Weekend extra.
?Drop-testing? is the Navy?s latest technique of testing effects of super- sonic speed upon aircraft. Model air- planes,exact replicas of the Navy: F8F Bearcat fighters built to a scale of four-tenths, are dropped from the bomb rack of a Navy PB-lW., over the Naval Air Experimental Station, Philadelphia, Pa., and attain a speed of over 600 miles per hour. The wooden model planes have no propulsive unit, but each has 500 pounds of lead in the nose and at- tains its speed solely by diving.
Au- tomatic controls within the model pull it out of its dives and parachute the model downfor recovery and re- use. The control mechanism is lo- cated in the aft portion of the model and is pre-set for a desired flight. By means of radio telemetering equipment in the forward section, the unique experimental models transmit information to ground re- ceiving stations during their plum- meting and pullout. Radar tracking shows the trajectory of the model and
automatic radio-transmission permits .evaluation of behavior in the air. The ?drop-test?? technique elimi- nates the correction of data which is necessary in tests conducted in wind tunnels, due to the blocking effects produced in the tunnels at high speeds.

PB-1W-Undergoing engine overhaul and wing repair at Barbers Point Naval Air Station Oahu Hawaii by men of VW-1.

And a wonderful shot of PB-1W Flying Fortress BuNo 77258, note the drop tanks

Wednesdays photo's,
Two of A P-47 flown by Lt. Richard Sulzbach of the 364th Fighter Squadron, 350th Fighter Group, 12th Air Force on April 1,1945. Lt. Sulzbach had a little run-in with some trees while on a strafing run over Italy. He was able to fly the plane 120 miles back to base and land safely. It's a real testament to how tough the P-47 is.

Three very crisp shots of Grumman XF4F-3 (prototype) fighter Bureau number 0383 in flight.
Photographed during flight testing 21 July 1939, & 3 April 1939.

Weekend extra.
De Havilland DH89 Dominie X7524.

Air-to-air view's of the first production Grumman TBF-1 torpedo bomber (BUNO 00373) dated 23 March 1942. The plane is in its carrier- landing attitude, with wheels , flaps, and tail hook down. The colour scheme, standard from October 1941 until early 1943, consists of flat light gray undersurfaces with flat blue-gray sides and upper surfaces. "Circle-star-circle" National insignia are worn on fuselage sides and on upper and lower surfaces of both wingtips. Red and white rudder stripes were adopted at the end of December 1941 as an additional recognition marking. Both rudder strips and the red insignia center circle were removed from navy aircraft shortly after coral sea (May 1942).

Fridays pics taken summer of 44 at Tingkawk-SaKan, Burma. Some wonderful P47D -23-RA's of the 80th Fighter Group, 10th Air Force.

Weekend extra.
Japanese Navy Type 99 Carrier Bomber (Val) is examined by U.S. Navy personnel following its recovery from Pearl Harbor shortly after the attack. This plane was relatively intact, except that its tail section was broken away. It came from the aircraft carrier Kaga.

Mid week pics.
Some wonderful images of P-40N-5's of the 45th Fighter Squadron, 15th Fighter Group.
Below taken on the Nanumea Ellice Islands.



Below taken 11th September 43 ,Baker Islands.


Below on Ellice Island.

This weeks photo.
A well warn Naval reserve F4U-4 in flight from NARTU Los Alamitos CA. circa 1950.

Nice photos as always I especially like those of the 15th FG P-40s, have you by chance come across any showing the P-39s also flown by that Group which also had the same paint scheme as the P-40s?