October 2025 Articles

• The Continental Congress established the United States Navy on October 13, 1775, authorizing two ships modified as privateers. It was an extremely modest beginning for what became the world’s dominant sea power. Some 136 years later, in 1911 the United States Navy entered the air age, borne upon wood and fabric wings and the spiritual lift of hope and optimism. That March, Congress appropriated the grandiose amount of $25,000 (about $835,000 today) for development of naval aviation. At the time the Navy had 51,000 men with 202 ships. Dawn of naval aviation Curtiss pilot Eugene Ely already had proven shipboard […]

  

  Wings of the Fleet – Celebrating the U.S. Navy’s 250-year legacy

  The Continental Congress established the United States Navy on October 13, 1775, authorizing two ships modified as privateers. It was an extremely modest beginning for what became the world’s dominant sea power. Some 136 years later, in 1911 the United States Navy entered the air age, borne upon wood and fabric wings and the spiritual lift of hope and optimism. That March, Congress appropriated the grandiose amount of $25,000 (about $835,000 today) for development of naval aviation. At the time the Navy had 51,000 men with 202 ships. Dawn of naval aviation Curtiss pilot Eugene Ely already had proven shipboard […]
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• I entered the service for two reasons in late December 1941 my brother Tony had earned his wings in 1940 and I wanted to be just like him, but more importantly, the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor and I wanted to return the favor. By the time I earned my wings, I was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Marine Corps and was assigned to fly Corsairs. Unfortunately, I had a little mishap with one on landing so they thought I would be better suited flying the PBY Catalina. The PBY was old, slow, and reliable and could do just […]

  

  Warbug in the Pacific – Surviving combat in a Stinson OY-1/L-5

  I entered the service for two reasons in late December 1941 my brother Tony had earned his wings in 1940 and I wanted to be just like him, but more importantly, the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor and I wanted to return the favor. By the time I earned my wings, I was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Marine Corps and was assigned to fly Corsairs. Unfortunately, I had a little mishap with one on landing so they thought I would be better suited flying the PBY Catalina. The PBY was old, slow, and reliable and could do just […]
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• Claude Weaver III, an American from Oklahoma City, joined the Royal Canadian Air Force in February 1941 and flew Spitfires with 185 Squadron Royal Air Force in the fierce aerial battles in defense of Malta in 1942. Shortly after arriving on the island in July 1942, Weaver shot down five German Messerschmitt Bf 109s in a week, becoming the youngest Allied fighter ace at the age of 18. Four of his kills, plus a half-shared victory against a Junkers Ju 88 bomber a day later, were achieved flying Spitfire Mk Vb EP122, which is part of the Comanche Fighters collection […]

  

  Malta Spitfire – American fighter ace Claude Weaver III DFC DFM

  Claude Weaver III, an American from Oklahoma City, joined the Royal Canadian Air Force in February 1941 and flew Spitfires with 185 Squadron Royal Air Force in the fierce aerial battles in defense of Malta in 1942. Shortly after arriving on the island in July 1942, Weaver shot down five German Messerschmitt Bf 109s in a week, becoming the youngest Allied fighter ace at the age of 18. Four of his kills, plus a half-shared victory against a Junkers Ju 88 bomber a day later, were achieved flying Spitfire Mk Vb EP122, which is part of the Comanche Fighters collection […]
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• Standing 38 1/2 feet tall with a 200-foot wingspan, a 13 1/2-foot beam and 117 feet long nose to tail, Martin’s JRM Mars was the largest Allied flying boat produced for World War II. Just seven of the mammoth seaplanes were built for the U.S. Navy between 1942 and 1947. But the impression they made on those who flew them, were transported by them or simply saw them over more than eight decades was as outsized as the aircraft themselves. Mars Captain Peter Killin was one of them. He was seven years-old in 1960 when he first gazed at the […]

  

  A Tall Order – The final flights of “Philippine Mars” – the last airworthy Martin JRM Mars flying boat

  Standing 38 1/2 feet tall with a 200-foot wingspan, a 13 1/2-foot beam and 117 feet long nose to tail, Martin’s JRM Mars was the largest Allied flying boat produced for World War II. Just seven of the mammoth seaplanes were built for the U.S. Navy between 1942 and 1947. But the impression they made on those who flew them, were transported by them or simply saw them over more than eight decades was as outsized as the aircraft themselves. Mars Captain Peter Killin was one of them. He was seven years-old in 1960 when he first gazed at the […]
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• “We only have roads into town three months of the year, while all the lakes and rivers are frozen. Otherwise the only way into Norman Wells and many of the other communities around us is by airplane. Usually float planes. That’s why I had the Bellanca CH-300 restored. In the 1930s it was one of our favorite links with the outside world and is a historical connection from then to the modern aircraft we fly today.” The speaker is Warren Wright, who has operated North-Wright Airways for decades. His fleet of 21 aircraft—many on floats, some on wheels, and some […]

  

  Pacemaker: Bellanca’s 1929 Heavy Hauler North Country workhorse

  “We only have roads into town three months of the year, while all the lakes and rivers are frozen. Otherwise the only way into Norman Wells and many of the other communities around us is by airplane. Usually float planes. That’s why I had the Bellanca CH-300 restored. In the 1930s it was one of our favorite links with the outside world and is a historical connection from then to the modern aircraft we fly today.” The speaker is Warren Wright, who has operated North-Wright Airways for decades. His fleet of 21 aircraft—many on floats, some on wheels, and some […]
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• Seven P-51s and the B-29 “Doc” were among the warbirds that flew in for the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum’s “Innovations in Flight” day on June 14 at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia adjacent to Dulles International Airport. The aircraft arrived for the one-day event in celebration of the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II. Innovations in Flight is the NASM’s annual fly-in and outdoor display, created to explore the engineering and design achievements of the past century of flight. Visitors were able to chat with pilots and get up close to the […]

  

  Warbirds & more at Innovations in Flight

  Seven P-51s and the B-29 “Doc” were among the warbirds that flew in for the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum’s “Innovations in Flight” day on June 14 at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia adjacent to Dulles International Airport. The aircraft arrived for the one-day event in celebration of the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II. Innovations in Flight is the NASM’s annual fly-in and outdoor display, created to explore the engineering and design achievements of the past century of flight. Visitors were able to chat with pilots and get up close to the […]
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