Shaw Field, Postwar AAF

C-45 plays postwar recruiter.
P-61 of the 415th Night Fighter Squadron.
Like most bases back when, Shaw had a variety of planes – B-25s included.
And A-26s.
Shaw Field flightline with Mustangs in the distance..
A naval visitor – the Lockheed XR60-1 “Constitution”.
Another flying recruiting tool, the Constitution sports the logo “Your Navy – Air And Sea”.

As seen in these photos, mid-to-late 1940s Shaw Field (soon to be Shaw AFB) was a base sporting an impressive array of aircraft such as those seen here: P-61, AT-6, A-26, B-25, P-51, etc. A bonus is the visiting (and shortlived) Lockheed XR60-1 Constitution, one of only two built. Cause of demise: underpowered, overly expensive to operate. That said, the XR-60 Constitution is always good to remember when making a bet at your local bar. Just slap your dollar down, and then ask anyone to name the largest landplane ever flown by the US Navy. 

Post-War Mustangs at Shaw Field

44-74547 of the 20th FG. This plane crashed in July 1947.
44-74624 sports an early “buzz number” on its nose.
The group commander’s P-51, 44-84750.
Same aircraft. Later transferred to the South African Air Force, it was shot down in Korea.
The commander’s bird.

Here are a few photos from an airman who was stationed at Shaw Field (now Shaw AFB) in South Carolina, and, judging by the markings on these Mustangs, the pics were taken not terribly long after the war. Most of the birds are from the 20th Fighter Group, which arrived at Shaw in October 1946, so it is safe to date these photos to early-mid 1947.

Naval Air Station San Diego

NAS San Diego was home to USS Ranger (R) and USS Langley (L) in the mid/late ’30s. Photo taken from a Martin PM-1.
Same two vessels, different day. A PBY cruises above, a P2Y peeks from behind Ranger.

As seen in these two photos, the area around Naval Air Station (NAS) San Diego in the 1930s was a busy place where ships, boats, and airplanes all vied for position on the harbor waters of the base’s namesake city. The navy, of course, later changed the name of their San Diego air base to its present title, NAS North Island. Even though the base’s land was not an island, that designation came about. At one time, it had been an island, but that enclave no longer existed, having been connected to the rest of California in the 1940s by ample loads of sand and gravel.

Nevertheless, what has not changed is that NAS San Diego/North “Island” is still a bustling locale; its nearby waters remain a swirl of ships, boats, and, though fewer in numbers from the seaplane-rich era of the 1930s, aircraft.

1969: Boeing Gets a B-47

Still sporting its USAF markings, 51-7066 is seen soon after its arrival in 1969.
Joined by other Boeing products new and old: a Model 247, and a 747 (5th one built for TWA).

As the B-47 fleet was retired in the mid-1960s, it occurred to Boeing that despite having built over 2,000 Stratojets for everyone else, they didn’t have one to call their own. This issue was happily resolved when the USAF handed its last operational B-47 (by then converted to a WB-47) to Boeing in 1969. That bird, 51-7066, is, of course, still at Boeing Field today, where it is proudly parked in front of the Museum of Flight.

AI Knows Everything…

“All hail our benevolent master…we are not worthy”
“Just me, kids. Oh, and watch that prop blade”

When asked to generate two images of the “ugliest 1930s airplane“, Artificial Intelligence really had all the answers. So…Where to start… First of all, instead of creating the “ugliest” airplane of the 1930s, AI came up with what is actually a rather pleasing design. Then there are the children. In photo #1, they appear to be prostrating themselves and hailing the arrival of the not-at-all-ugly plane as if it is the mothership bringing their overlord from Planet Varzon-7 or some such place. In pic #2, the kids have stopped with the hosannas and now seem somewhat disappointed and subdued. No doubt they have seen the pilot who, rather than being an exotic space creature from a distant galaxy, looks like anybody’s grandpa. Of course, the children might also be somewhat alarmed that the aircraft has just thrown a prop blade, and it is headed their way.

Apparently, AI has never heard of birdstrikes.
AI also thinks airplanes live like geese on a pond. And…AI’s version of a 3-bladed prop needs work.

Conversely, when AI was asked to come up with a couple of images for the “prettiest 1930s airplane“, the results are seen here. The planes are not bad-looking, but it is tough to make an accurate judgment, as AI is obviously incapable of discerning beauty from not. (See results for: “ugliest 1930s airplane”) Now, AI has generated quite a lovely landscape, which is so pretty that the airplanes are ruining the view. Moreover, like the “ugliest” planes of the 1930s, the “prettiest” ones also have their share of AI-created major mechanical malfunctions.

And don’t forget…every day, there is an increasing number of people who require the services of AI to help them spell…AI.

The Luftwaffe’s “Ooo-Hoo”

A fast and nimble night fighter, the Heinkel He 219, nicknamed the “Uhu” (“oo-hoo”) or “Owl”, was yet another of the Luftwaffe’s innovative aircraft that, despite being of sound design and capabilities, never made it into mass production. Reason: Like many German planes of the period, the He 219 was a victim of the tangled nightmare that was the Third Reich’s aircraft procurement process, an activity that was a never-ending battle of competing interests, overlapping areas of responsibility, and conflict. Hence, the He 219 was not built in sufficient numbers to have an effect on the air war in the nighttime skies of Hitler’s Germany. 

There’s Always More Forts

95th Bomb Group Forts over the target.
“Tinker Toy”, a B-17F of the 381st BG is seen at its home field, Ridgewell.
92nd BG over the Rhine south of Koblenz.
Same Fort seen in previous photo.
42-107205, a G-model of the 91st Bomb Group.
First B-17 “F” model is seen at the Boeing plant in Seattle.
A 3-ship of the 305th Bomb Group readies for takeoff.
“Cabin in the Sky” belonged to the 390th Bomb Group.
B-17E does the always popular Mt. Rainier flypast. Aircraft served with the 91st BG.
The 385th Bomb Group runs into heavy opposition.

Jimmie Mattern’s Vega

NR869E was used by Mattern in his ’round the world attempt in 1933.
NR869E being readied for its globe-trotting flight. The markings are still being applied.
The irrepressible Jimmie Mattern.

What started as a great airplane – the Lockheed Vega – became famous due to its usage in various aerial exploits in the 1930s. One such act of aviation derring-do came from Jimmie Mattern, who used the Vega in his attempts to circumnavigate the globe in 1932 and 1933. Alas, Mattern flew great distances and even set records, but he never made it around the globe; both of his attempts ended with a wrecked Vega in the Soviet Union.

Despite these setbacks, Mattern was one of the great contributors to aviation progress. This is reflected by the fact that when Apollo 11 went to the moon, Jimmie Mattern’s pilot license was carried aboard.

Scorpions

F-89B of the 190th Fighter Interceptor Squadron, Idaho Air Guard. Head boss (and all-around good guy) LtCol Martin Johnson stands in the cockpit.
F-89C presents a not unflattering view of the Scorpion’s usually rather chunky appearance.
F-89D used as a weapons test bed. This, of course, included the Falcon missiles, as seen here poking into the slipstream.
F-89D cruising past Long Beach harbor.
F-89J of the 178th FIS, S. Dakota Air Guard in the mid-1960s.
Scorpions of the 66th FIS, Elmendorf AFB, AK.
F-89D of the 61st FIS, Ernest Harmon AFB, Labrador.
Part of the Scorpion’s sting – the Falcon.
This view of the Scorpion’s 3-in-1 Fuel/Rocket/Missile pods brings to mind one of those “Transformer” kid toys…
…

“The Highly Supersonic F-105 Thunderchief”

Now preserved in Alabama, 54-0102, a B model, was the fifth F-105 built.
Original and superlative-packed caption for the previous photo.
Two B models flying by “robot control” (See the following caption)
“Jetbuilders” at work. F-105D assembly line,1960.
F-105s on the ramp at Seymour Johnson AFB. The base also hosted B-52s, as seen in the background.
Outnumbered by a host of F-4E Phantoms, this F-105G visiting Seymour Johnson in the late 1970s is nearing the end of its days.

With the noteworthy exception of not dropping a thermonuclear bomb on invading armies (as was its original purpose), the F-105 Thunderchief, AKA the “Thud” (of course), pretty much performed every role one could think of and a few more as well. However, such achievements came with a price, especially in the skies over Vietnam during the first few years of the war. During that period, the 105 was the primary strike aircraft and had a loss rate to prove it: More than half of the F-105s that saw combat in Vietnam were shot down or otherwise crashed in-country. A poignant example of that loss rate is found in the attached photo, which shows the Thunderchief assembly line in 1960. In that picture, 17 Thuds can be identified by serial number; all would serve in Vietnam. Of those 17 aircraft captured in this random photo, 15 would be shot down. Very grim math, indeed.

Nevertheless, most F-105 guys thought they had the best plane in the world, a bird far superior to anything else that came to replace it (See: F-4 Phantom). These Thud drivers haughtily looked down their noses at any mere mortal who even remotely impugned the legend that was their F-105 Thunderchief.

I will leave you with a joke I heard decades ago from an F-4 pilot.

Q: “How many F-105 pilots does it take to screw in a light bulb?”

A: “Two. One guy to screw in the bulb, the other to talk about how great it was.”

Random Seaplanes, Flying Boats, And Other Things That Float And Fly

The year: 1933. Battleship USS West Virginia sends off one of its observation aircraft, a Vought O3U
A Ju 46 is fired towards shore from the catapult of the SS Europa.
Martin PM-1 (A8300) of VP-9 at NAS San Diego. The warship is an Omaha-class light cruiser.
Loening COA (24-8) while on a stopover at Bolling Field.
Steak & eggs in a PBY. This view is looking aft from the galley compartment.
PBY maintenance in the South Pacific. The aircraft belongs to one of the famous “Black Cat” squadrons.
PBM-5 tied to the dock at NAS Patuxent River in 1947.
Hanging out to dry is one of the canvas sea anchors that were deployed to assist in turning and braking.

James E. Stewart, Flight Engineer

By the time this photo reached “Aunt Olga & Uncle Fred” back in his home state of Iowa, Private James Stewart had completed aerial gunner training at Harlingen, Texas, and was now at Keeseler Field in Mississippi for the next phase of his training, that of aircraft mechanic.  Upon graduation from Keesler, newly promoted Sergeant Stewart was off to RAF Sudbury in Suffolk, Great Britain, where he served as a B-17 flight engineer with the 833rd Bomb Squadron, 486th Bomb Group. He flew his missions, survived running gun battles with the Luftwaffe, got blasted by flak batteries, and eventually returned home to Iowa.

Stewart did all these things while still a teenager. 

XB-19A

The first three photos show the gigantic bird at Miami Army Airfield, Florida.
Showing a photo of oneself standing next to the XB-19 was always a conversation starter. Note the patch on the wing underside.
Post-war found the XB-19 languishing at Clinton County Field in Ohio, where it served with the USAAF’s All Weather Flying Center.
In its early days, everything about the aircraft’s size was worth a photo. The XB-19’s gigantic tail looms in the background.

Vanished: The “Hawaii Clipper”

Martin M-130 Hawaii Clipper

Seen at Pearl Harbor’s Fleet Air Base in 1936-37, this Martin M-130 – better known as Pan Am’s “Hawaii Clipper” – is prepped for its next long hop over the Pacific. Sadly, in 1938, somewhere between Guam and Manila, this aircraft disappeared with all its crew and passengers, never to be seen again.

Conspiracy theories sprang up, ones that continue to this day. Chief among these rumors is that the plane was sabotaged by Japanese secret agents to prevent it from delivering millions of dollars for military aid to China. A more plausible scenario (but less spy thriller) is one where the plane flew into unavoidable severe weather and was destroyed (the last radio contact was interrupted due to weather-related static).

Japanese spies aside, the cause that led to the disappearance of the Hawaii Clipper will probably always remain a mystery.

“O” Is For Observation

The Douglas XO-31 was the company’s first observation aircraft with a monoplane design.
O-46 of the 118th Observation Squadron, Connecticut National Guard
O-43 of the 22nd Observation Squadron.
Exactly one YO-31C was built. (Its cantilever landing gear was the most noticeable feature).
An O-35 at Boeing Field.
The lone O-31 “B” model was used by the War Department Militia Bureau (note the two stars on the fuselage).
O-38B of the 116th Observation Squadron, Washington National Guard.
O-31A of the 5th Observation Squadron.
O-38B (30-419) of Ohio’s 112th Observation Squadron.

As seen here, Douglas Aircraft Company pretty much owned the observation aircraft market for the US Army Air Corps back in the 1930s.

“My Name is Patricia, and the 321st Bomb Wing Voted Me ‘Miss Target'”

Found the photo in a USAF flying magazine from the late 50s.
Underwater Miss Target (R) takes aim at an overhead apple.

This charming young lady, Patricia, wore several hats (including a helmet) back in her modeling days. When not sitting on the wing of a B-47 Stratojet while attending to her responsibilities as “Miss Target” for the 321st Bomb Wing at McCoy AFB, she was busy trying to bite apples from beneath the waves at a local theme park. These vastly different career choices may seem at complete odds, but there was one overriding commonality: both jobs were best performed while wearing a swimsuit.

Note:

“Miss Target”…

Seems a rather ambiguous title, a double entendre, for a USAF organization whose primary mission was to not miss the target.

1930s Candler Field (Atlanta Airport)

No 1930s Air Corps visit was complete without a gaggle of A-12 Shrikes.
O-1 Falcons
Keystone Bombers were always on hand whenever the Air Corps wanted to impress the locals.

The Army Air Corps pays a visit to Candler Field in Atlanta sometime around 1935-36. Although renamed Atlanta Municipal Airport in 1929, one can see by the title of the photo album page that the “Candler” moniker was still unofficially in use. 

There is absolutely nothing left of the scenery captured in these photos – the last of these hangars were demolished decades ago.

Top Cover for America

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A pair of deuces from the 317th Fighter Interceptor Squadron, Elmendorf AFB Alaska, cruise past the summit of Mt. McKinley in the late 1960s. These F-102s would soon leave Alaskan Air Command and head to the Air National Guard. 56-1257 (foreground) made it as far south as the Wisconsin Air Guard, where, after a few more years of service, the aircraft, like many an F-102, was converted to a drone and blown to smithereens over the Gulf of Mexico.

1257’s wingman, 56-1252, was luckier. It ended up with the 111th FIS, Texas Air Guard, but was spared the drone treatment and was instead put on display at Ellington Field. Notably, this particular aircraft was one of those flown by President George W. Bush when he was a fighter pilot in the 111th.

Weldon Cooke’s 1913 Tractor

Cooke 1913 Tractor (1)

Weldon B. Cooke, seen in the cockpit of his 1913 Tractor Biplane, readies for what will prove to be a successful flight from the lengthy runway of a (conveniently) frozen Lake Erie near Sandusky, Ohio.
Mr. Cooke’s machine was of an advanced design. In the 1913 world, where pilots and passengers perched on the wing of pusher aircraft such as those built by Wright or Curtiss, Cooke’s airplane had two real cockpits and an engine up front. In addition to placing the motor in a position to pull his aircraft, Mr. Cooke found that inverting said aeroplane motor improved both performance and the pilot’s visibility. Many consider this an aviation first (and by far, not an aviation last). Perhaps this is not surprising given that Mr. Cooke, unlike many other aviation pioneers, had a solid engineering background. He was a self-taught pilot as well.
Unfortunately, like many innovative devices, Cooke’s airplane never attracted customers, and Sandusky, Ohio, never became a mecca for aviation manufacturing. This setback did not dissuade Weldon B. Cooke, who persisted in advancing aviation technology until his untimely demise in an aircraft crash in 1914.

From the “Looks are Deceiving” Dept.

Loening Model 23 of the New York – Newport Air Service.
Army Air Service S-1 (24-1) seen at Langley Field in the mid-20s.

The Loening Model 23/S-1 of the early 1920s is a testament that one cannot judge an aircraft solely by its appearance. Yes, the Model 23 looked somewhat ungainly in its design. Yes, it looked far more hydrodynamic than aerodynamic (This outward form would explain the origins of the Model 23’s official name:  “The Flying Yacht”). 

But, as they say in the Looks are Deceiving Dept…

In actuality, the awkward-appearing “Flying Yacht”, was an amazingly efficient airplane. First taking to the sky in 1921, Loening’s bird won multiple awards for its design – including the Collier Trophy. It also set world records for speed, distance, and altitude. To top it off, the Model 23 was one of the first monoplane-configured seaplanes to go into production. 

Loening’s “Flying Yacht” was quickly eclipsed by the rapid advances in 1920s aviation, but for a brief shining moment, it was unquestionably among the top seaplanes in the world. 

Hellcats

VF-40 Hellcat out for a prowl.
VF-40 bird launches from USS Suwanee – home turf for the squadron.
Robert C. Wilson of VF-31. He and his Hellcat racked up six victories.
Wilson (L) aboard USS Cabot. The Hellcat (58937) was flown by another VF-31 ace, Art “Hawk” Hawkins who had 14 kills.

The B-17″E”

41-2407 was the 15th E-model built and spent its life testing one thing after another.
41-2399 shows, to good effect, the remote belly turret as well as the early war insignia.
2399 again, this time with the fuselage insignia redone, but the wing star is unchanged. Note the B-10 to the right.
2399 (again).
41-2514 enroute to the RAF. The remote turret is no more.
41-2656 sports the new and improved ball turret.
41-9182 floats in for a landing.