 of the 159th Fighter Interceptor Squadron, Florida Air National Guard was one such aircraft, and carried what your blogmeister thinks was the most breathtaking Bicentennial paint job of them all...

Original image source: F-106DeltaDart.com

Original image source: F-106DeltaDart.com

Don Spering photo (G.H.L. Scharringa collection)

 

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The Big Bottle

As a young nut for things with wings growing up during the height of the Cold War in the early to mid 1980s, your blogmeister was fascinated for a time with Red Stars. Conjuring in his head images of air fighting over European battlefields involving Warthogs and Phantoms and MiGs (oh my), he was initially little aware of the likes of the Sukhoi Su-15, or its mission. But upon learning of this Russian interceptor, and viewing it as something of a mystery, seldom covered as it was in aviation rags of the time, the 'Flagon', as NATO knew it, captured his imagination like no other Russkie jet.

The Su-15 entered service with the Soviet Air Defense Forces in the mid-1960s, replacing the earlier Su-9 and Su-11, both of which, over the course of less than a decade, had proven somewhat insufficient for the task of intercepting Yankee Air Pirates that dared intrude upon Matushka Rossiya's airspace. The Flagon was not without problems of its own, though, as is usually the case with pretty much every type, but it was nonetheless a vast improvement over its short-lived predecessors. So much so that it remained in service with the Soviets until the early 1990s.

In the future we may delve a bit deeper into the operational history of the Sukhoi Su-15. But for now, we leave you with an iconic image of the Flagon that caught your blogmeister's eye so many years ago...

US DoD photo

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The Best Idea EVER

For our first installment of TWW in a while, we introduce a new series dubbed 'What could possibly go wrong?' or... 'What the hell were they thinking?'

Now, as you, the readership of half-a-dozen or so may be aware, sometimes your blogmeister prefers to keep things brief and let the photos do most of the talking. Keeping that in mind, all your blogmeister will say here is that in the early 1950s some nutjob thought it would be a good idea to develop the wacky-ass contraption shown below, called the de Lackner HZ-1 Aerocycle, as a highly mobile military recon vehicle, and that the primary means of maneuvering this thing was weight distribution. Oh, and it was intended for use by inexperienced infantrymen with a minimum of training... like... half an hour or so.

So, combat conditions.

Under fire.

Bullets whizzing past your head.

The human body's natural response to said bullets'a-whizzin' is involuntary, jerky movements.

Meat-grinder rotor blades  whirling below.


Yeah. What could possibly go wrong?

US Army photo

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Delivering the Mail

In this installment of 'TWW' we bring you a super-groovy shot of a brand-spankin' new Republic F-84F Thunderstreak opening a can-o-whoopass on some unsuspecting, uh... sand and scrub... in the Mojave Desert. (just pretend it's unsuspecting Commie sand and scrub) Included below the photo is a way-cool facsimilified-copy of the news tag from the reverse of the print that your blogmeister whipped up in Photoshop because he was bored and too lazy to type it all out...

Project 914 Archives

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Two Ghost Riders and a Tiger

In this installment of our little cyber-rag, we present a gorgeous shot showing an AD-2 or AD-3 of VA-195 'Tigers', moments away from leaving the deck of USS Boxer (CV-21). Waiting their turn off to port is a pair of F8F-1 Bearcats of VF-193 'Ghost Riders'. The photo was taken during CVG-19's NorPac cruise which ran from January 13th to February 25th, 1949.

National Naval Aviation Museum (Robert Lawson collection)

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Thirsty Thud

In this quickie installment we bring you a rather groovy shot of an F-105D about to gas up in Southeast-Asian skies... enjoy...

Project 914 Archives

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It's Voodoo

In this installment of 'TWW' we bring you something from your blogmeister's neck of the woods...

As a fighter-interceptor, photo-recce platform, and nuke-lugging fighter-bomber, the McDonnell F-101 Voodoo served the USAF in almost all suitable roles, except that for which it was originally envisioned; a penetration fighter to escort SAC's BUFFs to Moscow. Thankfully, it was never actually needed to fill that particular role. However, the very vital role for which the Voodoo is perhaps most-well known, that of fighter-interceptor, was filled admirably by the F-101B variant.

Of all the outfits that flew the 'Bravo' in defense of North America, the 136th Fighter Interceptor Squadron is nearest and dearest to your blogmeister's heart, if only because that particular outfit was nearest to the place he and his dearest call home. Based at Niagara Falls, NY, the 136th, as part of the Aerospace Defense Command, was responsible for protecting certain areas of the Northeastern United States, and flew the 'One-Oh-Wonder' in that role from 1971 to 1982.

Anyhoo, here's a fine view of F-101B 58-0279 in the 136th's original livery, from sometime in the 1970s... enjoy...

Project 914 Archives (S.Donacik collection)

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Polski MiG

Today we bring you a super-quickie... a slick-lookin' Polish Navy MiG-21Bis snapped over the Baltic Sea in September of 2002. POLSKA!

Mariusz Adamski photo

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French Tank Buster

Today we continue a series that we like to call, 'So ugly only a mother could love it', or... 'That thing flies?' with this more-than-less-than-visually-appealing little 1950s French number.

Your blogmeister doesn't know a whole helluvalot about the Potez 75 except that it was envisioned as a tank-buster. Quite frankly, the only thing we can envision right at the moment is a buncha tankers bustin'-out-laffin' upon seeing this contraption coming their way. But looks can be deceiving and you should never judge a book by its cover, right? Well, sometimes, maybe. But in this particular case... 'eh, judge all you like.

By all accounts we've come across, the Potez 75 was a dismal failure in its intended role as a platform from which to fire wire-guided anti-tank missiles, specifically the Nord SS.10, and production orders were not forthcoming. Undaunted, the folks at Potez saw that certain 'improvements' were made and that the type was re-branded under the good 'ole fashioned 'close air support' label. This time an order was placed for some 100 examples, but cancelled a short while later, apparently due to budget concerns.

In the end, though the Potez 75 may have been a flop, you can't say that it isn't an interesting machine. An interesting, frakkin' fugly little machine...

Project 914 Archives

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Atlantic Cat

In this installment of our little cyber-rag we present a pretty nice photo showing an FM-2 Wildcat of VC-36 just coming off the cat while launching from USS Core (CVE-13) during anti-submarine operations in the North Atlantic on April 12th, 1944.

You're welcome...

NARA - US Navy photo by Photographer's Mate N.H. Seehafer

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The Dragon Slayer

Alrighty folks, here's a quickie for y'all. Your blogmeister doesn't know a whole lot about meatballs... well, the kind that go with spaghetti, yeah. But not those from Nihon-koku. Anyhoo, although he may not be knowledgeable on the subject of Birds of the Rising Sun, he sure do like 'em, especially this variety here... the Kawasaki Ki-45 Toryu (Dragon Slayer), known to the Allies during the Second World War by the code-name 'Nick'. Enjoy!

Project 914 Archives

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