The 707 Mini
It is easy to look at photos of a 707 and say to oneself, “Look, it is a 707”. However, any aficionado of Boeing’s first jet airliner knows there are more than a dozen 707 variants, and one of those derivatives was the 707-138B. Shorter by ten feet compared to the standard 707-120, the 138B was used exclusively by Qantas Empire Airways, which favored the abbreviated version due to its increased range.
The aircraft seen here, N-93134, is the first 138B built and was initially used for testing by Boeing. That project completed, in July of 1961, the bird was off to Australia as VH-EBH, “City of Darwin”.
One of the interesting details in these photos is that even though Boeing was using the plane for testing, it already bears most of the red and white livery of its ultimate customer: Qantas.
Randolph Field, 1930s
It’s a Grumman Mallard
Already an exceptionally nice-looking plane, this Grumman G-73 was made even more handsome after Wien and their paint shop got through with it. Nicknamed the “Katmai Queen,” this Mallard (N1208) was caught on camera at Boeing Field sometime in the 1970s.
In photo #1, a DC-7 of the “Stardusters Air Travel Club” is visible.
Boeing 314 #1
These photographs feature the first Model 314 produced by Boeing (later registered as NX18601). As with most prototypes, the first 314 model encountered some challenges during its development. One of the primary issues was related to lateral control. Although the aircraft was built with a standard single centerline vertical fin, early test flights revealed a need for more lateral control. To address this problem, a growing number of vertical stabilizers were installed on the aircraft. Initially, the solo center tail was removed and replaced with a pair of endplates. However, this dual arrangement proved insufficient, and a centerline fin was once again added to the aircraft, which proved to be effective in providing the necessary lateral stability. once again the 314 was provided with a centerline fin (Hey, good thing they didn’t throw that item away when they did the initial redesign of the tail)
Here’s a Pair of Oddball Amphibs…
Goodyear’s Ducks
Sea Ranger on the Step
On a sunny day in Seattle, Boeing’s one and only XPBB-1 “Sea Ranger” races over the waters of Lake Washington as it heads for the skies.
It is worth noting that the orderly ripples on the otherwise smooth lake surface are likely manmade.
Story follows:
Per my late Dad (a WWII PBY pilot), ultra-smooth water can make for a problematic takeoff. Reason: the aircraft could have trouble breaking free from the water’s adhesive properties. Therefore, said Dad, a boat would be dispatched to speed about and ripple up the water on a smooth, non-windy day. Lacking a boat, the aircraft could engage in some downwind high-speed taxiing, then do a quick 180-degree turn and takeoff courtesy of the undulating ripplets now creasing the water.
The B-50 SuperDuperFortress
Here are a few PVs of VPB-146…
Pair of P-51s
The first photo shows Bob standing on a wing. Bob (Chilton) has a great job: he is North American’s test pilot and, therefore, gets to fly brand-new Mustangs for his daily bread. The second photo shows one of the birds that may have been given the O-K back at the factory by Mr. Chilton himself (a P-51B, 42-106829 of the 362nd Fighter Squadron).
79th Air Rescue Squadron
An SH-19A Chickasaw displays its abilities before an appreciative B-36 of the 6th Bomb Wing while the latter is on a deployment to Andersen AFB, Guam. The bomber was far from its home at Walker AFB in New Mexico – about 7,000 miles – but that really wasn’t a very big deal for a B-36.
The Last Thing Seen by Many a Bug or Caterpillar
And…For the sake of the photographer’s health, one hopes he got all he needed with a single pass by the chemical-spewing Stearman. The good news for him is that by the time this picture was taken in the 1950s, the crop dusters were no longer using what had proven highly effective in the past: a liquid mixture of lead and arsenic. Seems like a bad idea now, but it didn’t at the time. We humans are like that – we only learn by experience (when does the city put up a stop sign at an unmarked intersection, before a bad car wreck, or after?).
The location is Washington state, the target, apple trees, and the critters and caterpillars that love them.
Corsairs & Seagulls
Here are two aircraft that had ridiculously long service lives by the standards of their time: Vought’s many variations of the O2U Corsair and the Curtiss SOC Seagull. In an era when an aircraft was here and gone in only a few years, the Corsair and Seagull served the US Navy for 19 and 14 years, respectively (and approximately).
O2U-2, VS-14M, CV-3, 1930
USMC Skyhawk
Based at MCAS Yuma, Arizona, this A-4M (159487) of VMAT-102 was no stranger to sunny days like the one seen here at NAS Whidbey Island in 1981.
The Inconspicuous Banshee
The term “one of the unsung aircraft of WWII” is a sobriquet that, in my opinion, is often overused. Namely, most of the planes tagged as unsung/neglected/overlooked were aircraft either built in very few numbers, were ineffective (see: built in very few numbers), or worse, lousy at their job. For such machines, being labeled “unsung” would imply they had done things worth singing about but were somehow overlooked by ill-informed or biased critics.
Then we have the A-24 Banshee, an airplane that did plenty to sing about but is indeed as non-sung of a WWII aircraft as they come.
Based on the A-24’s record as a frontline combat aircraft, it should be very well known then and now: They were in service throughout America’s involvement in the war and every theater of operations. They were rugged, reliable, and effective. Lastly, they were built in sufficient quantities (almost 1,000) to make a difference.
Nevertheless, the A-24 is little known outside the world of WWII airplane aficionados/geeks. The reasons are simple: Mustangs, Lightnings, Thunderbolts, and other pursuit ships also made excellent multi-role fighter bombers and eventually took away much of Banshee’s reason for being. Furthermore, when discussing WWII light bombers, the Marauders, Havocs, and Mitchells will always come first to mind. Moreover, all of these planes – fighters and bombers – were built in the tens of thousands. Yes, almost 1,000 Banshees were built, but that number pales compared to the volume of better-known aircraft manufactured during WWII. The A-24 – despite its effectiveness – was simply not going to be as famous as many other aircraft.
Unfortunately, the A-24 Banshee has never received the attention it deserves. Not only has it long been overshadowed by the other fighters and bombers of the Army Air Forces, it also had the misfortune to have a far more famous look-alike cousin, the preeminent ship-killing aircraft of WWII, the SBD Dauntless.
Torpedo 2, 1939
Pretty sepia-toned photo from the collection of a sailor who served aboard USS Lexington, 1937-39.
Jane Adams: 1940s Actress, Glamour Girl, and (obviously) Jet Test Pilot
If avid fans of outrageously inexpensive films were to go back in time to the late 40s & early 50s, one actress they would instantly seek out would be Jane Adams, queen of the B-film screen. Whatever picture genre one fancied – westerns, horror, sci-fi, or romance, to name but a few – Jane Adams was your gal.
Alas, her career in more mainstream pictures never materialized, but that’s okay; she was easy to look at and made movies that, with a ready supply of cocktails, still make great late-night entertainment. (Hard to go wrong with features such as House of Dracula, Rustler’s Round-Up, and Tarzan’s Magic Fountain)
As seen in this publicity photo, Adams (real name Betty Bierce) was another of the charming women that aircraft manufacturers considered vital in selling flying machines.