Foulois, Arnold, and Spaatz
Foulois was Air Corps boss when he dropped in at March Field in 1932. Arnold commanded the base, Spaatz commanded the March Field based 1st Wing. Given Foulois’s snappy knickers and argyle socks, Arnold seems under-dressed for the occasion. Spaatz, on the right, looks for all the world like a mafia hit-man.
Syd Chaplin Aircraft Corp.
Sydney “Syd” Chaplin was an all-around man: Actor, aviation pioneer, and business manager to his younger half brother, Charlie. (Yes, that Charlie Chaplin) But it was in aviation where he made history in 1919 when he bought a plane and hired pilot Emery Rogers and thus begun the first privately owned domestic American airline.
Things were looking good for Chaplin, but when the pesky government began requiring things like pilot licenses, he got out of the business. The aircraft is, of course, a Curtiss Jenny.
Mixed bag of ads & such
When this PBY ad was seen in 1940, the aircraft was already a seasoned veteran.
The Convair 37 never made if off the drawing-board.
Official newspaper of Sikorsky, 1930.
Boeing 247
Above are two shots of a 247 belonging to Inland Airlines at Billings, Montana.
Your daily ad assortment
The Boeing XB-15
One could be pardoned for thinking this is the fuselage interior of the XB-15. It’s not; it is the interior of the wing.
Two magazines, two eras
Flugsport magazine of November 1921 offers a glimpse at a grand aircraft display.
When the April 1940 edition of Luftwissen hit the stands, both aircraft and Germany had changed. Aircraft is a Heinkel 115 seaplane.
Schilling AFB B-47
Men of the 40th Bomb Wing race to their aircraft. Someone else gets to move the station wagon.
RCAF Otters are ready for anything
Vivian Gersema, US Air Force Nurse Corps, 1953
Captain Vivian M. Gersema at Offutt AFB with her flying hospital, a C-54. 44-9077 was dubbed an “MC-54M” due to its medical role. Gersema started her military service as a flight nurse in WWII. She eventually attained the rank of colonel.
Having flown a medevac missions myself, there is always room for flight nurses in the cockpit.
Civilian nurses are briefed on the finer points of aeromedical care.
Heinkel 112B
President Kennedy at Homestead AFB, 1962
On November 26 1962, Kennedy visited Homestead for an inspection and to award citations to the units that had participated during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Chief among these was the 363rd Tactical Reconnaissance Wing whose RF-101’s can be seen in the distant right background. Closer to view, F-102’s of the 325th and 326th Fighter Interceptor Squadron get the once over by Kennedy. Note the pilot wearing his full pressure suit.
B-36A, June 1948
This aircraft (44-92015) was the first B-36 delivered to an operational unit, in this case the 7th Bomb Wing of Carswell AFB. Given that the Convair factory was right across the runway, the aircraft was taxied to its new home where it was soon christened “The City of Fort Worth.”
So, it’s June of ’48, and the USAF is about nine months old. This explains the army uniforms. It would be another year or so before the Air Force unveiled its own uniform design.
49th Bomb Squadron insignia, 1929
91st Observation Squadron, 1926
Aircraft is a Douglas O-2 which was flown by the 91st from 1926-30.
8th Attack Squadron
Aircraft is a Curtiss A-3 Falcon flown by the 8th from 1928-34.
LB-7’s of the 20th Bomb Squadron
Aircraft in foreground is 28-393. Typical of the short life-span for aircraft of the era, 393 was delivered in 1929, and five years later scrapped as obsolete.
20th Bombardment Squadron, 1930
The aircraft on whose nose this insignia is applied belongs to the Keystone series of bombers flown by the 20th.
Busy doings at Langley Field, circa 1930
On hand are a gaggle of Keystone bombers and support aircraft. All are assigned to the 2nd Bomb Group. The aircraft in the lower photo are from the 20th Bomb Squadron.
P-1D of the 43rd School Squadron, Kelly Field
Back in the early 1930’s, the 43rd trained fledgling pursuit pilots for the Air Corps. One of them, Lt. Taylor, is seen here leaning jauntily against his ship. The sign in the background states that “Ships will not be taxied on or north of this road.”
492nd Bomb Squadron, WWII
The 492nd flew the B-24 Liberator from various bases in British India.
O-46’s of the 12th Observation Squadron
The aircraft are from Gray Army Airfield, Fort Lewis. Mount St. Helens in its pre-eruption glory is in the foreground, its bigger brother, Mount Rainier looms in the distance.
The Jive Bomber 