Author: thejivebombers

The “Aluminum Overcast”

Yes, it was the biggest.
Skimming the rooftops, a 7th Bomb Wing bird arrives at the Consolidated plant in San Diego.
RB-36E (44-92023) of the 72nd Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron.
Another RB-36E (44-92020) of the 72nd Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron.
B-36J (52-2820) of the 95th Bomb Wing.
B-36H (51-5718) of the 11th Bomb Wing.

An aluminum suppliers dream, a single B-36 rolled and flattened to the thickness of household aluminum foil, would cover over 20 million square feet of property. Many thanks to Mr. Del Chasteen, a good ol’ Texas boy, who supplied most of the photos.

 

General Frank Lackland

General Lackland and staff with his personal aircraft, a Douglas B-23.
Sitting in the door, Lackland strikes a friendly pose with his staff. His B-23 bears his insignia as well as that of the 1st Wing.
Autographed photo presented to a member of his staff.

“Lackland” – anyone who has ever served in the USAF knows that name. Billed as the “Gateway to the Air Force,” Lackland AFB in Texas is home to USAF basic training and a host of academic and technical schools. The base’s namesake is seen here, Brigadier General Frank D. Lackland. Like many Air Corps generals, Lackland got his start as a pre-WW1 infantry officer before switching over to the Aviation Section of the Signal Corps. After serving in various capacities, General Lackland became commander of the 1st Wing at March Field in 1939. These photos date from that period. He was likable and friendly, and regardless of rank, he inspired everyone he commanded. It is, therefore, only fitting that the base which introduces recruits to the Air Force is named in his honor.

XB-15 Bomber Bedecked with Bathing-suited Bronx Beauties

Update: Thanks to Paul Martin, author of the multi-volume history Beneath The Shadow of Wings, Untold Stories from Mitchel Field, Long Island, we now learn how dozens of bathing suit-clad women came to be pictured cavorting atop the XB-15. The year is 1940, and Major Caleb V. Haynes and his crew had just been awarded the Mackay Trophy for their exemplary 1939 XB-15 flight that brought relief supplies to an earthquake-devastated Chile. Capitalizing on that fame, the XB-15 made numerous well-publicized visits, including one to Mitchel Field on September 13, 1940.

Enter “Billy Rose’s World’s Fair Aquacade” and his “beautiful aqua-belles”. The “Aquacade” had been a smash hit at the 1939 New York World’s Fair (Johnny Weissmuller of “Tarzan” fame was one of the stars), and in a massive public relations/recruitment event, dozens of these “aqua-belles” were invited to join Mitchel Field officers for a day of fun in the sun while standing atop the Air Corp’s most giant bomber.

Want to learn more about Mitchel Field’s history? Visit Paul Martin’s website https://mitchelfield.weebly.com/for hundreds of great photos and information (you can order his books there too).

Mather Field, April 1930

Plenty to see on Mather’s flightline. Check out the fuel trucks.
The Air Corps’ heavy bombers. I cannot even begin to imagine this many B-52s doing a low pass in such a formation. (Would love to see it though)

The Air Corps loved staging mass aerial demonstrations where – not content with a variety of aircraft in large numbers – entire squadrons (or a major portion of them) would oftentimes take part in the festivities. Such is the case at Mather Field, California, April 3-4, 1930, where flightline promenaders are treated to the sight of eight O-1 Falcons of the 14th Bombardment Squadron and a host of P-12s. The next day came the great fly-by with Keystone LB-6s and Curtiss B-2s.

Rhein-Main Air Base, 1952-53

General Eisenhower gets the red carpet treatment. His C-121, 48-614, is now at the Pima Air Museum.
Although defector pilot Mira Slovak gained freedom in America, most of his fellow Czechs aboard his DC-3 opted to return home to their jobs and families.
With the Rhein-Main airflield (and a C-47) behind him, a beaming air policeman poses with a Mercedes taxi.
One of the two C-119s destroyed in a mid-air collision, May 15, 1953.
Tail of the F-84 that brought the two C-119s down.

A few photos from a USAF air policeman during his tour at Rhein-Main Air Base, Germany, during the early 50s. The Ceskoslovenské Aerolinie DC-3 was flown by Mira Slovak when he defected to the West in March 1953. Later, a famed air racer, champion hydroplane skipper, and all-around dare-devil, Slovak was piloting this DC-3 on a routine flight when he locked his copilot out of the cockpit, dove beneath radar coverage, and slipped into West Germany. The aircraft sat at Rhein-Main while the diplomatic niceties were worked out before returning home to Czechoslovakia. (It crashed a few years later.)

The photos of aircraft wreckage are sad reminders of a fateful day in May 1953, when an F-84 of the 22nd Fighter Bomber Squadron plowed into a formation of C-119s, causing two of them to crash as well as the F-84. Although the Thunderjet pilot who caused the mayhem parachuted to safety, eight of the 10 crewmen in the two C-119s were not as fortunate. 

North to Alaska

Climbing out of Seattle-Tacoma Airport on its scheduled late afternoon departure time in the Spring of 1959, Pacific Northern Airlines Constellation wings its way over downtown Seattle. Its final destination is Anchorage, but with a few stops along the way: Ketchikan, Juneau, Yakutat, and Cordova. Cost of the ticket from Seattle to Anchorage: $165.

Peter O. Knight Airport, 1938

Still busy today with general aviation, Peter O. Knight opened in 1935 as Tampa’s principal airport and remained so until 1945. One of many airports built under the auspices of the Works Progress Administration (WPA), the field boasted multiple paved runways, could handle seaplanes, and had a very nifty art-deco terminal seen in the foreground (unfortunately, now long-gone). When this photo was taken in March of ’38, the main attraction was the bevy of Air Corps planes dotting the field: B-18s, P-26s, P-35s, and a lone B-10.

92nd Fighter Squadron, 1947

As the jet aged dawned other USAAF squadrons were transitioning from props to “stovepipes” (as the jet engine was commonly called), the 92nd in Hawaii was defending the islands with the tried and true P-47 Thunderbolt. In fact, the “Jug” provided Hawaii’s air defense until well into the 1950s. This is not at all surprising: jets were needed in Korea, and besides, were someone to launch an aerial attack on Hawaii, it could not have been with jets (there were as yet no Soviet jet bombers, and the MiG-15 posed no threat to far-off Hawaii).

The BT-9 and BT-14

BT-9 pitches out over Randolph Field.
Fresh off the assembly line BT-9 at Randolph.
Randolph Field flightline showing BT-9s in one of those photos so dearly beloved by the Air Corps, but required the pilots to broil in the Texas sun while the cameraman got things right.
BT-9 at Langley Field, Va.
Popular Aviation, June, 1939.
The BT-14 was a derivative of the BT-9 and is readily identified by its metal fuselage (the BT-9 was mostly fabric covered).

Post-War Props

TBM Avengers not far from their home at NAS Oakland.
FG-1D Corsair at NAS Seattle.
VF-42 bird at NAS Jacksonville.
Corsairs of VC-4, NAS Atlantic City.
R4D, US Naval Air Reserve.
R5D-2 of NAS Seattle.
SB2C Helldiver used by NACA for gun sight research, late 40s to mid-50s.
Same Helldiver a few years earlier when used as a test bed for the USN.
Naval Air Reserve Helldiver.
SB2C-5 of VU-1, NAS Barbers Point.
The short-lived Curtiss XBTC-1.
A pair of SC-1 Seahawks nestled aboard their home battleship.
Catalinas of VP-34 and VP-AM-3.
PBM Mariners of VR-23 at NAS Agana.
R5C-1 of VMR-252, MCAS El Toro.
PBM-5S of VP-50, NAS North Island.
Another VP-50 aircraft, this time a P5M after the squadron moved to NAS Whidbey Island.
Early model P2V from NAS Whidbey Island.
Curtiss XBTC-2. The counter-rotating props are rather evident.
The XBTC-1 design bore a strong appearance to its Curtiss forebear, the Helldiver.
The XBTC-2.
K-Class blimp of ZP-1 comes aboard USS Mindoro.

The USAF’s first decade

F-89H (54-312), 84th Fighter Interceptor Squadron, Hamilton AFB.
F-84E (51-626) of the 526th Fighter Bomber Squadron, Landstuhl Air Base.
F-100C (53-1744) of the Air Force Flight Test Center.
F-84D (48-732), 20th Fighter Bomber Wing, Shaw AFB.
F-94C (50-1044), 437th Fighter Interceptor Squadron, Otis AFB.
WB-66D (55-402), Air Material Command, Wright-Patterson AFB.
F-86D (53-1020), 318th Fighter Interceptor Squadron, McChord AFB.
F-84B (46-663, and originally a “P-84”), 49th Fighter Squadron, Jet. Nicknamed “Itsy Bitsy II”, it was the personal jet of George Laval, a former P-38 pilot known for his colorful painted aircraft. This one is pretty tame compared to his WWII birds.
F-86F (52-4850), 366th Fighter Bomber Wing, England AFB.
F-82F (46-453), 319th Fighter Squadron (All-Weather), Moses Lake AFB.
F-89C (51-5826), 107th Fighter Interceptor Squadron, Michigan Air Guard.
RF-80A (44-85239), 17th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron, Shaw AFB.
F-100C (54-1980), “Skyblazers” Demonstration Team.
RF-84F (52-7265), 407th Strategic Fighter Wing, Great Falls AFB. This aircraft is on display at the Chino air museum.
F-100C (53-1777), 450th Fighter Day Squadron, Foster AFB.
F-102A (54-1390), Air Research Development Command.
F-86A (48-184), 71st Fighter Squadron, Jet, March AFB. Note the extra large “ferry” fuel tanks and the faired-over gun ports. This plane had a short life: delivered in the summer of 1949, it crashed in September that same year.
F-105B (57-5803), Air Research Development Command. This aircraft can be seen today at the March Field Museum, CA.

U-2 in Panama, 1966

Men of the 100th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing (SRW) on deployment to Albrook AFB, Panama Canal Zone, pose for a group photo before heading home. The reason for their trip to Albrook was classified: they were monitoring French nuclear tests in the South Pacific. When this photo was taken in ’66, the 100th SRW was new to the “spy plane” world – they had just gained the mission, personnel, and aircraft of the deactivated 4080th SRW (the men are wearing that patch, not the 100th).

Thunderjets and Streaks

The Ohio Air National Guard’s 166th Fighter Bomber Squadron at Lockbourne AFB. Many of these planes enjoyed a long career with both the 166th and later, the 112th Tactical Fighter Squadron.
F-84F 51-1346 was the fourth “F” model produced and is now on display at Rickenbacker ANGB in Ohio. (Photo was taken later in its life: not the A-7 in the background)
Sad end for this F-84: 51-9344 was dumped in a field for some sort of testing or target work.
“ZELMAL” (Zero-Length Launch and Mat Landing) was supposed to solve the problem of having one’s runway cratered and thus reducing the status of one’s squadron to “all dressed up with no place to go”.
A pilot of the 166th FIS is seen, no doubt pondering the eventful takeoff that comes with being shot into the blue from a missile launcher grafted to a truck trailer.

“Miss Bombshell of the 65th”

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The lucky dogs of the 65th Bomb Squadron pose with the individual they have ascertained to best represent the unit’s interests, Miss Myrna Dell. The date is July 21, 1950, the place, Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona, the aircraft, a Boeing B-50. When not fulfilling her role as “Miss Bombshell”, Myrna Dell was a regular in Hollywood films of the era (she once co-starred with Ronald Reagan).

This week in aviation history: “Operation Power Flite” in 1957 – 45 hours and 19 minutes around the world

B-52B, 53-394, “Lucky Lady III”, was the lead ship for the first jet-powered flight around the world. Sections of this aircraft are still in storage.
“Hurry up and wait” is a time-honored saying in the Air Force.
Lead navigator, Major Albert F. Wooten.
One of several navigators aboard for the historic flight was Captain Rene M. Woog.
Taking a break is crew chief Tsgt. Donovan W. Higginbotham
Navigator Major Anthony P Dzierski cleans up for the arrival at March AFB.
Tail gunner Msgt. Carl H. Ballew gets his work done the old fashioned way.
Major Wooten tidies up.
Tail gunner Ballew prepares his dinner. Coming forward from the tail gunner’s compartment was no easy feat: it took about 15 minutes, and involved toting an oxygen bottle while crawling over the horizontal stabilizer in the unpressurized portion of the B-52.
Major General Archie Olds (the mission commander) is greeted by SAC boss, Curtiss LeMay.
Welcome home.
Then came fame. Air Force Chief of Staff General Thomas White presents the Mackay Trophy.
The lead crew met with celebrities such as Arthur Godfrey.
TV personality Gary Moore greets the crew of Lucky Lady III.
Actor and aviation enthusiast Robert Cummings hands out autographs. These personalities that met with the around the world fliers are not well-known by many today, but back then they were huge stars.

1st Pursuit Group, 1937

Here we have one of those fantastic panoramic photos that was widely popular back in the day. Taking such a shot was not in the realm of most photographers and so one had to call on the experts: the National Photo & News Service of San Antonio, Texas. It was one of their photographers (E. L. Rothwell) that made the journey to Selfridge Field, Michigan in the summer of ’37. His tool of choice was a “Cirkut” camera, a truly ingenious device that, while pivoting on a level axis, exposed a roll of film which advanced in synchronised movement to the horizontal action of the camera. Capturing for posterity the 1st Pursuit Group required five feet of film (the photo measures 5 feet x 10 inches).

 As stated, the photo was taken in 1937. Summer time, if one takes in to account the many open windows and the fully-leafed trees (and, according to the clock on the operations building, it was 9:10 AM). The squadrons are the 17th, 27th, and 94th Pursuit, the aircraft, of course, is the P-26.

Most of these buildings seen 84 years ago are still in use today.