…though you might need a little more exotic kit than walking shoes and sunscreen to visit. (full story here)
For those of short memory, the story of the USS Macon and her brood was the subject of an earlier Flightdeck Friday: “Gasbags and Hookers”
Something a little different for Flightdeck Friday this Memorial day weekend. We are working on a project that if luck holds out, we should be able to post over the weekend, provided we don’t have to make an unbidden trip that lurks around the corner…if so, we’ll roll that project to the 4th of July….
Like many other aircraft during WWII, the Corsair found itself being produced by companies other than its originator, Chance-Vought. Here, the alternate producers were the Brewster Aircraft Company, builder of the F2A Buffalo (a future Flightdeck Friday topic, BTW) and the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, producer of non-rigid airships or blimps. With production lines…
1050L 24 Oct 1944. USS St. LO (CVE 63) is under heavy air attack. After successfully fending off the superior surface force of VADM Takeo Kurita’s Center Force, “Taffy 3″ is now defending against a surprise air attack that has lasted some 40 minutes already. One of the features of this attack is the use…
OK, so it’s back onto the (Air)bus with the rest of the sardines and head back to Occupied Territory after a week of TDY near the Rockies’ Front Range. Presently researching a (near) future post that includes the events surrounding an engagement between 22 P-38J’s of the 474th Fighter Group temporarily based at St Marceau, France…
The last pilot from the Doolittle raid, Col Bill Bower, USAF-Ret., passed away Jan 10 at his home in Boulder CO: As a 25-year-old first lieutenant, Col. Bower commanded one of the 16 Army Air Forces’ B-25s in the top-secret mission under the direction of then-Lt. Col. James H. Doolittle. Col. Bower and the 79…
1959. Changes are afoot in the tactical aircraft programs for Air Force and Navy’s specific requirements. The Air Force sought to replace the F-105 with a new fighter-bomber that would address the shortcomings of the Thunderchief — it was to land in half the distance of the F-105, be able to fly unrefueled to Europe or Southeast…
