Thomas-Morse O-19

The Short Sandringham

This was an outstanding aircraft. Accordingly, it had an incredibly long life for a large flying boat, the last flying regularly scheduled airline service in to the 1970’s.

Der Deutsche Sportflieger of Oktober 1940

This issue features Hermann Goering making friends with his fellow Luftwaffe airmen during the closing days of the Battle of Britain. Der Sportflieger of that era of course contains a healthy dose of propaganda (hey, what wartime aviation magazine didn’t?), but it also contains outstanding information.

The Blohm & Voss Ha-139 was, undoubtedly, one of the more pleasing appearing aircraft in an era of, well, pleasing looking aircraft

Bayerische Flugzeugwerke & Junkers

Two great pieces of artwork. The first is from Bayerische Flugzeugwerke in Augsburg. This is part of a several page promotional booklet, hence the German and French. The other is cover art from Flug-Woche magazin featuring the Junkers G-31.

Stinson and Spartan

A couple of ads for a couple of pretty planes, Stinson and Spartan.

Note: It may not mean a whole heckuva lot, but every ad that I post is an original from a vintage publication or poster. Lots of great stuff on the internet, but I strive for the real deal.

B-25C Mitchells for the RAF

Out for a drive over California prior to their delivery to the RAF. All these aircraft carry USAAF markings, but with the flash of the RAF on their tails. Identifiable serials are 41-12725 and 12727. Neither aircraft survived the war.

P-80 44-85402

According to the marking forward of the cockpit, this aircraft was assigned to the Flight Test Division, Wright Field. It sure carries an interesting mixture of attachments. The aircraft was later assigned to the 336th FIS and the 26th FIS where, in 1950, it met its demise.

P-80 44-85111

This bird had a short but eventful career. Entering service with the 412th Fighter Group, it transferred to the 1st Fighter Group where it joined the 71st Fighter Squadron as seen here. Unfortunately, the “incident” pictured here was not its last. After some necessary repairs to the underside of the aircraft, it eventually ended up with the 26th Fighter Interceptor Squadron where it crashed for good in 1950.

The Vickers Viastra

The Viastra was a nifty addition to the skies of Australia when it arrived in the early 1930’s. Operated by West Australia Airways from 1931-36, it was eclipsed by more capable aircraft.

Vickers Varsity crash, 1963

When a Vickers Varsity ended up on the roof of a Gloucester home in March, 1963, it made headlines around the world – including the Seattle Post-Intelligencer in my home town. Despite the appearance of the seemingly comical resting place of the Varsity, it was in fact a tragedy in that both pilots lost their life. The only good news was the occupants of the home escaping relatively unscathed.

AU-1 Corsairs of VMA-212 during the Korean War

Martin B-10, or some variant thereof

The Seversky BT-8

The BT-8 was a spin-off of the first aircraft the company built, the SEV-3. The Air Corps bought 30 BT-8’s, but then lost interest.

Fokker C-2 being gassed up

Grumman F9F-8T Cougar (146371) of VAH-123.

Behind is an A3D-1 (135412) of the same squadron. Usually associated strictly with the Skywarrior, VAH-123 obviously had use for this F9F as well.

F4F-3 Wildcats of the U.S.S Enterprise

Wildcats being armed up aboard USS Enterprise during the early days of the war in the Pacific. Of note is the over-sized US insignia – an aid to not being shot down by your own guys.

P-51’s, 363rd Fighter Squadron

Returning from a mission in 1944. The near aircraft, 44-13518, was shot down over Holland, Sept 1944. Pilot was KIA.

The annihilator of the Japanese Naval Air Forces, the Grumman F6F Hellcat

Grumman FF-1 (9367) of VF-5

Years back, a gent who had been a 1930s navy pilot informed me that when he first saw the FF, he thought it looked like it had swallowed a Boeing F4B. It does have that look.

TBM of U.S.S. Randolph takes a swim

The bad news is that this TBM Avenger is heading forever to the bottom of the Pacific Ocean. Good news is that the crewmen are on the wings and the aircraft will make that deep sea journey on its own.

Focke-Wulf FW-190A-3 of JG-1 warms up prior to another mission

P-38F (41-7586)

Going on a cruise over Florida. The aircraft was assigned to a training unit there before being written-off in 1943.

Great ad from Roehm & Haas. Though a German company, R&H also had a plant in the USA. Both operations made a fortune as manufacturers of Plexiglas. The company is still around today.

707 of Cunard Eagle Airways on a test hop over the San Juan islands in the early 60’s.