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North American A-36 walk around
By the success of the German Ju-87, the Army ordered a dive bomber variant of the Mustang, the A-36. This had slatted dive brakes, a V-1710-87 engine, and extra .50-cal wing guns. The 27th BG (Light) (later the 27th FBG) took the A-36 into combat in North Africa, and with the 86th BG, later…
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F-80 Shooting Star walk around
The first US turbojet aircraft to enter combat service, the P-80 was also the first product of Lockheed’s secretive “Skunk Works” division headed by Clarence “Kelly” Johnson. Johnson had sketched out the advanced L-133 jet fighter well before the US entered WWII, but this was to remain a paper project, and the XP-80 was to…
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F-4G walk around
Naval F-4s F-105G walk around
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F-15E Strike Eagle walk around
F-15E Bibliography Scale Aviation Modelling December 1996 Inside Story: McDonnell Douglas F-15 Strike Eagle Includes walk around shots Randy Jolly, Jim Benson “Mountain Home Super Wing” World Air Power Journal Vol. 16 Includes photos of 366th Wing F-15Es. David Donald “F-15E Strike Eagle” World Air Power Journal Vol.21 Extensive photo coverage Large color illustration of…
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C-123K Provider walk around
C-123 Bibliography Patrick Martin Tail Code The Complete History of USAF Tactical Aircraft Tail Code Markings Schiffer Publishing 1994 ISBN: 0-88740-513-4 C-123K 54-0635 319 SOS / 1st SOW p.82 ———————– Al Adcock “C-123 Provider in action” Squadron/Signal Publications, 1992. ISBN: 0-89747-276-4 Magazine Articles and Photos: Photo: “External, Jettisonable Gas Load for C-123” Aviation…
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B-26 Marauder walk around
Not many B-26 Marauders survived for long after WWII – the USAAF was well supplied with Douglas Invaders for the medium bomber mission, and after the last Marauders had left service the Invader received the Martin aircraft’s B-26 designation. The NMUSAF’s B-26G, one of three G-models remaining, is a combat veteran of WWII, seeing action…
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C-130 Spare 617
C-130E 62-1787, on display in the NMUSAF’s Global Reach Gallery, was badly damaged in April 1972 during an attempt to drop supplies to ARVN troops at An Loc. With a dead flight engineer, injured copilot and navigator, and fires burning in the cargo hold, the fate of Spare 617 looked very much in doubt, but…
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Review: Consolidated B-24 Liberator: Production Line to Frontline
Author: Michael O’Leary; softcover, 144 pages Highlights: Building a Bomber: Detailed views of the production line and high-quality shots of various subassemblies. PBY-1: Featured with the KU3N-1 anti-ship missile. EZB-24M: Focus on the ice research aircraft, noted as the last active USAF Liberator. Haulers: Coverage of transport variants including the LB-30A, C-87A, RY-1, BOAC Liberators,…
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Review – Edwards Air Force Base: Open House at the USAF Flight Test Center 1957-1966: A Photo Chronicle of Aircraft Displayed
Edwards AFB has been at the center of American military flight testing since the days when it was Muroc Army Air Field, and some of the most unusual and exotic aircraft ever flown have operated from Edwards runways. For years, author Robert D. Archer attended the open houses at Edwards, venturing over the Santa Monica…
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VB-3 Razon guided bomb
Just too late for combat use during WWII, the Razon guided bomb was a 1,000lb AN-M65 bomb fitted with aft control surfaces to allow the weapon to be steered in range and azimuth, as opposed to the earlier VB-1 Azon, which could only be controlled in azimuth. Tested from B-17s during the war, stockpiled Razons…
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Wings of Fame Vol 13
Contents include: Bill Gunston “Hawker P.1127/Kestrel” Shlomo Aloni “No.105 Squadron, IDF/AF” M. Hill Goodspeed “Grumman TBF/TBM Avenger” Alexander Mladenov “Bulgarian air force 1940-49” Warren Thompson “B-26 Invader in Korea” Robert F. Dorr “Lockheed F-94 Variants” Larry Davis “Air Force Search & Rescue Part 1”
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Review: American Aircraft Development of the Second World War: Research Experimentation and Modification 1939-1945
The culmination of a series detailing the development of US combat aircraft of World War II, this latest book by Bill Norton is a must-have for anyone interested in out of the ordinary aircraft. Rather than focusing on a single class of aircraft, this work chronicles how new technologies were pursued during the war.
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Douglas XB-42 & XB-43
Although best known for its role as a nuclear delivery vehicle over Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Boeing’s B-29 Superfortress was a technological marvel in its own right when first flown, incorporating such advanced features as pressurization and remotely-controlled gun turrets. However, even with a world war raging, it was recognized that the Superfortress was a very…
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Review: Testbeds, Motherships and Parasites: Astonishing Aircraft From the Golden Age of Flight Test
I’ve always found testbed aircraft to be a fascinating subject - these are often familiar types that have been converted into sometimes barely recognizable forms to serve as airborne laboratories for developing new aerodynamics, engines, electronics, and other systems. Although perhaps not as glamorous as combat types, these “oddball” aircraft have played a major part in…
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Douglas Skyraider
One of the masterpieces of Douglas designer Ed Heinneman, the Skyraider was the result of experience gained from the SBD Dauntless and the abortive BTD Destroyer program, and although seemingly obsolete at the dawn of the jet age, would in fact serve far longer than all of its turbojet-powered contemporaries. In contrast with the Destroyer,…
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SB2C Helldiver Bibliography
Aircraft Anatomy of World War II: Technical Drawings of Key Aircraft 1939-1945 Paul Eden, Soph Moeing, editors p.32-33: SB2C cutaway, with a color side view photo of the XSB2C-1 with broken tail. Walter A. Musciano Warbirds of the Sea p.217-218: photos of a pair of Helldivers in flight, close-up of the rear gun position, side-view…
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Douglas F4D Skyray
Douglas’ first jet fighter design, the F4D, was a result of US postwar acquisition of German aeronautical data—specifically Alexander Lippisch’s work on delta-wing aircraft. As both the F4D airframe and the J40 engine were new, the first two examples were initially fitted with Allison J35s for the first flight in January 1951 to mitigate risk.…
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Book Review: “X-Planes of the Third Reich: Heinkel He 162”
Designed, built, and relegated to history within the short span of a few months, Heinkel’s He 162 was one of the few Luftwaffe last-ditch wonder planes to actually enter service, although the type only became operational in late April 1945, far too late to make any type of impact. The program was driven by the…
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B-24D walk around
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B-17 Flying Fortress notes
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A-4A Skyhawk walkaround and A-4 references
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Air International Volume 11
- North American B-45 Tornado
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- F-86H Sabre at Chippewa, PA
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- F-89J Scorpion at NMUSAF
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- P-51C "Thunderbird" walk around photos
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- C-133 Cargomaster art print
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- Vultee Vengeance
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- Vought / Consolidated TBU/TBY Sea Wolf
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- Grumman TBF / General Motors TBM Avenger
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- English Electric Lightning
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- F3H Demon
- XTB2F
- Handley-Page Victor
- Book Review: Classic WWII Aircraft Cutaways by Bill Gunston
- Westland Wyvern
- Curtiss P-60
- Consolidated XP4Y
- Supermarine Seafire
- Review: On Atlas' Shoulders: RAF Transport Projects Since 1945
- P-59 Airacomet
- P-58 Chain Lightning
- P-47M
- P-47N
- Review: Detail & Scale No.54 P-47 Thunderbolt
- Review: Walk Around #8 P-40 Warhawk
- Vought OS2U Kingfisher
- Review: Nose Art: An Illustrated History from World War 1 to the Present
Bell Airacuda
Review: Aviation Archive: Vietnam War 65th Anniversary Special: Vol.2
Bell XP-83
Bell Airacuda
Review:Warbird Tech #7: Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress
Review: Walk Around #14: Hurricane
Review: F-102 in action