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History

When Ted Williams, a future member of the Baseball Hall of Fame, crash-landed his F9F Panther

by Till Daisd July 9, 2023

After finishing his tour in Korea, Ted Williams returned to the major league and was later inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame

On February 16, 1953, US Marine Corps ground crewmen at Suwon’s K-13 airfield spotted the crash and the fire and rescue crews rapidly manned their vehicles. They suspected there would be trouble.

It promptly arrived when a midnight blue F9F Panther fighter (BuNo 126109 of VMF-311) came in “heavy” and extremely quickly, as described by Warren Thompson in his book F9F Panther Units of the Korean War. It moved slowly, trailed smoke, and streamed a 30-foot-long ribbon of fire, all of which indicated a significant danger.

The pilot’s aircraft was clearly out of control, but he was too low to eject. His only choice was to attempt to land the damaged jet in an emergency situation. An explosion rocked the plane as it approached the airstrip, heightening the already stressful situation.

Sparks flew from the Panther as it made a wheels-up landing and skidded for nearly a mile along the runway on its belly. The cockpit was immediately in danger as the nose caught fire. The pilot tried to get out and blew off his canopy before limping off. The aircraft was a complete wreck and had only been in Korea since January 11, 1953, but the pilot managed to flee with only minor injuries.

Ted-Williams-F9F — Williams as F9F USMC pilot Ted Williams lithograph is signed by both Williams and the artist Merv Corning.

The most renowned “flying leatherneck” in Korea, none other than Ted Williams, a star professional baseball player serving as a US Marine Corps reservist, made his daring escape in front of the airmen at Suwon but they only later discovered that. After finishing his tour, Williams returned to the major league and was later inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Future astronauts John Glenn and Neil Armstrong were among the others who would go on to become well-known after flying Panthers in Korea. Together with VMF-311, Maj John Glenn participated in combat in Korea in 1953.

Glenn, a World War II combat veteran of 59 missions, flew an additional 63 sorties in Panthers. While serving with VMF-311, he earned the unsavory moniker “magnet ass” for his apparent propensity to attract enemy flak. With more than 250 flak holes in his aircraft, he twice returned to base.

After briefly flying with Ted Williams, Glenn finished a second combat tour in Korea as part of an interservice exchange program with the USAF’s 51st Fighter Wing. In the last days of the conflict, he flew 27 missions in the F-86F Sabre and downed three MiG-15s close to the Yalu River.

F9F Panther Units of the Korean War is published by Osprey Publishing and is available to order here.

Photo by Merv Corning via Worthpoint

July 9, 2023 0 comment

History

A RAF Halifax was shot down by a Luftwaffe night fighter during a British attack over the Ruhr in 1943

by Till Daisd July 8, 2023

written by Till Daisd

At 17,000 feet, a night fighter attacked the Sgt. R. Lewis-piloted Halifax II of 77 Squadron (KN-D, JB837), which thereafter blew up in a tremendous explosion

The Battle of the Ruhr, the first concentrated bombing operation carried out by the RAF Bomber Command between March and July 1943, had as its sole objective the total destruction of the German war machine’s industrial base.

The Battle of the Ruhr proved to be far larger and much more complicated than the infamous “Dambusters” single-raid attack on the Ruhr dams, which frequently overshadowed it. The enormous, industrial Ruhr region was home to numerous war-related enterprises, including steelworks and synthetic oil factories, in addition to some of the most well-known and significant arms manufacturers, such as Krupp of Essen.

The Ruhr was one of the areas in Europe that was most fiercely protected because it was such a desirable target. The picture in this post, which was taken from the Richard Worrall and Graham Turner book The Ruhr 1943, shows an event that happens after a British airstrike.

The 77 Squadron Halifax II (KN-D, JB837), piloted by Sgt. R. Lewis, was attacked by a night fighter at 17,000 feet and blew up in an enormous explosion on May 25 and 26, after several British aircraft had finished bombing Düsseldorf and were leaving the target area in search of Jülich near the Dutch-German border.

The massive explosion took down two nearby Stirling IIIs, one from 7 Squadron (MG-B, EF361) flown by P/O J.E.G.F. Berthiaume (RCAF), and the other from 15 Squadron (LS-L, BF534) flown by F/O I.S. Thomson (RCAF), whose Stirling III’s tail was completely severed. Six of the 18 fatalities were from the Royal Canadian Air Force, and there were no survivors.

Three of the 27 aircraft lost during this operation—which finally failed because the Pathfinders discovered layer cloud had obstructed the aiming point—were those three. Only a few scattered fires broke out in Düsseldorf and the neighbouring town of Neuss due to the inaccurate marking.

The Ruhr 1943 is published by Osprey Publishing and is available to order here.

Photo by Graham Turner via Osprey

July 8, 2023 0 comment

History

First Aerial Victory of the Red Baron

by Till Daisd July 7, 2023

written by Till Daisd

An Albatros DII piloted by Manfred von Richthofen attacked right away when he saw a British F.E. 2b near the back of the British formation

On September 17, 1916, two aircraft formations converged close to Marcoing, France. One was a flight of 6 F.E. 2bs from No. 11 Squadron of the Royal Flying Corps, which was led by a group of 8 B.E. 2cs from the Royal Flying Corps (RFC). The British formation was only attempting to come home after completing a bombing raid on a railroad station that was under German control. The renowned Oswald Boelcke, whose dicta Boelcke are still regarded as the fundamental principles of Air combat, commanded a German formation of 20 Albatros planes of Jasta 2 to intercept this formation.

Only Oswald Boelcke had so far led his new team to victory, scoring seven of them since the beginning of the month. The entire Jasta found the formation over Marcoing on this mission, which was their first time flying as a unit, and they launched a mass assault on it. A British F.E. 2b was knocked down by Hans Reimann and Boelcke personally.

The battle veered south of the intended location, and Manfred von Richthofen, flying an Albatros II, attacked right away when he saw a British F.E. 2b in the back of the British formation.

From his patrol report, in his own words;

The fatal flaw that plagued the Fokker Dr. I, the Red Baron Manfred von Richthofen’s favorite aircraft — Manfred von Richthofen, the Red Baron.

‘WHEN PATROL FLYING I DETECTED SHRAPNEL CLOUDS IN THE DIRECTION OF CAMBRAI. I HURRIED FORTH AND MET A SQUAD [THAT] I ATTACKED SHORTLY AFTER 1100. I SINGLED OUT THE LAST MACHINE AND FIRED SEVERAL TIMES AT THE CLOSEST RANGE (TEN METERS). SUDDENLY THE ENEMY PROPELLER STOOD STOCK STILL. THE MACHINE WENT DOWN GLIDING AND I FOLLOWED UNTIL I HAD KILLED THE OBSERVER WHO HAD NOT STOPPED SHOOTING UNTIL THE LAST MOMENT. NOW MY OPPONENT WENT DOWNWARDS IN SHARP CURVES. AT APPROXIMATELY 1200 METERS A SECOND GERMAN MACHINE CAME ALONG AND ATTACKED MY VICTIM RIGHT DOWN TO THE GROUND AND THEN LANDED NEXT TO THE ENGLISH PLANE.’

The following is what we may infer from this combat report.

Richthofen singled out the last British aircraft in the formation after being alerted to their position by German flak.
Richthofen closed in and attacked from a range of only 10 meters.
The British observer remained shooting until the last moment.
Richthofen attacked from the Fe2b’s blind spot.
Richthofen riddled the engine and killed the observer.
A second German machine tried to shoot down the F.E. 2b. then landed next to it.
The machine landed at the German airfield at Flesquieres, north of Villers Plouich.
Richthofen watched the dying and dead observer be removed from the craft.
Richthofen refused to allow the other aircraft to claim the victory. As an Officer and lifelong hunter, Richthofen was likely enraged that another pilot attacked what he regarded as HIS “Englander” as a dying Morris glided his helpless aircraft onto a safe landing at a German aerodrome.
Richthofen scored his first confirmed victory.

Despite suffering from severe injuries, 2nd Lt. Lionel Bertram Frank Morris was still able to land his F.E. 2b. Richthofen, who had landed at the same German airport, watched his journey to the hospital. Shortly after being removed from his aircraft, Morris passed away at the age of just 19. The Germans gave 2nd Lt. Morris Full Military Honors, and von Richthofen personally attended the funeral and laid a stone on his grave. Outside of Cambrai, France, in the Porte de Paris Cemetery, Morris is laid to rest.

Captain Tom Rees, the F.E. 2b observer, attempted to protect his aircraft, but his tenacity was unable to counteract Richtofen’s attack from a position of strength. Paradoxically, he received his promotion to Captain on the day of his passing. John, Rees’s brother, died the same day after being struck by lightning in a horrific double family tragedy. Captain Rees passed away at the age of just 21 and he is interred at France’s Plouich Communal Cemetery.

Overall, the British lost 2 of the 8 BE2.cs and 4 of the 6 FE2.bs in their formation. The Jasta 4 had also engaged, killing one F.E. 2b near Equancourt, while the two B.E. 2cs were destroyed by ground fire.

Manfred von Richthofen painted his Albatros bright red to give himself a distinctive personal aircraft scheme that everyone on both sides of the Trenches of World War I would know, leading to his becoming famous as the Red Baron.

Photo by B. Huber and F. W. Lanchester via Wikipedia and Eduard

The-Red-Baron-Albatros — The Red Baron Albatros

July 7, 2023 0 comment

History

Luftwaffe Fighter Pilots explain what it’s like attacking a B-17 Flying Fortress formation from behind

by Till Daisd July 6, 2023

written by Till Daisd

On the B-17E, the tail gunner may have been the most important gunner. He used two.50 caliber machine guns to defend the back quarter of the aircraft. The tail guns earned the healthy respect of enemy pilots

The B-17 Flying Fortress is among the most well-known aircraft ever produced. 28 July 1935 saw the first flight of the B-17 prototype. Even though there weren’t many B-17s in use on December 7, 1941, production swiftly picked up once the US entered World War Two. The aircraft saw action in every theater of war, but its most infamous mission was the strategic daytime bombing of German industrial targets.

Nine machine guns and a 4,000-pound bomb load were carried by the B-17E, the first Flying Fortress variant to be mass-produced. It had more armament and was many tons heavier than the prototypes.

The tail gunner of the B-17E was reportedly one of the most crucial gunners, according to B-17 Queen of the Skies. He used two.50 caliber machine guns to defend the back quarter of the aircraft. A terrible surprise awaited opposing fighters as they approached the E model B-17. The tail guns earned the healthy respect of enemy pilots.

‘A German pilot did once say that attacking a B-17 formation from behind was like trying to make love to a porcupine that is on fire,’ Walt Miller, Former 0311/0302 at United States Marine Corps (1973-1993), explains on Quora.

In JG-26 Top Guns of the Luftwaffe by Donald Caldwell, a Luftwaffe fighter pilot explains;

‘The size of the heavy bombers and their formations could not be adequately described to a green pilot; they had to be experienced first-hand… The bomber gunners opened fire as soon as a target was seen, in order to disrupt or ward off attacks. The Americans’ browning .50-inch machine guns had a higher muzzle velocity and a greater range than the Germans MG 17s whose tracers were used to site their MG 151 cannon. So, the fighter pilots’ cockpits were surrounded by red tracers, “Swarming like wasps” in Karl Borris’s words, long before they themselves could open fire effectively; and because of low closing speeds, this extremely uncomfortable situation could continue for several minutes…some pilots would invariably break away prematurely, and the rest would pass through the bomber formation at whatever angle and orientation promised the best chance of survival.’

German pilots were compelled to reconsider their strategies as a result of this advantageous position, which resulted in the adoption of the infamous “12 O’Clock” attack, in which they bore into formations head-on at a closing speed of more than 500 mph! In Donald Caldwell’s JG-26 Top Guns of the Luftwaffe, another fighter pilot of the Luftwaffe recounts;

‘All four of the bombers shot down by JG 26 came from the 306th Bomb Group. The Geschwader lost only one pilot in this battle, but it was a serious blow to the unit. Hptm. Fritz Geisshardt, Kommandeur of the third Gruppe, was hit by return fire on his unit’s first pass through the bombers. Bleeding profusely from a wound in the abdomen, Geisshardt dove away from the battle and made a smooth landing …his blood loss proved fatal; the medical personnel at the Ghent hospital could not save him and he died early the next morning.’

One of the keys to victory against USAAF bombers, according to the great German ace General Adolf Galland, was for the fighters to retain formation. The bombers’ weapons did not down many German fighters, but their streams of.50-inch tracers formed a very strong defensive barrier.

Photo by U.S. Air Force

July 6, 2023 0 comment

History

Chuck Yeager is the reason why airline pilots sound so bored when talking to passengers

by Till Daisd July 5, 2023

written by Till Daisd

Since the late 1940s, pilots have loved and imitated Chuck Yeager’s laconic, folksy drawl

Every time you sit on a plane while traveling for the holidays, a voice that is all too familiar greets you.

As We Are the Mighty reports, the PA system hisses to life and you hear, “ladies and gentlemen, ehhh, good morning. Welcome aboard. This is, ehh, your, uhhh, captain speaking…” before the rest of the relevant travel information is droningly rattled off.

No matter who the pilot is, where you’re taking off from, or where you’re going, every single one of the 850,000+ pilots out there adopts the exact identical speech pattern and pseudo-West Virginian accent.

Why do airline pilots who speak to passengers through the plane’s intercom sound so bored?

‘It’s mainly because of this guy,’ Tim Hibbetts, airline pilot, explains on Quora.

‘That’s Chuck Yeager, a famous sound barrier pioneer. His laconic, folksy drawl was admired and copied by pilots since the late ‘40s. Before long, it became the standard pilot radio voice. Only the coolest characters could toss in a, “well… things seem to be shakin’ ‘round… lemme see what’s goin’ on a minute” and really sell it. That’s just about how things came across from Jim Lovell when his spaceship blew up!

‘Ever since he made it famous, pilots all over have taken it up (certainly others were talking on the radio like this long before and I imagine the whole panoply of RAF transmissions during the Battle of Britain was a series of mild statements of amazement). The feeling behind it for the PAs from the flight deck amount to, “If I sound bored, things must be normal and you should be very confident things are going just fine.”’

Hibbetts concludes;

‘That’s how we like it to sound, anyway.’

Photo by U.S. Air Force and Steve Jurvetson via Wikipedia

July 5, 2023 0 comment

History

The Ki-43 pilot who rammed a B-17 likely underestimated the attack approach and hit the bomber

by Till Daisd July 3, 2023

written by Till Daisd

As the first pilot to purposefully ram a B-17 Flying Fortress, Sergeant Oda Tadao received praise in the Japanese media and received a posthumous promotion. It is unlikely that the incident was deliberate, though

A B-17F dubbed Fightin’ Swede took off from Port Moresby’s Seven-Mile ‘drome in the early morning of May 8, 1943, on its own armed reconnaissance mission of the northern New Guinea coast from Madang to Saidor. The goal of the mission was to track down Japanese merchant ships that were allegedly transporting supplies to the area. Nonetheless, the weather in New Guinea was behaving as expected since an unstable air mass was causing heavy clouds and squalls along the coastal littoral.

The bomber, piloted by Major Robert Keatts, failed to return. It was fifty miles north of Madang when it made its last radio transmission on the hour at 0900, stating that it had found and was circling a Japanese convoy. A few days later, Radio Tokyo reported that a Japanese fighter pilot had deliberately rammed a Flying Fortress over New Guinea on that particular day, bringing it down. Because of this, it was assumed at Port Moresby that the victim had been a Fightin’ Swede.

Japanese and US Army Air Force (USAAF) records on the subject correspond perfectly, as Michael John Claringbould explains in his book Pacific Adversaries Volume One. The Fortress was discovered by nine Ki-43 Hayabusa of the 11th Sentai, headed by Captain Takashi Ninomiyo, commander of No. 1 Chutai, not long after its final transmission. A shotai of three fighters led by Lieutenant Kobayashi Junji broke off from Takashi’s detachment after spotting the Fortress and launched the first attack. Takashi’s detachment was tasked to cover the approaching ships.

The 11th Sentai had suffered through nearly nonstop action in the theater of operations for around five months by this point in the war and had lost the majority of its original Mark I Hayabusa arsenal. Although six Mark IIs had already been added to its inventory as replacements, its worn-out pilot crew was scheduled to return to Japan on June 19, 1943, in five weeks. They would hand over their remaining Hayabusa to other Wewak-based units upon departure. This clarifies why the nine Hayabusa Takashi led were a mishmash of leftover Mark I and new Mark II Hayabusa recruited from various chutai.

Kobayashi’s trio conducted their initial assault on the Fortress from behind and slightly above, then they rotated around and made frontal assaults. An apparently unharmed Fightin’ Swede moved toward the cover of the cloud during these assaults. According to Japanese archives, Sergeant Oda Tadao deliberately collided with the Fortress during a head-on pass because he didn’t want to let the B-17 escape. After colliding, both the B-17 and the fighter immediately fell. Following this, Oda was praised in the Japanese media for reportedly intentionally ramming the Fortress. As a result of the extensive publicity, he was also promoted to Lieutenant posthumously in recognition of his apparent courage.

In a conflict, though, things might not always be as they seem. Since the beginning of the conflict, the Japanese Army Air Force (JAAF) vigorously prohibited suicide tactics. Oda probably simply miscalculated the strike direction and hit the bomber.

Many of the Japanese Navy fighter pilots who saw the Fortress for the first time in 1941 and 1942 had already remarked how difficult it was to judge closing speeds due to its size. A calculation error was likely given the frontal attack’s close speed of more than 350 mph, as evidenced by the countless earlier combat collisions in New Guinea.

If the Japanese narrative is accurate, Oda is said to have rammed the bomber around 0813 JST (0913 local), which indicates that Fightin’ Swede had been in the air for roughly thirteen minutes following its last location report at 0900. The aircraft may reach the New Guinea shore in thirteen minutes while attempting to return to Port Moresby, which is likely. Regardless of the presence of cloud cover, Fightin’ Swede was unlikely to travel farther out to sea in order to enter Japanese territory, making it more plausible that it was returning home. If so, the collision with Oda’s Hayabusa in midair could have happened over the coast or possibly just a little inland.

Early in March 1944, Australian soldiers moving towards Madang discovered the Type II Hayabusa’s wreckage at Bau Plantation. The ship’s tail was still intact, showing the 11th Sentai markings in clear view. The Allies Technical Air Intelligence Unit inspected the wreck on March 19, 1944, including any clear markings. Bau Plantation is situated squarely on the route that Fightin’ Swede would have taken to return to Seven-Mile that morning, presuming that it was close to the New Guinea coast when it was brought down. Moreover, Oda’s is the only 11th Sentai Hayabusa known to have been lost in a battle close to Madang. As a result, it is likely that the Hayabusa under examination belonged to Oda.

Whether because it fell into the ocean or it’s located in an inhospitable place, the wreckage of the Fightin’ Swede has never been located.

Pacific Adversaries Volume One is published by Casemate Publishing and is available to order here.

Photo by Jack Fellows illustration and Stumanusa own work via Wikipedia

The Story of the Ki-43 Hayabusa pilot that claimed the shooting down of four USAAF P-38 Lightnings in an air battle that never was

July 3, 2023 0 comment

History

P-47 Thunderbolt pilot says why it was risky to strafe German trains during WWII

by Till Daisd June 30, 2023

written by Till Daisd

Trains were never safe from roaming P-47 Thunderbolts on armed reconnaissance missions. Yet German strategies quickly made strafing them a difficult and risky task

Late in December 1944, as Col. Leo Moon, CO of the 404th FG, climbs away after bombing a German train carrying supplies and reinforcements to the Ardennes front, 3.7cm tracer rounds from carriage-mounted FlaK 43 batteries whiz past P-47D-27-RE 42-27221. Despite weather impeding low-level operations over the Ardennes for the first few days following the start of the German offensive on December 16, according to Jonathan Bernstein in his book P-47 Thunderbolt vs German Flak Defenses, by December 23 the clouds had cleared and the Ninth Air Force’s fighter-bombers started operating from before sunrise to well after sunset, attacking any motor or rail transport headed toward the frontline.

While Thunderbolts went out on armed reconnaissance missions, trains were never secure. But, German strategies swiftly increased the difficulty and risk of strafing them. The Wehrmacht started installing flak guns on wagons for point defense, protecting rolling stock, and transporting supplies to the front. German trains started to come standard-equipped with 2 cm and 3.7 cm guns. Assaulting Thunderbolts typically chose them as one of their first targets after destroying the locomotive. Following that, the remaining rail cars would be strafed.

The Thunderbolt pilots were caught off guard by the mobile flak defense. For instance, when 404th FG CO Col Leo Moon attempted to rocket and strafe two trains on March 12, 1945, he received a harsh lesson:

P-47 Thunderbolt pilot explains why strafing German trains during World War II was a dangerous business — Strafing trains was a dangerous business, as 404th FG CO Col Leo Moon discovered for himself on Mar. 12, 1945. His Thunderbolt took several direct hits to its left wingtip from 2cm rounds, nearly severing the aircraft’s pitot tube (seen here in the right hand of the ground crewman) and damaging the bomb pylon.

‘I first saw a train with a number of cars on it and fired my four rockets into it, damaging the locomotive and setting two tank cars on fire. Then I saw a plume of smoke some distance away and fired my guns at the base of it. As I got nearer, I saw that the smoke was coming out of a short tunnel, and a train was protruding from the other end. As I swung around to make an attack on it, I saw a little red ball flash past my wing, and I wondered what it was. I soon found out.

‘I saw some smoke coming up from the middle of the train and thought that was a funny place for a train to be smoking. I suddenly realized it was gun-smoke from a flak car, banging away at me. I had already committed myself, however, and I banked around and sprayed the cars, and pulled up into the overcast. The flak sounded like hail on a tin roof as it hit my plane. My brake was shot out, and there was just a hole in my wing where my pitot tube had been.’

Moon was lucky in that his Thunderbolt only sustained a couple of 2cm damage to the left wing. Without a P-47 bearing down on them, a more skilled gun crew would have likely altered their fire and brought his aircraft down. Within a few days, the 404th FG groundcrews had fixed his damaged aircraft, and it was once again flying.

P-47 Thunderbolt vs German Flak Defenses is published by Osprey Publishing and is available to order here.

Photo by Jim Laurier via Osprey

June 30, 2023 0 comment

History

Auction of a sidestick from an Israeli Air Force F-16A during Operation Opera

by Till Daisd June 28, 2023

written by Till Daisd

There is an auction for the sidestick controller from the F-16A #78-0322. The former Israeli Air Force fighter was one of six aircraft that attacked Iraq’s Osirak nuclear reactor in 1981 as part of Operation Opera

The F-16A Netz #78-0322 sidestick controller was offered for auction. The retired Israeli Air Force (IAF) fighter, as revealed by Alert5, was one of six aircraft that struck the Osirak nuclear facility in Iraq during Operation Opera back in 1981. About five months following Operation Opera’s 40th anniversary, the item will be put up for sale.

On June 7, 1981, the IAF launched Operation Opera, in which fighter bombers from the service attacked the Osirak nuclear reactor. The 117 Squadron’s F-16A #78-0322 was a member of it.

Sidestick of Israeli Air Force F-16A that struck Osirak nuclear reactor during Operation Opera put up for auction — The sidestick control grip that was used by the F-16 fighter jet pilot to bomb the Iraqi nuclear reactor

Col. Hagai Katz piloted the F-16A #78-0322, also known as Netz 129 in Israeli service, during Operation Opera. A senior squadron member who wishes to remain anonymous and who is the owner of the sidestick, according to Ynet News, stated that “The control stick came through squadron personnel, and I would rather say no more because it’s a sensitive subject.”

It’s unknown how the squadron members got their hands on the control stick. IAF pilots typically receive a helmet as a “souvenir” when they retire, but not a fighter jet stick, especially one with such a long history. The sidestick’s buttons are still functional, which is a surprise.

The dates 6.6.81 and 12.81 are inscribed on them beneath the controller. displaying the dates the device was put on and removed from the F-16A. The fate of the F-16 aircraft itself isn’t much different either; in fact, it was sold to Top Aces, a Canadian company that offers training services to the US Air Force (USAF), at the beginning of 2021, together with three other aircraft.

“Six months ago, someone in Europe, sold part of a plane that fell in the 1950s with a symbol of an Israeli squadron for some $60,000,” said the grip’s owner.

“These kinds of items are very much in demand in the world, especially among collectors in the United States and flight enthusiasts, and this item has great value due to its historical meaning.”

The grip was put up for auction with a starting offer of $50,000, but Eyal Ilya of “Pentagon Auctions,” who was in charge of the sale along with “Garage Sale Collection,” believes “it’s clearly worth much more.”

“We already got an offer for $100,000, but we declined. That red button that you can see on the stick is one of the few buttons that saved Israel.”

The primary pilot-aircraft interface for the flying, avionics, and weaponry systems is the F-16 Sidestick Control Grip. For flight control, autopilot override, nosewheel steering, aerial refueling, display management, air-to-ground weapon release, and a two-stage trigger for air-to-air weapon release, the sidestick stick grip offers a range of single and multi-function switch assemblies.

Photo by Ynet News and Weapons and Warfare

June 28, 2023 0 comment

History

The B-17D Flying Fortresses, the first American heavy bombers to fly over the Pacific to the Philippines

by Till Daisd June 27, 2023

written by Till Daisd

Some of the details of these flights are still shrouded in historical obscurity, partly because the 14-hour Wake Island to Port Moresby sector required the B-17D bombers to fly (illegally) across the Caroline Islands, which were governed by Japan

The region’s meager defense resources were deemed reasonable given the additional demands placed on Australia and New Zealand during the war with Germany. Yet, in the months preceding the Pacific War, this mentality experienced a significant shift. According to Michael Claringbould and Peter Ingman in their book South Pacific Air War Volume 1, the US revised its defense strategy in the Philippines in 1941 because it thought its brand-new Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bombers could defend the territory.

While it was clear that these bombers could go across the Pacific to the Philippines, there was essentially no airfield infrastructure between Hawaii and Australia that had been built since Kingsford-Smith’s pioneering flight in 1928. In fact, the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Catalinas on their 1941 delivery flights were the first aircraft to fly the whole US—Australia trip since then.

The RAAF had already started building strips at many locations, including Port Moresby, Rabaul, and New Caledonia, for its recently acquired Lockheed Hudsons, while the US hurried to build airfields on other Pacific islands. US engineers were happy to see that substantial work had already been done in the South Pacific towards a transpacific aviation route, with New Zealand building works also ongoing in Fiji.

Nine B-17D Flying Fortresses made history in September 1941 when they were the first heavy bombers to reach the Philippines via the “Pacific Route.” This flight’s first delivery to the Pacific was remarkable; it encountered some of the same navigational difficulties that had led to Amelia Earhart’s loss some five years earlier (Earhart had disappeared while on an easterly transpacific flight, after leaving Lae in New Guinea). The B-17 aircrew lacked experience and had never tried such lengthy missions.

Some of the specifics of these flights are still shrouded in historical obscurity, partly because the bombers flew (illegally) over the Caroline Islands, which were governed by Japan, during the 14-hour segment from Wake Island to Port Moresby. This is why the sector was flown at 25,000 feet, without running lights, throughout the night. Crews carefully manned their 0.50 calibre guns while maintaining radio silence. On September 8, 1941, around noon, all aircraft arrived at Port Moresby’s Seven-Mile Drome after flying successfully into Japanese territory.

The recently graded Seven-Mile field was rough, and when the bombers landed and taxied in, the Fortresses’ undercarriage hydraulic suppressors were put to the absolute limit. As a bomber shut down, “fuzzy-wuzzy” refuellers with red lotus blossoms tucked in their hair behind each ear were the first to welcome it. Yet, they were only dressed in a “lava-lava” long skirt waist cloth, and at least one diarist described them as “huge and terrifying.”

These locals then manually pumped 3,200 gallons of fuel from 55-gallon (US) drums into each aircraft, which took more than four hours for each bomber. The nine left for Darwin on September 10 after taking advantage of the RAAF’s hospitality for a day of rest. The bombers successfully arrived at Clark Field in the Philippines without difficulty, demonstrating the effectiveness of the Pacific Route. The result was obviously pleasing to the Washington establishment, as each member of the crew received a Distinguished Flying Cross in recognition of their accomplishment. A second flight with 26 B-17s took place in November.

South Pacific Air War Volume 1 is published by Casemate Publishing and is available to order here.

The story of the B-17D Flying Fortresses that became the first US heavy bombers to perform the trans-Pacific flight to the Philippines — B-17Ds of the 5th Bombardment Group overfly the main gate at Hickam Field, Hawaii Territory during the summer of 1941. 21 B-17C/Ds had been flown out to Hawaii during May to reinforce the defenses of Hawaii.

Photo by U.S. Air Force

June 27, 2023 0 comment

History

Why the B-36 Peacemaker would have been a great strategic bomber in WWII

by Till Daisd June 25, 2023

written by Till Daisd

Three months after V-E Day, on August 20, 1945, the B-36 Peacemaker strategic bomber was presented. Its first flight took place on August 8, 1946

Before the US entered World War II, in early 1941, the Convair B-36 Peacemaker was first developed. A strategic bombing campaign by the US Army Air Corps (USAAC) against Germany at the time would have been difficult with the aircraft available due to the possibility that Britain may succumb to the German “Blitz” menace.

The US would require a new class of bombers with a combat range of at least 5,700 miles (9,200 km), or the distance between Gander, Newfoundland, and Berlin, in order for them to reach Europe and return to bases in North America. Since the German Reichsluftfahrtministerium (RLM) was developing an ultralong-range bomber called the Amerikabomber, which was the subject of a 33-page proposal given to Reichsmarschall Hermann Goering on May 12, 1942, the USAAC desired a bomber with genuinely intercontinental range.

The B-36’s development was restarted in earnest as the Pacific War went on because the US needed a bomber that could reach Japan from its bases in Hawaii more and more.

In consultations with high-ranking US Army Air Forces (USAAF) officers, Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson decided to forgo standard army procurement procedures, and on July 23, 1943 – the USAAF sent a “letter of intent” to Convair, ordering an initial production run of 100 B-36s before the completion and testing of the two prototypes, some 15 months after the Germans’ Amerikabomber proposal made it to their RLM authority, and coincidentally, on the same day that, in Germany, the RLM had ordered the Heinkel firm to design a six-engined version of their own, BMW 801E powered Amerikabomber design proposal.

August 1945 was the deadline for the first delivery, and October 1946 was the deadline for the final one, however, Consolidated (by this point known as Convair after its 1943 merger with Vultee Aircraft) postponed delivery. Three months after V-E Day, on August 20, 1945, the plane was unveiled, and it took to the skies for the first time on August 8, 1946.

If the B-36 Peacemaker had entered World War II, how useful would it have been?

‘It would have been awesome,’ explains Myke Predko, an aviation Expert, on Quora.

‘While the cruise speed of the B-36 was basically the same as the B-29 (around 235 MPH) it could do it at over 40,000 feet! There were no anti-aircraft cannon that could reach that altitude in World War II.

‘Its range of 4,000 miles (in the early versions) with a 10,000 lb payload didn’t quite give it the range to attack Japan from the Aleutians but it could easily attack Berlin from Iceland. For shorter distances, the aircraft could carry up to 72,000 lbs of bombs.

Untouchable by enemy flak: here's why the B-36 Peacemaker would have been an awesome strategic bomber during World War II

‘Of course, if any fighters could climb to an altitude which would put the B-36 in danger, it could ably defend itself with 16 20mm cannon (12 in remote turrets).

‘There would only be one issue and it isn’t a trivial one – the B-36 required much longer, wider, and thicker runways than any other aircraft up to that point in time. When the first B-36 made its first flight, there were only three runways in the world that could handle the aircraft. The efforts to build B-29 runways around the world would be seen as creating goat paths in comparison to the effort that would be required for the B-36.’

Predko concludes;

‘But I would expect the war would have been over much, much sooner.’

Photo by U.S. Air Force

June 25, 2023 0 comment

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