A visit to Selfridge Field, c. 1932
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.
EC-121 at NAS Barbers Point, 1963
Photo taken just after the 1962 big switch which saw US Navy and Marine Corps aircraft adapting (pretty much as a rule ) to Air Force standard nomenclature. You flew the WV-2 one day, the EC-121 the next. Different name, same mission: flying the Pacific Barrier on long and tedious missions that ranged from Hawaii to Alaska (and back).
28th Bombardment Squadron, Nichols Field, P.I.
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
Henri Farman
Early aeroplanes and aeronauts

Captain Halstead Dorey, the Hon. James Beck, Wilbur Wright, and William Hammer at the Fulton-Hudson Celebration in 1909. Taking off from Governors Island, Wright flew his aircraft on a 33 minute flight up and down the Hudson River. A canoe was attached to the underside of the craft in case Wilbur found himself in the Hudson.
Note: These images may not be the ultimate in quality, but they are original photos that are over 110 years old.
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?
PBY Catalina Day
Hickam Field, 1939-40
For fans of the B-25 Mitchell
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…
A visit to the Glenn Curtiss aeroplane factory circa 1911
P2V Neptune, and the boss
Seen here with the bird that bears his name, Commander Bill Hodges, CO of VP-11, poses while on a deployment to Malta in the mid-1950s.
Note: Hodges had a long career that included surviving the sinking of his ship, USS West Virginia, at Pearl Harbor (a good swimmer, Hodges took a few deep breaths and dove down into the wreck to retrieve his wallet).
Mississippi National Guard, 1939
The Mississippi National Guard was just starting out in the aviation world when these photos were taken back in ’39. The newly-minted 153rd Observation Squadron took to the skies with a gaggle of decidedly well-worn O-38s, but they were no doubt happy to have something to fly.
If you are a Frenchman, this “April Fools’ Day” postcard makes perfect sense

April Fools’ Day in France is the day of “Poisson d’Avril” – April Fish. Jokes revolve around the sea critter – especially that of attaching a paper fish to the back of an unsuspecting individual who goes about his day never suspecting he has a paper trout dangling on the back of his jacket.
What does that have to do with aircraft? Not a thing. However, with aeroplanes being the newest thing back in 1909 (when this card was posted) it is not surprising the old tradition of “Poisson d’Avril” was given a new twist. Note: when visiting France on April 1st, always check your back.
Men and Mustangs: The 357th Fighter Group
Whale-o-rama
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.
One of the perks of being a general is…
…having a fighter plane to call your own. Major General William Kepner was no exception; as boss of the 8th Fighter Command, he got around in style in his P-47 (42-26637) nicknamed “Kokomo”. Here we see it wears the name of an additional city, “Buffalo”. Or, perhaps, it is referring to the animal of the same name. Before the war, Kepner was more associated with balloons & such rather than fighter aircraft. He held six ratings, most rather quaint: command pilot, combat observer, senior balloon pilot, zeppelin pilot, semirigid pilot, and metal-clad airship pilot.
The color photo is courtesy of Bob Livingstone from the sunburnt country, the Land Down Under.
By request…
Several people have asked me for the full photo of the image that appears on the header for this site. Nice guy that I am, here it is: The 6th Pursuit Squadron at Wheeler Field, Hawaii, circa 1935. The 6th Pursuit (later Night Fighter) Squadron was inactivated in 1947, and despite being one of the older units (activated in 1917) it entered a long post-war slumber*. This was rectified in 2017, and once again the 6th is an active component of the USAF.
*Note: Wikipedia states that the 6th was reactivated in 1968, assigned to the 11th Air Force, and flew F-4 Phantoms for 25 years at “Alberts Air Base” in the “San Francesco Islands”. Not a word of this is even remotely true thus serving as a helpful reminder why Wikipedia is not an accepted source at any college or university.
The “Dash 80”
(From a stash of old negatives I recently found hidden in one of my file cabinets.)
George AFB in the early 50s
