The plane is an F-100C, serial no. 54-1985, of the 355th Fighter Day Squadron, Myrtle Beach AFB, SC.

The plane’s namesake is none other than Jayne Mansfield, platinum-blonde extraordinare; a fact that I really shouldn’t have to point out to anyone.

 

Lockheed F-94C Starfire (50-957) cruises down the California coast in the early 1950s. Signed by legendary Lockheed test pilot Bob Matye (pronounced “matey”), a man who flew everything Lockheed could cook up during the post-war years, including, of course, the Starfire. However, as the photo suggests, his favorite Lockheed product was not the F-94, but rather the P-80. In fact, he liked the plane so much that his car sported personalized license plates emblazoned with the name “P80.”

(And he really did enjoy being called “P-80 Matye”.)

…four C-124s in a tight (but Shaky) formation roaring low over the desert. The year: 1956. The location: Palmdale Airport, Calif. The reason: A movie was being filmed.

A movie not about the C-124 Globemaster, but about Charles Lindbergh. 

No doubt there is a connection there.

The film was Spirit of St. Louis, the Charles Lindbergh bio starring Jimmy Stewart. Great flick, even though it was hoped that the audience would fail to notice that Stewart, nearing 50 years of age, was playing a 25-year-old Lindbergh (his age when he made his historic 1927 flight).

No such character error was made with the Ol’ Shaky formation flight – the C-124 flypast was left out of the movie.

Lockheed test pilots and engineers – standing before one of their employer’s latest products, the F-104 Starfighter – pose alongside their West German counterparts from the newly reformed Luftwaffe. Most notable in this group is World War II German ace Walter Krupinski (197 victories). He flew the F-104, declared it fantastic, and thus began a decades-long relationship with the Luftwaffe and the Starfighter.

The photo is signed by legendary Lockheed test pilot Bob Matye, a man who flew just about anything Lockheed came up with.

The Starfighter in the background is actually a YF-104 early bird 55-2964. It crashed on 2 November, 1959.

Note: Several names are misspelled on the back of the photo, including Krupinkski’s. Also, the name of test pilot James “Jake” Holliman (killed piloting an F-104 in June 1958).

The flightline of Chicago’s busy O’Hare International hasn’t always been clogged with airliners; there was a time the base was home to interceptor squadrons of the USAF. This photo shows the Air Force side of the field in transition: the 42nd Fighter Interceptor Squadron (FIS) and the 63rd FIS are trading places, but not planes. The 63rd has just arrived, and the 42nd is on its way to Pittsburgh Airport. The planes bear the markings of the 63rd, but they are pretty much all former 42nd birds. The Air Force does things like that. 

Bonus jets include F-89s and a very brand new F-102.

C-124s and EB-57s attract the eyes of young Utah kiddies.

SA-16s and SB-29s of Elmendorf AFB’s 10th Air Rescue Group enjoy a summer’s day in the early 1950s. Given the environment in which these aircraft operated, it is safe to say they stayed quite busy.

“William Tell”, the US Air Force’s great air-to-air competition, has been held since the 1950s at sunny Tyndall AFB, Florida. Our F-86 pilots depicted above have traveled to said base for the 1958 meet and are obviously looking forward to the various aerial events which will unfold in the coming days. Their home base is Ramstein, Germany; they are members of the 526th Fighter Interceptor Squadron and represent the United States Air Forces in Europe. Note the custom ballcaps and snazzy flight suits made for the competition.

A-1 Skyraiders of the 1st Air Commando Squadron. 

43-48414, a C-47B that looks like any other post-war Goony Bird going about its duties in the US Air Force, is actually a plane with a past. A combat veteran, this C-47 flew multiple missions with the 316th Troop Carrier Group during World War II, most notably in the skies over the Netherlands, dropping paratroopers and towing gliders during Operation Market Garden in September 1944. 

The Dutch & Americans have an informal meeting as an F-84F Thunderstreak of the Royal Netherlands Air Force joins up with a USAF T-33 somewhere over Europe in the mid-1960s. The F-84, coded “PP-24” started out with the US serial number 53-6920 before being sold to the Dutch. Note the soot around his gun muzzles.

 Bombed up and loaded with 20mm ammo, an early A-37 awaits its next mission.

Size does not always matter. Take, for instance, the Cessna T-37 “Tweet”. Standing only waist-high and with an empty weight akin to that of a large SUV of today, it was nonetheless transformed into a highly lethal warplane, as seen here. The likely location of this photo is Nha Trang Air Base, South Vietnam. This bird began life as a regular Cessna T-37B (56-3465), but after a major overhaul, it emerged as 67-14519, an A-37A Dragonfly. 

Designed to be hauled through the skies while clinging to a bomber, the McDonnell XF-85 didn’t work too well in that role, but it could claim honors in the category of Most Unusual-Looking Aircraft. McDonnell built only two XF-85 Goblins, both of which are seen here, and both of which can be seen today in museums. 

WB-50s and one WB-47B, all of the 55th Weather Reconnaissance Squadron, McClellan AFB. 

Two often overlooked models of the Stratofortress, the “E” and “F”. 

Today, we’re honoring Master Sergeant David P. Troutman, USAF, retired. What did he do during that fine career? Well, his was a very interesting job: He was an aerial gunner, a tail gunner on the B-52. 

His main task was defending his B-52 against aerial attacks, a job description that instantly conjures up visions of ultimate combat showdowns in the stratosphere. However, more often than not, it was a job that entailed spending endless days on alert duty or, tallying up countless hours in the air on training missions.

And all that flying could seem to some to have been a pointless exercise. After all, those gunners were not likely to encounter Soviet MiGs lurking over Michigan or North Carolina just waiting to ambush any B-52 that happened by while doing touch & goes in the local pattern. Piled on top of that, there were those critics who chuckled at the idea of the gunners having the ability to defend their aircraft at all…

…which was a mistake made by several MiG pilots who, during the Vietnam War, decided to get too close to the business end of a B-52 and were blasted out of the sky for their troubles. (“C’est la vie” goes the B-52 gunner’s motto)

That is because the gunners were always ready.

All that endless flying in peaceful skies was time well spent. They did not just fly around waiting to pull a trigger; they were quite well-versed in all aspects of defending their aircraft. B-52 gunners were well-trained professionals, members of a dedicated team – a combat crew – and they were more than prepared to assure the completion of the mission by guarding their bomber and their crew/friends.

One of those committed professionals was our man of the hour, Master Sergeant David Troutman. Joining the USAF in 1959, he soon trained as a gunner before embarking on a long career where he served with the following bomb squadrons: 93^rd, 716^th (both at Kinchloe AFB), the 51^st (Seymour Johnson AFB), and the 668^th (Griffiss AFB).

Already a highly experienced aerial gunner and Cold War veteran when the B-52s of Strategic Air Command were called upon to take to the skies over Vietnam, Troutman served six combat tours there, including Operation Linebacker I (May- Dec 1972) and Linebacker II (18-29 Dec 1972). The latter was the largest bomber operation since WWII and the last major military operation conducted by the US during the Vietnam War. By the end of the conflict, Troutman had flown over 200 combat missions.

When he retired in 1980, Master Sergeant Troutman had flown over 8,000 hours as an aerial gunner in the B-52B, C, D, E, F, G, and H models. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for his actions over North Vietnam during Linebacker II. His other combat decorations include nine Air Medals awarded for the many missions he flew in hostile skies. His is a career worth honoring, one that his country and his family can be proud of.

Notes

1. The plump 750-pound bombs were typically carried internally while the 500-pounders were carried on external bomb racks as seen here. Note the “Peace Sign” painted on the fins of one of the 750 pounders.

2. This photo is unusual in that this was a mission where the planes dropped their bombs from a 3-ship, wing abreast formation. A typical B-52 bomb drop was done in a “trail” formation, one after the other.

3. When the last bomber in his “cell” (formation) lost their radar and could not drop, Troutman guided him to the target by using his gunnery radar and a stop watch to accurately guide that aircraft to the target and complete their bomb run. For his professionalism, Troutman was awarded this certificate.

*These photographs were taken by, and are property of, David Troutman. Provided to this website courtesy of Randy Troutman.