June 2022 Articles

• On a hot afternoon in late August 1996, Robert “Hoot” Gibson was making an approach to Greater Kankakee Airport, 50 miles south of Chicago, at the controls of “Riff Raff,” a Sea Fury modified with an 18-cylinder Wright R-3350 radial in place of its original Bristol Centaurus radial. “I had extended my downwind and I’m […]

  

  The Hawker Sea Fury that forced an astronaut back down to Earth

  On a hot afternoon in late August 1996, Robert “Hoot” Gibson was making an approach to Greater Kankakee Airport, 50 miles south of Chicago, at the controls of “Riff Raff,” a Sea Fury modified with an 18-cylinder Wright R-3350 radial in place of its original Bristol Centaurus radial. “I had extended my downwind and I’m […]
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• LEROY RANDALL GRUMMAN had an uncompromising design philosophy that led his company to produce generations of great carrier-based fighters and attack airplanes. His ultraconservative approach was the natural result of his 30-year experience as a naval pilot in WW I, a naval test pilot, a general manager and test pilot of Loening amphibians and later […]

  

  A Test Pilot’s Trials and Tribulations in Grumman’s WW II Masterpiece

  LEROY RANDALL GRUMMAN had an uncompromising design philosophy that led his company to produce generations of great carrier-based fighters and attack airplanes. His ultraconservative approach was the natural result of his 30-year experience as a naval pilot in WW I, a naval test pilot, a general manager and test pilot of Loening amphibians and later […]
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• June 13, 1943 “I lifted the wing, slid the P-47 through a gentle curve in her dive and lunged for the Focke-Wulf 190. Closer, closer, the square wings, big black crosses in the sight, growing larger, clearer. Trigger squeeze, stick steady, the lead is exactly right, he’ll fly into the bullets, hold it down. Crash! […]

  

  JUG ACE – High-scoring P-47 Thunderbolt pilot Lt. Col. Robert “Bob” S. Johnson

  June 13, 1943 “I lifted the wing, slid the P-47 through a gentle curve in her dive and lunged for the Focke-Wulf 190. Closer, closer, the square wings, big black crosses in the sight, growing larger, clearer. Trigger squeeze, stick steady, the lead is exactly right, he’ll fly into the bullets, hold it down. Crash! […]
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• The Komet was not a war’s-end-crazy-idea born of desperation, as is often believed. In fact, the design began in the late 1930s, and the prototype flew in 1941. It was the hands-down winner for the crown of fastest operational aircraft of World War II, both in speed and climb. From the technological view, it included […]

  

  Me 163 Komet A Brilliant Failure

  The Komet was not a war’s-end-crazy-idea born of desperation, as is often believed. In fact, the design began in the late 1930s, and the prototype flew in 1941. It was the hands-down winner for the crown of fastest operational aircraft of World War II, both in speed and climb. From the technological view, it included […]
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• Ray Fowler closed the distance on “Old Crow” above Detroit, Michigan on January 13, rendezvousing with Paul Draper, who was flying Jack Roush’s P-51B. Fowler was at the controls of another “Old Crow,” a P-51D owned by Jim Hagedorn. Both airplanes wear the wartime livery of one of America’s most celebrated aces, Colonel Clarence “Bud” […]

  

  Sixteen Hours in “Old Crow”

  Ray Fowler closed the distance on “Old Crow” above Detroit, Michigan on January 13, rendezvousing with Paul Draper, who was flying Jack Roush’s P-51B. Fowler was at the controls of another “Old Crow,” a P-51D owned by Jim Hagedorn. Both airplanes wear the wartime livery of one of America’s most celebrated aces, Colonel Clarence “Bud” […]
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• The P-47 Thunderbolt pilot of 1945 wore and carried lots of stuff, and little of it gave meaning to the military term “uniform.” At Metz, France, in January 1945, the group and squadron commanders of the “Hell Hawks” 365th Fighter Group posed in their gear in front of a wrecked Luftwaffe Focke-Wulf 190. The men […]

  

  What They Wore

  The P-47 Thunderbolt pilot of 1945 wore and carried lots of stuff, and little of it gave meaning to the military term “uniform.” At Metz, France, in January 1945, the group and squadron commanders of the “Hell Hawks” 365th Fighter Group posed in their gear in front of a wrecked Luftwaffe Focke-Wulf 190. The men […]
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• After releasing its full load of 500-pound bombs, Lt. Col. Gerald Wickline’s B-52 aircraft received a hard hit from a Russian surface-to-air missile (SAM) followed by three more explosions. It shattered his windows and reduced his instruments to worthless hardware. The aircraft immediately became almost impossible to control, according to Wickline. Downstairs, the Radar Navigator, […]

  

  LAST MAN OUT – Miracle in the South China Sea

  After releasing its full load of 500-pound bombs, Lt. Col. Gerald Wickline’s B-52 aircraft received a hard hit from a Russian surface-to-air missile (SAM) followed by three more explosions. It shattered his windows and reduced his instruments to worthless hardware. The aircraft immediately became almost impossible to control, according to Wickline. Downstairs, the Radar Navigator, […]
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