WWII Birds and the Goose

[BellyTank]

I'm a Mosquito fan too.
I remember when I was a kid, I had a Commando comic with a 'Mosquito' story and really fantastic artwork...

Nice pics Mike.

B
T

 

[Wild Root]

Mosquitos...

Ah yes, I remember seeing a photo of one in a book when I was just getting into war birds. I have to say that I went right out and bought the Airfix kit and built a very shabby model. I was such in a hurry to build it and display it I didn't take the time to do it right. Well, my brother was playing in the room once and knocked something over and it landed on my display. Well, the model was ok, but the landing gear was shot which was the worst part of it any way. So, I went out and bought another of the same kit. So, this time I took my time with it. I painted it as a night bomber/fighter so; it's black with the red squadron markings. I think that plane looks so sharp in black! Very sleek and sexy if I do say so my self.

De Havilland sure made a wonderful plane! I wish there were more of them still around.

WR.

My model looked like this.

 

[jake431]

Well no prizes for guessing my favourite aircraft, but if we're talking fighters, my favourite is the Corsair. Here are a few pics from my last, somewhat less than successful visit to Duxford, Cambridgeshire (the plan was to meet up with Paddy and some other jacket nuts at the Battle of Britain Air show, but due to circumstances beyond my control I got there a day late. The weather was lousy and I didn't get to see any flying. ) It occurs to me that there are a few Mosquito lovers on this forum, so I've included a couple of shots from the De Havilland Air Museum near London, which I visited en route to Duxford, including one of the Mosquito prototype. The Corsair pic was taken at Duxford a couple of years before, when the weather was nicer!

MB17

Ah yes, the old Ensign Eliminator - quite a cool aircraft. I loved watching reruns of Black Sheep Squadron just to see the Corsairs as a kid. I'd take my computer joystick, reclining chair and fly along with them!

-Jake

 

[MikeyB17]

Yes Jake, I 'm currently reading Bruce Gamble's 'The Black Sheep'-a factual and very readable account of the activities of VMF-214, putting right the inaccuracies in Boyington's classic but somewhat fanciful 'Baa Baa Black Sheep'. It's got me in a bit of a Corsair mood right now.

MB17

 

[The Wingnut]

Evergreen has built a bulletproof lexan box into the H-4's cargo deck. You can go inside, but you're not allowed to take photos. The cockpit is closed to the public and unless you know someone high up in the Evergreen chain of command, you won't get in without a $5,000 donation to the museum. I tried that last year with no success.

The H-4's size doesn't register even in person. It's impossible to take in all at once. Without the H-4 inside, that building would be big enough to serve as a football stadium, complete with a crowd of 15,000. If you've ever seen a P&W R-4360 in person, bear in mind that there are EIGHT of them hanging on the H-4. A 4360 itself weighs nearly 3500 lbs...I can't find information on the exact measurements, but on an engine stand, they're generally about 6' high and close to 8 ' long.

 

[MikeyB17]

Here's a few more for you Mossie lovers, including one of me in the cockpit of the mighty Sea Vixen-I'd rather sit in that one than the navigator's position-that's the little window just above the roundel on the side!

MB17

 

[MK]

.

Hey rebelgtp! You must be in my neck of the woods.....which is Vancouver, WA. What part are you in?

 

[jake431]

Yes Jake, I 'm currently reading Bruce Gamble's 'The Black Sheep'-a factual and very readable account of the activities of VMF-214, putting right the inaccuracies in Boyington's classic but somewhat fanciful 'Baa Baa Black Sheep'. It's got me in a bit of a Corsair mood right now.

MB17

I also read that book, it's a great one. I particularly enjoyed the chapters on the Swashbucklers. Their patch was cool too. Boyington's a pretty colorful character, even when his own mythologizing is stripped away.

-Jake

 

[Jake]

Ah yes, the old Ensign Eliminator - quite a cool aircraft. I loved watching reruns of Black Sheep Squadron just to see the Corsairs as a kid. I'd take my computer joystick, reclining chair and fly along with them!

-Jake

FYI the Black Sheep Squadron TV series is now out on video. BTW, Great pictures everone.....Jake

 

[Zemke Fan]

I gotta get me one of these...

Zemke Fan (a.k.a. Fred) in front of the P-47 at the new wing of the Air and Space Museum at Dulles Airport.

Next time I'll take one in uniform!

 

[PrettyBigGuy]

Great pics. My brother lives in the Portland area & has been tempting me for quite a while now with discriptions of his visits to that museum! I sadly moved to SoCal too late to see the H-4 in Long Beach, but I will get up to see it soon (I'm in the middle of buying a house so all trips are off for the forseeable future).
It's hard for me to pic a favorite warbird, but the P-47 "Jug" is hard to beat. But I've also got a soft spot for the F-4U1 & the P-38. I went to Oshkosh for the EAA back when I was in high school & it was an experience that no lover of WWII aircraft should pass up. Amazing. Now that I'm back in the midwest I'm thinking of going again next year.
Hey Rebelgtp, Got any better pics of that A-26 than the cropped one with the Jeep?

 

[jake431]

Great pics. My brother lives in the Portland area & has been tempting me for quite a while now with discriptions of his visits to that museum! I sadly moved to SoCal too late to see the H-4 in Long Beach, but I will get up to see it soon (I'm in the middle of buying a house so all trips are off for the forseeable future).
It's hard for me to pic a favorite warbird, but the P-47 "Jug" is hard to beat. But I've also got a soft spot for the F-4U1 & the P-38. I went to Oshkosh for the EAA back when I was in high school & it was an experience that no lover of WWII aircraft should pass up. Amazing. Now that I'm back in the midwest I'm thinking of going again next year.
Hey Rebelgtp, Got any better pics of that A-26 than the cropped one with the Jeep?

Here are a couple P-47 pics for you - they're one of my favorite warbirds too.

In Germany, 1945:

In formation (I think they're 12th AF):

At Willow Run, MI, this summer:

Gotta love the jug!

-Jake

 

[Zemke Fan]

Missed the flight...

Was led to believe that the flight of four thunderbolts would be at the new wing of the Air and Space Museum around Labor Day. They weren't. Wish I could have seen all of those babies at one time.

BTW: My current research interest focuses on the 56th and 57th Fighter Groups. Former was Zemke's outfit and the latter included the 64th, 65th, and 66th Fighter Squadrons. The *Hun Hunter* depicted in the photo above was one of the 65th's planes:

My favorite squadron, however, was the 64th, the Black Scorpions:

64th Fighter Squadron's Christmas Card from 1942:

Got to love those PINK kittyhawks!

 

[jake431]

Was led to believe that the flight of four thunderbolts would be at the new wing of the Air and Space Museum around Labor Day. They weren't. Wish I could have seen all of those babies at one time.

It was cool. the 3 thunderbolts and a BF-109 participated in a mock ground attack demonstration. At one point they had 3 P-47's, 2 P-541's and a P-40 in the air together.

-Jake

 

[MikeyB17]

ZF, I have a feeling those Spitfires may be P-40s, although it is hard to tell.

MB17

 

[Zemke Fan]

ZF, I have a feeling those Spitfires may be P-40s, although it is hard to tell. MB17

Mikey got it right!

BTW, Here's an interesting sounding book: "Kittyhawks over the Sands: The Canadians and RCAF Americans, Campaigns: MTO [Mediterranean Theater of Operations] no. 1, by Michel Lavigne and James F. Edwards. Lavigne Aviation Publications, P.O. Box 222, Victoriaville, Qc, Canada, G6P 6S8, 2002, 384 pages, $45.00."

Anyone read this one?

 

[jake431]

Thought this place would be a good place to post one of my fav's, the Tempest:

It and the Typhoon really are like the British answer to the Thunderbolt.

-Jake

 

[rebelgtp]

Hey rebelgtp! You must be in my neck of the woods.....which is Vancouver, WA. What part are you in?

i'm on the other side of the river and a lil west in Beaverton OR

 

[Mojave Jack]

I've always been a B-24 man myself, for familial reasons, but the B-17's grown on me. My "favorite" WW2 bomber is the B-26 though.

Here's a wartime shot:

Jake,

If you like B-26s, you'll love this. This is one of my absolute favorite pics:

How awesome is that shot?! I love the bombardier taking a drag on his cigarette.

You can find the entire collection here. It is incredible.

Personal Collection of Capt Joseph Merhar

 

[Slate Shannon]

Jake,

If you like B-26s, you'll love this. This is one of my absolute favorite pics:

How awesome is that shot?! I love the bombardier taking a drag on his cigarette.

You can find the entire collection here. It is incredible.

Personal Collection of Capt Joseph Merhar

That is an amazing shot! It's always a little surprising to me, as to how tight it really was in those old bombers. I tend to think of them as lumbering behemoths, till you see a picture like this, or one parked next to a modern aircraft.