Replica in Scale

That Other Mustang, Tony,

2012-01-29T19:15:00.000-06:00

Back to Business

OK, Ya'll; just when you thought it was safe to come out, here we are again. It's pretty much business as usual today, but then again maybe not, because a couple of things have changed. Let's get straight to the point.

There's probably no reasonable way to stop the low-lifes who have been stealing our photography for their own sites without proper accredition from continuing their unethical and marginally illegal pastime, which means we've got to handle things on this end. That, unfortunately, means marking each photo we run so there's absolutely no doubt, not now and not ever, as to who took the photo or who's collection it came from. There are a couple of significant down-sides to that, and our loyal readers need to know what's going on.

There won't be any reduction in the size or quality of the photos you see in these pages, but there will be fewer of them each issue. That's a direct result of the activities of the Picture Pirates---it takes time to duplicate each photo and then mark it, so our production time has significantly increased. Since this project is a spare-time sort of thing, and since there's not much of that spare time to be had these days, you'll have to endure fewer pictures and, unfortunately, fewer articles as well. We wish we didn't have to do that, but the actions of a few have left us no choice. We're pretty much stuck.

You, our readers, have our sincere apologies for having taken these actions. You can thank the aforementioned Picture Pirates for that one, so give them What For if you ever have the chance! Sigh...

Sometimes the Best Ain't the Prettiest

Everybody knows by now that the North American P-51 Mustang family was one of the best performing and, coincidentally, best looking aircraft designs of the 1940s. The combat versions, the P-51A through D (plus the kissing-cousin A-36) were about as good as it got when they were in their prime, but even then there was room for improvement. The principal operator of the type, the Army Air Force, thought that the design could be improved by putting it on a diet and removing a few pounds from the airframe. Initial efforts resulted in the P-51F, a light-weight fighter that was never produced. Further development of the concept took North American to the P-51H, which is the subject of today's photo essay.

Dubbed NA-126 and NA-139 within the North American factory, the aircraft entered AAF service as the P-51H. Its V-1650-9 engine boasted some 2,218 horsepower and was coupled to an extensively redesigned airframe that weighed in at some 10,500 pounds loaded, a full 1,100 pounds lighter than the standard P-51D; the increased horsepower coupled with that lightened airframe made the Hotel the fastest of the production Mustangs, with a top speed of approximately 487 mph at 25,000 feet. It was a rocket as piston-engined fighters go!

A total of 2,000 of the H-models was placed on order, but the end of the war saw the contract reduced to 555 actually produced. Although the type served briefly in the regular AAF and USAF, it spent most of its service life with the Guard. It's an easy aircraft to spot in photographs, since its redesign changed both its wing platform and fuselage shape dramatically when compared to its predecessors, but Ugly Duckling though it was, the H-model was far and away the best of the Mustangs in actual service. Let's take a look at some photos of it courtesy the collection of Marty Isham.

Although a fair number of H-models served (albeit briefly) with the regulars, they spent most of their time with the Guard. Massachusett's 131st FS/102nd FG was a prime user of the type, transitioning to it from the F-47D. In this shot, taken in 1952, we can see examples of both types sharing the ramp. New England was a hot-bed of F-51H activity during the late 1940s and early 1950s, and we can vividly remember them on the ground at various northeastern airfields during that time period. R Willet via Isham Collection

Here's a side image of 44-64319, also from the 131st. This profile shot provides us with an excellent view of the F-51H's revised fuselage shape, and also gives a fine view of the main landing gear doors. There's bound to be somebody out there who considers the H-model to be a pretty airplane, but we aren't him. You'd never guess it was a hot-rod by looking at it, would you? This shot was also taken at Barnes AP during 1952. R Willet via Isham Collection

44-64491 was an F-51H-10-NA and was with the 101st FS when this evocative shot was taken during the early 50s. There's just no way that airframe can manage to look pretty, but it was highly capable nontheless. Beauty is in the eye of beholder, right? P Paulsen via Isham Collection

And here's 44-64509, once again at Barnes. She's also from the 131st but carries a nose number, not seen on most of the units' other aircraft. The H wasn't exactly an Easter Egg, but she had enough markings anomalies to keep us guessing! R Willet via Isham Collection

Here's the 131st on the ground during 1953. Those Mustangs, all lined up in a row, made quite an impression on your editor (who was 4 years old at the time!). Do you know why you started liking airplanes? These birds are a big part of the reason we do! P Paulsen via Isham Collection

Here we go! This photo could easily define the Guard during the early 1950s; the MASS ANG is preparing to launch en mass for an exercise when this photo was taken. Those command stripes on the aircraft closest to the camera are particularly nice. If only there were a kit... R Picciani via Isham Collection

Although a large number of F-51Hs ended up in New England, that wasn't the only part of the country to use the type. New Mexico's 188th FS flew it for a brief period of time, and carried a fair amount of color (for an H-model) on the tail. The Hotel sortof grows on you, doesn't it? B Knowles via Isham Collection

Arizona used the H too. 44-64455 is a dirty bird as post-War ANG aircraft go, but the type was heavily-used during the brief time it was in service. This well-worn example was with the 197th FS when photographed, and illustrates that unit's minimalist markings. Pay note to the radio antenna masts; they were natural wood on the F-51H while it was in service. It's something worth paying attention to if we ever get a buildable kit of the type. B Knowles via Isham Collection

Every once in a while you'd find an F-51H with some color. The Air Force signified dedicated target tugs by painting them orange, as seen here by this F-51H from Pennsylvania's 146th FS. Note that not all of the aircraft is orange; the undersurface of the wings and aft fuselage is still in natural metal (not silver paint!). A standard-issue bird from the 146th is undergoing ramp maintenance in the background, providing us with an excellent contrast between the "target tug" scheme and the 146th's normal presentation. P Paulsen via Isham Collection

Hasegawa Just Get Better and Better, Don'tcha Know?

Hasegawa has been a prime mover on the Japanese scale modeling scene since the early 1960. Their early stuff wasn't all that great, but as a company they proved to be quick studies in the learning department, rapidly climbing to become one of the world's leading producers of quality plastic model airplane kits. For the longest time they concentrated on 1/72nd scale, but began an expansion into both 1/48th and 1/32nd scales during the 1970s and seemingly never looked back. Today's offering is a prime example of what they've been doing of late.

The "Tony" (Kawasaki Ki-61 Hien) has fascinated most plastic modelers from the day they first became aware of the type. A year ago, give or take, Hasegawa added the aircraft to their range of 1/32nd-scale Japanese subjects, resulting in the model you see before you. This particular example is 100% bone out-of-the-kit stock except for an Eduard interior (a properly-painted kit interior would have done just as well, thank you, except that you'd have to dig up belts and harnesses from someplace), some QuickBoost exhausts, and a set of Hasegawa's own aftermarket cowl guns and brass pitot tube. Decals are from LifeLike, and the paint is the ubiquitous ModelMaster enamel.

The LifeLike decal sheet we used here is #32-004, 244 Sentai Part 2 Best Selection, which provided the markings for Cpl Nagano's Ki-61 Otsu. Check out the tonal values in the uppersurface green as depicted in this photo. The lighting position was slightly changed between the taking of this photo and the one immediately previous, as was placement of the camera. If it works like this on a model it'll be the same on a real airplane too---that's something for The Color Police to keep in mind. The aircraft modeled was fairly new when painted this way, so the grossly-overdone weathering that appeals to so many folks doesn't exist here. The red empennage is done in gloss paint, which is what we suspect was done on the real aircraft. The kill markings and Kanji character on the tail came from the LifeLike decal sheet, but the Hinomarus and home defense bandages were masked and painted---it looks a lot better when you do it that way.

And here's an almost-profile view. There are a couple of things to watch out for if you build this kit, so it's probably time for us to list them. The method of assembly for the exhausts allows you to look all the way through to the other side of the airplane if you hold the model just right, and it's that way no matter whether you used the kit parts or those from QuickBoost. (We used the ones from QB; we know of which we speak!) A piece of card on the inside of each fuselage will solve that particular problem. The covers for the wingtip nav lights are designed to allow the modeler to install them after the kit is assembled and painted, but you don't want to do that. Instead, cement them in place, then sand flush with the wing, polish, and mask for painting. You'll be a whole lot happier if you do it that way---trust us. Otherwise, the kit is pretty much smooth sailing and looks great once it's completed.

Hasegawa have released this offering in at least two different boxings that we're aware of, with the significant difference being the markings included and the 54mm figure of Kobayashi that comes with the initial release of the kit. The Hasegawa kit markings work just fine in either flavor, but painting them is still better should you feel so inclined.

Happy Snaps

Today's installment is from our friend Rick Morgan; a photo of an airplane flown by Those Other Guys. Let's look:

Phil:::Here’s one for you. In 1985 we did an exercise with Oman while on our West Pac on the Connie. The Omani Air Force sent up Jaguars and Hunters to face us. Most of the pilots were RAF expatriates and very, very good. This one came up on the wrong side of the aircraft for a really good shot- but it still came out pretty well. These guys were all over the place- I recall them flying underneath us in terrain where we felt uncomfortable. My roomy Betz went to the beach as an Air Wing rep and got a flight in a two-seat Jag with a Brit pilot. He noticed they didn’t have a radar altimeter, at least in the back seat. The driver thought a second and told him “Well mate, see that pitot tube off the nose? When I see sand coming over it I’ll pull up”. Rick Thanks as always, Morgo! R. Morgan

The Relief Tube

Remember where we said these things would be a little more brief than they have been in the past? Well, Gang, we weren't kidding. There's still a lot going on around here and it's going to slow us down some until everything shakes out, at which point you'll see a little more content. The days of the massive, loaded-with-photos days are pretty much gone forever, though---the extra time spent putting a tag line in each and every photo stretches things out too much. Not to beat a dead horse unduly, but you can thank The Picture Thieves for that particular gift.

Speaking of which, most of the correspondence we've received over the past several weeks of non-publication has had to do with that particular topic. A couple of the folks who have their own sites are apparently considering legal action and everyone else is pretty whizzed-off about what went down. We've received a great deal of encouragement and support, but we've also lost the photographic services of two long-time contributors as a result of the selfish and inconsiderate acts of a couple of people. We aren't going to publish any of those letters today, or ever, but that should explain why both the blog and this section of it are so brief today.

Let's lead off with a letter from a reader adding some detail to a photo we ran an issue or two back. The comments are particularly germaine to today's issue, as we'll soon see:

Phillip, I just recently found your blog after reading some posts on the newsgroups concerning some individuals poaching images from your blog and publishing them without due diligence. I totally agree with your point. Unfortunately when I got to your blog, lo and behold I find that you have published an image that my father took and which I've inherited and which no proper copyright was mentioned.

The snap of the day is of an Ark ANG RF-101G over Japan in 1968. As soon as I saw it I realized that it was a copy of my dad's Kodachrome. My dad was a major in the unit at the time and an avid photographer. He took a number of shots while flying and that one is one of many. It's actually one of two he took in sequence.

I'm not sure who or where you got that image from. It's possible he had a copy from way back when. Also possible that it's a copy that I sent some people several years ago. I don't mind it being published. Actually I'd be happy to send you a disk of all of them for you to publish if you'd like. I also have lots a great pics from 1958 when they were flying the RB-57 and I know for a fact that these pics have never been published. Lots of air to air stuff.

All I ask is that proper recognition be given. I've been a big fan of the magazine from back in the day and I'm glad that it's found a new home in the digital age.

Sincerely,
Dave Wassell

Ps. My father was Maj Gen H. Lynn Wassell, Ark ANG

Thanks, Dave, and apologies regarding that credit line! The photo came from the collection of Don Jay, who received it from a member of the guard. We'll go back and amend the credit line!
A while back we did a piece entitled "Voodoos from the North Country". One of our sharp-eyed readers (who was definitely paying more attention than we were!) provided a location for one of those shots: Your photo, Mystery Meat, Voodoo 101033 was taken in my home town of London, Ontario. At least it says London on the tower. :) Dana Thanks, Dana. Now, if you'll excuse us while we wipe this egg off our faces...

It's been a while since we ran those shots of the K-Bay CH-46s, but reader Don Hinton as provided us with a little more insight regarding them: I love your site! For historical sake, the second photo of Kaneohe HH-46s (picture xHH-46A 151921) was taken at Barbers Point NAS on Oahu. I know as I lived on the hill (Makakilo) just to the top left of the picture, and those are the Waianae Mountains in the background.
Regards,
Don Hinton
Major, USAF (Ret

Thanks for the kudos, Don, and for the correction!

We ran some "Huns" last issue, which in turn prompted these comments from Dave Menard: Phil
Took another look at the Hun effort and two more gigs: the 401st TFW was based at England AFB LA(Alexandria, the anus of the state!)and on that base was the 622nd AREFSQ, with KB-50Js.

As for the photo poaching, was not aware of it. Have seen many of my images on sites over the years and I send in corrections and ask for the credit line. Most are not man enough to answer and only a few do it, but life is way too short to get too excited about it. Have two different ones in now to a Mustang site and to Warbirds one about my shot of that Mustang 850 on 16 May 53. I took one view of her with visitors on the wing looking into the cockpit and traded that neg to someone eons ago, and cannot recall who, but the image keeps popping up. Other images credited to USAF which really stings! Hope you had a good holiday. cheers, dave Thanks as always, Dave, and thanks for your perspective on the whole piracy thing!

Next up is a series of comments from a reader named Gerry (I'm not finding the last name---Gerry, please get in touch with me so I can give you proper credit!) offering corrections and additions to several of our recent pieces:

In my proverbial "junkyard dog" research mode (and not knowing if someone in the blog had answered this previously), the Black Widow you featured in http://replicainscale.blogspot.com/2010/09/misawa-memories-mystery-meat-stranger.html courtesy of the Menard collection is F-61B serial 42-39573, according to Jeff Kolln's NORTHROP'S NIGHT HUNTER (Specialty Press). Of interest is the fact that this ship was the first to re-introduce the A-4 dorsal turret on the Hawthorne assembly line - obviously removed by the time these photos were taken. Originally assigned to the 6th NFS on 9 March 1945, she eventually found her way to the 339th Fighter Squadron at Johnson AB, Japan on 20 February 1947. In April 1948 she was damaged in a landing accident (brake failure), but subsequently repaired. The aircraft was stricken 7 June 1949.

The pilots in that group photo at the head of the May 2010 blog http://replicainscale.blogspot.com/2010/05/cactus-little-more-on-invader-spad-in.html may be gathered around Joe Foss (standing, 2nd from left) - sure looks like him, anyway... if so that would make them from VMF-121. The last one in the series, of the pilot sitting on the wing, is an F4F-3, which would probably make him a VMF-223 driver (the unit that Foss's squadron replaced).

More exploring ancient history - the two-winged Corsairs in the April 2010 blog http://replicainscale.blogspot.com/2010/04/of-chips-corsairs-big-pirates-and-odd.html (in particular, the ditched SU-3) sent me on another quest for perfectly useless information.

A closer look at the image revealed a couple things:

what appears to be a Marine eagle/globe/anchor emblem on the fuselage, followed by what looks to be the number "15"
looks like Bureau number 9128

The caption says it's a VS-3 ship, but the Marine emblem, coupled with the 15, doesn't jibe with that squadron - unless the ship was newly transferred to the unit and hadn't been re-marked yet. I did find that SU-3 BuNo A9128 (as everything was prefixed with an "A" in the records at that point) was involved in an accident 22 October 1936, according to accident-report.com. It also indicated "Florida" as the location for the accident - assume off the coast of Florida - but without spending the money to order the report, that's all the info I have.

And finally: Marine Corps Aviation 1912-1940 (a .pdf file available online at marines.mil) indicates a scouting squadron "VS-15M" - which dovetails nicely with the fact that there's a "15" visible after the USMC emblem on that SU-3. Sometimes I scare myself.

Gerry, I am impressed! And many thanks for writing!

That's about it for this edition. We'll be back next week with a little more in the way of material, but until then be good to your neighbor. We'll meet again soon!

phil

OK, Where is He THIS Time?

2011-12-31T10:51:00.001-06:00

Or, This Year is Off to a Bang-Up Start

You'd be more than justified in wondering what's going on around here, since it's been a couple of weeks now since you've heard from us. In point of fact, you haven't seen a new issue of the blog since we reported that a couple of folks were stealing our photography and claiming it (by default, if nothing else) as their own; that sort of thing could easily lead you to believe that we've folded the tent in disgust, but that's not the way we are or will ever be. Nope; there are other circumstances causing this temporary lapse in publication. We're blessed with an extremely loyal readership, so an explanation is in order. Here's what's going on:

First, there's the software issue with those photos. We've found a pip of a system that will allow us to deal with the whole piracy thing in a highly-efficient manner but it's not installed just yet, for reasons that will become clear in a moment. We're loath to run more photos from anybody's collection (not counting public domain) until that problem is resolved but still, we've got resolution pending. All we have to do is do it.

That takes us to The Second Thing You Need to Know. Jenny and I are off on an adventure to improve our home situation, and it's one of those time-consuming things. It's a lame excuse at best, but the simple fact of the matter is that we (I) just haven't had the time to do a blog. (Just so you know, it normally takes six to eight hours out of any given week for us to crank out an issue, which makes that whole photography-theft thing even more galling---Yes; we're annoyed about that!)

The Third Thing You Need to Know is that our computer (an almost new device) decided to go Tango Uniform three days ago, and we just haven't had the time to replace the card that's failed because of that Second Thing You Needed to Know (in conjunction with The Fourth Thing You Need to Know, which we haven't gotten to yet). It's our intention to get up and running again next week. In the meantime, we're doing this installment on a borrowed laptop. Please be patient. (And in that same vein, we haven't been able to check our e-mails either. If you've written to us, please rest assured that you're not being ignored. It's a technical issue and nothing more!)

And speaking of "patients", we're now ready to discuss The Fourth Thing You Need to Know. Your humble editor experienced what some folks might call "a minor medical event" on Christmas Night, the end result of which was a visit to a not-so-local emergency room and overnight incarceration in that facility. We're going back in for Final Repair early next week. It's not a major thing, but it's a Thing nontheless and has to be dealt with.

So let's get back to the reason you haven't seen an issue of our publication lately. To sum up, we've been sick, we've been busy, our computer's been broken, and we're still dealing with The Picture Pirates. All of those things should be resolved shortly, at which time we'll be back in the saddle with a vengeance. In the meanwhile, please accept our apologies for the temporary lack of new material. We'll be back Good As New before you know it!

May you all have the happiest of New Years, and we WILL meet again soon! In the meanwhile, be good to your neighbor.
phil

It Had to Happen Sooner or Later

2011-12-21T21:11:00.001-06:00

"It" being the taking of photography from this site and publishing it on other sites and boards without permission. Let's talk about that for a minute.

We knew from the very start that sooner or later some of our photography would end up in places we'd never intended for it to be. That's just the nature of publishing material on the internet. There have been occasional instances of that sort of thing happening all along, but the infringements have been from well-intentioned folks who put a photo or two on a modeling board or enthusiast's site, and most of the time they gave provenance (that means "credit", in case you didn't know) for the image, either to this site or to the original photographer. We don't have much of an issue with that; in point of fact we appreciate the compliment.

What we do have an issue with is the large-scale taking of photography, without our permission, for use on other sites, and we've just received reports from multiple readers, including several of our contributors, that this has begun to happen. As a result, at least one of those contributors has stated that he may dramatically decrease the amount of photography he's willing to share with us. This particular contributor is someone we've known for years, since the days of the print version of RIS in fact, and he's someone we have tremendous respect for. We don't want to lose his contributions or anybody else's and, perhaps most importantly, we don't want to deny our readership the unlimited access to all of the wonderful photography we've been able to share due to the kindness of our contributors.

So, what are the options? The first is that we could just give up and cease operations, but that ain't gonna happen. Or, we could just sit back and do nothing, but that ain't gonna happen either. We could also put a big old nasty Replica in Scale watermark on each and every photograph we publish, even though that would be defeating the whole purpose of this effort.

What's left, then? Well, we're considering all of the available options, but in the meantime we'd like to ask a favor of you. If you see one of our photos on somebody else's site without accreditation, would you please let them know that it's from Replica? Don't go nuts or be aggressive about it; just tell them where you saw it first. We don't want to watermark those photos, ya'll, but we'll do it if we have to. And for you folks who're lifting the photos; please stop it. We suspect you're doing it with the best of intentions but your actions are going to cause us to greatly diminish the service we provide, completely free of charge and as a labor of love, to the several thousands of our readers who regularly view this site. That's just wrong on so many levels.

That's our story and Folks; we are absolutely sticking with it. You can go to the bank on it.

Be kind to your neighbor, but don't you go takin' our photography!
phil

North American's Finest, Waterfowl, Bitchin' Ben, More Post-War Forts, Essential Reading, and a Trojan or Two

2011-12-18T01:31:00.005-06:00

OK, OK; So We're Late Again

And we can sum it up by saying things are pretty busy around the Friddell household these days. It seems, in fact, that we're going in about twenty directions all at once, but all the stuff that's keeping us so busy should begin to calm down next month. In the meanwhile, here's our most recent offering for your consideration. We hope you enjoy it!

Wha'cha Doin', Hun?

If somebody were to do a survey of everybody's favorite Air Force jet, we're willing to bet that North American Aviation's immortal F-100 series of fighters and fighter-bombers would rank pretty high in the standings. Originally designed as an air-superiority fighter, the Super Sabre spent most of her days as a fighter-bomber. She was the first of the "Century Series" fighters and in consequence was the poorest performer of that stellar group of aircraft. Still, she was good enough for the job, staying in service for three decades before finally being put out to pasture for keeps.

We haven't really done very much with the "Hun" so far; for some reason we've always been enticed by other airplanes when the time came to figure out what airplanes we wanted to cover as we planned our upcoming issues. Since it's the holiday season we wanted to do something fairly colorful to celebrate the event, so today is The Day for the F-100. We aren't running a very many photos this time, but we think you'll enjoy what you see, and there's definitely more to come in later editions!

There are a whole bunch of folks out there who immediately think of the Thunderbirds when they remember the F-100, and there's a reason for it---the airplane was loud, colorful, and still relatively new when the team used the type. They started out with the Charlie model, so it's fitting that we begin this piece with an F-100C as well. 54-1850 was an F-100C-20-NA and was on tour with the team in Europe when this photo was taken at Laon AB in July of 1963. The "candy cane" treatment on her refueling probe is particularly noteworthy. Oh, and take a look at the other airplanes in this shot; you just never know what might turn up at an airshow... R. Franke

54-2011 was a USAFE bird too; an F-100C-25-NA from the 23rd TFS/36th TFW. She was on the ground at her base in Germany when this photo was taken in June of 1961. The C-Models were the air-to-air brawlers of the family, at least in theory; they were the fastest of the F-100s and the lightest as well, making them the closest thing the Super Sabre ever was to a pure fighter. In retrospect it was probably a Very Good Thing the "Hun" never had to go toe-to-toe with any of the MiGs in a classic knife fight---although there was at least one encounter between the F-100 and the MiG-17 during the Vietnam fracas, the Super Sabre was badly outclassed by the more nimble Soviet-built fighters it would have encountered in any war over Europe. It helps to keep in perspective the fact that the "Hun" was the first of the "Century Series". There was a lot to learn! Kerr Collection

The "Charlie" actually saw combat in Vietnam, but in the hands of the ANG rather than the regulars. The F-100C went into the Guard fairly quickly and wore some extremely colorful markings in the process. 54-2013, an F-100C-25-NA, was assigned to Kansas' 127th TFS when this photo was taken in 1962. The articulated pitot tube of the "Hun" was unique to that airplane in the USAF and is an interesting point to watch if you happen to be building a model of the type. You wouldn't always see it folded like this, but it was a common way to secure the aircraft when parked, and it was a feature incorporated into every F-100 built. Vince Reynolds

The F-100D was the definitive version of the Super Sabre. The variant was modified into a fighter-bomber, a role in which it could have excelled had it had a little more power and the ability to carry MERs. 56-3292, an F-100D-85-NH, ended up as a QF-100D but was the 49th Fighter Group's wing commander's aircraft when this photo was taken. She's got the straight refueling probe but has been retrofitted with an F-102 afterburner section. The "Hun" was, in our opinion, one of the prettiest jet fighters the Air Force ever operated. That's our story and we're sticking with it! Friddell Collection

You just can't do an article on the F-100 without showing at least one photograph of a formation of them attached to some sort of piston-engined refuelling platform. In this shot that platform is a KB-50, and the ubiquitous "Huns" are from the 614th TFS/401st TFW out of Langley in 1959. Those of you not familiar with this sort of thing might note that all three available refuelling positions are in use (a drogue hose is attached to the fuselage boom), and that the aircraft are in different flight attitudes due to the speed differential between the two types; the KB-50 is heading slightly down-hill, while the "Huns" are flying with a fairly high angle of attack and hanging on the tanker. It was awkward, but it worked. Isham Collection

The F-100 was a hot airplane when compared to the first-generation fighters it replaced, and the need for a two-seater for transition training was identified fairly early-on in the program. The F-100F was the result of the requirement and was fully combat capable, a circumstance that made it particularly useful in Southeast Asia during that unfortunate war. This gorgeous USAFE example was with the 50th TFW at Hahn in August of 1965; 56-3814 was built as an F-100F-10-NA and ended up on a pole in Texas City, Texas. We ran a 3/4 tail view of her a few issue ago, prompting Dave Menard to point out her red wing fences, which are extremely evident in this view. Dave, this "Hun's" for you! R. Franke

Here's a teaser for you! The "Hun" is the same---she's 56-3814---but the other airplanes in the shot are of considerable interest. The T-39 (another North American product) isn't all that unique, but check out that ramp in the background... R. Franke

Here's a better view of Those Other Airplanes. There's a fair chance we've got a shot or two of them laying around someplace, but you guys probably aren't interested in seeing them, are you? (We'll just sit back and wait for the letters to arrive at replicainscale@yahoo.com !) R. Franke

We could (and someday will) do a piece on the F-100 and its service during the Vietnam War, but for now this shot will have to suffice to show the airplane in that environment. 56-3836 was eventually converted into a QF-100F, but she was being shot at in earnest by a real enemy when this photo was taken in 1966. She was a -10-NA and affords us an excellent view of the type's appearance during the war. D. Smith

The "Hun" was a warrior, but she served other purposes as well. 56-3889 (another F-100F-10-NA) was assigned to Systems Command and was working out of Eglin when this photo was taken in 1971. She's of special interest because of her Aircraft Grey paintwork; that grey paint wasn't foreign to the F-100 but it wasn't the norm either. Check out the heat-stained aft fuselage; it didn't really matter what color paint you squirted on the F-100. After a couple of hours in the air it would all be gone from the back of the airplane! J. Rose

It goes without saying that we've got at least one or two more photos of the F-100 hidden around here someplace. We'll drag them out some day and take a look, but that's it for now!

If It Walks Like a Duck

then it must surely be one. Grumman's J2F Duck series of amphibians has fascinated us for years. Today, thanks to Bobby Rocker, we can take a look at this under-appreciated jack-of-all-trades.

The Duck generally ended up in the Navy's utility squadrons, where it performed every chore imaginable. BuNo 1578 was a J2F3 and was assigned to NAS Jacksonville in 1940, when this photo was taken. Her appearance defines the way the NAV took care of their airplanes between the wars. A close examination of the wheel covers will reveal that the airplane is well-used, but her overall finish is absolutely immaculate. To the best of our knowledge there have been two worthwhile kits of the J2F; Airfix's in 1/72nd and Classic Airframes' in 1/48th. (There was also, if memory serves, a sort-of 1/48th scale offering from ITC way back in the Dark Ages of Plastic Modeling, but we aren't counting that one!) We'd sure love to see a state of the art kit of this airplane! Rocker Collection

This unidentified J2F was flying with the Coasties out of Floyd Bennett Field, allegedly in 1942. We've got our doubts about the timeline because of her natural metal and yellow finish, but she's pretty enough to include here. The Duck got around! Rocker Collection

The J2F in her element. This example is taxiing in to the ramp at Samarai Island, probably during late 1943 or early 1944. A tractable, easy-to-handle amphibian that could operate almost anywhere was a distinct asset to the Navy. Photos like this make it easy to forget how unforgiving the war could be, even in the rear areas. Rocker Collection

Here's what can happen when it all goes south on you. This J2F5 was operating in the Atlantic when things went terribly wrong. We've said it over and over again but it bears repeating; it wasn't always the enemy that got you. Rocker Collection

A Forty-Niner

Hasegawa created one of the hobby's most controversial series of kits a few years back when they released their landmark P-40 family in 1/48th scale. The kits in that series were petitely-done, exquisitely detailed, and modular. That modularity has challenged a great many scale modelers from that day the models were released to the public until now, but the kit is an easy build if you take your time and think things through before you begin assembly. We've got several built-up examples of the model on our shelves at the moment and would like to share one of them with you today.

"Bitchin' Ben" Irwin was one of the 49th's old stagers, a Java survivor and veteran of the early days over Darwin. I've always had an interest in that particular time period and am slowly building a representative collection of the 49th during their Darwin days. "The Rebel" is the second model in that collection and was built straight from the Hasegawa kit; the only addition was a set of Eduard AAF seatbelts and harnesses. Irwin's aircraft was an easy choice for a modeling subject---between the fuselage art, the name, and that inclined aircraft-in-group number on the vertical stab, the airplane just screams "build me!" I didn't say no.

Here's another view of the airplane. That tan is Testor Vietnam Tan, while the dark green is a generic green I pulled of the shelf when I was getting ready to paint the model. The undersides are done in a light grey that was also pulled off the shelf when the painting was about to begin; if you choose to model one of the 49th's Darwin birds do yourself a favor and remember that Curtiss used their interpretation of RAF colors when they did the British Contract (and related) aircraft. If you build one of these airplanes and paint it in RAF colors you'll be making a mistake and your friends will tease you unmercifully. Don't say you weren't warned! (And, just for the record, that tan is darker on the model than it appears here---it's a Lighting Thing!)

I always try to show The Other Side when we do these modeling pieces, so here it is. It's not unusual to find 49th FG P-40Es with personal markings on both sides of the airplane, but "The Rebel" was apparently marked on the port side only, making this view somewhat boring. Those decals came from an old MicroScale (or maybe SuperScale; I can't remember which!) decal sheet. You can actually model 10 or 15 of the early 49th birds if you look around---the decals are out there. They just aren't all in one place!

Here's a good view of that undersurface grey. The Hasegawa P-40s all have that "Warhawk sit" so peculiar to the P-40, and their level of detail is superb right out of the box. The modular construction has been an issue for more than a few modelers, and any of the Hase P-40s require some genuine modeling skills to build properly. If your personal abilities have been gained on Shake and Bake kits these P-40s are probably best left alone. Then again, how will you ever learn if you don't try? Right? Right!

Korean War-Era Flying Fortresses

Boy, did we ever start something a few issues back. We kicked off our whole post-war B-17 thing about a year ago with a couple of photos of SB-17s from Jim Sullivan's collection, then added to the pot with a photo of a Misawa-based SB-17G courtesy of Dave Menard, and have been stumbling across (and running) photos of others as they became available to us ever since. Those photos got Don Jay interested in what we were doing and caused him to search his collection for additional images---you've already seen a few of them, and today we're going to run a few more. Here's what Don had to say about that:

Hi Phil, Just getting around to digesting your latest blog from last week and thought I would send you a few things of interest. There has been a mini-thread on some unknown B-17s seen during the Korean War. What started my interest was a photo in your early 2010 blog that had an armed B-17 (photo 1) at Misawa along with an A-1 lifeboat and ASV radar and antennae. Although I was aware of the SB-17, I never knew it was armed with the possible exception of the tail stinger. Piquing my curiosity, I looked into the history of the Air Force Rescue Service during the Korean War. Although covered in general terms, there isn’t a lot in print on the subject, even less in photos and most seem to dwell on the helicopter and SA-16. What is overlooked is the SB-17G (nee B-17H) and the SB-29. Both did a lot of ‘grunt’ work in the daily routine of strikes and other missions in the Korean theater. Somewhere around 15 SB-17Gs were used between the 2nd and 3rd Rescue Squadrons flying out of various bases in Japan & Okinawa. Photo 2 has this one at Misawa at the time of transfer of all SB-17s in theater to the 3RSq at Misawa-note the guns and lack of the shoe horn antennae for the ASV radar. The SB-17 was capable of being armed depending on situation and area of operation. Photo 3 depicts an SB-17 on a civilian airfield in the 1950 timeframe-the 7RSq’s AOR was the European theater and the Med-note the lack of weapons but the ASV radar antennae. Photo 4 is one of the 5RSq, stateside. They had the US as their AOR and I think were the RTU for the type. Hope this is of interest of a little known ac and mission. Would love to see any other photos of an armed SB-17G. Cheers for now. dj

PS: #1 photo is from Dave Menard collection, #2&3 are ??, #4 is USAF.

Here's one of the shots that started it all, and the photo Don refers to as #1; Dave Menard's photo of 43-39361 at Misawa in 1951. She's armed, apparently because of her opportunities of being exposed to the tender mercies of The Bad Guys while performing her SAR function. It's a fascinating photo and gives us a unique window into a forgotten part of the Korean War. Menard Collection

Here's another view of a Misawa-based SB-17, referred to above as photo #2. By SB-17 standards she's armed to the teeth; note the guns fitted to her cheek positions and the dorsal turret. We have to wonder how many times the SAR SB-17s and SB-29s had to use those guns... USAF via Jay
Collection

Here's the shot referred to as photo #3 in Don's description above. The aircraft was apparently photographed at an air show somewhere in Western Europe during the Korean War era. The SB-17 doesn't look nearly as menacing when it's unarmed, does it? USAF via Jay Collection

And here's the final shot to round out our SB-17 coverage for today. Although it's a little soft, this photo really helps to define the color demarcations on the airplane. USAF via Don Jay

Some Books You Ought to Have

We don't do a whole lot of reviewing around here. That's because all the other internet aviation sites do so much of it, and we have to figure those other guys have things pretty much under control, most of the time, anyway.

Most of our readers are all too aware of the interest we have in the Pacific War. There are any number of books out there on the subject, but for the most part they all cover the mid and late phases of the war. The Bad Old Days are pretty much omitted, primarily, we suspect, because the various authors involved in producing those books haven't been able to access the source material necessary for that sort of an undertaking. William Bartsch is an exception to the rule, and we're going to very briefly describe the volumes he's produced on the early days of the Pacific War. His scholarship is exellent, and we think you'll consider the books to be essential reading.

So far he's produced three volumes on those terrible early days of the war in the air in the Pacific Theater. Each one of them is well-documented, adequately foot-noted, scholarly, and each is filled with appendices relevant to the work at hand. In point of fact, our only complaint is that the photos supplied in each volume are tiny and therefore almost useless to the modeler---that's a shame, too, because the majority of those images are previously umpublished. Still, we don't buy this sort of book for the pictures, but for the hard information included within them. Taken in that respect, each one of these books is a treasure and we recommend them all without reservation. If you have an interest in them, all three can be obtained through the Texas A&M press.

Doomed at the Start; American Pursuit Pilots in the the Philipines, 1941-1942 is the first volume in the Bartsch trilogy and covers United States fighter operations in those islands from 1940 until the ultimate surrender to the Japanese. It was ground-breaking when first released and is still the best single work on the subject.

The second volume in the trilogy, December 8, 1941; MacArthur's Pearl Harbor concerns itself with the Japanese air attack on the Philippines during the first day of America's involvement in the war although there is, of necessity, quite a bit of background material presented as well.

Every Day a Nightmare; American Pursuit Pilots in the Defense of Java, 1941-1942, is the third book in the set and is, quite frankly, the one we've enjoyed the most, primarily because so many of the pilots mentioned ended up flying with the 49th out of Darwin once Java had fallen to the Japanese. It also covers a period virtually untouched by other historians.

We can't recommend these books highly enough, but that's with a caveat: All three of these books are serious histories of their specific topics. They aren't necessarily light reading and what few photos are in them are small. There are none of the color profile drawings so highly-regarded by modelers. They aren't for everybody. They are for those among us who have a serious interest in the subjects covered which, we suspect, would include most of the RIS readership. "Superb" is a word that comes to mind.

'Nuff said!

The Gallopita-Gallopita Machine

Or you'd think so, anyway. All you had to do was listen to a throttled-back T-28 and you'd know the sound. At higher rpm the Trojan sounded like any other military airplane with a radial engine, but at slow cruise it sounded like, well, a gallopita-gallopita machine. There's no other way to describe it.

No matter how goofy the airplane sounded, the T-28 was quite a package and has proven to be extremely popular on today's warbird circuit due to its two-seat capacity and performance better suited to a mid-war fighter than a training aircraft. That's all the incentive we needed to put together today's final piece. Let's take a look at the T-28 as it appeared while serving with TraCom in the early 1980s.

The post-Korean War Navy has never been shy where gaudily-painted airplanes are concerned, and the birds of TraCom were a case in point. Frank Garcia captured 138247 at an NAS Corpus Christi airshow in June of 1979. VT-27 started out the decade with "D" for a tailcode but changed over to "G" fairly quickly after it was realized that, as a call sign, "delta" could be misconstrued as belonging to a certain Atlanta-based airline ("Hello Tower; this is Delta 777"...). Triple Seven ended her days in a museum, a somewhat unusual fate for the Trojan. F. Garcia

Here's another variation on the VT-27 theme, photographed in October of 1980. 140041 provided a prime example of the squadron's "standard" markings, although the exception was very much the rule where the T-28 was involved. Note that 041 has it's blind-flying bag fitted in the aft cockpit. The puddle of oil under the engine was a bonus and came free with each and every T-28 built. R. Morgan

And here's another example, photographed at a Corpus Christi airshow in June of 1980. The airplane is our old friend 138247 again, but with a different tail treatment. The aircraft was nominally assigned to the CNATra commanding officer, hence the star under the forward cockpit. Are you beginning to detect a trend with these airplanes? Friddell

You really couldn't describe any orange and white airplane as dull, but not all TraCom birds were as colorful as those of VT-27. 138358 was a T-28B assigned to VT-6 when Bob Picket caught her on the ground at an airshow at Offutt in July of 1980. Check out the exhaust staining on this aircraft; it's typical of the Trojan and is very much a part of her personality. R. Pickett

June of 1981 found us on the ramp at Chase, where we were able to shoot 137789 as she arrived for an airshow there. VT-27's "arrowhead" marking has reappeared on her tail and she's representative of the type in squadron service. Once again we get a look at the blind flying bag in the rear cockpit, and the ground crew provide us with an excellent sense of scale. The T-28B wasn't big, but she wasn't all that small either. Friddell

The year is 1981, and the place is NAS Corpus Christi. It's the morning of an airshow and these VT-27 T-28Bs have been stashed at the edge of the ramp. That leads us to your Official Stump the Champs question for the day: What's that net thingy sitting beside the T-28 in the foreground? If you guessed bailout net you guessed right; it was used for emergency egress training with the aircraft. While the T-28D was fitted with a poor man's ejection seat (the Yankee Extraction System), all other T-28s took care of emergency exits the old-fashioned way---you unbuckled and jumped over the side. In theory the net allowed fledgling airmen to become proficient in the exercise. It didn't always work that way in practice. Friddell

A full squadron of T-28s sitting on the ground is impressive indeed. Here's the rest of VT-27 waiting for the airshow to end on that same June day in Corpus. TraCom was a humming place in the 80s. Friddell

Every picture tells a story, and this one's no exception. The only problem with this particular story is that we have absolutely no idea what it is! 140028 carries a variation of VT-27's markings but is in gull grey over white, and is absolutely filthy to boot! She appears to be airworthy, but we honestly don't know the story behind her paintwork---if you do, please drop us a line at replicainscale@yahoo.com and fill us in. We'd really like to know! D. Balcer

12 June, 1983, was heavily overcast in the early morning, which was when we snapped this portrait of 138349 at Chase. She had just arrived in preparation for yet another airshow when we took this photo of her crew securing the aircraft. Pay attention when you look at the markings on those old Trojans; marking sizes and presentations changed with amazing frequency back then! Friddell

Here's another view of 349. The T-28 was a simple aircraft, designed in the finest traditions of the Second World War, but she was a performer too. We're willing to bet there are at least a couple of homesick former Naval aviators looking at this photo right now... Friddell

And this is as good a time as any to end our look at the T-28B for today. We only looked at a couple of short years of her career, but we think the photos might have been of interest. Now then, if the guys at Roden would just get off the dime and release their 1/48th scale kit of the Trojan... Friddell

Happy Snaps

Today's Happy Snap comes from Don Jay, although it wasn't taken by him. Let's see what he's got:

Back in Jan ‘68, Dear Leader Kim seajacked the USS Pueblo off the coast of North Korea causing all sorts of maneuvering of our military. Much to the surprise of many an ANG troop, they quickly found themselves activated. One of those brave few units was the 154 TRS, ARK ANG, flying the rather rare RF-101G. Here we see one doing a daily recon into the friendly skies of Korea. I’m sure the pilot is wondering where his fighter escort is! PS: Photo is taken by the ARK ANG via a friend at the MISS ANG who flew RF-101s. dj Jay Collection

The Relief Tube

Let's start off today's Relief Tube with an explanation and an apology. Several months ago we ran a photo of a post-War F-51D taken by Dave Menard, along with some comments regarding an Alaska Air Command patch we'd run earlier. Dave sent in some supplementary information regarding both items, which we promptly lost. He sent it a second time, and we managed to mis-file that one, causing him to send the information yet a third time! In the truest tradition of serving no correction before its time, we've let this one stew about as long as we could; today's the day, ya'll, and here's that comment, with considerable apology to Dave!

Phil, that shot of 'stang 474850 was taken at ORD(O'Hare)on Armed Forces Day(remember those, the third Saturday of May?)1953 after I hitch hiked from hometown of Lombard, which was SW of the the place. The brand new shiny F-86Ds had arrived shortly before which was the main reason I went up there, and the frosting on the cake was this very, very shiny Mustang with all markings on her but the numbers on the gear doors being decals! I was not smart enough to ask what possible unit she was assigned to, but after over 22 years on active AF duty and then almost 22 years at the AFMuseum, have decided it was some senior officer's "toy"! I would bet probably at least a BGen. Anyway,
she went on to serve in several ANG units, went surplus, and wound up as CF-USA when Don Plumb owned her. She and her pilot were lost over Texas during violent weather along with another Mustang when they tried to either go through or over some huge thunderstorms. She was even shinier when Don owned her!

That Alaskan Command badge that Chris sent along was not an AF one, but a joint service one. I have a shot of a shiny C-54D with a huge presentation of this design on the side of the nose and will see if it can be dug out and sent along. When I was in Japan in the early sixties, the 5th AF boss also was U S Forces Japan boss, i.e., wearing "two hats". I believe Alaskan Command was the same deal up there in the pre-statehood days. cheers, dave Thanks, Dave, both for your comments and for your corrections!

If you read our last issue, you probably remember the shot of the F-14A identified as being from VF-33/VF-101. We asked for clarification and Rick Morgan came through for us:

Phil: The black-tailed F-14 I shot in Key Weird is AD106; assigned to VF-101, the RAG, but marked for the Starfighters of VF-33 as they went through transition from F-4Js to F-14A. Stable-mate VF-102 had one as well. Rick

We ran a short piece on the Grumman F7F Tigercat in the same issue, prompting these comments and possible corrections from Tommy Thomason:

Phil, Joe (Baugher) lists BuNos 80609 through 80620 as F7F-4Ns but with the exception of your picture of 1LT (and I can't read the BuNo), the F7F-4Ns that I have pictures for have a different, sleeker nose because they were equipped with a different radar than the F7F-3N. See attached for an example and the difference per the Navy.

That said, 80610 could have been delivered with the F7F-3N radar for lack of the correct one when it was being assembled... T Thanks, Tommy---that one seemed a little strange to us too! Sure wish we could prove the identification of that airplane for certain!

And finally, we ran some P-61 photos a few issues back, which prompted this response from reader Gerry Asher:

Phil, first, let me compliment you on the blog - lots of neat images, and I really appreciate the effort. P-61s are among my favorites, and when it comes to research in general I tend to be the proverbial "junkyard dog," shaking a subject for everything it's worth. To wit, the F-61B on February's blog, serial 43-8257.

The information provided in Jeff Kolln's "Northrop's Night Hunter" (Specialty Press) indicates the aircraft in question is assigned to the 339th Night Fighter (or Fighter [All Weather], whatever was appropriate for the time) Squadron at Johnson AB, Japan, serving with the unit from February 1947 to March 1950... so the image itself was taken post-September '47 at the earliest, given the service nomenclature above the rado call number. The bird had previously served with the 6th NFS; she went into storage 15 March 1950 and was stricken from the record 28 June of that year.

The insignia on the vertical fin (first time I've laid eyes on it) appears to be a spider using a combination of tongues of flame from six of its legs (like guns firing?) and groupings of stars to signify 3-3-9 in the image - the original slide would surely be clearer, and I may be trying to hammer round pegs into square holes. At any rate, I am guessing it's a transitional emblem for the 339th between their WWII-era gremlin astride a pair of eagles, and their present emblem (dragon amid the clouds spewing flame) as a USAF flight test squadron.

Keep up the great work -All my best, Gerry Asher Thanks, Gerry! If there's one thing we're not around here, it's Black Widow experts! Your comments are very much appreciated!

And that's it for this edition. Thanks to each and every one of you for making 2011 a great year for the project, and a big ol' Texas WELCOME to all of our new readers. We'd also like to extend a very special Thank You to our contributors, who's help has been vital to us from the very start. We'd also like to encourage all of our readership to send your comments (and contributions of your own, should you feel so-inclined) to replicainscale@yahoo.com . Happy holidays to all of you, and we'll see you again right after Christmas. Until next time, be good to your neighbor, and we'll meet again soon.

phil

Sometimes You Have to Take a Little Breather, A Turkey, That Wulf, Turkeys of a Different Feather, and A Different Kind of Cat

2011-12-04T17:36:00.001-06:00

OK, Where the Heck IS He?

I'm right here, ya'll, and everything is just fine. There's a massive amount of personal stuff going on around the place these days (all good, I might add) that's been keeping me busy in spite of my best efforts to get out another blog. To the new folks who've just started looking in on the site, Fear Not! I generally do a weekly edition of this thing and have every intention of continuing to do so, at least when I can! And for those of you who have been around a while (some of you from the very beginning!), a word of thanks and a promise to keep on chooglin' with this project. The fact is that I hate missing an issue, and in this instance I've missed two (shades of the orginal RIS; we used to call ourselves an "occasionodical" back then (I made up that spelling, by the way...) because of our somewhat ethereal frequency of publication), but between Significant Family Events, the rigors of Continued Employment (for which, in this day and age, I am extremely grateful), and working out the damage caused to a somewhat-tweaked Miata by an incredibly brave (read "stupid" here) white-tailed deer, I've been kept busy of late. The Good News is that, much like a bad burrito, this too shall pass. It's just a matter of time or, to put it another way; patience is a virtue. Please bear with us!

A Belated Thanksgiving Greeting

Or, in other words, we've got a few "Turkeys" for your perusal and viewing pleasure. These unique images are, once again, from the remarkable collection of Bobby Rocker and show us a side of the TBM that we rarely get to see. Let's get started!

When we think of the Grumman Avenger we most often think of aircraft carriers too, since the type was originally designed as a carrier-based torpedo bomber, as illustrated by these TBM-3s sharing the deck of CV-6 Enterprise. The shot simply abounds with detail, and would make an excellent starting point for a diorama if the modeler were so inclined. Keep this image in mind; "Turkeys on the carrier". Rocker Collection

Although designed as a torpedo bomber (and achieving a measure of fame in that role at Midway and in the attacks on the Yamato and Musashi), the TBM spent the greater part of its wartime career dropping bombs. These "Turkeys" are overflying Makin Island following a bombing strike there; the formation they're flying is an indication that the island is no longer well-defended and isn't much of a threat. Not all missions fell into that category... Rocker Collection

These guys are heading off on one of The Rough Ones, a strike launched out of Piva and bound for targets at the Rabaul complex. That's not an aircraft carrier, but it's how The Corps knew the "Turkey" for most of the war. The TBM was highly adaptable and its operational conditions didn't seem to matter very much; it got the job done from June of 1942 until the end of the conflict, and then survived into the 1950s to participate in yet another war in Korea. The "Turkey" got around. Rocker Collection

The original of this shot is captioned simply "Marine TBMs at Munda", but the photo provides a unique set of marking details not generally seen. Check out the difference in national insignia presentation between airplanes and the faux gun ports on the leading edges of the wings of the nearest aircraft, which is also equipped with flame dampeners on the exhausts. The hard-edged camouflage demarcation wasn't at all unusual on the TBM (and TBF), but wasn't always the norm either. Rocker Collection

This "Turkey" is identified as being with Command, 7th Fleet, and was photographed on the ground at Cyclops Drome. The airplane is fairly typical of the breed as seen when operating from ground stations; the airplane is filthy. The Jeep and the ground echelon provide graphic proof of the Avenger's size; it's easy to forget how big the airplane was without something to provide a sense of scale. Rocker Collection

And here's a unique color shot of a TBM-3 on the ground at Dulag Airstrip on Leyte. Every time we've shown you photographs of American aircraft serving in the Pacific Theater we've commented on the operational conditions, which were generally poor to grim and remained that way until the last days of the conflict. Those operational conditions were lousy, and the enemy was both skilled and determined. There were easier ways to make a living... Rocker Collection

Sometimes you just had a Bad Day. Lt. George Unoble had one when he bellied this bird into the Renard Bomber Strip in the Russell Islands. The landing was almost text-book, and we presume it was one of those things everybody walked away from. Rocker Collection

Sometimes the landing was almost business as usual. This TBM-3 experienced an over-run on the Dulag strip at Leyte, and was another walk-away. The nose number presentation (it's there, but you'll have to look for it) is of interest. Rocker Collection

There are air-to-air photographs, and then there are air-to-air photographs. This is one of the latter; a section of Marine TBMs climbing out over Green Island and providing us with a superb insight into the military aviator's life. Look at this photo long enough and you can almost feel the camera ship bumping gently in the ground turbulence. Some days you could almost forget the war. Almost. Rocker Collection

The Return of the Big Bad Wulf

Or maybe it's not so big, but last time I mentioned that we'd take a look at that finished Eduard Fw190A-5 when next we met. There's no doubt in my mind that everybody's been holding their breath in anticipation of this stellar event, so here we go:

And here you are; "Bully" Lange's Fw190A-5 from the 1/48th scale Eduard kit. This view shows the port-side wing gun bay cover pretty well, a noteworthy thing because no putty was used there at all. It also illustrates the results of that masking technique we talked about; both the swastika and the fuselage cross had to be touched up---the touch-up operation took around five minutes to do, and no decals were harmed during the adventure. The camouflage pattern is a best-guess sort of thing; the pattern of the two greens has been moderately well-documented in photographs, but the published artwork depicting the airplane can be pretty loose in defining the tan overspray that resides on top of those greens. This model was painted using the several existing photographs of Lange's airplane as reference, and the tans are a best-guess representation of the "pattern" used. One more thing to note; there's a fairly well-known color photo of Black 7 that shows two blotches of a slightly different shade of green on the port side of the airframe. One of them is roundish, while the other could be construed as heart-shaped if you squinted your eyes and held your tongue just right, which has caused a fair number of people to presume that they represent overpainted insignia. That could be true (and very possibly is), but that shot makes them look as though they're just another set of blotches. That's mostly the way I painted them, but the fuselage blotch is sortof heart-shaped. It's a foot in both camps, so to speak...

And here's the starboard side. There's also photography that shows this side of the real airplane and those "badge blotches" aren't there, so they weren't done on the model either. Those of you who have been following this project all along probably remember how raggedy-tailed the demarcations on the swastika and fuselage cross were in the earlier photos of the model. They were fixed using the "post-it note" method of masking that we discussed and came out ok, I think. The It's-Gotta-Be-the-Exact-Color folks out there might want to take a look at the tan on the rudder; it was painted on a different day than the rest of the airplane and came out substantially darker than the tan you can see everyplace else. It's the same paint from the same bottle, just painted on a different day, and there's a substantial difference in hue. Real airplanes are like that too---it's something to remember.

Here's another view of the right side. I ran this one so you could see the slight mis-match in the way the cowl is attached. I'm not entirely certain why that is, which is the excuse I'm going to use to justify building yet another Fw190A from JG54---I will de-bug this kit! In the meantime, it's germaine to this project to note that it took most of two Saturdays and part of a Sunday to arrive at a finished model from this particular Eduard "Wurger". The kit was a standard offering so it included photo-etch for the cockpit, most of which I actually used. The wing guns are all from a Hasegawa aftermarket set which are turned brass and are in consequence much better looking than the guns that Eduard give you; the pitot is from the same set. There's no other aftermarket on the kit, and the only additional item is the stretched sprue radio antenna. I'm beginning to think that the secret to building any of the Eduard Fw190s is to build several of them so you can learn the kit's quirks. It's rapidly becoming my favorite "Wurger" kit, warts and all.

A Goofy Little Modeling Bonus Technique

A week or two ago I mentioned that I painted the lower wings of my models prior to assembly in order to simplify masking. Here's an example of that for your consideration:

And here's what I meant. If you paint the area around the wheel wells before you begin construction you'll end up with virtually no masking to perform in that area. You can even take things a step further if you want to; the Bf109E (which is where this wing comes from) left the factory with leather liners in the wheel wells. I'm going to flip the wing over and airbrush that wheel well from the back side using a light leather tone---it's easy to do and will be a whole bunch easier than trying to hand-paint that area after everything else is painted, at least for me! As an aside, this particular Tamiya "Emil" is being converted from an E-3 into an E-1, which is why the bulges for the ammunition drums have been removed from the wing surface. In the interest of accuracy I should move the shell ejection ports too but I'm not going to, opting instead to just not show the model to any of the half-dozen or so people who would actually pick up on that sort of laziness. Scale modeling is what you make it, and I try to make it easy when I can. Life's just too short...

That Other Turkey

There was a time, not all that long ago, when the name "Grumman" was synonymous with the term "naval aviation". Those days are now long behind us thanks to mergers and force downsizing, but the company from Long Island designed and built some of the best tactical aircraft the Navy ever had. It became customary after the end of the Korean War for American Naval aircraft to acquire nicknames, some of which were less than flattering, which in turn leads us to today's F-14 feature.

The immortal F-14 was one of those aircraft who's unofficial moniker was, shall we say, somewhat less than dignified. The Tomcat's on-board computers caused her horizontal stabs to move around quite a bit during carrier approach, making her arrival somewhat less that glamorous most of the time. That activity gave her the name she carried in the Fleet until her final retirement: "The Turkey" so, in keeping with what could be a Thanksgiving theme, we're going to pay homage to The Belle From Bethpage, aka the "Turkey".

So why, you might ask, was the F-14 called the "Turkey" in the Fleet? All you had to do was watch one on short final and you'd understand the reason why; the airplane was rock steady in the approach but the horizontal stabilators would be dancing around like they were possessed of St Vitus' Dance. It was, with no doubt about the matter, a sight to behold. Rick Morgan shot this unidentified F-14A coming aboard the "Connie" on 12 December, 1986, stabilators all a-flutter. The original caption reads "Whoa, Big Fella!" We think it's appropriate. R Morgan

For the first third of her career, way back in the days before the advent of TPS, the "Turkey" wore fairly gaudy paintwork. 158984 was with VF-1's "Wolfpack" when Lee Bracken shot her on the ground at Bergstrom during April of 1976. Built as an F-14A-70-GR, she was struck off charge for unknown reasons in 1997 but was at the height of her career when photographed here. L. Bracken

1976 was America's BiCentennial year, and a great many of our military aircraft were appropriately marked in consequence. VF-14's 159014 was no exception to the phenomenon, acquiring these understated yet effective markings during the course of the adventure. The aircraft was built as an F-14A-75-GR and survived naval survice, ending up in the boneyard at DM in 1994. Her squadron markings extend to the centerline gas bag; the NAV knew how to paint an airplane, ya'll! L. Bracken

While the Tomcat wore a number of what could only be described as gorgeous paint jobs during its lengthy career with the Navy, it always started out as a Plain Jane. This unidentified example was photographed at Bergstrom during December of 1977 an illustrates the aircraft as it left the factory; the modex on the nose is the only indication that the airplane has been assigned to a squadron. We suspect the situation didn't remain that way for very long... L. Bracken

This is a whole lot more like what we're used to! The aircraft is from VF-32 and was built as an F-14A-85-GR. Like most Tomcats 159601 moved around a bit; she was assigned to Fighting 32 when Lee Bracken took her portrait in November of 1977, but was flying with VF-142 when she went into the sea while attempting to recover aboard the Eisenhower on 6 March, 1980. L. Bracken

VF-213's "Turkeys" wore simple yet effective markings during the 1970s. 159861, an F-14A-90-GA, lasted longer than some but was lost in a crash on 3 September, 1980. If you're on the outside looking in, naval aviation is a glamorous way to make a living. It's also a highly dangerous one, even in peacetime. L. Bracken

By the end of the 70s the Tomcat's plummage was as colorful as that of anything flying in the NAV. 160681 (an F-14A-100-GR) was all painted up for Fighting 51 when Bob Burns shot her at Andrews on 27 January, 1979. It's becoming increasingly obvious why Navy aircraft of this era were termed "Easter Eggs", isn't it? 681 survived a lengthy career with the Fleet, being struck off charge in 2000. Burns via Kerr Collection

Here's another shot of 681 on the same day, showing the modelers among our readership a great deal of detail on the aft end of the aircraft. Note in particular the tones of the various alloys of bare metal around her exhausts, and the way the leading edges are presented. These are areas that are frequently misunderstood by modelers, which makes this shot particularly valuable. Burns via Kerr Collection

The year was 1980, and 161862 was with VF-32 when photographed at Carswell by Mark Morgan. The sharp-eyed among our readers will note that she's not in grey over white, but in overall 16440 instead; a transitional scheme in use as the NAV was beginning to transition to TPS. Intially built as an F-14A-130-GR, the aircraft was later converted to F-14B standard, ending her days at the AMARC. This photo was taken in her youth, on 27 April 1980. M. Morgan

VF-101 was the East Coast RAG for the F-14 in 1980, and their aircraft wore moderately plain markings as a result. 160409 was an F-14A-95-GR and was lost in a crash on 12 September, 1988, with both crewmembers killed. She was in her prime when this photograph was taken in 1980. Did we mention that NavAir is a tough way to make a living? J. Dienst

When most people think of the F-14, the first squadron that comes to mind is VF-84. Here's a classic example of one of their aircraft on the ground on 20 October, 1980. Built as an F-14A-110-GR, she was TARPS capable and was unique in that she was slated for preservation at NAS Atsugi, Japan. Note the F-4S in the background of the shot; the NAV was an interesting place in 1980! T. Ring

The NATC was a prime user of the type throughout its service career, and 158626 was one of the Tomcats assigned to the center. Built as an F-14A-65-GR, 626 was photographed at a public airshow at Pax River on 26 September, 1981. While we much prefer the markings worn by the active duty F-14 squadrons, there's no doubt that the birds flown by the NATC were colorful! T. Ring

But this sort of paintwork is far more to our liking! 161142 was built as an F-14A-110-GR and survived squadron service to be struck off charge in 1995. The original notes on the slide say that she was with VF-33/VF-101. Morgo, can you 'splain this one, please?! R. Morgan

It's time to end our tribute to the Easter Egg "Turkeys", at least for a while, so we're going to finish up this piece with a few shots of the F-14 in its element. The place is NAS Corpus Christi, and the date is 7 May, 1989. I was attending an airshow at the station that day and was able to photograph most of the flying demos from the control tower catwalk, which is the vantage point used to catch this VF-124 bird (F-14A-135-GR, BuNo 162589) taxiing in after a solo performance that had the crowd cheering. Friddell

124 was the West Coast RAG for the F-14, and they were proud of the fact. 162589 was wearing these tail markings on that overcast day in 1989---the RAGs weren't noted for being overly-colorful during the 80s, but these markings easily rivalled anything seen on the Fleet birds. Yowza! Friddell

Designed and built as a polymorph, the Tomcat was quite a performer in both the low and high-speed flight regimes. In this shot, 589 was displaying the F-14's high-speed capability and was whistling right along. She was a definite crowd-pleaser! Friddell

Remember that part where we said the F-14 was capable in all sorts of flight regimes? Here's a picture to prove that point; 589 was doing a slow flypast with everything hanging when her pilot tossed her into a dirty slow roll, finishing that part of the demo by cleaning up the aircraft, popping into AB, and climbing out of sight. When the Tomcat finally left the inventory she was a tired airplane, beginning to show her age and becoming a little bit of a maintenance pig in the process. When she was in her prime there wasn't an airplane in anybody's air arm that could touch her. We prefer to remember her when she was young... Friddell

The power and the glory---Fly Navy!!! Kerr Collection

Hold That Tiger!

We didn't start out to do it that way but today's edition has turned into a Navy sort of thing, so we're going to go ahead and finish up with that theme. Here's a different sort of Grumman cat for your edification; the F7F Tigercat.

The F7F was designed and built as a long-range fighter that could take on the best the Japanese had to offer during the waning stages of World War 2, and a handful of them actually made it to the Pacific prior to the cessation of hostilities. This F7F-2N was assigned to VMFN-533 when she was photographed in Shanghai post-War. The Tigercat was quite a beast, and a handful to fly in some flight regimes. She was also one of the prettiest aircraft to ever grace the ramps of a naval air station, and was fully carrier-capable to boot. She was quite a bird! DW Lucabaugh via Greater St Louis Air and Space Museum via Nankivil

The Tigercat was your basic Clean Machine in most of her variants, which led to an interesting post-service career for 80503. She was built as an F7F-3P but ended up as a racer, with several stopovers in the civilian world along the way. The F7F has enjoyed a higher survival rate than many WW2 types, and is still impressive to this day. To steal a tired old saying, the name Grumman on an airplane is like Sterling on silver. WE Scarborough Collection via Greater St Louis Air and Space Museum via Nankivil

In many respects the F7F-4N was the ugliest of the Tigercats, but it's also the variant that most fascinates modelers and enthusiasts today. 80610 was a prime example of the type when photographed during the late 1940s. Her subsequent fate is unknown but we presume she was ultimately converted to pots and pans, a fate that overcame so many aircraft of her era. Modelers might want to pay careful attention to this photo; it shows a great deal of wing-fold detail. William Peake Collection via Greater St Louis Air and Space Museum via Nankivil

Happy Snaps

Are you guys tired of "Turkeys" yet? Good, 'cause we aren't either!

The year was 1984, and Rick Morgan was with VAQ-139 off the "Connie" for the greater part of that year. He shot this air-to-air of one of VF-21's Tomcats over the Pacific on the 9th of August; the aircraft's tail codes are worn on the insides of the vertical stabs and aren't visible in the photo. Note that the F-14 is trimmed for low-speed flight. The Tomcat looked good from any angle! R. Morgan

The Relief Tube

We're having trouble with e-mails today (it's always something, isn't it?) so we're only going to run a couple of entries in the Relief Tube today. First, would the B-45 driver who wrote in asking if we were interested in some photography please try again? We attempted to send a return message to you but it was blocked, and now (at least for today) Yahoo isn't letting us open the messages in our "in" box. We're definitely interested in talking to you!

Finally, remember those VB-17Gs we ran a few weeks ago? Don Jay had a couple of post-War "Forts" in his collection and passed them on to us to share with you. First is a VB-17 from the Korean war era:

Those VB-17Gs got around! This one is fascinating because it appears to have a name of some sort written on the nose, but we can't quite make it out. Reader comments are invited ( replicainscale@yahoo.com ). Jay Collection

A lot of folks don't know it, but the Coasties operated the B-17 (as the PB-1G) for quite a while post-War; in fact, the last operational B-17 belonged to the Coast Guard and wasn't retired until 1959. This example is hauling a lifeboat and has nose art to boot. Maybe some day all those resin guys will stop making Me109 cockpits and start giving us things like PB-1G conversion sets. Maybe... Jay Collection

And that's what we know this time around. Be good to your neighbor and we'll meet again soon. We will---I promise!
phil

Time For a Break, A Couple of Cats,

2011-11-15T20:23:00.000-06:00

A Pause for the Cause or a Short Set?

Well, since we aren't in a band it probably isn't either one of those things, but to get straight to the point; this is going to be an exceptionally short edition of the blog. Our real job has been somewhat demanding of late and we're tired, the Down Side of which is that our editorial quality seems to diminish in direct proportion to our lack of sleep. Here, then, is what we're going to call a highly abbreviated version of RIS for your enjoyment. (But Fear Not! We'll be back full-bore next time!)

More Short-Cuts for the Wurger

Just a couple, though. Last time around we looked at a simple way to fix those normally ill-fitting gun-bay doors that live in the wing roots of the Eduard Fw190, and we promised to show you an alternative way to mount the engine. Here, in living color, is an example of That Way for your perusal.

Here you go---the proverbial One Picture is Worth a Thousand Words! There are some elemental truths to the way the engine fits in the radial-equipped Fw190s; it's a really tight fit in there, and the cooling fan fits pretty much flush with the front of the cowling. (It actually doesn't, but in 1/48th scale you'd be measuring that distance with a micrometer, so for practical purposes it does...) We talked about construction of the cowling last time, so today we're going to stick the engine inside of same. Literally. This shot provides a graphic example of just how crude your modeling can get if you want it to be that way; we aligned the magneto on the front of the engine properly using the cowl gun troughs as a guide, then carefully pushed the engine up into the cowling until the cooling fan was centered and aligned with the sides of the cowl ring, after which we ran some Tenax on the juncture of the engine's cylinder heads and the inside of the cowling. We stuck the engine's accessory section back there so we could have something to hold on to while pre-painting the cowling (the Germans described that assembly as a "power egg", an appropriate description in this particular instance).

Here's a slightly different view of the installation. Last time we mentioned that we cut off the kit's exhaust stacks and used only the stubbs, cementing them to the insides of the cowling in the appropriate places. This photo shows how that looks. We pre-painted the stacks with Testor Metalizer "Burnt Iron" but they could easily be painted black instead, because you can't see much of them except for the ends once the cowling's in place. The point to be taken here is that the engine bay is one of the Big Bugaboos of Eduard Focke Wulf Construction, and leaving most of the kit's structure out of there really simplifies things. Is it blasphemy? Maybe it is, but if you can't see it when the model's done then there's not a whole lot of point in going to all that trouble. If you're going to close the cowling we're convinced this is the Way to Go.

Remember last time when we showed you how to fit those darned gun bay covers? Here's how one looks when it's done. We didn't use any putty there at all; a little bit of judicious sanding took care of what few fit issues there were. Sharp-eyed readers (and we don't seem to have any other kind) will probably notice a couple of seams on the leading edges of the wings that need addressing. We'll fix 'em before the model is completed---look on it as our way of doing bodywork. A little bit here, a little bit there...

Since we're fixing things today and illustrating Short Cut Secrets, we'd may as well share another one. The background of the swastika on the Wurger we're modeling was apparently RLM 76; the whole insignia must have been masked off before the modified camouflage was applied to the airframe. The ideal way to do this on a model is to be really careful with the mask before you apply your decals but that's asking a lot of us. We'll fix that trim by holding a sticky note up to the edge of the insignia (and we're showing it bass-ackwards here---it's best not to ask why!) and using it as a quick and dirty paint mask. It works, and it ensures you won't go ripping your decals off the model like you might do if you'd masked with tape instead. Beauty!

This is a better view of what we're talking about. Just align the edge of the paper with the edge you want to straighten out on the model, hold the paper (or use the sticky part of that sticky note since it doesn't have enough tack to pull off a properly-applied decal) up against the airframe so overspray doesn't get underneath, and touch up the area with your trusty airbrush. It's simple, it's quick and easy to do, and it works.

Here's where we are up to this point in the construction of yet another Luftwaffe fighter. There's still some touch-up to be done as well as some weathering, and those masked edges we were discussing still need fixing. Well, actually they don't, because the model is now complete and sitting on the shelf. We haven't photographed it yet, though, so this is all you get to see for today. We'll show you how it came out next time.

Just Call Her Sweetheart

We've looked at the PBY before, but we just received these images a few minutes ago and figured they deserved a stop-press sort of treatment. Consolidated called her the Catalina, while the people who flew and crewed her often called her "Dumbo". The downed fliers, coastwatchers, and occasional civilian of the Southwest Pacific called her "Angel".

VP-34 operated the PBY-5 out of Samarai (and no; we didn't mis-spell it---it's an island, not a Japanese warrior, in case you weren't aware of that) for part of 1943. This PBY-5 is beached there undergoing maintenance and refuelling between operations, providing us with an excellent view of her black paintwork. This view also shows off her radar antennae and the bombs fitted to her wing stations. Lots of folks think the "Black Cats" operated with torpedoes most of the time, but the majority of missions were flown with bombs. Either way, it took enormous intestinal fortitude to fly a lumbering, 175-knot airplane into combat at low level in the middle of the night. Those VP-crews never got the accolades they deserved... Rocker Collection

The AAF flew the "Cat" too, as the OA-10A. This example is on the ground at Dipolong, on Mindanao, where downed aviators were brought by Philippine guerillas to be picked up and returned to an American installation. Dipolong was relatively secure by the time this photo was taken, but Mindanao wasn't. The unit was the 2nd ERS, and they were a gutsy bunch of guys even if they never dropped a bomb on a Japanese ship or ground installation. By the way; take a look just aft of the fuselage insignia; there appears to be some pretty extensive artwork there, although we can't make out what it is. Phooey! Rocker Collection

Happy Snaps

Yep; it's that time already. We told you we were really tired! Here's a shot from old friend Tom Gaj to end our day with:

Tom had an interesting career during his time with the Air Force; this photo was taken during one of his stints as a BUF EWO and was shot during the course of an intercept by our friends from The Great White North. We haven't seen the last of those Canadian Voodoos, so stay tuned! Gaj

You Call This a Relief Tube?

No, we don't. Not this time, anyway. We've got some entries for the department but we're just too tired to sort them out, so this time around what you see is what you get---it's all we've got in us. It's Bed Time in Texas, ya'll! Be good to your neighbor, and we'll meet again soon!
phil

Voodoos From the North Country, Plugging Away at the Wurger, Some SpADs, That Korean B-17, and Some Flying Forts

2011-11-08T21:56:00.002-06:00

Those Wily Canucks Know How to Fly

We were talking about Voodoos a few issues back and even showed you a few photos of the 111th FIS/147th FIG out of Ellington AFB to illustrate the point (whatever that might have been). Today we're going to look at a few more F-101s, but with a special twist; these airplanes all belonged to the Canadian Armed Forces and were down here visiting during one of Ellington's air shows.

A lot of folks thing the F-101 is pretty much a straight-line airplane. Straight ahead, straight up, straight down; the key word is Straight. That great big honking airplane wasn't much at turning, or so we've all been led to believe. Sometimes you shouldn't believe everything you hear.

The year was 1980, and the event was Ellington ANGB's annual air show. The 111th flew F-101Bs at the time and apparently had some sort of, shall we say "arrangement" with Canada's 425 Squadron, because a flight of their CF-101Bs were parked in the 111th's squadron area when we got there to photograph the flying part of the festivities. At this point it's important to remember where we were standing during that show, because we were completely surrounded by pilots and GIBs from the 111th during 425's flying demo. In short, we were smack in the middle of Voodoo Land. Those guys from "The Texans" were all pros, mostly high-time aircrew with a great many hours on the 101. They would be a critical audience, to be sure, and we settled in to listen to their comments as we watched the show. And comment they did.

425 had barely left the ground when one of their birds cranked around hard, went roaring back down the runway climbing all the way up to, oh, three hundred feet or so, then popped into a/b and pulled into a turn that's allegedly impossible for the Voodoo to perform at any speed or altitude. That started the ball rolling, and for the next ten minutes or so the air over Ellington was filled with Canadian F-101s going in every direction and performing every maneuver possible. The demonstration was absolutely awe-inspiring, as were the comments from the guys in the 111th: "Oh schmitt! Did you see that?!" "Crup! They can't do that!" "Schmitt! Why won't the Guard let us do that?!" "Good Lord; would you look at those guys fly that airplane!" And on and on it went. Those Canadians were good!

Somewhere in our archives (but not where they belong, which is why you aren't looking at them today) are photos of that demo, and you'll get to see them them just as soon as we can figure out where we filed them. Meanwhile, here are some other images from that magical day.

101056 must have felt right at home on the ramp at Ellington that day since the tenant squadron there, the 111th FIS/147th FIG, was a Voodoo unit too. It's hard to realize just how big an F-101 is until you've seen it up close, with air or ground crew around to provide a sense of scale. She was a Big 'Un!
Friddell

Here's what 056 looked like from the other side. All of the CF-101s we've seen have carried a 1010xx serial number, with the last three repeated on the nose. 425's aircrew relied on the 111th's mechs for support; we didn't see any ground echelon Canadians on that ramp at all. It was a neat way to go to an air show. Friddell

And away we go! 056 was just beginning to rotate when we snapped this one. Check out the heat distortion behind the a/b cans; we're sure the F-101 could get off the ground in military power, but we're equally certain we've never seen it done. The Voodoo was a brute of a fighter no matter how you looked at her. Friddell

The gear's just retracted and she's heading up, "up" being defined as a couple of hundred feet or so. The guys from the 111th were convinced that the Alouettes never got any higher than 5 or 600 feet that day. We're willing to believe it. Friddell

Ellington is outside of Houston, which means it's near the Gulf of Mexico, which in turn means that there's always a great deal of humidity in the air. 425's F-101s were pulling contrails for almost all of their demo, and flashing humidity off the airframe every time they pulled g. It was impressive. Friddell

Nowadays it's commonplace for high-performance jet fighters to land without a drogue chute, but all the Century Series used them out of necessity, particularly on short runways. In this shot 056 has just recovered and is taxiing back to the 111th's ramp. The Canadians in that airplane were grinning from ear to ear as they went by, and so were the "Texans" watching them. It was yet another time we wished we could have been in the O Club during the after-airshow festivities! Friddell

425 made it back to Ellington again in 1981, and 101064 made the trek with them. It was a damp day; note the tarp over the IR sensor on the nose. That light under the GIB's cockpit was used to illuminate other aircraft during night-time interceptions. Imagine tooling along in your corporate Lear Jet and getting spotlighted by a Voodoo in the middle of the night... Friddell

And this 101 just might show why the F-101B carried that spotlight. Look carefully under the pilot's cockpit and you can make out the outlines of the stars that used to be painted there. Decorations? Intercepts? We have no way of knowing, but given the Bravo Voodoo's mission we can make an educated guess. The silver scheme is noteworthy. John Dienst

Mystery Meat. 101033 is from 425 Sqdn, but we don't know where the photo was taken or who took it. It's a great shot, though, and a fine way to end our look at the Voodoos of the Alouettes. Friddell Collection

We Just Don't Know When to Stop Sometimes

That's why you have to endure yet another bout of Focke Wulf Fever of the Eduard Persuasion. The kit has already appeared on these pages once before, and you all surely know that we think it's a decent, if unnecessarily-complicated, rendition of Herr Tank's immortal fighter.

That part about being needlessly complicated has bothered us from the very beginning, and we addressed some of the kit's issues (to us, anyway; it's always possible that some of you may actually enjoy fighting with that sort of thing) when we first discussed the kit. We figured there was more to learn, though so we took The Plunge and started another one last weekend and, guess what? Yep! We learned another secret or two. Let's take a look:

One of the things everybody complains about when they build one of the Eduard Fw190s is that the covers to the wing gun bays don't fit in the closed position. There's even an aftermarket set providing resin replacements for them (although we can't remember who makes it). We've recently taken the tack that we don't want to buy aftermarket unless it's actually an improvement on the kit, and it seemed as though the stock Eduard parts could be made to work, so we tried an experiment.

The kit is Eduard's Fw190A-5, although what we've done here would obviously work on any of their Wurgers. If you look at the kit's instructions (unless you happen to be dealing with one of their "Weekend Editions", in which case you'll be doing good to even see the instructions) you'll note that they tell you to cut out the areas at the aft end of the gun bay opening following the definition given on the inside of the wings. You want to do that, and then very carefully fit those gun doors to the wing in the closed position. Once you're satisfied that they're as flush with the wing as you can get them, run a little Tenax or similar on the seam from the underside of the wing and allow it to dry. If you do it right you'll end up with something similar to what you see in the photo.

Some people build up their wings and install the complete assembly on the model, while others install the upper wings first and match the lowers to them. We tend to install the lowers, do whatever bodywork needs doing, and then install the uppers, and there's definite benefit to doing it that way if you're closing your gun bay doors on any of the Eduard kits. If you do it right you'll have a minimum of blending to do, and those doors will fit. Like everything else on the Eduard Focke Wulfs, you've got to watch your alignment, but that's what you do with every model you build anyway, isn't it? While we're here, there are another couple of things to notice. First, you don't want to install your shoulder harnesses until all of your bodywork has been completed. If you have to ask Why That Is you might want to consider a different hobby. Also, check out the mess we made by pulling the firewall out of there. You'll need it to close off the aft end of the gear wells and to install the spent cartridge case ejection chutes---oopsie! You'll also need the gun shelf, but you won't need anything that goes on it; just remember to cut off the gun barrels and cement them to the underside of the cowl gun panel before you close things up.

The cowling is one of those components that folks who write fancier than we do might describe as "challenging". It probably is a royal pain if you decide to build it opened up, but if you don't want to display the engine (and we never do) then the solution is easy. The cowl pieces all lock into place pretty easily once you've spent a minute or two figuring out how they fit together, so build up the assembly one component at a time, keying off the round part of the cowling and carefully applying Tenax or similar from behind as you go along. The cowling you see here required no filler at all, just a light sanding. Add the nose ring and you're done. Too easy, GI!

Here's one final shot to end today's study with. First, notice the spent cartridge case chutes at the aft end of the gear well. If you don't install that component you'll end up with a big honking rectangular hole in the bottom of your airplane, and you'll also lose a major feature of the Fw190 series in the process. As much as we're in favor of simplification you'll have to put it in there if you want the bottom of the model to look right. Next, check out that yellow ID panel and the paintwork surrounding the gear wells. In both cases, we find it's just a whole lot easier to paint them before assembly, while they're still really easy to get to and don't have any structure behind them to get dusted with overspray. We ended up doing minimal masking when we painted the leading edges after sanding the wing assemblies, and painting the bottom of the wing was a snap---no paint at all got in those wheel wells, thus eliminating touch-up in that area. As for that yellow panel, we paint it prior to assembly no matter who's Fw kit we're building. It just makes life easier.

The entire airframe has since been painted, although we haven't installed the engine yet. Total time thus far has been approximately 9 modeling hours. It's entirely possible to simplify the assembly of this difficult-to-build kit and take almost all of the angst out of the job in the process---we've thoroughly enjoyed the project to this point. We'll show you how to get the engine in there next time we convene.

SpADs in the North Country

The Douglas AD Skyraider was one of those ubiquitous airplanes that ended up performing just about every mission imaginable, and for a career that spanned several decades. The NavRes component at Grosse Il was one of the outfits that used the type, as illustrated by these images supplied to us by Doug Barbier.

The boys at Grosse Il operated the winterized AD-4NL for a while during the 50s, as typified by BuNo124753 which was captured at an airshow in 1955. The -4NL wasn't your every-day Skyraider; close study of the image will illustrate quite a few differences between the NL and the more prosaic standard "SpAD". Some Guy Named Menard via Barbier

Glossy Sea Blue quickly turned to Lt Gull Grey over White, but the AD-4NL hung around through the transition. 124759 stayed around to serve into the late '50s, but the writing was on the wall. Notice the overall condition of that airframe; this bird's been rode hard and put away wet. MAGHA Collection via Barbier

It's airshow time again! This time the aircraft is an AD-5, BuNo 132605, that was photographed at an air show at Selfridge AFB in 1962. The photo was taken by a budding aviation photographer named Doug Barbier with a Kodak Brownie---he tells us it was one of his first airplane shots. Doug had a good eye for composition even then! Barbier

Our Readers Never Cease to Amaze Us

OK, here's the scoop. Last week we ran a photo of a B-17G taken by Bob Clutts in Korea, and in the caption we bemoaned the fact that we only had photography of the back part of the airplane. We also said we doubted we'd ever see the rest of that bird, and bemoaned our fate. Boy, were we ever wrong! The electrons were barely dry on the screen (the ink can't be drying on the paper anymore, can it?) before we'd received an image of the entire airplane from John Kerr, followed the next day by a second shot from Dave Menard. Here, then, is the rest of that airplane:

First came this shot from Maddog John Kerr, taken on the same day as the 3/4 rear view we published last week. This view shows part of the United States Air Force legend on the nose and forward fuselage, as well as the polished propeller blades and tri-colored prop tips. Clutts via John Kerr

While this shot gives us an excellent view of the port side of the aircraft. Note the radome in place of the chin turret (and beware of the "antennae" that are apparently evident along the fuselage---they're telephone poles in the background of the shot!) Dave had this to say about the photo: Here is a shot of ALL of VB-17G 411. Have no idea why the A after her tail number unless maybe this a/c was assigned to a ranking ARMY general maybe? I cannot see the name BATAAN on her nose so do not know if this

was assigned to General of the Army(five stars) Douglas MacArthur. Menard Collection

Dave's comment leads us to yet another request---since we've been able to come up with additional pictures of the airplane, do any of you know her background? We'd love to hear from you if you do! The address is replicainscale@yahoo.com .

Ken's Men

The 5th Air Force was short of heavy bombardment assets almost from the beginning, losing the 19th BG in the early days of the war and having to almost literally start over from scratch. As a result, the 43rd BG held the line in the SWPAC until other units could be integrated into the force. The crews manning those B-17Es and Fs fought hard, they fought well and, before it was all said and done, they'd gained the nickname "Ken's Men" as a lasting tribute to their courage and skill. Here's a salute, both to the 43rd and to all of the B-17s that served in that theater.

We could easily start, and end, this essay with the photo you see here. The airplane is "Aztecs Chief" and she's in flight over Gizo Island in the Solomons. The B-17 was a tough bird and could haul an adequate load of bombs to the target but she had short legs when compared to the B-24, which meant her days in the Pacific were numbered. Still, she did her part in taking the war to the Japanese. Rocker Collection

The 43rd operated the B-17E for a time; here's "Yankee Didd'ler/Wouldn't It Root Ya" on the ground between missions. That nose art wouldn't fly in today's Air Force, but New Guinea and the Solomons were a long way from anywhere in 1942 and 1943, and ribald artwork was generally held to be a morale builder. It was a very long time ago... Rocker Collection

She was called the "Flying Fortress", but that didn't mean you couldn't hurt her. The caption that accompanied this photo said "The Old Man" shot to hell after returning from Gasmata. You can see traces of the damage in this photo---check out the shiny nacelle on the Number 3 engine. That's engine oil, and it's there due to battle damage. The B-17 was a tough cookie, and would usually bring you home. Rocker Collection

The term "coming home" could be a relative one, though, as demonstrated by "The Horse", which bellied in at Tadji. Check out the cowlings---those engines are all individually named. The B-17 was tough... Rocker Collection

Tough or not, the B-17 paid its dues in the Pacific. "Black Jack" is still out there today, and is now a popular diver's attraction. The crew probably didn't have recreation in mind when they put her down in the ocean that day... Rocker Collection

The 403rd BS flew out of Milne Bay in the early days. It didn't matter how big your airplane was; the ground conditions were terrible and the missions were often worse. The Tainan Ku was an occasional opponent during the days in New Guinea, and they were a tough date in anybody's book. Ask the guys who flew and fought against them. Rocker Collection

"RFD Tojo" was an E-model and is seen here in flight, showing us all the elegance of the B-17's classic design. During the early days it wasn't unusual to see the pre-War U.S. ARMY designator under the wings, although it didn't last long. It's a fairly safe bet that the E-models all carried it, but the Fs generally didn't. Note the name painted on #3's cowling. Rocker Collection

Taking off! This "Fort" was photographed while launching from Momote Air Strip on Los Negros. The mass bombing raids of the 8th Air Force were nothing more than a dream in the Pacific where small formations were the norm. The B-17 was bristling with guns, but sometimes guns weren't enough to guarantee you got home again. Rocker Collection

If you were important enough you might rate your own B-17 as a VIP transport. In this instance the VIP was General George himself. Rocker Collection

Other generals flew in the type as well. The moderately-famous individual in the center of the photograph was observing the paratroop drop on Markham Valley from 41-24537 the day this photo was taken. The B-17 could do it all. Rocker Collection

Happy Snaps

If you can't be in the cockpit, the next best place to be is in the boomer's station on a KC-10, which was the vantage point used by Mark Williams to take today's Happy Snap.

We aren't known as particularly big fans of the F/A-18 family, but markings like these could go a long way towards changing our minds. Mark shot this VMFA(AW)-225 F-18D over the Pacific near Hawaii. It's a beautiful shot and a great way to end our day. Thanks, Mark! Williams

The Relief Tube

It's easy to get in trouble around here, particularly if you're in a hurry. Our last P-40 piece typified that, as illustrated by these comments. First, let's hear from Jean Barbaud: Bonjour, Phillip! Thanks for the latest issue! The P-40s photos are, as usual, excellent (but) I think I can see the (faint) blue disc surrounding the star, on pic#2 (enlarged version). Pic#6 is nice, but I believe the "drum" is only stocked on the ground behind the P-40N, not hung under... (the braces don't match with the "drum", and it looks like there are at least one or maybe 2 other drop tanks on the ground, behind that one)
Pic#8: that looks like a 23rdFG P-40N, very similar to a well-known picture of another one taxiing along a chinese coolie. Take care, and a suivre !... Jean.

Jean also took a minute to mark up a copy of the photo for us, as shown above. Here is an enlarged jpg, Phillip. I added the braces with yellow lines. Thanks for the great pics, again. More P-40s coming next year, I hope ;°) Thanks, Jean, and yes; there are definitely more P-40s to come!

We also heard from Tom Gaj: Hi Phil. Trying to decide if you were kidding or not in your description of "Lackanookie" having a 55 gallon drum slung under the fuselage. Close examination of the full-size image shows the can on the ground with chock in place, well behind the plane. Tom I wish I'd been kidding, Tom. I really do. Unfortunately, I just wasn't paying attention. Again!

And finally, Frank Emmett sent us a similar set of comments, which have somehow disappeared into the maw of our computer. We'll just call it operator error and leave it at that, with apologies to Frank!

There were some sins of omission in our recent P-47N piece as well. Those "Jugs" with the AAF stripes on the tail turned out to be from the 56th FG, and we've got some clarification for you regarding them. First, from Dave Menard: Phil, both of the Ns with pre-WW2 rudder markings were from the 56th FG at Selfridge Field, when they had one sqdn of 47Ns and one of 51Hs. Both types got these markings for a while and looked good indeed! The N 140 is from Lockbourne c.1948/9 and was assigned to the 332nd FG, the Tuskegee Airman, at the time. Cheers, Dave

And, for some icing on the cake, a photo from the collection of Doug Barbier showing "that other airplane" the 56th was using at the time:

Phil, The 56th Ftr Grp bird looks to have a yellow spinner & tail, with the red / white /blue rudder. And yes, those are some of their P-47's in the background. No other information on it. Barbier Collection

Finally, we'd like to remind our readers that we're always looking for material, particularly photographs. If you've got anything you'd like to share with us, the address is replicainscale@yahoo.com . Thanks for dropping in today, and be good to your neighbor. We'll meet again soon.
phil

A Few More Martins, Stranger in a Strange Land, A Widow or Two, Strange Birds, Some Warhawks, and a Modeler's Question Answered

2011-11-01T20:41:00.000-05:00

Just a Few More B-57s

In our view the Martin B-57 family represents something special; born in another country (Great Britain), the B-57 very quickly became Martin's own, serving in several variations and for several decades (although, it must be admitted, that service didn't last nearly as long as the B-57's sire, the immortal Canberra, did in RAF use) and in a number of roles. We took a brief look at the type a couple of issues ago and figured it was time to look at a few more pictures. You can, and we believe this to be entirely true, never have too many B-57 shots.

Most Americans think of black airplanes (the color is actually called "Jet") when they think of the B-57. That's mostly because the old odd-scale Revell kit of the B-57 came molded in black in its original iteration, but black is the image a lot of us have, so here's a black one for your edification. This pristine example was photographed at Reese AFB during 1955, and is missing the colorful unit markings generally associated with the B-57 in the night intruder role; 52-1536 was built as a B-57B but later converted to RB-57F standard. Modelers might want to note the use of Mil-P-8585Y Zinc Chromate primer on the insides of the gear doors. Frederick

Here's a black bird of a slightly different flavor. An RB-57E from the Patricia Lynn program, 55-4245 was converted in 1963 and was in Vietnam when Denny Smith photographed her in 1965. This photo is interesting because it defines the colors of the speed brake wells and flaps; yellow Zinc Chromate. The "old" USAF markings are interesting in that every insignia, marking, and stencil to be found on the pre-War B-57 fleet is seen on this aircraft. It wasn't as though the Bad Guys had searchlights... Smith

You can't tell the players without a program, and you can't tell the Bravos from the Charlies without a serial number list. This particular bird is a B-57C; 53-3831 was with Vermont's 134th DSES when this photograph was taken in the 1970s. That paint job is gorgeous but didn't stay on the airplane very long; she was subsequently converted to RB-57C status and went to the boneyard at DM in 1981. Friddell Collection

Martin's Intruder was intended to be a light bomber and interdiction aircraft in USAF service, but spent most of its career in somewhat less-glamorous roles. 53-3851 is a fine example of that sort of thing; built as a B-57C, it was later converted to WB-57C standard and was in that configuration when photographed at McClellan in the early 1970s. She was assigned to the 58th WRS/9th WRW at the time, and probably looked much like this when she made her last flight to MASDC to await the smelters. It was a sad end... Tyrpak via Picciani

Climbing out. 52-1503 had an interesting career---built as a B-57B-MA, she was first converted into an RB-57B, then into a WB-57B, in which guise she was written off in 1980. She was in here prime when photographed during her role as an RB-57, although we don't know the unit. Those antenna and the faded day-glo make her well worth modeling. Ron Picciani

We haven't shown an RB-57G since we started running photos of the type, which makes today as good a day as any. 53-3906 is a good example to show, even though this particular photograph is in softer focus than we'd like. Originally built as a B-57B, the airframe was converted to B-57G status, then sent to Eglin to become a testbed for an M61 installation mounted beneath the bomb bay. She ended up at MASDC in 1973. Does anybody have a close-up of the gun installation that they'd like to share with us? If you do, you know the drill: The address is replicainscale@yahoo.com . Rose

We'll look at a few more B-57s somewhere on down the road, but for now we've got some other interesting things to examine.

If Only He'd Taken a Picture of the Whole Airplane

Sometimes you come across one of those photos that's just so fascinating you can hardly stand it. This is one of them, a B-17G (44-83411, a B-17G-80-DL) that was photographed on the ground in Korea on 14 July, 1952. She was assigned to HQ 5th AF at the time, and we'll bet there was some sort of markings on the nose in addition to the then-standard U.S. Air Force logo, but we may never know for sure---this is our only photo of the airplane and it stops where you see it. We sure wish the photographer had taken the entire bird when he shot this, but then again we're happy with what we've got---it definitely beats nothing! If you ever want to model a Korean War Flying Fortress, this could be your baby. Clutts via Kerr

Everybody's Got the Fever

Everybody but us, anyway. For those of you who might be scale modelers, the fact that Great Wall has recently issued a 1/48th scale P-61 won't come as any surprise; the release of the kit, plus the somewhat astonishing frenzy it's created on the modeling boards of the world, has given the scale modeling world a major dose of Black Widow Fever. One of our readers, Gerry Kersey of 3rd Attack Group.Org (see our links and pay him a visit, ya'll) has provided us with a couple of shots of P-61s from the 548th NFS so we can climb on the Widow Madness bandwagon too! Let's see what we've got:

This shot is what you might call a Teaser; more P-61s than we've ever seen in one place before, and not one complete airplane in the bunch! Still, the shot provides an interesting look into the operational side of the Black Widow as well as a sense of scale when we compare the relative sizes of these P-61Bs and the crewmen around them. She was a big 'un... 3rd Attack Group via Kersey

She owned the night at conclusion of the Second World War, but the P-61 quickly faded into oblivion in the years following the end of the conflict. That somewhat sinister shape has fascinated both aviation historians and modelers for decades, yet her record was relatively mediocre when compared to that of the night fighters used by the RAF and Luftwaffe. There have been at least two 1/72nd scale kits of the type, as well as two in 1/48th (and, for the record, we still like the old Monogram kit just fine, thank you), which would indicate that at least a few people are willing to plunk down money for one. (If you plan on doing some of that money-plunking on the afore-mentioned Great Wall kit, you might also want to be prepared to rebuild the spoilers, which are incorrectly represented on the model.) That said, this view of one of the 548th's birds captures our fascination with the type. It was a neat airplane in spite of itself. 3rd Attack Group via Kersey

The Federal Luftwaffe at The Goose

We recently showed you a couple of photos of RAF Tornados photographed on the ground at Goose Bay taken by reader Doug Barbier, and related his air-to-air assault on same. The aircraft you're about to see weren't intercepted by Doug, at least not that we know of, but they did share some ramp space at The Goose and are worth a look. The photos were taken in 1985 during Amagam Brave 85-1. We honestly don't know anything more about them than that; readers who may have some background are invited to comment at replicainscale@yahoo.com .

The Alpha Jet has been around for a couple of decades now, and we aren't aware of one single decent kit of it. That's a shame too, considering what a neat looking, and fairly ubiquitous, little airplane it is. Barbier

There's even a variety of camouflage to make the airplane even more interesting. Still, it isn't exactly a Phantom, is it? Barbier

On the other hand, this airplane is a Phantom. If memory serves this is an F-4F, but we've honestly never kept up with the German F-4s. Let the letters commence! Barbier

OK, so we don't know our Luftwaffe F-4s very well! We do, however, know a good photograph when we see one, and this shot is worth the price of admission all by itself. How about it, Doug, did you hassle with these guys? Barbier

Late-War Hawks

Or Late Warhawks, however you choose to say it. However we decide to break it down, it's been a while since we've looked at P-40s of any flavor---it's time to rectify that particular failing, we think!

The 35th flew P-40Ns out of Port Moresby for a time. Although of poor quality, this photo is fascinating for a number of reasons. First is that stripe in from of the white ID marking on the tail; it's not a stripe at all. Close inspection shows that it's overspray from the masking applied by the ground crew prior to painting. Then there's the national insignia, with its un-outlined white bars and, finally, the barely-visible marking on the nose. Is it artwork? A letter (our guess)? Dirty paint? We may never know. Rocker Collection

Dick West flew with the 35th out of Finschhaven, where this photo was taken. The airplane is filty, but not so dirty as to obscure the national insignia. Take a close look if you will---can anyone spot any trace of a blue surround to that star? We sure can't! What a tantalizing image! Rocker Collection

Bud Poole flew with the 35th too, although in this photo he could easily be mistaken for just another ground crewman. One thing that always strikes us about photos like this one and the one immediately above; those guys were young---for a while, anyway. Rocker Collection

The 44th FS had the distinction of being one of the few AAF units to fly the P-40F in combat. In this photograph we see "Destitute Prostitute" stuck in the mud at Guadalcanal. The 13th Fighter Command fought a war that was every bit as nasty as the big one further to the northwest, but is rarely remembered today. They fought the same enemy, and the same climate and endless mud. Nothing changed much in the southwest pacific, no matter which Air Force you flew with. Rocker Collection

Here's what happens when you overshoot a landing in the SWPAC. Flying fighters was a tough racket then, just as it is today. At least this one was a walk-away; not everybody got off so easily. Rocker Collection

The 7th AF flew the P-40N too, and one of their units, the 45th FS, wore one of the war's more enigmatic schemes; a "coral pink" over what may have been light blue or light blue-gray. "Lackanookie" is interesting for that reason if no other, but take a close look on her centerline rack. We've never noticed a P-40 with a 55-gallon drum slung in that position before, but are willing to be educated if anyone knows the story behind this photo. Rocker Collection

The P-40 really got around. These P-40Ks are hard down for maintenance at a 7th AF facility "somewhere in the Pacific". Under normal conditions that sort of maintenance would never have been done out of doors, but nothing was normal in the Pacific War. For those of you who have never been around aircraft maintenance, a word of explanation might be of interest. Take a look at that Warhawk in the foreground; the radiator has been removed, as well as the engine. That's not all, though---that engine bay is full of hoses, electrical leads and connectors, and precision fittings, none of which do well in an open-air environment, particularly one that's full of dust, mud, or sand. Oh, and one more thing; "open air" means you're out there when it rains. It was a lousy war... Rocker Collection

The P-40 made it to China too. This N-model was photographed there while being moved by local manpower. It really didn't matter where you were once you got to a combat area in the Pacific or neighboring environs; facilities ranged from primitive to nonexistant, and you did what you had to do to make things work. Rocker Collection

We invariably think of fighter operations when we think of the P-40, but the photo-recon guys used it too. This P-40N was assigned to the 110th TRS and was photographed just as it broke ground. The runway doesn't look too bad, but that's because it's made from PSP. Check out the areas to the sides of the runway, where things are a little worse. The P-40 was a ground-looper in any of its myriad of variations. Add that mud to the mix and you'd have a recipe for disaster! Rocker Collection

What could have been. The P-40Q was designed to perform on a par with the P-51, and came close to doing it in certain flight regimes. Unfortunately, the P-51, as well as the P-38 and P-47, had become a mature weapon by 1944; there was just no demand for another piston-engined fighter in the inventory. Curtiss had been a prime supplier to the AAF as well as to air arms around the world, but the P-40Q was the company's swan song---they managed to stumble into the post-War era, but only barely. In one respect it didn't matter, though. The P-40 family had guaranteed Curtiss a place in history. It wasn't a bad legacy, all in all. Rocker Collection

That "Fighting 22" Hog: The Final Word On a Classic

If you're as old as we are you've seen more than your share of aviation books and periodicals, which means you've also seen certain airplanes illustrated in more than one place. One of those airplanes is an F4U-4 from VF-22 that's shown up in several periodicals, as well as in Jim Sullivan's excellent "colors" monograph (for want of a better word) on the F4U. The airplane was even famous enough to be featured on an old 1/48th scale MicroScale decal sheet, a fact that caused us to build a model of it Way Back When, using the Mania/nee Hasegawa -4 "Hog" as the kit of choice.

To get to the point, more or less, we scratch-built an interior for that kit and did it up in a nice rendition of GSB, put on the decals (which included that tasty little sharkmouth for one of the gas bags), and sat it on the shelf where it languished for a number of years. We decided to spiff it up a couple of months ago and asked Jim Sullivan (who was, after all, the original culprit as far as inspiration to build that particular airplane was concerned) if he had any photography of the bird to substantiate the profile drawings we'd seen of it. It turns out he did, and those photos were a revelation. Wanna see what we mean?

Does this bird look familiar? Yep---it's C-317 running up at Wilmington, NC, during 1949. The airplane isn't wearing it's squadron emblem on the cowling, but if you look closely you can see that leering sharkmouth on the aux tank. Note the aircraft's finish, because that GSB isn't very shiny any more. J. Sullivan Collection

Here's a little better view. The scan isn't all that great, but it shows off the sharkmouth from the other side as well as some severe staining on the white of the fuselage national insignia. This is the infamous VF-22 bird of MicroScale fame, but wait! That bird's not from VF-22, but from VF-63! The photo has been mis-identified for years, but Jim finally solved the riddle a while back. The only question that remains is that of the squadron badge on the nose, and we've got a photo of that too; unfortunately, it's a TIF image and the blog software doesn't support that platform so you'll have to take our word for it, but you can use that squadron badge if you want to---it actually was on the airplane at one point in time. Just remember to weather out that paintwork, and also do a fair amount of paint chipping on the inboard wing surfaces near the fuselage if you're going to build your model with the squadron emblem in place. Many thanks to Jim for clearing up this mystery for us! J. Sullivan Collection

Happy Snaps

Let's go back to Keflavik for today's Happy Snap, courtesy of Doug Barbier:

The 57th FIS was your basic Sierra Hotel sort of outfit back in The Day, and the attitude bled through to everything they flew. 58-0540 was a T-33A-5-LO, and was beautifully-painted when Doug shot this air-to-air of her from his F-4E. The "T-Bird" didn't stay in service as a trainer for very long (15 years or so), but served faithfully in a number of other roles for nearly 40 years. That's not a bad record, all in all. Barbier

The Relief Tube

Today's going to be one of those Scary Days when we don't have that many corrections or additions (those days always scare us, anyway), but we've got a couple all the same. Let's start with some additions to last issue's P-47N feature. First, let's hear from Dave Menard:

Phil, both of the Ns with pre-WW2 rudder markings were from the 56th FG at Selfridge Field, when they had one sqdn of 47Ns and one of 51Hs. Both types got these markings for a while and looked good indeed! The N 140 is from Lockbourne c.1948/9 and was assigned to the 332nd FG, the Tuskegee Airmen, at the time. Cheers, Dave

And from Mark Williams: Phil, I'll bet someone has had to have sent you this already regarding that photo from the 24th. Note in the caption where it was taken.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:332d_Fighter_Group_-_F-47N_44-89140.jpg Oh well, I just read the blog this morning! Have a good day! Mark You might want to check out that link to Wiki that Mark provided; the photo that proves his point is a fine color image from some guy named Menard! It's a small world...

And as long as we're on the subject of those Ns, here's another comment from Mark that's worth reading: Phil, Me again. I think I got a lead on another mystery P-47N from your blog of the 24th. I found this photo in "Warbird Tech Vol. 23, P-47 Thunderbolt" showing 23rd Fighter Group P-47Ns on Guam in 1947. They sure look a whole lot like 44-88569 in your blog! You can see most of these have "L*" codes, and I see one coded "PB" on the far right of the photo. Based on the photographs, info found on the web site below, and assuming this information is correct, I figured out the 74th Fighter Squadron probably used P*, 75th FS used L*, and the 76th FS used B* codes.

http://p-47.database.pagesperso-orange.fr/Database/44-xxxxx.htm

This is a pretty amazing database actually! I also found there that 44-88705 belonged to the 414th Fighter Group, 413th FS. On the below site it is listed as a loss on 450907 on Iwo Jima. (Additionally, you can find information including losses for some of the other P-47Ns you have posted photos of on both of these sites.) http://www.accident-report.com/Serials/1944o.htm Hope this helps! (It's raining today, I'm off, and really didn't have anything else to do!) Mark And if you're going to be that productive we hope you keep those rainy days coming, Mark! (It wouldn't hurt our feelings any if you could send a few of them to Texas too...)

Finally, here's a comment from Doug Barbier: Phil, those two P-47N's with the striped tails - 488680 & PE-757 were both from the 56th Fighter Group at Selfridge. Dave Schilling was the 'boss' back then and he and the P-47's went way back. They kept quite a few jugs even after the F-51H's arrived. I've been doing a lot of research on that era at Selfridge lately and it was good to see a couple of new photos. Doug That comment about Schilling's preference for the F-47 is fascinating. Of course, we've heard that he'd had some previous experience with the type...

We ran an F8F-1 Bearcat shot from the Bill Peake Collection at the Greater St Louis Air & Space Museum last time, and Dave Menard offered this comment: Phil, that air to air of Bearcat 201 sure looks familiar as does the ground under her. I would bet real money that this was one of William T Larkins photos as he did a lot of air to air in the late forties/early fifties in USN, ANG and AFRes a/c
out in California and he did shoot 201 during one of the sorties. Try that today! cheers, dave Thanks, Dave!

Finally, our piece on Mom and Pop hobby shops struck a chord with at least one reader: I am an airplane nut thanks to my dad. You might be interested to know he used to have his own "mom & pop" hobby shop back in the late '70s/early '80s, though he primarily specialized in RC. I had to work my tail off for every kit I got off Dad's shelves! Just for fun, here are some photos of my Dad's shops. (He ended up moving the original location twice. Once in our home town of Moses Lake, WA, then to Knoxville, TN before he had to give it up.) Mark Williams Here's the storefronts of one of those shops:

Thanks to Mark Williams for sharing this image from his youth with us. Support your local hobby shop, ya'll!

And that's all for this edition. Be good to your neighbor, and we'll meet again soon.
phil

Never One to Accept The Obvious!

2011-10-27T19:15:00.000-05:00

Our Final Word On The Way Our Photos Run These Days

Or, to put it succinctly, I thoroughly messed up trying to tell everybody how to see the real photos on those ding-danged filmstrips all us bloggers have been blessed with. All you have to do is click on the image you want to see, then click on the dealie at the bottom left that says See Original Image or whatever it actually is. That darned film strip will go away. Click on the picture itself and it will enlarge if the photo is big enough to let it do that.

I need to learn to pay attention to what our readers are telling me, I think...

Be good to your neighbor and tolerant of me until we meet again!
An embarrassed but honest phil

A Special Note, With Special Thanks to One of Our Readers

2011-10-25T18:57:00.001-05:00

Vexation, Get Thee Hence!

Let's get right to the matter at hand (for once), and make this short and sweet. Anyone who's read this missive lately knows I'm not especially crazy about the "improved" method of viewing photos that the blog software has recently adopted. I didn't think there was any way around it, but then I don't know a whole lot about computer programs or software either. One of our readers, Brad P., realized that, sympathized with our plight, and offered this solution:

Phil, regarding your blog photos: If you click on "Show Original" while in that annoying film strip view, you still get the original size pic. I use Firefox and it works fine. It does add an extra step, but we still get the full res photo. Hope this helps. Brad P. (If you don't use Firefox as your browser, right click on "Open in a New Tab" and you'll get the same thing---just click on the tab and the photo will pop up just like before. pf)

Thank you, Brad, from the bottom of our collective hearts! Here's a gift for you (and everybody else, too) from the collection of the late Bill Peake as a way of showing our appreciation!

This F7U-3 was photographed while flying with VX-4, but once you get past that we don't have much to say about the shot except that it's a gorgeous air-to-air study of a classic (although we aren't sure just why that is) Navy fighter from the 50s. Bill Peake via Greater St Louis Air and Space Museum

The Cutlass was an odd-looking airplane no matter which way you looked at it, but its ungainly lines have encouraged a great many otherwise-rational modelers to pray for state-of-the-art kits of the type, which they actually got from Fujimi in 1/72nd scale Way Back When. Us, we'd rather see a decent F-51H, but that's just how we are! Bill Peake via Greater St Louis Air and Space Museum

Then again, this just might be what you'd call a Classic---we'd sure call it that! This particular F8F-1B was featured on the decal sheet that accompanied the timeless 1/72nd scale Monogram Bearcat kit way back when it was first released in 1968 or so. It's easy to see why they chose those markings! Bill Peake Collection via Greater St Louis Air and Space Museum

This Grumman JRF-5 was assigned to Annapolis when it's photo was taken in 1947. There's something about those little Grumman amphibs that's always fascinated us... Bill Peake via Greater St Louis Air and Space Museum

And that's it for our special interim edition. Thanks once again to Brad P for his tip; we've tried his tip and it works!

Be good to your neighbor and we'll see you again next week!
phil

OK, What's Going On Around Here?, Hanging Out With Patsy Lynn, The Way We Were, Those Other Thunderbolts, and Oscar

2011-10-24T19:45:00.001-05:00

WHAT Are They Doing?

That's the question I've been asking myself a lot of late, and I don't have an answer to it. If you've been with us for a while you'll remember that our photos have always been as big as we could run them, and the blog's software allowed you to click on the thumbnails to enlarge those pictures, then click them again for maximum image size if the original allowed such a thing. Then, a few weeks ago, the photo software associated with the blog was arbitrarily changed so that a click on any thumbnail produced a moderate-sized image in a "filmstrip" format, for want of a better word. That change also de-linked a whole bunch of our older photos so they couldn't be enlarged at all.

We experienced a week or so of that and then the photos went back to the way they'd always been, making both our readership and ourselves very happy that someone had apparently seen the error of their ways and fixed things. That was then.

One of the things we routinely do around here is explore the blog to make sure everything's working, and a week or so ago, during the course of one of those check-ups, we discovered that the images had changed back to that darned "filmstrip" thing again. We'd like all of our readership to know that we didn't cause the change---it's a function of the blog's software and we have no control over it. For the record, we don't like it either, and would change it back if we could. At this point we're just going to have to chalk it up to the fact that this is the way things are and live with it. There's a small up-side, if that matters to anybody---none of the old photos have de-linked this time around (at least not yet), so you can still access everything we've run up to this point. It's a Silver Lining of sorts, albeit a small one.

The bottom line is a simple one; all we can do is cross our fingers and hope that the folks who changed the way photos are presented for everyone using this particular blog software will see the error of their ways and change us all back to The Way It Was, although we're not going to hold our breath on that one. That's our story and, unfortunately, we're going to have to stick with it. Sigh...

Patricia Lynn Was Quite a Girl

When last we met, we gave a broad hint that we'd show you some black B-57s, which would infer we were going to show you some images of the aircraft from their early night intruder days. That actually was the plan, insofar as we actually plan anything around here, but Fate intervened in the form of Don Jay, who sent some photos of black B-57s that were just the least bit different than what we'd expected to show you.

In the early days of SEA, it became apparent that the US military lacked good tactical intelligence and good maps/photographs of the area.The Air Force initiated the Patricia Lynn Program (aka Pat Lynn) to provide a more sophisticated intelligence gathering capability in SEA. Arriving in May of ‘63 at TSN, the first of six modified B-57Es, began flying the first jet combat sorties of this long war. Designated RB-57Es, they were modified to carry a KA-1, 36” forward oblique and KA-56 panoramic camera in the nose. Additionally, in the bomb bay, they carried two KA-1 vertical and oblique cameras and probably the most effective piece of equipment the K-477 day/night IR scanner. The initial crews were from the 6091 Recce Sq in Japan but the value of this aircraft lead to a permanent unit being assigned-Det 1, 460 TRW.

Flying in country and out country missions for 8 years, two aircraft were lost (55-4243 & –4264) and two were with the program from beginning to end. All the survivors flew over 7,000 hrs with one ac (55-4245) amassing over 8,000 hrs. Painted all black and very sinister looking, very little was said about the Pat Lynn program. Their effectiveness was shown in the MACV citation in 1970 stating that Det 1 had provided 95% of the battlefield intelligence during the Cambodian incursion-not shabby for four ac! Don

You have to get there if you're going to go to the party! 55-4245 was photographed at Elmendorf after a trip to the depot and prior to arrival in SEA. This view depicts some of the mods, the nose being the more obvious, and the black paint. 55-4245 survived combat in SEA to become a WB-57E, and ended up at MASDC in 1972, an ignoble end to a proud warrior. Jay Collection

55-4264 wasn't so lucky. Hit by ground fire on 25 October, 1968, she crashed to destruction, although her crew escaped unharmed. This scan, unfortunately lacking somewhat in quality, gives us an excellent view of the Mil-P-8585Y primer used on the interiors of the mlg and nlg doors. Are you modelers paying attention? Jay Collection

In stark contrast to the glossy black paintwork found on early B-57s, the Patricia Lynn birds all wore a workmanlike coating of flat black. Serial number presentations are found in both insignia red and in white (or, more likely, light grey) with little apparent rhyme or reason for the coloration. 55-4257 is shown here as she appeared at Tan Son Nhut in 1971; she subsequently went back to The Land of the Big BX and ended up at MASDC in 1979. Jay Collection

Just another day in the 'hood. This is what a "normal" day looked like in the life of a Patricia Lynn bird, if such a thing as a normal day ever existed. The RB-57Es of the program produced results far in excess of their extremely limited numbers. If any of you are interested, the folks over at Zotz have a 1/48th scale decal sheet that includes a Pat-Lynn bird or two, and the Airfix B-57B kit (much-maligned of late but an excellent starting place with relatively little correction work required) or the somewhat-tougher-to-build Classic Airframes kit would both provide an excellent starting place. How about it? Jay Collection

It Was, After All, a Very Long Time Ago

We were all young once and, in point of fact, we're reasonably certain that at least some percentage of our readership is young at this very moment. We, however, are not, which is as good a way as any to introduce our next piece.

Some of us are fortunate enough to have worked at a job that somehow catered to one of our passions at one point or another, and for the staff here at RIS (which would, of course, be me!) that job was salesperson at Dibble's Arts and Hobbies from 1968 until 1970, when we/me/I left San Antonio to attempt to finish up college in another Texas town. A couple of things are germane to this this particular ramble:

Germane Thing the First: In 1968 Dibble's was arguably the best hobby shop in Texas if your interests ran to plastic model airplanes, and we/me/I worked there.

Germane Thing the Second: We/me/I had a passion for plastic model airplanes and was therefore leaving a percentage of our/my salary, defined for the purposes of this missive as Substantial, in the coffers of our/my employer. We were, for all intents and purposes, working for barter rather than money.

It all worked out end the end, though and, when we stumbled on these photos of a far-away time a couple of weeks ago, we naturally thought of sharing them with you. Baby pictures, as it were...

The photo is somewhat out of focus, but it gives us all a great look at Shirley and Ray Johnson, joint proprietors of Dibble's. The Johnsons exemplified the concept of the Mom and Pop hobby shop, and were friends as well as employers and store owners. Take a look at them, because they typify a dying breed as the neighborhood hobby shop continues its slide towards inevitable and highly unfortunate oblivion in this country.

Mike Salyers with owner Ray Johnson. Mike and I came close to buying a hobby shop in partnership after we left Dibble's. There's no telling how that would've worked out, but it probably wouldn't have approached the sort of facility Dibble's was at the time, no matter how hard we tried. Dibble's was The Bombdiggidy back then, ya'll.

That's Mark Fluchette on the right. He finished school and went into the Army as an artillery officer; we're told he did well there. That's your never-humble editor on the left, providing Proof Positive to all the scoffers out there that we once had hair! It was, after all, A Very Long Time Ago.

OK, so why, tell us why, did we run what could easily be construed as an Ego Piece in a blog that normally shows only airplane pictures? The answer is easy. Reader/contributor/friend Frank Emmett and I were at King's in Austin recently, and were in Dibble's only a few weeks before, and in Hill Country Hobbies too. All three are within an hour's drive of our offices, and all three are excellent shops. If you read the various modeling boards you'll note one recurring them---the Local Hobby Shop is rapidly becoming a thing of the past, being replaced by corporate or internet facilities. That in turn brings us to The Point of this not-mindless-at-all ramble of ours.

Do you have a local hobby shop of the classic variety in your area? If the answer to that question is Yes, then we have to ask; do you actually support that local hobby shop? Do you buy most of your stuff there, or do you go there sometimes but buy most of your stuff at discount off the net? Think about those questions for a minute.

Do you buy off the net? So do we, sometimes. It's a viable way to get what we want when what we want isn't available locally, and most of the time it's a way to save a buck or too as well. Most of what we buy, however, comes from a combination of those three local shops we're so blessed to have within driving distance and Yes; one of them is a favorite and in turn receives most of our attention. The thing is, we patronize those shops even though we know the mail-order guys can beat the prices. Why do we do that?

The answer is easy. We happen to like the whole notion of going into our favorite hobby shop on a Saturday afternoon, seeing our friends, and buying that special kit/book/decal sheet/whatever while we're there. Read that again: We happen to like the whole notion of going into our favorite hobby shop. Now parlay that over to your own personal experience---do you have a Good Local Hobby Shop in your town, or in a town within easy driving distance of same? If you do, is it a shop you actually support? Well, folks, if you don't support it you darned sure ought to, unless you want to join that extensive club of people who lament the Great Local Hobby Shop they used to have in their community. It's in your hands, people. Stand up and patronize those local shops or shut up after they're gone. It's your choice!

A Jug is a Jug is a Jug, or Maybe Not

Everybody knows about the P-47 Thunderbolt and its sterling service during the Second World War, and everybody knows how it faded away into semi-oblivion in the post-War world. Today's the day we look at some more of those post-War P-47s, and we're going to focus on the rarest of the operational P-47s, the N-models. Are you ready?

Georgia's 128th FS/54th FG operated the F-47N for a brief period post-War and are seen taxiing out at Marietta during 1947. These aircraft are relatively clean, but notice the presentation of the "NG" logo on the vertical stabs, the "GA" back by the horizontals, and the last three of the serial number up on the cowling. There's not a lot of extraneous color, a fact that typified most of the Guard's Thunderbolts. Keep an eye out for those Georgia birds, though---color has a way of finding neat-looking airplanes! Menard Collection

New England was a hotbed of P-47N activity during the post-War years, as typified by these colorful examples from Massachusetts' 101st FS photographed by Paul Paulsen in November of 1949. It's tough to come close to the wartime paint jobs worn by the "N"-models, but the 101st gave it a really good effort. Menard Collection

Here's a taxi shot of another bird from the 101st---they just get prettier and prettier, don't they? Note the presentation of the "NG" moniker on the fuselage and vertical tail, the rocket launcher stubs beneath the wings, and the crew chief on the wing root. It must've been a fun job! Paulsen via Menard

Delaware flew the N-model too; in this case an F-47N-25 from the 142nd FS/156th FG. Note the variation in presentation of the fuselage national insignia (which is entirely lacking, in case you were wondering)---some outfits used it, while others did not. It was fairly normal practice to see either the buzz number or at least a few digits of the serial number presented under the wings of the ANG P/F-47s. All those Guard airplanes looked the same except for the differences... Besecker Collection via Menard

It took awhile to do it, but the folks in Georgia finally figured out that a little color could be A Very Good Thing, as typified by this four-ship from the 128th photographed in flight during the late 40s. The command stripes on 408 are particularly nice, we think. Menard Collection

Gettin' ready. This Thunderbolt from Pennsylvania's 146th FS is shown cranking up sometime during the late 1940s. The markings were fairly bland, but those PA birds did manage to show a little color from time to time. Menard Collection

See what we mean? All you have to do is add a name and a splash of color on the vertical stab and rudder and a Plain Jane suddenly becomes glamorous. Oh, and check out that prop hub, too---anybody out there care to take a crack at modeling that? Balogh via Menard Collection

The Territory of Hawaii flew the F-47N for a time, and had some of the most colorfully-marked examples of the type in service when they were in their prime with the type. Those days were long-gone, however, when 44-88566 posed for this farewell portrait in the early 50s. She went out with pride... Menard Collection

Is she in the Guard or the regular Air Force? We'd guess the latter if you forced us to do that, based on the markings and that leather flying helmet the pilot's wearing, but it's anybody's guess. If you happen to know the unit, drop us a line at replicainscale@yahoo.com and let us in on the secret! Menard Collection

You don't have to guess with this one! The year is 1945, and she's regular Air Force through and through although, once again, we don't know the unit. She's a colorful bird, and that PE buzz number under the wing provided the icing on the cake! J. Sullivan Collection

Here's today's "what goes up must come down" entry. The year is 1945, but that's all we know about the photo. If you can add to our knowledge; well, you know the drill... J. Sullivan Collection

140 is Regular USAF too, and she's at Hamilton Field in 1948. Other than that it's a guessing game over here, but she's a fine example of her type and would be a snap for those of you wanting to model a post-War "Jug". Gotta love that 1940s Air Force! J. Sullivan Collection

Let's finish up with yet another USAF bird from an unknown unit. The year is 1946 and she's wearing a whole lot of color but, once again, we're at a loss as to who owned her! If anybody out there knows (or has any other photos of the P/F-47N) please drop us a line! J. Sullivan Collection

The Other Guys Were Pretty Gutsy Too

We've been showing you some of the images contained in Bobby Rocker's collection over the past several weeks, and commented repeatedly on what a crummy little war it was in the process. For today's installment, we're going to do something a little bit different and show you some aircraft flown by the Imperial Japanese Army. The following images are from official sources via Bobby's collection and, in this instance, concentrate on the Ki-43 Hayabusa. Most of the pilots of the aircraft you're about to look at are still in New Guinea, and the Philippines, and in China. It was a crummy war for everybody who fought in it...

A lot of people think of Lae as a JNAF base, but the JAAF was operating in the theater too, and this unidentified Ki-43-1 lies abandoned and in ruins at the edge of the runway there. With the right pilot the Ki-43, also known by its code name of "Oscar", could leave you talking to yourself, but most ended up as this example has; shot to pieces on the ground. The 5th AF knew how to chew up an airfield. Rocker Collection

The 33rd Sentai based out of Cyclops Airdrome for a while, and was decimated there. This particular Ki-43-II appears to be intact but is probably not airworthy thanks to the attention of General George's strafers. You can run, but you can't hide from General George! Rocker Collection

You can stick it in the jungle to hide it, but that might not help very much either. #5 is another example of the Hayabusa from the 33rd and shows a fairly unique camouflage variation; the squiggly-blotchy camouflage seen on Japanese aircraft was applied at the unit level and generally in the field using whatever means possible. It rarely helped hide the aircraft from marauding A-20s and B-25s, but it was better than nothing. Rocker Collection

The 77th Sentai was at Cyclops too, and their aircraft also wore field camouflage to try to hide them from 5th Air Force strafing and para-frag attacks. The camouflage didn't help very much at all. Rocker Collection

Cyclops could well be described as a graveyard for the JAAF---this is what's left of a Ki-43-II after a strafing attack. Modelers, note the definition of the anti-glare treatment aft of the cockpit. Rocker Collection

Cape Gloucester was no different, as shown by this Ki-43-II from the 11th Sentai. Rocker Collection

Or Noemfoor, where this 11th Sentai "Oscar II" appears to have been involved in some extremely recent ground action on Kamiri Aerodrome. Those GIs in the background don't appear to be on a souvenir-gathering expedition; weapons are at the ready and those grunts are focused on securing the airfield, not sight-seeing. Note the wreckage of the Ki-61 in the background. Few modelers ever think of this side of the equation when they're showing off their latest masterpiece. It's sobering food for thought. Rocker Collection

The place is Boram, and the event is a para-frag attack against the JAAF aircraft based there. Those Japanese aircraft appear to be relatively intact in this photo, but most have been riddled by shrapnel from the 28-lb para-frags carried by the attacking 5th AF strafers and have become useless as fighting aircraft. As bad as things were on the ground for the Fifth, they were far worse for the Japanese. Rocker Collection

Sometimes the Japanese fighters were left relatively intact, as was the case with this Ki-43-III found more-or-less in one piece on Okinawa. This photograph is just full of detail for the modeler; notice in particular the nose of that under-wing aux tank. There are markings on the rudder too, but we'd be lying if we said we knew the unit. Rocker Collection

Here's a fitting way to end our photo essay of the Hayabusa, because it graphically illustrates the way most of them ended up. The "Oscar" was quite an airplane, but ill-suited to the tactics of what was then modern air war. The pilots and ground crew of the JAAF were brave beyond belief and capable right up until the end of the war (it was a Ki-43 that caused the death of Tommy Lynch) but were no match for American air power or, equally importantly, American industry. Whichever side you fought on it all amounted to the same thing. It was a crummy war. Rocker Collection

Happy Snaps

Today's Happy Snap features one of our favorite airplanes, the F-4 Phantom, as seen through the lens of Rick Morgan:

The primary subject here is F-4E 67-0320. It carries green camo and silver trim on the tail. 75-0633 is in gray camo with the German national colors (red, yellow, black) on the tail tip. The Silver Lobos of the 20^th TFS conducted training in the F-4 for the Luftwaffe. The Whidbey wing used to send an EA-6B to work with the 35^th TFW/20^th TFS periodically to give their German students EW training. I was lucky enough to make the trip that time- It was great fun.   Rick Morgan

Gotta love that shot---thanks as always, Morgo!

The Relief Tube

Last time around we ran a couple of photos of RB-57s with what could only be described as "interesting" underwing stores. We admitted at that time that we didn't know anything about them, which prompted the following responses:

First, from Don Jay:   Hi Phil. Just finished your latest edition of Replica in Scale and enjoyed the comments on the B-57s. I look forward to more-hopefully the Pat Lynn birds. You asked for feedback on some of the photos. Well here is my take; the photo of RB-57A –21449, is part of the ‘Heart Throb’ mission out of Japan. I believe you have captured a rare 6021 Recce Sq bird with some very interesting pods. They look like a combo of air sample pods and chaff dispensers. Don’t know the mod name for it but it resembles the electro-mechanical pod-mounted chaff dispensers-an an/ale type-possibly the AN/ALE-30/32. Your second B-57 A is an EB-57A of the 4713 DSES out of either Otis or Stewart-the latter closed in the Fall of 69. The pod is an AN/ALE type for dispensing chaff. Another rare bird as only 13 ‘RB’ models were converted to EB-57As. You can tell its an EB by the ECM antennas and the additional air scoops beneath the engine intakes for the constant speed generators that powered the EW equipment in the bomb bay. Cheers, Don

Next, from Grant Matsuoka: Phil, it's one of the sampler aircraft operated by the 6021st RS. I think that when AWS became the sole manager of atmospheric sampling in 1962, it may have been temporarily assigned to AWS, hence the later weather markings. But the AWS listings that I got from HQ AWS strangely didn't include 1962, but 1963 list has some B-57As, I believe, but no serial numbers. I think that it later was assigned to the 6091st RS, but had 3rd BG markings. The mission was sensitive, even today, if you think about Japan. The double sampling tanks appear to be rather rare and short lived. I've only seen in on 449 in an old Japanese aviation mag. Enjoy your blog. Best wishes, Grant

And from Dave Menard: Phil, that shot of Cranberry 52-1584 was taken at Chanute AFB ILL after duty at WP as I was stationed there when she flew in c.1970. She was not gray then, but got painted after arriving. The shot of "21449" at Yokota was not a 4758th DSES bird as they did not leave the ZI, but was probably in the 6091st Recon Sqdn. The A models used to switch tail numbers like mad so that is why the quotes around the number. The pods under wings have openings in their fronts so someone has been cloud sampling! That EB also has cloud sample pods under her.  Cheers, dave

And finally, from Marty Isham: G'Day... This B-57A was flying out of Japan in response to either Red Chinese or Soviet A testing. Those are Particulate Air Sampling pods under the wings. The a/c was never asgd to the 4758th DSES or ADC, 497,498 & 450 were. I think it belonged to a WRS det out of Kirtland. I learned early to not delve into atomic funny stuff. Cheers...Marty

Here's a comment on that flying shot of the shark-mouthed A4D-1 we ran a few issues back. You may have actually seen this comment for all of a day or so but we deleted it due to software issues: Hi, Phillip! Thanks for the latest RiS "update" including the VF-21 F-11 and A-4 photo! That one was new to me. Nice!! I recently took the time to read "all" the past issues and found tons of interesting documents. I forwarded some links to friends and wish a lot of viewers from France discovered your blog ;°)   Take care, Jean Those of you who have been around for a while may recognize Jean as the Jean Barbaud who runs Jean Barbaud Cartoons. We link to his site and you really ought to visit there. He does some remarkable work and features links to a number of other fascinating (although not always aviation-oriented) sites---very much worth your while to visit there.

And finally, a comment on those Doug Barbier Tornado shots we ran a couple of issues ago from a reader known only as Kev: Hi Phil. Nice photos of the Tornado's ( also known as Tonkas) at the Goose. Operating unit was No.16 Squadron although the top shot shows a No.15 (XV) Squadron bird on loan. Both units were assigned to RAFG for tactical strike duties. Cheers, Kev

OK, ya'll; we've officially got them old walkin' blues so it's time to sign off. We should, with any luck, be back next week. Until then, please accept our apologies for missing last week, and be good to your neighbor! We'll meet again soon.
phil

Some Thoughts On Painting, Some Unusual Intruders, Let' Take a Picture, Visitors At Goose, Early Cats, and Nothing But Trouble

2011-10-10T20:23:00.007-05:00

Why Oh Why Does It Look Like That?
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Those who know me, as well as those who read what's written here in addition to looking at the pictures, know that I spend a fair amount of time looking at the various internet modeling sites. It's good therapy if nothing else, and you learn from the experience most of the time. It's something to be recommended.

Of late, however, I think I've noticed a trend in paint jobs on some of those models, and it's probably not what you'd call a Good Thing. To wit; I've been seeing otherwise nicely-done models with paintwork that's been flawed by what Oldtimers would probably call orange peel. We've all done that sort of thing at one time or another---each and every one of us has---so those of you who might be laughing at the misfortune of others need to wipe that holier-than-thou smirk off your face and talk about helping to fix the problem. (I'll get off that soapbox now...)

There are lots of reasons for orange peel, air pressure being a prime culprit, but the Biggest Single Reason, and the reason that we're going to discuss today, is simple failure to thin the paint adequately before airbrushing. Don't believe me? OK, then, let's try a little experiment. Go grab a bottle of whatever you prefer to paint your models with, and make sure it's a new bottle that's never been opened or used. (Tester ModelMaster enamel in any flavor would be an excellent choice for the purpose of this discussion.) Shake or stir said bottle until everything is properly mixed, then take your pipette, or eye dropper, or whatever you use to feed paint to your airbrush, and---what else?---feed your airbrush straight from that bottle, with no thinning allowed! Now go paint something, and do it with all the techniques you would normally employ when painting a model. Try to cut in some fine lines. Cover some broad areas. Feather some edges. And maybe, or maybe even probably, look at that pebbling effect that will be exhibited by at least some of the paint. That's what's called orange peel, and you just made some! (Stop smiling; it's not a Good Thing!)

OK, now clean your airbrush, and thin the paint with the appropriate thinner or reducer, trying for an approximate 30% reduction. Make sure it's thoroughly mixed like you did before, and perform the same painting experiment. Most of that granulation is gone now, isn't it? And, as an added bonus, you're probably able to cut a finer line and better control your feathering too. Holy Cow---it's magic!

Or maybe not. The simple truth of the matter is that most paints have to be reduced in order to be used for air painting. They'll never work at their best potential if sprayed straight out of the bottle, period. And, just to complicate things a little bit, that 30% we told you to use as a reduction factor is really just a starting point until you figure out what works best for you. A lot of the stuff I paint with is thinned anywhere from 50 to 60%. Yes, I do second, and sometimes even third coats, but the stuff is really thin so it doesn't build up. Yes, it'll run if you don't know what you're doing; the answer to that particular problem is to practice until you've figured out your technique so it doesn't do that. And finally, yes; some colors work better with extra reduction---it may be my own personal Waterloo but greens can sometimes be a challenge, a problem easily fixed by fooling around with the reduction ratio some more.

There are a whole bunch of other things that will have an impact on your airbrushing as well, such as the distance of the tip from the workpiece, but they're topics for another day. For now, go out and mess with some paint and thinner if you aren't already aware of the magic of that relationship. The results just may astound you!

Bet You Thought We Were Talking About That Other Intruder, Huh?
Say the word Intruder around any gathering of aviation buffs and they're going to know beyond any doubt that you're talking about a member of Grumman's legendary A-6 family unless, of course, you happen to be discussing Martin's take on a certain English Electric product instead. Here are some examples of that to whet your apetite...

Mention B-57 to most folks and this is what they tend to think of---the B-57B. It's the variant most used in the Vietnam unpleasantness and looks a lot like the airplanes used by the USAF's various and assorted DSES squadrons post-War. 52-1584 typifies the airplane; built as a B-57B-MA, it managed to survive an active service career to wind up at the Kalamazoo Aviation Historical Museum in Michigan. Study its lines---it's what a B-57 looks like. Isn't it? John Dienst

Or maybe you think of this as a little more typical. 53-3834 was a rare Charlie model, a B-57C-MA, and ended up in Pakistan. That billowing cloud of black smoke is typical of the Intruder being cranked by it's internal cartridge-starting system. It looked a lot more dramatic than it actually was. Picciani Collection

If you happen to be of a certain age, you just may remember the B-57 this way. This section were flying combat in the southern reaches of Vietnam, Republic of, when photographed in the mid-60s. 53-3879 was a B-model and survived the conflict to be scrapped out in 1969, but 53-3833 wasn't so fortunate. Built as a B-57C-MA, she was shot down on 17 April, 1966; both crewmembers survived ejection and were rescued. Both aircraft were with the 8th TBS/405th TFW when this photograph was taken. Picciani Collection

The B-57 went into the Guard relatively early in life, as demonstrated by this B-57C-MA photgraphed while serving with Nevada's 192nd TRS in April of 1963. The rotary bomb bay is partially deployed in this shot revealing the interior color, a useful note for modelers. 53-3828's markings are understated but classy in their own way. Lawson Collection via R. Morgan

At the beginning of this essay we hinted that you might see an unconventional B-57 or two---here's what we meant by that. The airplane is an RB-57A-MA and she's seen here, allegedly with the 4758th DSES (confirmation is requested if anybody knows for sure) and coming in on short final at Johnson AB, Japan, in May of 1958. And, while we're asking for confirmation on this bird's unit, we'd may as well ask about those pods hanging off her wings too, since we've never seen anything quite like them before. Feel free to drop us a line at replicainscale@yahoo.com if you can identify them. There's no prize, but it's the Right Thing to Do. Fritz Frederick via Picciani Collection

Or maybe your tastes run more to EB-57As. This gorgeous example was photographed by noted collector Ron Picciani at Otis AFB in October of 1969, and gives us an outstanding view of her antenna suite, as well as a single version of that "mystery pod". Bet you didn't think any of those "pudding bowl" Intruders lasted that long, did you? R. Picciani

Every family has a quiet kid who's always getting into trouble. In the B-57 clan that Quiet Kid had to be the RB-57D. Its capabilities were amazing given its time and place, and it served both the Air Force and the NASA. 53-3982 was unique in that it was built as an RB-57D, subsequently converted to EB-57D configuration, and eventually put on public display at Pima Air and Space museum. She was a well-used example of the type when photographed in 1968. Several RB-57Ds ended up in the air force of Taiwan pursuing what can only be described as Interesting Careers, but that's a story for another time. R. Lawson via R. Morgan

Let's end today's essay with another photo depicting what most folks think the B-57 ought to look like.
55-4292 was an EB-57E. Initially built as a straight B-57E, she was subsequently converted to RB-57E, then EB-57E standard, in which guise she was photographed in Germany on 20 May, 1977 while serving with the 17th DSES out of Malmstrom. R. Rhys

So you got to see some B-57s today, but we'll bet you're wondering where the black ones were? Are we right? If that's true, and if you'd really like to see a couple of black B-57s, drop us a quick note at replicainscale@yahoo.com and let us know. (Or do essentially the same thing and forward some of your own B-57 shots if you'd like. We'd love to see them!)

A Tough Way to Make a Living

Our ongoing coverage of the air war in the Pacific has included both fighter and bomber aircraft, but up to this point we've neglected some of the unsung heros of that war; the photo-recon guys. Today we're going to put that right, and show you a few Lockheed F-4s from the 8th PRS while flying out of Port Moresby during late 1942 and 1943.

Port Moresby was one of the safer bases to fly combat operations out of, since the Japanese didn't come over all that much after the end of 1942, meaning you only had to contend with bugs, snakes, mud, heat, rain, disease, and butt-killing photo-recon missions. The 8th PRS operated out of 14-Mile Strip for a time, which is where "Eager Beaver II" was photographed. She was well-used, but equally well-maintained. Rocker Collection

And here's a shot of "Hellzapoppin Hepcat", a name that adequately described the reception the 8th's F-4s received from the Japanese on a great many of their missions. The F-4's speed and altitude advantage made it a natural for the photo recon mission, but sometimes speed and altitude weren't enough. Rocker Collection

Here's a fine shot of the 8th PRS lined up for their squadron portrait. Close examination of each individual ship will demonstrate the simple truth of military aircraft---no two are alike. This lineup would make a fascinating subject for a diorama, although your editor cringes at the very thought of trying to build this many F-4s (or any other P-38 variant) at one time! Rocker Collection

Here's "Fainting Floozie II" with her pilot, Alex Gerry. Check out Gerry's flight gear; in the SWPAC you'd suffer from heat exhaustion on the ground, and freeze at altitude. Everything about that war was lousy, from start to finish. Rocker Collection

Ben Armstrong was the 8th's CO during their stay at 14-Mile. Here's his ship, No. 02, undergoing maintenance on what appears to have been a balmy tropical day (although we doubt anyone actually present would have described it that way). The nose art has a dark surround to it---fresh paint or a contrasting color? At this remove it's hard to tell. Rocker Collection

Although this photo may help clarify things somewhat. The 8th wasn't overly prone to featuring pinup girls in their nose art, which makes 02 a bit unusual. This detailed view would tend to make us think the dark area is a distinct part of the nose art---it's just too dark to be any shade of color normally found on an F-4. Rocker Collection

"Limping Lizzy's" artwork is far more typical of that worn by the 8th during the Port Moresby period. We suspect the modern-day Air Force would be preparing an Article 15 for anybody openly smoking in an airplane. We also suspect that nobody at 14-Mile gave it a second thought unless the airplane was actually being fueled. Active war zones have a way of cutting through the defecation... Rocker Collection

Let's raise a glass to the guys from the 8th PRS; to the ones who flew in a nasty war and lived to tell about it. Rocker Collection

And to the ones who stayed in New Guinea. It was a nasty little war... Rocker Collection

Brothers in Arms Out Playing At the Goose

We get so much seriously neat material from contributor Doug Barbier that it's sometimes difficult to decide which images to run, and today's photos are no exception. Doug shot them at Goose Bay while flying F-4s, and had this to say about them: (Here are) A few RAF Tornado's at Goose. They thought they were safe at 500' and Mach 0.9. We were at 100' and Mach 1.2. They weren't safe. Drove up the middle of their 4-ship rocking our wings. Not sure they ever knew we were there until we pulled up in front of them. After they were dead, of course. To be fair, it was a lovely sunny day. They'd have owned the sky at night or in the clag!

Boy, would we have like to have been guests in the O Club that night! All photos by Doug Barbier

A Different Breed of Cat

A while back, more than a few issues ago, we ran a pictorial on the Grumman F6F Hellcat. One of the images used in that piece showed an F6F-3 launching off the side of the boat, straight out of the hangar deck. Long-time reader Pat Donahue went into his collection and found a couple of supplemental images for us. Let's see what he's discovered:

Coming aboard. This F6F-3 is early enough to still carry the corcarde without the bars, although she's in tri-scheme. Readers unfamiliar with the way WW2 air ops were conducted aboard carriers might be surprised to learn that the air groups were frequently loaded aboard this way, at dockside and before the ship left port. Donahue Collection

And here's a shot of an early Hellcat coming off the waist cat. It was what might be termed a "gutsy operation". Thanks, Pat, for sharing these with us! Donahue Collection

Things Were Different Back Then

We haven't heard from Mark Morgan for a while, but he's made up for his prolonged absence with a unit patch that's just the least bit out of the ordinary. Let's take a look at what he's discovered:

Regarding that recent AM-1 , see the attached VA-735 emblem out of NAS Grosse Ile (which, coincidentally, is the subject of my next "The Way It Was" article in the winter edition of The Hook). At least in this instance, Mabel seemed perfectly able but oh my, that patch would never "fly" in our modern Navy. Like we said, things were just the least bit different back then...

Happy Snaps
Today's Happy Snap comes from Mark Williams and dates back to his days in the KC-135. We'll let him explain the shot:

I was a KC-135 crew chief on E-models in the Tennessee ANG, then went to the Ohio ANG on R-models, then on active duty on the R-model and the occasional T-model (former Q-model originally built for refueling the SR-71) from March, 2000 to March, 2007 when I became a C-130E/H Flight Engineer. In fact I just retired as a Master Sergeant on September 1, 2011. One thing I missed about flying on the KC-135 was the opportunity to take photos like this one. About the only thing I got to photograph from the Herk was other Herks, and interesting things on the ground! This photo was taken by me when I was stationed out of Grand Forks AFB, ND as a KC-135R Flying Crew Chief. This particular group of Hornets was taken in March, 2006. We picked them up in Japan, flew down to Guam, then to Hawaii where we promptly broke our boom fuel return manifold! A KC-10 took these Bugs back to the states, and my crew got a free week at Hickam! Well, the aircrew did, I had to help fix the plane when we got the parts in! Enjoy! Mark Williams

The Relief Tube

Let's start today's relief tube with a comment from Mark Williams regarding that F-106B air-to-air from Marty Isham that we ran a week or so ago: Hi Phil. I saw the question in this week's Relief Tube about that F-106B photo from Marty regarding the aircraft he took it from. It's a KC-135, and I ought to know. I worked on them long enough! As a matter of fact if I had a nickel for everyone of my photos with that same wingtip in the lower left corner of the frame, well, I'd have a bunch of nickels! Mark

And from Marty himself: G'day...Waited a while to see what might show up about your/my pic. The 119th FIS F-106B was shot from the starboard porthole from the back of a KC-135E of the 150th AREFS on the way to the Six Out at Atlantic City. "Gordie" Cooper was the GIB. I was one of the guest speakers; boy, were my knees shaking! Date of the pic was 9 June 88. Cheers, Marty

Mark Morgan has some more information for us regarding that Jet Mentor from our last issue:

Phil - Concerning the 2 Oct 11 blog, the Kansas Aviation Museum on the west side of McConnell, north of the Boeing and Spirit plants, has B73 Jet Mentor N134B on display, only one I'd ever seen and I fully expect the only surviving example. The museum's in the original Wichita Muni terminal, brick and sandstone complete with tower, and is an outstanding work in progress, well worth a visit for anyone who's in the vicinity. The collection also includes one of the few remaining Beech Starships, N199FE. MK Thanks, Mark---sounds like a road trip may be in order!

And now for a couple of comments on one of those GAF "Zippers", plus a correction on the "Guppy" supplement. First, we'll hear from Rick Morgan: Phil: Fascinating shots of the USAF/German F-104Gs; I don’t recall ever seeing any with color on them. At the risk of pointing out the obvious, the yellow/red/black colors are from the German flag. I flew a TA-4J into Luke in very early 1980 out of Alameda. The ramp was full of 104s; both of us marveled at how lovely they looked and how much fun they must’ve been to fly. The Seafire shot is tremendous- can’t say how many color shots of that aircraft I’ve ever seen! Small point- the T-2C F305 is from Pensacola’s VT-4 vice 9 (Meridian). Rick

OK, then---you're now to the point where you're probably wondering what happened to the rest of the comments that were here yesterday (presuming, of course, that you were here yesterday!). The answer's simple; we normally splice a lot of stuff from a lot of different formats into The Relief Tube, and yesterday's blog took things A Format Too Far, or so it would seem. There were problems with font size, the font itself, and some other oddball stuff that, quite frankly, drove us absolutely nuts! That's why you're now missing comments from Hubert Pietzmeir, Dave Menard, and Jean Barbaud. We took them out to try to fix things, but tonight's not the night we're going to do put them back in. Watch this space next week for an attempt at a re-run. Meanwhile, be good to your neighbor and we'll meet again soon.
phil

Some German Zips, More Guppies, Cleaning Out Some Files, and The Marvelous Mitchell

2011-10-02T20:41:00.002-05:00

Luftwaffe Starfighters in the States

Just about every aviation buff knows the story of the F-104 in Federal Luftwaffe service, but enough time has passed that some of our newer readers may not be aware of the fact that Luke AFB in Arizona was once home to the 58th TTW, an organization that transitioned German pilots onto the F-104. The facts are pretty simple; the Luftwaffe owned the airplanes but did their transitional training in the clear skies of the American SouthWest. In consequence, those West German "Zips" used to be a common fixture around the United States. Let's begin today with some images of those not-so-long-ago days.

Let's start off with a premise if we may: There's no particular rhyme or reason for the photography selected for this essay---the goal was simply to provide our readers with images of typical F-104Gs from the 58th.
65-12750 is an example of that premise. She was actually built by Fokker, then transferred to Luke. After serving there she went to Taiwan, where she was converted into an RF-104G and was subsequently lost on 8 July, 1991, some 11 years after this photo was taken in 1980. Most of the 58th's "Zippers" looked like this one, with very few unauthorized markings. K. Minert

63-13266 spent an apparently uneventful life with the 58th before being scrapped out. Bill Peake caught her at Nellis in June of 1980, when she was in her prime. Note the true natural metal finish (not silver lacquer) and white upper wing surfaces. She's carring a full load of gas in this photo too---a clean F-104 had better range than a clean F-4, but that wasn't saying much! She still had short legs and needed all the gas she could get to if she was going to go very far. Bill Peake

See what we mean about no unusual markings? We don't know a whole lot about 63-16229; she was built by Fokker, then later transferred to Taiwan. She was well-used by the time an unknown photographer snapped her portrait on an equally unknown American base sometime in the 80s. If any of our readers have any further information on this aircraft (or if you know who the photographer was) please contact us at replicainscale@yahoo.com . Friddell Collection

The 58th routinely sent two specific F-104Gs to the American air show circuit during the 1980s, and 63-13243 was one of them. In this photo she's all dolled up with a set of red, yellow, and black tip-tanks, but we've also photographed her without them. Like a fair number of her sisters she was ultimately transferred to the Taiwanese Air Force, with which service she was lost in 1990. Friddell Collection

As previously mentioned, the 58th's "Zippers" were an air show favorite during the '80s, although we can't remember ever seeing one fly any sort of demo during one. Here's another view of 13243, this time in clean configuration (no gas bags) at an airshow at Davis Monthan during March of 1978. She would have been an extremely fast airplane in that trim, but wouldn't have gotten very far on just her internal fuel. D. Kuykendall

We're going to close out this particular essay with a series of shots I took at Bergstrom on 6 August, 1982. The airplane is, once again, 13243, and the photos were taken the day before an airshow.

Taxiing in. The F-104 featured BLC and was a loud airplane inconsequence---anybody who's ever been around a Starfighter in the circuit or on final can attest to all the howling and shrieking coming out of that tiny airframe! Her slats and flaps are still deployed in this shot, and her canopy is open; that's a normal thing for the "Zip" during ground operations. Notice she's carrying as much extra gas as it's possible to hang off an F-104. Friddell

She's stopped and the pilot is shutting her down. Note the extra paintwork on her nose gear doors, her tip tanks, and her vertical stab. That's a literal riot of color as far as the Luke-based "Zippers" were concerned! Friddell

It's quiet now, and her pilot has removed his helmet. I took this photo knowing that I'd want to do a photo essay on the airplane in ten or twenty years, and made sure I got a view of the undersides of her stabs. Friddell

Which is also why I took this shot! I tried to get a B-4 stand moved over to the aircraft so I could see what was on top too, but No Joy; I then asked the pilot about it; his response was that he never looked up there and it didn't matter to him. That's the long-winded way of saying we have no idea what the tops of that stab look like, although we're willing to bet they mirror the undersurfaces. (Anybody out there got a picture?) Friddell

A lot of folks think that supersonic airplanes are somehow fragile. It just ain't so! In this view 243's pilot has left the cockpit and is inspecting the airplane. Oh yeah, and does anybody remember a few issues ago when we mentioned those accursed light poles that surrounded the ramps at Bergstrom? This photo provides a fine example of the reason we dislike them so much! Friddell

You'd may as well check out the fuselage while you're up there! Yes; the F-104 was once called "The Missile With a Man In It". No; it wasn't fragile! Friddell

The ramp van has picked up the pilot and taken him to ops, and the guys on the transient line are securing the airplane. It's a side of military aviation a lot of folks never get to see. Friddell

And here's our final shot for the day. No; it's not 243. This is 65-12753, photographed on short final going into Bergstrom in April of 1979---everything is hanging, and she's howling like a banshee. If you ever saw a 104 fly you'd remember it for the rest of your life! 12753 is one of the few Luke-based F-104Gs you can still see; she's been preserved in Taiwan, a fitting tribute to The Burbank Wonder. L. Bracken

The Buckeye Redux

Do any of you remember that part (only last week) where I said that anyone who had trained in the T-2 had a considerable fondness for the airplane? Well, Gang, contributor Rick Morgan spent the requisite amount of time in the Buckeye before moving on to TA-4Js at Chase, and he's sent us a few more shots for our essay.

158869 was assigned to VF-126 as a spin trainer when Rick took this photo in March of 1988. It's interesting to see that tailcode assigned to a "Guppy"! R. Morgan

The T-2 could carry .50 caliber gun pods and practice bombs, all a part of the budding naval aviator's training syllabus. This shot is of VT-9's 156731, taken while the airplane was on static display at a Pensacola air show in November of 1979. It's odd to see the "Guppy" with guns, isn't it? R. Morgan

Rick shot this VT-26 bird in October of 1979, once again giving us a look at those gun pods. If memory serves the old Monogram T-28D kit has a pod very similar to this one included in its parts suite; maybe, just maybe... R. Morgan

If you're going to fly an American military airplane you're going to learn how to fly formation. Rick snapped this shot on a training flight in August of that 1979. The pilot in that "Guppy" was Scotty Stillwell, who had just become a carrier-qualified aviator---belated congrats to Scotty. Fly Navy! R. Morgan

As the "Guppy" fades off into the sunset... This evocative photo is a fine way to end our T-2 supplement. Now, somebody go out and build a model of one! R. Morgan

Sometimes Stuff Just Piles Up Around Here

What follows is an admitted hodge-podge of largely unrelated images. It's taking us longer than we thought it would to put an essay together for each of them, and we really wanted you to see them so, without further ado...

Ever seen a Beech Model 73 Jet Mentor before? We hadn't either, at least not before Mark Nankivil supplied us with this photo of N134B during trials. She was a capable little airplane, but one without a future. It's a shame she never got built for the general aviation market, isn't it? Greater St Louis Air & Space Museum via Mark Nankivil

And here's the Model 73 again, this time in a more conventional attitude. She looks like she'd be a fun little ship to own, although we wouldn't want to have to feed here. Greater St Louis Air & Space Museum via Nankivil

Dave Menard gets around, and pretty much always has. He photographed 44-74850, a P-51D-30, at an airshow back in his younger days. We've got the information for this one stashed in the appropriate file, which is another way of saying we can't find it right now, but we can say that this regular USAF bird has the locked tailwheel and the last three of its serial repeated on the MLG doors. Other than that we're at a loss. Dave? D. Menard

By now everybody's aware of the occasional "if it goes up it's gotta come back down" photography we run around here. This shot features an F4D-1 from VMF-314 exhibiting the aftermath of what was apparently a somewhat sporty landing at MCAS El Toro in 1960. As emergencies go this one apparently wasn't very bad. Janssen via J. Sullivan

The Royal Navy was in the Pacific too, and flew Seafires there late in the war. This nearly-pristine example is taxiing in at Clark Field, where she must have raised quite a few eyebrows. A little bit of everything turned up in the Pacific during that war. Rocker Collection

Martin's AM-1 Mauler was an airplane at the wrong place and the wrong time. Very few of them saw any sort of active service, which makes this example, assigned to NAS Grosse Ile, all the more unique. It's hard to imagine the skies over SEA filled with AM-1s flying SAR... Balogh via Menard

We recently discovered that the TBD image formerly found here was from the Life Magazine archive. We steadfastly try to avoid any situation that might lead to a violation of somebody's copyright, so we've removed the image from these pages. We apologize both to the original contributor and to our readership for taking this action, but that's how we are around here. We know you'll understand. pf

It's the Stuff of Legends

You can go almost anyplace and talk to just about any aviation enthusiast of any age. All you have to do is mention the B-25 Mitchell and people start to smile. Everybody knows the airplane, and most everybody knows at least a little bit of its history. Let's take a quick look at the airplane as it was used in the Pacific during the Second World War.

The B-25 made it to the SouthWest Pacific just as quickly as the Army Air Forces could get it there, making it one of those immortals that literally fought all four years of the conflict. This early example, unfortunately from an unidentified unit, is parked under the trees at 14 Mile Strip in the Port Moresby complex of airfields. Things were pretty basic back then. Rocker Collection

Pappy Gunn got hold of the Mitchell pretty early in the war, and immediately went to work increasing its firepower. The result produced what was arguably the most effective ground attack aircraft of that conflict, here illustrated by a flight of B-25Ds over Cape Gloucester. If the bombs didn't get you the massed guns in the nose would. Rocker Collection

"El Diablo" was an early strafer from the 3rd BG. She's shown here in her interim markings overflying the air strip at Cape Gloucester. A lot of those early B-25 missions were flown without escort, against the best the Japanese had to offer (the Tainan Kokutai, for example). The Mitchell gave as good as she got, but it wasn't an easy job. Rocker Collection

The B-25 was a versatile aircraft, as typified by these D-models from the 17th RBS. The type survived the war to become a trainer and served in every theater, but she made her name in the Pacific. This almost etherial photograph says it better than words ever can. Rocker Collection

Even the recon birds got nose art, as illustrated here by the 17th's "The Mad Mizurian". Take a look at all the boxes of .50 cal ammuntion in the nose. There was a fair chance she'd need it. Rocker Collection

Here's a shot of "The Vulture's Nest". We don't know anything abut the airplane, but she typifies the breed. Check out the operating conditions that were so obviously vile. It was never easy in the Pacific. Rocker Collection

A relative handful of cannon-armed B-25Gs made it to the theater, but proved to be poorly suited for the role of bomber against the Japanese. Most of them had that 75mm gun removed, to often be replaced with a pair of twin .50s. Sometimes you just have to use what works! Rocker Collection

You almost never see photos of the B-25G in the SouthWest Pacific, so seeing three of them in formation is a special treat indeed; these are from the 38th. The G models weren't as hard-hitting as the regular strafers; that 75mm gun was slow to reload and fire (and required a loader as well, not the most enviable position to be in when riding in an airplane engaged in ground attack!). The Gs were, in many respects, the answer to a question that nobody had asked. They didn't stay in service very long. Rocker Collection

Ground attack in the Pacific could be a sporty proposition. These Mitchells are from the 405th BS/38th BS and are pulling off a target in Hollandia. They were shot at by ground fire and attacked by Japanese fighters, and they sometimes had to battle with horrible weather just to get to the targets. If you were hit and went down anywhere near your target all bets on your survival were off. It was a tough racket, and the aircrews of the 5th did it day after day, week after week. Talk about a gutsy bunch of guys... Rocker Collection

Here's your test for the day: Find the B-25s in this picture. Need a hint? OK then; look lower than you might expect. A gutsy bunch of guys? Oh yeah! Rocker Collection

Quite a few B-25s went down in combat at the hands of the Japanese, and a substantial number were lost in operational accidents. Even the ones that survived were at risk; this J-model sits abandoned at Clark Field in the Philippines awaiting the scrapper. It was a sad end for a noble aircraft. Rocker Collection

Take a look at this guy. He's a B-25 pilot, and he's one of a select group of aviators; he flew strafer Mitchells in one of the war's roughest arenas. More than a few of his brother aviators are still out there, waiting to come home some day. They were a gutsy bunch of guys... Rocker Collection

Happy Snaps

Suppose you fly with the Michigan ANG, and suppose you're a journeyman photographer in addition to being a pretty good stick. If you fill that bill your last name just might be Barbier, and you might be taking this sort of photograph from the T-33A you're flying. It's a great shot, and also a great way to end our day. Barbier

The Relief Tube

We copped out on doing a Relief Tube entry last week, which means we've got some catching up to do. Let's get right down to it.

First, let's look at a correction on those MO ANG Mustangs from Dave Menard: Phil, Two of the photos of MO ANG Mustangs were taken by Major Eugene Sommerich, who was a RegAF advisor to the sqdn I believe. He shot 616 film air to airs for years, including of fellow 334th FIS F-86Fs over Korea DURING the war! He was one of the pilots who flew the MIG-15 on Okinawa in late '53 after Collins(who was first to do so) and Yeager got done. He took 473526 and the three ship of 547, 196, & 400.

Did Marty really shoot that view of F-106 149? If so, he was not in a Tub when he did, as a wing tip can be seen that is sure not that of any model Deuce. cheers, dave That's one for Marty to answer; the info on the slide says Photo by Marty Isham. Marty---can you help us out here?

It looks like we made a couple of mistake when captioning those "Hogs" from the Bobby Rocker Collection. Bobby points out that the F4U-1 from VMF-114 on Pelilieu is actually an F4U1-A, and that Turtle Bay is in the South Pacific, not the SouthWest Pacific as we stated. We also heard from friend and Corsair authority Jim Sullivan, who adds: Phil, As always, I thoroughly enjoyed the latest addition to the blog. I especially enjoyed the ROCKER Corsairs. I wanted to add just a little more information to a couple of those photos. The F4U-1 #93 BuNo 17450 on Turtle Bay airstrip is from VMF-214, the Blacksheep squadron. The other shot, F4U-1A #25 is BuNo 17736 and the abbreviated story of it is on the lower left of page 2 of my lastest F4U CORSAIR IN ACTION book . The pilot was Lt. Bob Marshall from VMF-216. His patrol was jumped by Zeros over New Britain and two of his squadron mates were lost in that encounter. Bob fought back and was fortunate enough to escape the Japanese planes and although wounded, safely returning to his base on Bougainville. Also, a correction to the aircraft type of the 3/4 LF shot of the Corsair on the latest blog with the numbers 974 on the front landing gear doors...the caption stated it's a F4U-1D but it's actually a F4U-1A, probably 17974. No rocket stubs, not GSB but tri-color, no wing-root pylons.......it's a -1A. Jim Thanks to both Bobby and Jim for keeping us honest, and you might want to consider picking up a copy of Jim's F4U book if you don't already have it--it's excellent!

Rick Morgan is a retired naval aviator who's got a few hours on the T-2C, and he had this comment for us regarding last week's "Guppy" piece: Phil: Thanks for putting up those T-2 shots; the Guppy is a seriously under-covered aircraft. VF-43 and its west coast counterpart VF-126 both originally had T-2Cs assigned for use in spin training, which was a periodic requirement for pilots as part of their ACM syllabus. As you state, both units also used them as surrogates for jet trainer/light attack aircraft in the dissimilar ACM role as well. In case you haven’t seen it, this video shows a T-2C crashing on Lexington; the solo student on his CQ-1 flight was AFU, stalled out and hit the island. The Air Boss was an old friend; he stayed in the tower directing the fire response through the event. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCmOEXVLeEk (Please note that the footage on that YouTube link is from a pair pf plat cameras on the Lex. It's not pretty, but two things are worth noting once you get past the horror of the event. First, note the airdales in the Deck Division---the incident is barely underway and they're running for the fire gear. That, my friends, is what training's all about. Second, think about what you just saw, because it's a risk every carrier-based naval aviator takes every single day they're on the boat. Raise your glasses and offer them your thanks that they're willing to do what they do.)

While we're discussing naval aviation, Rick Morgan pointed out to me (but I don't think I ever ran the correction) that VF-21 became VA-43, and that shark-mouthed Grumman Tiger we showed you a while back was an example of the squadron in transition. Rick also called out the guard for us and came up with the following explanation and photo:

Phil: That’s a great picture of the VA-43 F11F on Indy you have posted. The reason it wears VF-21 markings is because Fighting-21 was redesignated Atkron-43 (VA-43) on 1 Jul 1959. At that time it became the Oceana jet attack replacement squadron with predominantly A4Ds assigned, although it kept a small number of F11Fs through early 1960 to train pilots for AirLant’s only fleet F11F squadron at that time, VF-33. The F4D on cat-1 is from Key West-based VF-101, which was the east coast “all-weather” fighter training unit, with Fords and Demons. Both squadrons were under RCVG-4 at that time. VA-43 later on went on to become Oceana’s instrument RAG and, after Vietnam, redesignated VF-43 and an adversary squadron. Rick

This shot is just too cool for words. Many thanks to Rick and The Usual Suspects for birdogging it for us so we could share it with you today. NAVA via Doug Olson Collection via Angelo Romano
While we're on the subject of Navy aircraft, here are some thoughts on the T2V piece we ran a while back:

Strictly speaking, the T-33 was purchased as the TO-2 from Lockheed Burbank. The V was used for Lockheed aircraft produced by the former Vega plant, also located on the Burbank airport. (Lockheed took over Vega in 1943.) The Navy finally got around to recognizing, from a designation standpoint, that they were dealing with a single source in 1952 and chose to change all the Os to Vs. Similarly, the Navy initially bought and operated the single-seat Lockheed P-80 as a trainer, the TO-1, with the two-seat designation, TO-2, accurately reflecting that it was a modified TO-1. The TO-2s were an important part of the transition of a generation of Naval aviators raised on propeller-driven airplanes to the very different piloting techniques and flight planning required when flying jets, both basic and in instrument conditions. The T2V took longer than expected to develop, allowing Grumman to substitute F9F-8Ts for most of the requirement that it was expected to fulfill. T
Thomason Collection

Chris Williamson tends to have a somewhat unique and eclectic collection. He sent us this scan of a patch he thought we'd be interested in:

Hello Phil. You showing the original SAC emblem got me to thinking of one I got from the Alaskan Air Command historian way back when. If I remember right, he said the patch dated back to the 1950's. Chris Thanks very much for sharing this with us, Chris!

Finally, we've heard from several people informing us that the new Special Hobby T-2C kit is actually the old Two Bobs kit in a different box. That's true, to an extent, but Special Hobby was (as far as we know) the original producer of the kit under contract to Two-Bobs. The bottom line is that we're not unduly concerned about how the kit came about---we're just darned glad to have it!

And that's what I know for this week. Be good to your neighbor and we'll meet again soon!
phil

The Unglamorous Guppy, The Hog in the Corps, and Mo Mustangs

2011-09-28T21:18:00.001-05:00

Gotta Love That Buckeye

If you were around American naval aviation in the 1970s, 80s, or 90s, you probably saw a whole bunch of North American T-2 Buckeyes flying around. Several hundred were built, and a fair number of my friends learned to fly jets on them. They were, to put it mildly, a ubiquitous airplane.

Unfortunately, they were also an airplane that was badly neglected by the modeling world, with the only injected representation of it being the now-aging (but still perfectly buildable) Matchbox kit in 1/72nd scale. Anyway, that's how it was until now. Our Czech friends over at Special Hobby have just released what appears to be an absolutely gorgeous kit of one of our favorite airplanes, although we have to admit that gorgeous part is an in-the-box assessment; the truth is yet to be told (which in translation means we have to build the thing!). Anyway, we/me/I got pretty excited last weekend when I saw the kit on the shelf at King's , and grabbed it immediately. Once we/me/I got home from that adventure we drug out some slides, not for ourselves but for our readers. Here, Friends o' Mine, are a whole bunch of reasons to build yourself a "Guppy". With any luck we can consider it to be Inspiration!

The month was June, the year was 1983, and this VT-26 Buckeye (158583) was getting a going-over before being hooked to a tug and taken back to the line at Chase Field. The airplane typifies the T-2C in squadron service; most of them were pretty plain aircraft once you got past the orange trim. If you wanted to build yourself a straight-up, everyday working TraCom bird, this one would be a pretty good choice. Friddell

Here's a variation on the theme, this time from Kingsville's VT-23. She wasn't a fast mover in the traditional sense, and she wasn't a combat veteran either, but the "Guppy" produced a whole pack of Navy and Marine aviators who went on to get themselves in harm's way, as the cable news folks love to say. My friend Frank Garcia had a good eye, don't you think? I really like what he did with this shot, and wish he were still with us. We lost a pretty good photographer when Frank went West, ya'll. Frank Garcia

Somebody (Verlinden, maybe?) used to make a tug and towbar set that would allow an enterprising modeler to duplicate 158594 from VT-26 being towed back to the line. We've seen more than a few dioramas of jet aircraft being towed with only a crewman on the tug, completely ignoring the fact that there's always someone in the cockpit on the brakes, at least at naval air stations. It's a point worth remembering. Friddell

Every once in a while you'd find a "Guppy" with a little extra color. 156703, a Charlie-model from VT-19, is wearing a cheat line and a squadron badge while transient at Selfridge, where Ron Kowalzyk shot her in April of 1984. Once again note how simple the markings are, and how pretty the airplane is. The "Guppy" was a pretty neat airplane, ya'll. Kowalzyk

Of course, you don't have to stop with cheat lines and squadron badges---you can get a little whimsical too, as demonstrated by this VT-9 bird. We've mentioned it before, but it bears repeating---this airplane was not assigned to the Lexington. This particular aircraft was used for CarQuals, and ended up with the boat's name on the side as a result. In actual fact the "Lex" didn't have fixed-wing assets permanently assigned to her while she was a training carrier. It's something to remember. Oh yeah, and 064 was from VT-9 and was photographed on VA-45's ramp at NAS Key West in 1981. R. Morgan

It's a fact that a swept-wing jet can't turn with a straight-winged jet, which may have been a small measure of justification for assigning the "Guppy" to VA-43 for use as an adversary back in 1983. Whatever the rational, it made for an unusual-looking airplane, to say the least. Friddell Collection

Here's a different flavor of camo on yet another VA-43 bird. She was getting ready to go up to play with that "Scooter" that's beginning to taxi out behind her when Rick Morgan took this study at Oceana in November of 1989 while he was flying as ECMO 1 in a Prowler. In our opinion this is one seriously neat photo! R. Morgan

Then again, maybe you don't care much for camo, but prefer a somewhat more colorful aircraft. If that's the case, this "Guppy's" for you! 157057 was a BiCi bird from VT-26, photographed during 1979, and is wearing a name ("City of Beeville") in addition to her red, white, and blue paint job. This airplane could be The Test of All Tests as far as a modeler's painting skills are concerned. Anybody game? Frank Garcia

1986 saw the 75th anniversary of naval aviation, and more than a few airplanes ended up with commemorative paintwork as a result, as demonstrated by this Buckeye I photographed at NAS Corpus Christi during April of 1986. She was a looker! Friddell

This particular "Guppy" was a dual-purpose commemorative aircraft, celebrating both the 75th anniversary of naval aviation and the Texas Sesquicentennial all at the same time. She was from TraWing 2 and was flying out of Beeville when I photographed her at a Bergstrom air show in 1986. Kinda pretty, don't you think? Friddell

So, what's the Buckeye all about? Ask any naval aviator who was trained during the last three decades of the last century. He or she'll tell you. Or maybe you can figure it out by looking at this picture. D. Balcer

Or maybe this one. R. Morgan

There was a time when she was the Big Thing in a young naval aviator's life. Friddell

She's gone now, like so many fine airplanes before her. Time and technology did her in, but she's a lasting memory for thousands of Navy and Marine aviators. Go build that kit, ya'll, and pay a little tribute to The Mighty "Guppy". She was quite an airplane. Friddell

Wartime "Hogs"

This isn't really a naval aviation issue, although you may be thinking it is given our choice of topics so far. Look at from the perspective that we're on a roll and everything's ok, right? Right! That said, it's time to take a look at one of our favorite Naval fighters from the Second World War, the Chance Vought F4U Corsair. Some of the images you're about to see are unique and, so far as we know, previously unpublished. They're all photos of Marine birds (always a Good Thing) and come from the Rocker archives. Let's see what we've got!

Guadalcanal was a relatively calm place by the time the Corsair began operations from the island, but it was still far from being a rest area. If you were an aviator Adventure was always close at hand, and the "Hog" was kept busy flying combat missions over the Solomons until well into 1943. In this photo we see Marine Major Weissenberger manning up at Fighter Two on that stinking island. Since we don't know the date we don't know the unit either, but the picture definitely tells a story. Check out the strap hanging out of the cockpit and the missing tailhook, both points to consider for a model. Rocker Collection

Every once in a while we run into a photograph that's simply exceptional in every way, and this is one of them. The caption identifies the aircraft as being from VMF-213, but the badge on her fuselage is that of VMF-122, who weren't at Munda. Smart money says she was transferred from -122 to -214 after a stint at The Canal. However she got there, she's been pretty badly shot up; take a look at her wing and aft canopy. Somebody brought this one home after a really bad day at the office. The "Hog" could take it! Oh yeah, and check out her cowling too---the name "George" is barely visible there. What a neat airplane! Rocker Collection

VMF-218 had their Birdcage -1s at Borakoma when this photo was taken in 1943. The Japanese were a foe to be taken seriously from the first day of the war until the very last, but there were other enemies out there as well. One look at 465 shows how quickly the climate and operational conditions could wear out a perfectly good fighter. Those of you who model might want to check out the leading edges of those prop blades for an idea of how they wear in an abrasive environment. It's easy to get that one wrong. Rocker Collection

So you say you want to weather your model? OK, then; here's your chance. Check out this Birdcage sitting on the deck at the Turtle Bay airstrip on Espiritu Santo, paying particular attention to the lower sides of her aft fuselage. Can you spell "MUDDY"? Yes, Virginia; the SWPAC was a muddy place. Here's the proof! Rocker Collection

Greg Boyington was a legend during the war and became even more of one in post-War years, although revisionist historians have tried to diminish that legend as time has passed. He was hard-drinking, and a little bit of a brawler. There were times when he stretched the truth. And there were times when he proved himself a remarkably successful fighter pilot in one of the toughest arenas of the war. This F4U-1A was assigned to Boyington's VMF-214 and was apparently flown in combat by him---it was photographed at Bougainville during 214's stay there, and is a great illustration of a typical Corsair in operational conditions. They weren't all beat to pieces, you know. Rocker Collection

Here's the Man himself; Greg Boyington is preparing to man up 883 at Barakoma strip on Vella LaVella. A lot of people thought him a hero, although it's doubtful he ever felt that he was one. He was an effective squadron commander and was thoroughly exhausted, quite literally all used up, when he was shot down and became a prisoner of the Japanese. Even heros get tired sometimes. Rocker Collection

VMF-216 spent some time on Bougainville, flying out of the airstrip at Torokina. These F4U-1As are well used but obviously in good shape and ready to rumble. The "Hog's" personality comes through in every photograph we've ever seen of her; some airplanes were born to be classics! Rocker Collection

When you weren't slogging through ankle-deep mud you were choking on dust! These "Hogs" from an unidentified unit are getting ready to taxi out for a strike from their base on Majuro in 1944. They're fairly clean and appear to be new airplanes. Those side numbers are unusual---it's rare to find them that far forward on an airplane in a combat zone. Rocker Collection

Here's a fine example of how coral dust could ruin the paint (not to mention the engine, guns, and all the other mechanical components) of an airplane. This VMF-222 F4U-1D is sitting on the ground at Green Island and is pretty much beat to snot, although odds are she was a relatively new aircraft. Check out the ground crewman sitting behind her---time to read was where you could find it in the Pacific. Rocker Collection

Here's another well-used "Hog", this time from VMF-221 at Bougainville. Modelers take note that there are grease and gun stains aft of the cartridge case ejection chutes, but none around the gun ports. There's a lesson there, folks! Rocker Collection

If you're going to be in a fight you're going to get a little bloody sometimes. This F4U-1A is from an unidentified unit on Torokina and has been recently savaged by a Japanese fighter. This one got home, but a lot of them didn't. How do you spell "valor"? Rocker Collection

The Corps called it Bloody Pelelieu, and when they'd captured the place they built an airfield there. This F4U-1D was from VMF-114 and was lugging a drop tank full of nape when this photo was taken. The Corsair was superb at air-to-air and equally at home moving mud. She had evolved into a true fighter-bomber by the time the -1D entered service, and rapidly became the sweetheart of the mud Marines. Rocker Collection

The "Hog" got around. These birds are shown on the ground at Iwo after the island was more or less secured. Paint jobs are a mix of GSB and tri-scheme, and the airplanes are fairly clean. That wouldn't last for very long. Rocker Collection

They fought in two American wars and performed superbly. They served until the mid-1950s, when the last AU-1 was retired from service, and more than a few went on to join the Warbird circuit. We can only hope that these F4U-1Ds, derelect at Miami in 1964, were among those that made the jump to a second life in the civilian world.

Many thanks to Bobby Rocker for this remarkable essay on that most remarkable of Second World War fighters. Semper Fi!

'Stangs From the MOANG

As long as we're doing something on the Corsair today we'd may as well give The Other Guys equal time. We'd normally do that with another F-106 installment, but the simple fact is that we've been sitting on a pile of Missouri ANG P-51 photos courtesy of Mark Nankivil and it's time to show them to you.

The 110th FS operated their P-51Ds out of Lambert Field in St Louis. This snow-bound lineup was photographed on the ground there in the winter of 1952; the 110th's birds were never flamboyantly marked, generally featuring only a colored spinner and, on occasion, a name. Note the retractable tailwheels; they went away after the USAF's experience with the mud encountered during operations in Korea, but these aircraft still have their retractable units in place. Nankivil Collection

The 110th had Mustangs for several years and bridged the changeover from the AAF to the Air Force. This P-51D is still carrying its PF-prefixed buzz number---that would change in 1947. 44-73187 is essentially a World War 2 P-51D, and wouldn't have been at all out of place in the skies over Hitler's Europe. Nankivil Collection

This shot of a MOANG P-51 undergoing maintenance gives us an excellent view of the airframe structure surrounding the engine, as well as the typical attire worn by the squadron's line personnel. That Ike jacket on the pilot standing in the center of the photo is pretty classy, don't you think? Nankivil Collection

The 110th also operated a couple of RF-51Ds for a while. This excellent study of 45-11660 shows that variant's camera ports to advantage, as well as its DF loop and late canopy. Most iterations of the Mustang were subtle in nature, but the classic lines of the airplane remained right up to the H-model (never flown by the 110th, before you ask!). Nankivil Collection

The P-51 was a gorgeous aircraft when cleaned up and in flight. There's not much here in the way of markings, but it really doesn't matter---pretty is pretty. Check out that oil streak just aft of the "2" in the aircraft's nose number. If the P-51's engine was running that streak was there---modelers take note! Nankivil Collection

Guard pilots are former active duty pilots, and the Guard units of the late '40s and early 50s all contained quite a few WW2 retreads in their ranks. You can easily imagine this flight winging its way over Germany or Japan, but in point of fact they're over rural Missouri. The photo is fascinating because it shows three completely different forms of fuselage markings, all of which were the norm for Guard birds at the time this photo was taken. Nankivil Collection

And speaking of gorgeous air-to-air photos, it's pretty hard to top this one for sheer beauty. These aircraft are identically marked, which takes some of the fun out of things, but they sure show off the classic lines of that airplane. We like it! Nankivil Collection

If it goes up, it will come down. There's nothing that says it has to come down in any sort of a dignified manner, though. This bird has apparently endured a classic example of an aviator's headstand and mostly survived the experience. The aircraft appears to be salvageable. That wasn't always the case. Nankivil Collection

If it goes up it will come down, Part Two. It's considered to be good practice to put your airplane down on the same runway you left from or, if that's not in the game plan, to put your airplane down some place some how. Most folks don't choose a neighborhood for that down-putting, but sometimes that's how it works out. The Packard-Merlin is a wonderful engine right up to the point where it quits working---that's when you stick the airplane any place you can. This pilot was lucky... Nankivil Collection

If it goes up it will come down, Part Three. This 110th P-51D suffered an unknown in-flight emergency and came down outside of Mt Vernon, Illinois. This appears to be a text-book belly landing, all things considered, but we're guessing the airplane was a write-off. Any landing you can walk away from... Nankivil Collection

Happy Snaps

We didn't do anything with our F-106 project this time around, but to partially make amends we'd like to offer up this photo by ADC authority Marty Isham as a consolation prize of sorts:

Every once in a while you get to take a ride in a tub, which is what Marty was doing when he shot this portrait of 59-0149 from New Jersey's 49th FIS/177th FIG on 9 June, 1988. You can't tell from this photo, but the GIB (that's Guy In Back, in case you weren't familiar with that acronym) is astronaut Gordon Cooper. Our readers take some pretty neat photos, don't they? Marty Isham

The Relief Tube

Today's the day you get to ask What's Going On Over There? We've had a couple of abbreviated editions of this missive in a row, and they've both been late, which makes that a Fair Question. The answer is simple. Between work and family I've been really busy of late. I apologize for the abbreviated editions and ask your patience---we'll be back to normal before you know it!

You might have also notice some issues with our photography over the last week or two; it went goofy on us, and a number of older photographs de-linked themselves to boot. Our blog host has corrected that issues and the photos now work the way they always have, and all those broken links have been fixed---thanks to Google for the quick repair, and apologies to our readership for the lapse in quality.

Finally, although we do have several entries for the Relief Tube we aren't going to run them today because your editor has just about run out of steam and it's time to get this issue launched. We'll catch up next time. Meanwhile, be good to your neighbor and we'll meet again soon. We will. I promise!
phil

An Unusual Visitor, Sixes For Two, A Pacific Legend, and Learnin' to Fly

2011-09-17T16:02:00.002-05:00

What Are Those Guys Doing Here?

That little fracas in Southeast Asia during that took place during the 1960s was quite an interesting affair. Most of us are familiar with the "normal" side of things, but there were quite a few sidebars to the conflict too; goofy things such as FJ-4Bs flying limited Alpha strikes into Laos during 1962, or somewhat unusual drones overflying interesting places. Another sidebar would surely be the unusual transients that occasionally showed up in Vietnam, Republic of. Let's start our day with a couple of those visitors.

Few people think of the Cambodian Air Force when they think of the Vietnam War, but that nation did possess a small air arm. We showed you one of their T-28s a few months back; here's something a little more unusual. This MiG-15UTI was photographed at Bien Hoa during June of 1970 during a rare visit out of country. The aircraft is about as plain as you can get---overall grey with a red nose. Her aircraft number, 2832, is presented on the vertical stab only, with nothing on the nose. Modelers take note of the antenna wire, which runs to a small mast just inside the larger one. That large mast didn't do anything except sit on the fuselage and look like an antenna mast, but it remained on the MiG-15, totally disfunctional, until the last one left active service. Check out that VNAF pilot for scale; the MiG-15 was a tiny airplane. J. Elliott

Cambodia also operated the MiG-17; 1721 was a beautifully-marked example of the type in squadron service. The Fresco wasn't much bigger that the MiG-15 that preceded it and was quite an adversary in the hands of a skilled pilot, although there were relatively few skilled Bad Guys flying the type during that war. We know of several photographers who had the opportunity to visit Cambodia during the war, but most of the photographs we've seen were of poor quality because they had to be taken on the sly. That particular level of security went away the second these guys crossed into South Vietnam, allowing us a rare view of two of their aircraft. J. Elliott

The MiG-17 was quite an aircraft, and packed a punch too. This nose-on view shows her gun pack partially winched down, which allows us a look at the single 37mm and twin 23mm cannon that armed most Vietnam-era MiG-17s. That doohicky laying on the starboard wing (which is on your left in this view---gotta pay attention to those things!) is the fairing for the 37mm gun. Check out that windscreen too. Most of the flat center panel, the one the pilot would generally look through, is blocked by the gunsight, and the quality of the transparencies is poor. Contributor Rick Morgan had the opportunity to sit in a Fresco once upon a time and commented that looking through the windscreen was a lot like trying to see through a Coke bottle that had a shoe box in the middle of it. The MiG-17 was definitely a no-frills aircraft! J. Elliott

A Graceful Tub

Once upon a time, Convair (remember Convair?) built a then-state-of-the-art interceptor known to the world as the F-102A. That airplane, fondly known to the aviation fraternity as the "Deuce", was advanced enough that it was felt a dedicated two-seat transition aircraft (a trainer, in other words) was required. The resulting airplane was both ugly and distinctly subsonic, and is the airplane usually voted most likely to have inspired use of the word "tub" when describing the modification of a single-seat-anything into a two-seater.

That was the "Deuce". When Convair designed the F-106 (originally the F-102B, if you recall) they spent a little more time on the two-seater, and came up with an airplane that wasn't that far removed from the single-seat F-106A. It was a neat airplane, and today we're going to take a look at it.

57-2546 was built as an F-106B-60-CO and was assigned to the ADWC when I shot her at an airshow at Randolph in May of 1982. That canopy framing is typical of the Bravo Six and is not unique to this airplane. Neither, unfortunately, is the TAC shield on her vertical stab. Like so many of her sisters she ended her days as a QF-106B and was destroyed in 1995. Friddell

57-2513 was almost devoid of markings when Vince Reynolds took her portrait in October of 1979. The "Six" was a clean airplane and could be brutally fast under the right conditions. She was a -31-CO and was never converted to drone status; you can see her today at the Yanks Air Museum. Reynolds

July of 1984 saw Mark Morgan doing that airshow thing, where he caught the 186th's 57-2517 (another F-106B-31-CO) early in the day, before the public was allowed aboard. 2517 was converted into the now-ubiquitous QF-106 but survived the program after a ground accident. She was subsequently surplused out and was in private hands at one time (she may still be, for all we know!). The F-106 would make for an expensive warbird... M. Morgan

Those Montana birds got around! I shot this one on the transient ramp at Kelly in 1982. 57-2518 was built as an F-106B-35-CO and got herself converted to QF status at the end of her life; she was ultimately shot down by an AIM-120. This shot is for the modelers among our readership---check out the taxi light and the deployed RAT. You might also want to check out that taxiway behind her. Kelly was an interesting place in the '80s. Friddell

Airplanes get new clothes from time to time, just like people do. 57-2513 was assigned to the 2954th CLSS when I photographed her on the ramp at Kelly in 1982. There's absolutely nothing of significant interest about her except for that vertical stab and the wingtips. She had a little flash but was basically a shy kind of girl. Then she grew up... Friddell

And got all flashy, running around with a fast crowd as a B-1B chase aircraft. Go back up a few shots and you'll notice that she's the same bird Vince Reynolds photographed in nothing but a coat of Aircraft Grey. It makes for an interesting evolution of colors! I think Mark Morgan might have shot this one but I'm not sure---how about it, Mark? Friddell Collection

As long as we're looking at chase planes we'd may as well look at this one too! 57-2535 was an F-106B-35-CO when photographed at Kelly by John Parchman during 1988. Her tail markings are Insignia Blue rather than red, and she's noteworthy because she's got her weapons bay doors opened up. Assignment to a prominent test program couldn't save her, though; she was converted to QF status and went down at the hands of an AIM-9M in 1993. Parchman

June of 1982 saw Kelly AFB hosting an ANG convention, with most of the Guard's tactical and air defense units in attendance. We often see active duty aircraft going into the Guard in their old age, but sometimes it works the other way around. Compare the photograph of that test bird immediately above with this one; anything seem familiar to you? She was a classy lady right up to the time she was expended as a drone. Friddell

And finally, here's a shot featuring a detail you don't see every day; 59-0158 has her weapons bay doors opened and her launch rails deployed. Tom Ring shot her as a transient at Ellington in September of 1981. She's of special interest because she survived the QF-106 program to be ear-marked for a display aircraft at Edwards. Tom Ring

That's it for today's edition of Six into Nine (with appropriate apologies to Jimi), but we aren't done with this particular song yet---stay tuned for more in the weeks ahead!

It's All a Matter of Being in The Right Place at the Right Time

And Lockheed's P-38 Lightning was every bit of that. She was born as an interceptor, and went to war in the frozen high-altitude climate of Western Europe, where she proved to be indifferent at best. General George wanted her for the Pacific, even though a great many people predicted she would fail there once put into combat against the far more nimble fighters of the Japanese. In the end she proved them all wrong, and was developed into an aerial killer par excellance.

The 54th FS was an early operational user of the P-38. This G-model is apparently on long final, or maybe just tooling along with her gear down while pacing a significantly slower aircraft. The Lightning was a rocket ship by the standards of the 1940s, and there was no such thing as a slow P-38. The flaps are deployed on this aircraft too, giving us an excellent view of their appearance in that mode. Rocker Collection

The 54th operated out of Adak, without the glamor or notoriety of her more famous sisters assigned to warmer climes. That's Lt. Herb Hasenfus grinning at us from the cockpit, but you can bet he didn't smile all the time---that mud would turn to ice overnight, and the snow was no pleasure to work out of either. The guys in the Aleutians had it rough, but almost nobody remembers that nowadays. They ought to. Rocker Collection

A fair number of P-38s ended up on Guadalcanal once the place had been more or less secured. This shot is soft on detail, but it's a perfect illustration of the fact that the Japanese weren't the only enemy in the Pacific. Those muddy runways devoured a whole bunch of airplanes, but they didn't stop operations. Rocker Collection

The P-38 saw the war through, from the Bad Old Days at New Guinea and the 'Canal to the Philippines, but the conditions never changed much. Mud is mud, and tired is tired. There were times when the enemy was just a sideshow to the day-to-day drama of "routine" operations. Rocker Collection

The 35th FS was one of the 5th AF fighter outfits to make it through the war pretty much from beginning to end. Dick West's "Helen" is seen preparing to taxi at Nadzab during the latter stages of the conflict. The airplane is devoid of drop tanks so it's probably intended to be a short mission; the P-38 flew the short hops too, but its forte was long-range operations. It was ideally suited for ops in the Pacific thanks to those twin engines and adequate internal fuel capacity. Rocker Collection

By 1944 most of the Pacific belonged to the United States, but that was a condition that could never be taken for granted. The 35th was at Wadke on 5 June, 1944, when a Japanese air raid reduced Dick West's P-38 to pots and pans. The Golden BB apparently came in the form of a 250-kg bomb that hit directly in front of the aircraft with the result seen here. Rocker Collection

This photo may possibly illustrate another of Dick West's airplanes, but then again it may not. Logic says the 35th couldn't have been full of airplanes named "Helen", but we honestly don't know. We do know that the's a P-38L, and that she belonged to the 8th FG when photographed at Mindoro in 1944. After that, it's anybody's guess! Rocker Collection

"Barely Yours" was another P-38L from the 35th. Notice how the prop blades have weathered out, particularly in the area of the data block at the base of the blades. That's a detail often overlooked by modelers. Rocker Collection

49th Fighter Group ace Robert DeHaven is most often associated with the P-40, but he spent some time with the P-38 as well. Here we see his Lightning immediately post-War, quite possibly in Japan. The guys in that picture look a lot older than they actually were, and appear to be fairly grim too. There was a reason for that. Rocker Collection

The 80th FS was another unit assigned to Nadzab during 1944, as typified by Howard Fotheringham's P-38J. Between the white theater markings and green squadron colors the airplane is a veritable Easter egg, but her muddy parking apron brings us back to reality. Fighting in the Southwest Pacific was no picnic even if you were on the winning side. Rocker Collection

The 475th was established as a hand-picked group of trained killers, and was a hot outfit from its establishment until the end of the war. This unidentified pilot typifies the breed. Yes, we say it over and over again, but those guys were young, most of them, although they didn't stay that way very long. It's easy to imagine this guy driving his best girl around town in a jalopy, or mowing his dad's yard. He's typical of the young men who fought in that war. We hope he made it to the end. Rocker Collection

Tommy McGuire was one of the ones who didn't make it. He was often described as a misfit, and only came into his own in the cockpit of the P-38. A close competitor with Dick Bong for the title of America's leading ace, he was killed in combat on 7 January 1945 while trying to save one of his flight members from attack by Sugimoto Akira, a highly-skilled Ki-43 pilot. McGuire had attempted to turn while low and slow and encumbered by drop tanks, causing his P-38 to stall and spin in.There are those who will tell you McGuire died out of greed, trying to beat Bong in the scoring race. To some extent that may be true, but he was also worn out, and quite possibly a little bit burned out as well. The thing to remember is that he died trying to save another pilot. Let's lift a glass... Rocker Collection

Dick Bong flew several different P-38s during the course of his career, and not all were named "Marge". This example was photographed at Nadzab and shows Bong's scoreboard at the time. The airplane is filthy, and the operational conditions are miserable. We always remember the aces, but we rarely think of the mud. Unlike many of his contemporaries Dick Bong survived combat to become America's highest-scoring fighter ace of all time. He died while flight testing the P-80; very few of the AAF's top-scorers in the Pacific lived to a ripe old age. Rocker Collection

A T-Bird is a T-Bird is a T-Bird

While we're talking about Lockheed aircraft, let's take a quick look at a lesser-known example of the breed. We all know that the Air Force caused a two-seat trainer, the T-33, to be developed from its F-80 fighter, and we know that the immortal T-Bird subsequently trained tens of thousands of pilot over the course of its career. Some some folks may not know that the Navy operated the aircraft as well, and even had their own specific variation of it. Let's look.

This is what most folks think of when somebody says T-Bird. It was a ubiquitous member of the USAF's arsenal for over two decades, and is typified by this study of 52-9883, a T-33A-1-LO here photographed with Michigan's 127th FG. This is how most of us think of the T-Bird. Those fuselage stripes are tasty, aren't they? Barbier

The NAV (and the Marine Corps, as seen here) first acquired the T-Bird as a direct purchase, the aircraft being designated the TV-2. The aircraft was a standard T-33 in every respect, its only real modification for naval service being a new paint job. The TV-2 wasn't of much use as a trainer, at least not for the Navy, and frequently ended up as a station hack, as seen here. Vince Reynolds

Although the basic T-33 was (and still is) a delight to fly, it could never be considered to be a naval aircraft. That changed when the basic design was modified into the T2V-1, an honest-to-goodness carrier aircraft. Mods were numerous and included a general strenghening of the airframe and landing gear, installation of a tailhook, a new vertical tail, leading-edge slats, and a revised cockpit that included a raised seating position for the instructor in the back seat. Those accumulative mods changed the T-Bird into a distinctive variant known as the Sea Star. Vince Reynolds

The Sea Star remained in Navy service until the 1970s, when it was replaced by North American's T-2 Buckeye family of trainers. 144165h was photographed in July of 1959 while assigned to NAS Anacostia, and could define the type as far as appearance is concerned. The hook is well-depicted in this photo, as is the humped-up aft canopy, necessitated by the raised seat for the instructor. That vertical stab is somewhat remeniscent of the F-94C, don't you think? Gotta keep it in the family! S. Miller

Happy Snaps

There are Happy Snaps and then there are Happy Snaps. Today's offering is courtesy the camera of Rick Morgan, and might be termed "somewhat unusual".

Bear hunting! The year was 1985, and Rick was flying with VAQ-139 near Guam when he shot this intercept by a section of VFA-25 Hornets. It's our understanding that these sorts of affairs were generally friendly in nature, with lots of waving and picture-taking, punctuated with the occasional uplifted middle digit to provide spice to the proceedings. We consider this to be a classic image of the Cold War. R. Morgan

The Relief Tube

Let's lead off today's offering with an explanation as to why we didn't publish anything last week. The simple truth is that a combination of minor illness plus employment demands, coupled with the length of time it takes to put one of these things together (and it takes longer than you might think) made publication impossible last time around. We'll try, as always, to do better, so stay tuned as it were. There are Good Things ahead.

One more thing before we get to our reader's input and corrections: You'll notice a change in the way our photographs are presented when you click on the images to enlarge them. That's a function of the blog software used, and we had nothing to do with the change. It's apparently universal---we went to the other sites that we know use that software and they're the same, so it ain't just us. We aren't sure whether we like it or not, but we can't do anything about it one way or another. We hope it's ok with you.

It's time to talk airplanes! Last issue we ran a couple of photos of an airplane we described as Mystery Meat, and asked for identification. I expected a response, our readership being what it is, but I never expected to hear back from anybody five minutes after the posting went up, which is quite literally what happened. Mike McMurtrey was the first respondent, but he wasn't the only one: That tri-geared cub is a YL-21 modified for aerodynamic research by the Raspet Flight Research Laboratory at Mississippi State University. They installed Cessna spring landing gear and a nose wheel. The hump on the cowling covered a pump that sucked boundary layer air into the wings. They even tried one without a prop to fly it as a glider in the same configuration. There are also pictures of one of these planes with a set of double tires on each side. Note that it belonged to the Army and not the Air Force. There were two YL-21s: 51-6495 and 51-6496. They were PA-18-135s special ordered in 1950. Mike

Steve Shefflin also checked in on the subject: Hi Phil, First, let me say how much I love your site. I download so many of your great photos to my wallpaper that I am in dire danger of filling my hard drive. Regarding your mystery photos, I too believe it is a modified Piper L-21 Super Cub. After staring at the partially visible serial numbers, and doing a little research, I think that it may be one of two YL-21 Super Cubs: 51-6495 or 51-6496 (c/n 18-749/750). I could, however, find no information regarding any tricycle landing gear mods. Finally, what in the world is that strange bulge on the upper cowling? Steve Sheflin Take a look at Mike's response just above, Steve. I think he's got that hump figured out!

Another reader known only as Norm way up there in New Hampshire also nailed the airplane: What a great web site! I check in every day to see if there is something new. I'm that nifty fiftie and sixties birds vintage. Bird in question is a Mississippi State research bird. BTW: They still have their square tail Bird Dog flying. Norm

We've begun a series of photo essays on Convair's remarkable F-106, and co-conspirator Dave Menard had this to say about the airplane: Phil, Latest blog in this morning and as usual, interesting as hell! In the write up for the Six, mention is made that none went to "furren" AFs. I wonder. Reason for wondering is while on an officially escorted photo shoot at McClellan AFB in the spring of 1973 when I was stationed at Mathe r(across town from McClellan) and noticed some A and B model Sixes with 100% cocooning on them sitting on a barge waiting to go downriver to SF Bay to be loaded on a ship(?). Serials were in large(3 or 4 inch) stencils on both sides of their noses, but I did not write them down for reasons forgotten. McClellan was THE depot for the Six (as well as the F-100, F-105, A-1, to name some more) so logically, any Sixes for export would have left after full rebuilds. Hmmmmm. Have wondered over the years where they went. They were not Deuces as I do know the difference. Guess we will never know…Cheers, dave Looks as though we've got another challenge for our readership! Does anybody know where those Mystery Sixes ended up? There's no prize for the answer but we'd really like to know!

And speaking of Sixes, here's a comment and a correction we snuck in that correction last week!) from Mark Williams: Phil, very nice selection as usual! You snuck a Monday post in on me, and when I checked your blog I realized I was a few days late! I'll take it though!

I really enjoyed the F-106s! As you can tell by my e-mail address, I'm sort of a fan. I never got to work on them myself -- I started as a crew chief on KC-135s, and ended up as a Flight Engineer on C-130s before I retired (nine days ago to be exact!) I noticed you described 58-0780 as, "New York's 49th FIS". I kind of think that might confuse some readers into thinking that the 49th was an ANG unit, but it was not. They were active duty, and now the 49th FTS out of Columbus AFB, MS. In fact, a bunch of the old active FIS's are FTS's now. The 5th FTS is out of Vance AFB, OK now, and the 87th FTS is out of Laughlin AFB, TX.

BTW, I also caught you accurately described that 56-0461 is on display at the Sawyer museum, but did you know they repainted the tail number to accurately depict an actual 87th FIS aircraft? It's painted as 57-0231. I was there for the dedication ceremony exactly five years ago today! Personally, I'm not a big fan of changing tail numbers, but it wasn't my display. Anyway, great post! Keep sneaking in a few F-106 photos. Maybe I'll send a couple of mine sometime! Have a good weekend, Mark O. Williams Thanks for the corrections, Mark! As always, they're appreciated.

And finally, it seems our mention of those childhood favorites, the Colby books, struck a chord with at least one of our readers, Gary Kato: Phil, Not long ago I was trying to remember who made some of the military picture books that I used to check out often at the Public Library when I was a kid. Colby! I don't actually remember aircraft books but I do remember a military vehicle book or two. Finding your blog motivated me to find my issues of RIS and Aerophile. I only had 2 issues of RIS but I remember thinking it was a great magazine. Back then there weren't that many magazines doing things for modern aircraft model builders.Thanks, gary And thanks to you for writing, Gary. Those Colby books encompassed just about everything as I recall---I can distinctly remember aircraft, warships, and military vehicles in the series. I keep hoping I'll run across the aviation titles in a used bookstore some day!

And that's about all we have for today. We've had some remarkable submissions of late so good things lie ahead---stay tuned for The Further Adventures of Whatever It Is We Do Around Here. Meanwhile, be good to your neighbor. We'll meet again soon.
phil