October 2024 Articles

• The 1930s were a golden era, pushing the boundaries of sophisticated design in the quest for speed and air race glory. The de Havilland Aircraft Company excelled with the DH 88 Comet G-ACSS “Grosvenor House,” which won the prestigious 1934 London to Melbourne (Australia) MacRobertson Air Race. The King’s Cup Air Race, inaugurated in 1922 for a trophy initially presented by King George V, became the most important and widely publicized British air race. The quest for intercontinental records also continued unabated until the outbreak of World War II in Europe. The Mew Gull: A Winning Design Prime among European […]

  

  Red Hot Racer Up close with a 1930’s Percival Mew Gull

  The 1930s were a golden era, pushing the boundaries of sophisticated design in the quest for speed and air race glory. The de Havilland Aircraft Company excelled with the DH 88 Comet G-ACSS “Grosvenor House,” which won the prestigious 1934 London to Melbourne (Australia) MacRobertson Air Race. The King’s Cup Air Race, inaugurated in 1922 for a trophy initially presented by King George V, became the most important and widely publicized British air race. The quest for intercontinental records also continued unabated until the outbreak of World War II in Europe. The Mew Gull: A Winning Design Prime among European […]
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• “I couldn’t tear my eyes away from the airplane. It was a beauty. It had a streamlined, elongated fuselage with a glassed-in cockpit that looked out across a great distance of pointed engine cowling. Four menacing rapid-fire cannons and machine guns bristled from the wings’ leading edges, and eight launch rails for anti-tank missiles hung beneath the wings. The aircraft’s central wing section held four bomb bays, and six more 100-kilogram bombs could be fastened under the fuselage … What a mighty bird had been entrusted to me!” —Anna Yegorova Ilyushin IL-2 Sturmovik The Ilyushin IL-2 Sturmovik (“Sturmovik” is a […]

  

  Storm Bird Anna Yegorova, Soviet Sturmovik pilot

  “I couldn’t tear my eyes away from the airplane. It was a beauty. It had a streamlined, elongated fuselage with a glassed-in cockpit that looked out across a great distance of pointed engine cowling. Four menacing rapid-fire cannons and machine guns bristled from the wings’ leading edges, and eight launch rails for anti-tank missiles hung beneath the wings. The aircraft’s central wing section held four bomb bays, and six more 100-kilogram bombs could be fastened under the fuselage … What a mighty bird had been entrusted to me!” —Anna Yegorova Ilyushin IL-2 Sturmovik The Ilyushin IL-2 Sturmovik (“Sturmovik” is a […]
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• First Lieutenant Paul L. Jackson of the 445th Bomb Squadron, 321st Bomb Group, would long remember his thirty-seventh B-25 mission, March 24, 1945. “As we flew away from the target, the guys in back called on the intercom to ask if we had taken a hit up front, since things were ‘very windy back here.’ We checked everywhere, but there was no damage. Our radioman then crawled into the space over the bomb bay and opened the inspection hatch to discover that one of our thousand pounders had hung up by its tail shackle. It was hanging out the bomb […]

  

  Going for Broke – Brenner Pass: Cutting the German Jugular

  First Lieutenant Paul L. Jackson of the 445th Bomb Squadron, 321st Bomb Group, would long remember his thirty-seventh B-25 mission, March 24, 1945. “As we flew away from the target, the guys in back called on the intercom to ask if we had taken a hit up front, since things were ‘very windy back here.’ We checked everywhere, but there was no damage. Our radioman then crawled into the space over the bomb bay and opened the inspection hatch to discover that one of our thousand pounders had hung up by its tail shackle. It was hanging out the bomb […]
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• Clarence E. “Bud” Anderson, Jr., America’s last living triple ace, departed the pattern on May 17. He was a rara avis, as only six other World War II aces remain. Anderson grew up a Depression-era farm kid who was crazy about airplanes. In that regard he was no different from millions of others enthralled with the glamour of aviation’s golden era. Unlike the huge majority, he followed his dream to stratospheric heights. Born in Oakland on Friday, the 13th of January 1922, “Buddy” inherited some invaluable traits growing up on a farm near Newcastle, California. From his parents he received […]

  

  An American Hero – In the cockpit with Bud Anderson

  Clarence E. “Bud” Anderson, Jr., America’s last living triple ace, departed the pattern on May 17. He was a rara avis, as only six other World War II aces remain. Anderson grew up a Depression-era farm kid who was crazy about airplanes. In that regard he was no different from millions of others enthralled with the glamour of aviation’s golden era. Unlike the huge majority, he followed his dream to stratospheric heights. Born in Oakland on Friday, the 13th of January 1922, “Buddy” inherited some invaluable traits growing up on a farm near Newcastle, California. From his parents he received […]
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• The new F8F-1 Bearcat, fresh from Grumman’s plant on Long Island, New York, and making its first long cross-country hop, taxied in on the ramp and shut down as sailors shoved chocks under its main wheels. As the tired ferry pilot rolled back the fighter’s canopy, his ears were assaulted with the insistent and constant sounds of ringing church bells and car horns. President Truman had just announced that the Japanese had accepted unconditional surrender. The war in the Pacific was over! Little attention was paid to the new Grumman or its pilot, as Bearcats had become a common sight […]

  

  Star Power – Big-screen names who have served

  The new F8F-1 Bearcat, fresh from Grumman’s plant on Long Island, New York, and making its first long cross-country hop, taxied in on the ramp and shut down as sailors shoved chocks under its main wheels. As the tired ferry pilot rolled back the fighter’s canopy, his ears were assaulted with the insistent and constant sounds of ringing church bells and car horns. President Truman had just announced that the Japanese had accepted unconditional surrender. The war in the Pacific was over! Little attention was paid to the new Grumman or its pilot, as Bearcats had become a common sight […]
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• The 18 scout bombers approached Oahu that Sunday morning, flying in pairs to cover the Eastern Hemisphere from their carrier, USS Enterprise. “The Big E” had just delivered Marine Corps fighters to Wake Island, and Vice Adm. W. F. Halsey was taking no chances. He had operated his task force on a war footing since the previous month, even when returning to Hawaiian waters. Cmdr. Howard Young was approaching Pearl Harbor at about 0800 when he saw a fighter initiate a pass at his Douglas SBD-3. The air group commander recognized a good gunnery run, mentally complimenting the brash U.S. […]

  

  Pacific Warrior – Dauntless dive-bombers deliver under fire

  The 18 scout bombers approached Oahu that Sunday morning, flying in pairs to cover the Eastern Hemisphere from their carrier, USS Enterprise. “The Big E” had just delivered Marine Corps fighters to Wake Island, and Vice Adm. W. F. Halsey was taking no chances. He had operated his task force on a war footing since the previous month, even when returning to Hawaiian waters. Cmdr. Howard Young was approaching Pearl Harbor at about 0800 when he saw a fighter initiate a pass at his Douglas SBD-3. The air group commander recognized a good gunnery run, mentally complimenting the brash U.S. […]
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• Forty-five miles west of Paris, France near Dreux, 1st Lt. Kenneth Dahlberg and seven other pilots from the 353rd Fighter Squadron bounced a formation of 20 Me-109s on August 16, 1944. Diving from 14,000 feet, they tore into the German fighters just before 5 pm local. Almost immediately, 60 more 109s joined the fray. Dahlberg, flying a P-51B named “Shillelagh” by its regular pilot, 1st Lt. David O’Hara, was too busy to recognize the odds. “You can only see so many at a time,” he later recalled. The nose of “Shillelagh” was pointed at a 109 trailing a group of […]

  

  Recreating P-51B Shillelagh

  Forty-five miles west of Paris, France near Dreux, 1st Lt. Kenneth Dahlberg and seven other pilots from the 353rd Fighter Squadron bounced a formation of 20 Me-109s on August 16, 1944. Diving from 14,000 feet, they tore into the German fighters just before 5 pm local. Almost immediately, 60 more 109s joined the fray. Dahlberg, flying a P-51B named “Shillelagh” by its regular pilot, 1st Lt. David O’Hara, was too busy to recognize the odds. “You can only see so many at a time,” he later recalled. The nose of “Shillelagh” was pointed at a 109 trailing a group of […]
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