As the Royal Air Force turns 100, here are a few profiles of aircraft flown by some of the most famous British aces. Hawker Hurricane Mk I flown by S/L Douglas Bader, No 242 Squadron, September 1940. Douglas Bader was one of the Royal Air Force’s best-known aces in World War II. Having lost both…Continue reading Hurricane aces: Bader, Mackenzie, Czernin and Nicolson
This P-40M-5-CU is operated by Comanche Fighters LLC in the US. This P-40M-10-CU (s/n 43-5813) is flown and operated by the Tri-State Warbird Museum and carries the colours of NZ3119 of No 2 OTU of the Royal New Zealand Air Force in 1943.
This week’s updates are dedicated to surviving examples of the beautiful Curtiss P-40 Warhawk. I’ve always liked the P-40 and thought of it as the “American Hurricane”: it did not have the glamour and fame of other, better-known fighters but was a sturdy and dependable aircraft which served in all Allied air forces throughout the…Continue reading Curtiss P-40 Warhawk warbirds
Hawker Tempest Mk V EJ580 was flown by F/L Ron Bennett of the Royal Air Force’s No 501 Squadron in October 1944. MW820 was a Tempest Mk II operated by No 54 Squadron in Chibolton in March 1946. Squadron Leader Jimmy Sheddan was the commanding officer of No 486 Squadron in May 1945 and flew…Continue reading Hawker Tempest Mk II & Mk V
Consolidated PBY-5 Catalina BuNo 2419 was flown by Ensign William Tanner of VP-14 on 7 December 1941. Tanner had been warned “to be alert during this period of great tension”. A few hours before the Japanese air raid, Tanner spotted a Japanese midget submarine trying to penetrate the harbor and destroyed it with the assistance…Continue reading Ens. William Tanner’s PBY-5 during the Pearl Harbor attack
Until recently, “Fifi” was the world’s only airworthy B-29 Superfortress. Operated by the Commemorative Air Force, this mighty bomber has now been joined in the skies by “Doc”, which flew again in 2016. If you like the Superfortress, you will love AirCorps Art’s vinyl poster of “Fifi”, which is available in several sizes ranging from…Continue reading B-29 Superfortress “Fifi”
Here is an aircraft type I tried to avoid for years ! Although I find the B-24 to be a fascinating aircraft, I also know that it is an aircraft with an extraordinary numbers of variants and equipment options. My notes on the topic add up to more than 15 pages, and is not yet…Continue reading Work in progress : B-24 Liberator
This Fortress II (serial FA704) was flown by Wing Commander Ron Thomson DSO and his crew of No 206 Squadron based at Benbecula, in the Outer Hebrides. This aircraft ditched in the Atlantic on 11 June 1943, its crew drifting in a dinghy for four days before being rescued by a Catalina flown by S/L…Continue reading More British Fortresses !
This Boeing Fortress IIA (serial FK202) was flown by No 59 Squadron of the RAF’s Coastal Command. The Squadron was one of the few RAF squadrons to operate the Fortress in 1942 and 1943 for maritime patrolling missions. The aircraft was equipped with ASV radar, with visible antennas on the fuselage sides and spine as…Continue reading Boeing Fortress IIA of No 59 Squadron RAF, 1943
“February” is a P-51D-30-NA which was accepted by the USAAF in May 1945 as s/n 44-74391 and served in the US until 1958. It then served with the Guatemalan AF until 1972 when it returned to the US civilian market. It was restored in 2001 and registered as NX351MX. It carries the markings of the…Continue reading P-51D Mustang “February”