Wednesdays photo.
On Jan. 9, 1943, the first flight of the Lockheed XC-69 took place from Burbank, California, to Muroc Army Airfield. It was piloted by company test pilots Edmund Allen and Milo Burcham. The four-engine, propeller-driven aircraft was designed by Kelly Johnson and developed from the Lockheed L-049 Constellation airliner.

This weekends photo's.
Three Dornier factory shots taken 1944, of the "Pfeil".

Weekend extra.
Four very detailed shots of Focke-Wulf FW. 190A W?rger (Werk-Nr. 6005), World War II German fighter in U.S. markings and with armament apparently removed, circa March 1944.

Wednesdays photo's.
The Swiss evaluated the Hunter in 1957 in a comparative flyoff in the UK against the F-86 Sabre and Folland Gnat. They liked the Hunter and performed a further evaluation in Switzerland using two machines on loan. They finally ordered 100 Hunter F.6s as the "Mark 58" in January 1958.

This weekends photo's.
HMS Exeter was the second and last York-class heavy cruiser built for the Royal Navy during the late 1920s. Aside from a temporary deployment with the Mediterranean Fleet during the Abyssinia Crisis of 1935?36, she spent the bulk of the 1930s assigned to the Atlantic Fleet or the North America and West Indies Station. When World War II began in September 1939, the cruiser was assigned to patrol South American waters against German commerce raiders. Then the Exeter was one of three British cruisers that fought the German pocket battleship, the Admiral Graf Spee, later that year in the Battle of the River Plate. She was severely damaged during the battle, and she was in the shipyard for over a year.

After her repairs were completed, the ship spent most of 1941 on convoy escort duties before she was transferred to the Far East after the start of the Pacific War in December. The Exeter was generally assigned to escorting convoys to and from Singapore during the Malayan Campaign, and she continued on those duties in early February 1942 as the Japanese prepared to invade the Dutch East Indies. Later that month, she was assigned to the Striking Force of the joint American-British-Dutch-Australian Command (ABDACOM), and she took on a more active role in the defence of the Dutch East Indies. The culmination of this was her engagement in the Battle of the Java Sea later in the month as the Allies attempted to intercept several Imperial Japanese Navy invasion convoys. The Exeter was crippled early in the battle, and she did not play much of a role as she withdrew. Two days later, she attempted to escape inbound Japanese forces, but she was intercepted and sunk by Japanese ships at the beginning of March in the Second Battle of the Java Sea.

Most of her crewmen survived the sinking and were rescued by the Japanese. About a quarter of them died during Japanese captivity. Her wreck was discovered in early 2007, and it was declared a war grave, but by 2016 her remains had been destroyed by illegal salvagers.

This weekends extra, and staying with catapults.
GEORGES LEYGUES French Light Cruiser Photographed at New York City in July 1939. A Loire 130 flying boat can be seen on the turret catapult.

ADMIRAL SCHEER - view amidships of aircraft catapult Heinkel He 60 aircraft and one 15 cm gun photographed 1935-38.

GNEISENAU taken 22 August 1938 during a fleet review showing crewmen manning the rails. Note Heinkel HE. 114 seaplane on catapult.

GNEISENAU View taken circa 1940 showing a catapult launch of an Arado 196 seaplane.

This midweeks shots.
And some really wonderful ones of "Mizuho" Japanese seaplane tender taken off Tsingtao China circa 1939,the aircraft are Kawanishi E17K "Alf".

This weekends photo.
And a very interesting one at that.
Marine Corps Grumman F4F Wildcat fighter at Henderson Field, 2 February 1943. Markings under the cockpit indicate that this plane has been credited with shooting down 19 Japanese aircraft, by several different pilots No other details??

Weekend extra
And two absolutely fantastic shots taken "Stateside" 1943. of Grumman F4F Wildcat fighters Flying in tactical formation,during training.

Wednesdays photo's.
A General Motors FM-2 Wildcat fighter Is catapulted from USS Core CVE-13 in the North Atlantic 12 April 1944.

And a General Motors FM-2 Wildcat fighter On combat air patrol over USS Santee CVE-29 during the Leyte Invasion 20 October 1944.