DD, that is LOW !! i was lucky to see Ray Hana in his P-40 at around that lowness at an earlier show here a year before he passed away.JW
Love that 'Mossie', its been over 20 years since I've seen one in the air. This C-47 D-Day veteran has been up a lot this week as Kermit works on his rating. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlng1DSYeR0
Ramblur, that Mosquito should in May be in Jerry Yagens collection in Virginia Beach,you may catch it at a show near you.JW
JW, were any of these still around when you were a kid? I lucked out with a ride in Kermits TP-40N a couple years back.
Yes they were, the P-40s were the last to go and there were some there into the mid 70s.My mums dad was incharge of all our war assets post war and was lucky he took the offer of Jim Larsen who drank alot and only scraped then when he needed more turps. All the bombers went first and so on.There were five or six P-40s removed and only two Corsairs, one of each of these is in the pic i posted before. Thanks for those pics of the Rukahia grave yard Ramblur. I have a mates rate ride in a P-40N1 waiting but cant handle G-Forces, had tries in a Harvard/T.6 and two Nanchangs but no dice. Cheers JW
The coolest bomber ever built was the YB49 (jet version of the flying wing). Stupid politicians made Northrop cut them all up. None survived.
I am reading a book called UNBROKEN now. WW1 based. Talks about the "Flying Fortress". God bless America and its soldiers, then and now.
Two of my cousins were gunners on B-17s from '43 through '45. Both flew two tours, and both flew 27 flights each tour over the normal 25. My cousin Bud flew two flights for his buddy, who was ill. The aircraft commander on both of those flights was LtCol James Stewart, the actor. One cousin died in a nursing home in the early '90s with Alzheimer's. His last five years were awful for him, sad to say, and I never did have a chance to talk with him about his war experience. Bud gave me a picture of him standing by the tail of his plane (he was a tail gunner). We spoke just once about his war days. I truly wish I had recorded his words, because what I recall of his exploits simply doesn't do him or his memory justice. He died ten years ago. Seeing B-17s fly makes me cry. Really. It's emotional for me. They are a magnificent aircraft, and my cousins and their fellow crewmates, ground crew and fighter support did incredible things under impossible conditions to win the War in Europe. I salute them!
Hi Hemiman.Was Your Father in Gen. Kenny`s 5th Air force?The solid nose was a field conversion to get more forward firepower when doing skip bombing against shipping.The ultimate version was 12 .50 cal Brownings firing forward controlled by the pilot with a thumb button on the control wheel.God bless him and ALL of the"Greatest Generation". Good luck.Heve fun.Be safe. Leo
My Ex wife's Dad was a pilot in the CRAF and he delivered these to England. The only time he got shot at (and hit in the wing) was by an RAF Huricane who didn't recognize the plane as friendly. He said they would fly them to the Bahamas and then to Iceland and then to England, I guess so their original takeoff (factory) wasn't so obvious, but every ime they flew over the Bermuda Trangle all the guages went haywire and they had to fly by visual and hope.
Yep... 3rd Attack Group, known as the "Grim Reapers".. Dad flew as a Top Turret gunner on B-25's and A-20's. Pappy Gunn did the Strafer conversions in the 3rd.. Bill
That's cool Larry, Check out our last Eagle Field Flyover! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=isAryuEMVT8
Thought I would throw a few pics on here. Living across the road from a small airport, I will see vintage planes arriving or departing on a fairly frequent basis. As I understand this plane made an emergency landing and burned within the last couple years.
The day I took a flight on the B-17 I meet a really nice WWII Veteran. He went on to tell me that he had been a waist gunner on a B-17 and had been on quite a few missions. He really wanted to climb on board the plane one more time. It took several of us helping him but as soon as he got inside the plane he went right to his window and stood there looking out for a long time. After we got him back on the ground he stayed by the plane all afternoon. It was a really hot day and I was a little worried about him. I finally asked him if he wanted to go inside the nearby building where it would be a little cooler. He said no I want to stay close by to hear the engines start up one more time. When we all got in for our flight and started down the runway he was still there watching and to hear those four engines roar one more time! God Bless them! 32 Spitfire http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=502413&highlight=32+spitfire
it took REAL MEN to fly those birds in war time! it takes SPECIAL MEN to restore them to keep those memory's of our history alive! THANKS for posting!
Attached is a pic of my grandfather (and my son) at our local airshow last summer. He never went oversea's during WWII, but worked in California training pilots on the P-38's. This photo is hanging in my shop. He's the reason that I love old planes and hotrods. Glad he's still around and healthy.
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