Because…
Because you can never get enough of props:
Because you can never forget your roots nor those who came before, who were tested in the crucible of the Pacific War — and prevailed:
And because, well, in an age of plastic it’s worth remembering when planes (and their crews) were made of iron:
Just, you know, because…
First, the official release: Pilot Missing in Action From The Vietnam War is Identified The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) announced today that the remains of a U.S. serviceman, missing in action from the Vietnam War, have been identified and will be returned to his family for burial with full military honors. He…
Ryan FR Fireball In 1942 the Navy was less than impressed with the state of jet-powered development. Hedging its bets, it comissioned construction of two “composite-powered” aircraft — the Grumman XTB3F-1 (last week’s Flightdeck Friday subject) and a fighter from a little known company, Ryan, who had not previously built an aircraft for the Navy….
Task Force 17 – Rear Admiral Frank J. Fletcher in Yorktown Task Group 17.5 Carrier Group – CAPT Elliott Buckmaster USS Yorktown (CV-5) CAPT Buckmaster CVG-5 – LCDR Oscar Pederson VS-5 LT Wallace Clark Short, Jr. 19 (17) x SBD-3 VF-3 LCDR John Smith Thach 27 (25) x F4F-4 VB-3 LCDR Maxwell Franklin Leslie 18…
Something here for everyone – props & jets, straight deck carriers and battleships ("…a typical task force consisted of 3-4 carriers and a couple of battleships…" *sigh* those were the days – ed.), UNREPing a Gearing-class DD and more. Transferred from home movies shot by an F9F pilot during the period 1953-54, the narrative is…
Folks – Mike has posted his half of the Valour-IT Navy-Air Force blog challenge and has executed a superb write-up on the F4F. Take a few minutes to head over and check it out — you’ll learn some new things along the way. BZ Mike!– SJS
It has been said that a picture is worth a thousand words. Truly, the accolades written in praise of Douglas’ wonderously rugged and lethal AD Skyraider, affectionately known as the SPAD, exceed the thousands. With roots in the latter days of WW2 (via the XBTD-2), the SPAD saw actrion in Korea, Vietnam and numerous fronts…
