Photo of the week
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This weekends extra.
Ground crewmen check Hellcats on the carrier flight deck before takeoff.
And a nice study of a Grumman TBF-I USS Yorktown late 43.
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This midweeks photo.
Taken at Clark Field in 1948 a nice colour shot of a Northrop F-15 Reporter.
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This weekends photo
Evan Dall Mackie, stands next to his Spitfire Vc, taken at Hal Far airfield on Malta, he would claim 8 kills with this aircraft.He ended the war with 21.5 aerial victories, he was the highest scoring flying ace to serve with the Royal New Zealand Air Force.
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This weekends extra.
An FAA pilot runs to his Hurricane IIb,armed with two 250lb bombs (on bomb racks acquired from Beaufighters) seen at Hal Far, Malta early 43.The aircraft were transferred from RAF to Admiralty charge, and were flown by Albacore and Swordfish units,also with survivors of the Fulmar intruder flight.Repainted in extra dark sea grey on the upper surfaces,with azure blue, or sky blue under surfaces,the aircraft undertook intruder operations and ASR patrols.
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This midweeks photo.
A nice close up of the Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Condor armed VIP transport that arrived in Finland with Adolf Hitler on board,in 1942.
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This weekends photos.
At war’s end this specially painted P-47M-1-RE #44-21175 "Zemke's Wolfpack" Code: UN-Z 56th FG - 63rd FS was exhibited under the Eiffel Tower, its nose emblazoned with the legend: Zemke’s Wolfpack, 56th Fighter Group, 1,000 Enemy Aircraft Destroyed!
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This weekends extra.
And a fantastic colour air to air of a Northrop XB-35 and its P-61 chase plane.
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This midweeks photos.
17 June 1986: After being returned to flyable condition, B-47E-25-DT Stratojet serial number 52-166, made the very last flight of a B-47 when it was flown by Major General John D. (“J.D.”) Moore and Lieutenant Colonel Dale E. Wolfe, U.S. Air Force, from the Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake in the high desert of Southern California, to Castle Air Force Base in California’s San Joaquin Valley, to be placed on static display.
52-166 had been built by the Douglas Aircraft Company at Air Force Plant No. 3, Tulsa, Oklahoma, in 1952. 52-166 had not been flown in twenty years, having sat in the Mojave Desert serving as a radar target. General Moore and Colonel Wolf were experienced B-47 pilots, though they hadn’t flown one in the same twenty years. Because the B-47 it had not been through a complete overhaul prior to the ferry flight, it was decided to leave the landing gear extended to avoid any potential problems.
During the 43 minute trip, the aircraft had several systems fail, including airspeed sensors, intercom, and partial aileron control. On approach to Castle Air Force Base, a 16 foot (4.9 meters) approach parachute was deployed. This created enough aerodynamic drag to slow the airplane while the early turbojet engines were kept operating at high power settings. These engines took a long time to accelerate from idle, making a go-around a very tricky maneuver. Releasing the chute allowed the airplane to climb out as the engines were already operating at high r.p.m.
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This weekends photo, I have posted this before but this is a HD version.
Ground Crewmen Work on a F4F Wildcat at a Naval Air Station.
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This weekends extra.
Four pilots converse on the flight deck of a Carrier upon return from flights in TBFs.
