Category: US Air Force
“Miss Sonic Boom”
According to this photo’s caption, actress Debra Paget was in Las Vegas and when asked if she would like a tour of nearby Nellis AFB, she couldn’t resist. (Obviously, she told them that she would only take part in the tour if she could wear a bathing suit and high heels.) Upon her arrival, the Nellis pilots immediately named her “Miss Sonic Boom.”
Miss Paget/Sonic Boom was quite the starlet back in the day, featuring in films like The Ten Commandments, and did a movie opposite Elvis. She is now 89 years old.
The “Aluminum Overcast”
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.
Rhein-Main Air Base, 1952-53
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.
18th Fighter Interceptor Squadron
The USAF’s first decade
Northrop’s Flying Wing
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
18th Fighter Bomber Wing Weapons Team, 1958
“Miss Bombshell of the 65th”
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
KC-135A, circa 1957
This is one of the early bird KC-135s – the 15th one built, to be exact – and the paint scheme reflects this (the almost obligatory 1950s day-glo orange). This particular tanker, 55-3132, had a long life but not one that involved much aerial refueling. Like many of the early 135s, it was converted into a test bed and spent the majority of its career as an airborne electronic warfare labatory. Last I checked, the aircraft is on display at Davis-Monthan AFB, AZ. Note: I purposely did not crop this slide. Sometimes its nice to remind folks that not everything was created as a digital image. The word “Kodachrome” should always remain part of an aviation buff’s lexicon.
Airshow time, circa 1979
There was something for everybody at this open house back around 1979: Phantoms, Voodoo, Thunderchief, Vulcan, and the USAF Thunderbirds in their T-38s. Not 100 percent certain of the location, but I believe it is Whiteman AFB, MO. The photographer was not using the best of equipment, but I’m glad he took the pictures.
Jets (and props) of the 1940s
337th Fighter Interceptor Squadron

The location of this photo is Taoyuan Air Base, Taiwan, where the 337th was deployed in response to the Quemoy Crisis in late 1958. Such deployments were unusual for an Air Defense Command unit but the F-104 Starfighters of the 337th were ready.
Arriving in October of ’58, the 337th relieved the 83rd FIS who departed sans F-104s so the 337th would have something to fly – The 83rd had disassembled their Starfighters in order to have them airlifted to Taiwan and the Air Force saw no sense in requiring the 337th to do the same thing to theirs. The 337th was at Taoyuan less than two months before they were ordered back to their home of Westover AFB, Mass. (It was now their turn to disassemble some Starfighters.)
Several noteworthy aspects to this photo: Sitting at center on his “throne”, and holding a big cigar (the smoking of which he was quite fond of), is squadron commander Major James Jabara, Korean War ace extraordinaire.
It is also of note that in this photo there are about half a dozen patches worn that are from squadrons other than the 337th. The 49th FIS, 56th, 331st, etc.; most likely new guys who did not get their 337th patches sewn on before the deployment.
PS. I wonder whose job it was to organize the water buffalos seen on each end of the picture?
Tales the flightsuits tell

5th Fighter Interceptor Squadron, Minot AFB. The squadron patch is a rather poor rendition of a lynx, and was certainly not what they guys had in mind (the patch on the right is added to the scene for the purpose of comparison). Not only is the former an unappealing design, it has misspellings: the motto, and worst of all, “InterceRtor” rather than “Interceptor”. It would be easy for one to dismiss this as a poorly-designed and rejected patch, or even a fake. However, it is as real as they get. The lesson: just because a patch is not what it ought to be does not disqualify or diminish its authenticity. And, of course, being sewn to a period flightsuit with other proper patches for the period (the “F-106 Dart”) only helps in its provenance. This flightsuit was worn by a pilot assigned to the 5th FIS, 1961-63.

95th Fighter Interceptor Squadron, Andrews AFB. What sets this one apart is the F-106 patch; as we have already seen, the same patch was worn by the 5th FIS. This is no big deal except that said patch is attributed to that squadron, not the 95th. Why was the 95th pirating a patch from the 5th? Because they (or this pilot) felt like doing so. Lesson: anything goes when it comes to patches.

This patch design of the 2nd Fighter Interceptor Squadron is always attributed to its later years as a training squadron in the mid-1970s. Fine, but what is it doing on a flightsuit from the early 1950s? This is the first pattern of K-2B flightsuit: big collar, only one chest pocket. The nametape is certainly of the era, not the 70s. It and the patch were sewn on by the same man at the same time – a long time ago (the thread and stitching show that). Anything is possible, and one should be conservative in their judgement on such matters, but one also has a hard time believing that when the squadron reactivated in 1974 one of its pilots dusted off a 20 year old flightsuit and said “make sure you sew on my outdated nametape at the same time”.

I have often wondered why a patch from the 15th Fighter Interceptor Squadron, Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona, (a land of cacti, scorpions, and gila monsters) is sewn to a winter-weight flightsuit. Yes, the pilots of Air Defense Command had to be ready for anything, but issuing arctic equipment at a base in the blazing desert seems a bit extreme. I know, I know; they do have winter there, but still…
Air Force One and the Skyranger
Two aircraft that one does not often see in the same photo would be the VC-137 and the Commonwealth Skyranger. Taken at the Renton Airport/Boeing plant in the summer of 1962, VC-137, “SAM 2600”, is undergoing finishing touches before it is delivered to the Air Force for the use of President Kennedy. This photo illustrates the classic adage of “I seen ’em come, I seen ’em go” by virtue of the fact that while SAM 2600 is now retired to the Air Force Museum, the Skyranger (N90682, built in 1946) is still registered and flying today. Really, about the only thing that shows this photo was not taken in recent times are the vintage automobiles.
George AFB in the early 50s

Johnson Air Base, Japan, early 1950s
The Skyraider

Flown by 56th Special Operations Wing at Nakhon Phanom Air Base, Thailand, this Skyraider (52-139598) had its picture taken while on display at nearby Korat Air Base in 1970. Unfortunately, time was running out for 598: On 24 December of that same year, the aircraft was lost while escorting rescue helicopters deep into hostile country. The pilot, Major Albro L. Lundy, was killed, his body being recovered and identified decades later. R.I.P.
More great ads!

Considered by many as one of the worst aircraft designs of all time, the “strut-less, wings like a bird” Christmas Bullet had (surprise!) an annoying habit of shedding those unsupported wings immediately after takeoff. Two were built, both lost their visible means of support. Note: Dr. William Christmas designed the aircraft with an idea in mind that it could be used to fly over to Germany and kidnap Kaiser Wilhelm II during WW1. No, I did not make that up.
A 4th of July salute to a great American – General Curtis E. LeMay
On Independence day, it is well to remember those who have ensured that such liberty endures. One such man is the immortal General Curtis E. LeMay. General LeMay will be long remembered for his revolutionary concepts on airpower strategy and doctrine. As the absolute boss of Strategic Air Command, he put those theories to the test. He was always willing to find out what worked, or did not. Furthermore, from the B-29 to the SR-71, LeMay always knew a good aircraft when he saw one.
In his day, LeMay’s personality and strong beliefs caused him to be a terror in the minds of many. While he was incredibly firm, he was also incredibly fair. He knew what he wanted, and in case one did not know what that was, he would tell you in no uncertain terms. Intimidating though he was to those in the 1950s & 60s, in today’s juvenile-minded political & societal environment he would cause many of his fellow Americans to wet their pants. That being their sole means of expressing their inability to argue with the man.