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…
KIDO BUTAI First Carrier Striking Force VADM Nagumo Chuichi Chief of Staff: RADM Kusaka Ryunosuke Carrier Division 1 – VADM Nagumo Akagi (flagship) – Captain Aoki Taijiro, commanding 18 x A6M2 carrier fighters (aka Zero) 18 x D3A1 carrier bombers (aka Val) 18 x B5N2 carrier attack aircraft (aka Kate) 6 x A6M2 fighters (6th…
Sunday, 17 May 1942. PACIFIC OCEAN AREA (POA, 7th Air Force): The 7th Air Force is placed on alert in anticipation of a possible attack on Midway. For the next 10 days the old B-18’s on hand are used on sea searches to supplement the B-17’s. VII Bomber Command receives an influx of B-17’s during…
Star-crossed (adj.) Opposed by fate; ill-fated. “Star-crossed“ an apt descriptor for this week’s subject – the F7U Cutlass, also known by such endearing labels as “Gutless Cutlass and “Ensign Eliminator. How bad was it? Try this – shortly after the Cutlass arrived at Pax River in 1949 for flight evals, it was taken up for…
Sixty-five years ago Guts, determination, innovation – courage were defined (and well before Joint was “cool”) Conceived in the dark aftermath of the attack on Pearl Harbor, the raid had its genesis in the idea of CAPT Frank Lowe, USN who predicted that Army twin-engine bombers could be launched form a carrier under the right…
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,…
Mach 2+ speeds with a fixed inlet. Push-button cruise control. All weather intercept capability with the AIM-7 Sparrow. A flat-out drag-racing king on the straights and in a climb. All this was the XF8U-3 Crusader III. < ?xml:namespace prefix = o /> Envisioned as a high speed, all weather interceptor follow-on to the already noteworthy…
Standby; standby; mark” In the relative cool of the early dawn, remote recording equipment began timing the grey and orange streak that thundered by at 125 ft above the desert floor. The date is 28 August 1961 and a second attempt at the world’s low altitude speed record is underway. Flying a 3km closed…
Mix one gonzo engine (the Pratt & Whitney XR-4360-10 Wasp with 3,000 righteous HP) and a requirement to carry a large bomb load off a carrier deck for long range strikes against Japan and you have this week’s Flightdeck Friday subject – the Boeing XF8B-1. In 1943 the Navy contracted with Boeing to produce a…
Don’t forget to head over to the Daily Briefing for Flightdeck Friday as well — this week, “Nuclear Fleas” 30 Jun 1941. The Navy’s search for a replacement for the F4F was on. Two of the premiere aircraft manufacturers in the nation, Grumman and Curtiss, were granted development contracts for three prototypes – Grumman for…
