Aircraft pics

[nuch_ss396]

You know, I wouldn't want to even think about the
stresses this attitude put on this aircraft. They
are obviously not designed to sit in an un-supported
stance like this. If it sat overnight, -->

[Chevy454]

[ QUOTE ]
Great stuff Rob....congrats on getting your Gramps stuff! . I was lucky to get my Gramps WW1 kit bag as I happened to be there the day my Grandmother was about to toss it. . It's all there....incl. helmet, the issued coins, putties, utensils, letters from Mom....also a journal from day one leaving the mountain farm to sign up right to the last entry when he arrived home closing with something like "I'll get up in the morning happy to milk the cows". . We've sure grown up in some fortunate times!!! .

[/ QUOTE ]
Scored some more *priceless* junk from my grandmother...ended up with my great-grandfather's gas mask & bayonette from WW1, and then at my mom's b-day party last night grandma handed me something she ran across recently: a scrap book my grandfather started towards the end of his stint with the 345th BG in WW2...LOTS of pictures of his buddies on Wewac, 2-day passes, mess booklet, and even some official papers listing the members of his unit...lots of pictures of nose art from back in the day, and even some negatives of planes I'm gonna check and see if they're salvageable...

[PeteLeathersac]

Wow, great news Rob....lay some pics on us if you can! .

I'd especially love to see the plane and nose-art shots....it's often amazing for hastily applied work done in breaks in the action. .
In England after the war when the scrapping was going on, someone had the foresight to save a few of the sections w/ the nose-art intact. . A few pieces off of Canadian planes were sent back here and are treasured displays today. .

~ Pete

[Chevy454]

Will do, Pete...my little bro was impressed with the amount of nudity on some of the noses...guess some of the boys were REALLY missing home!

[PeteLeathersac]

[ QUOTE ]
Will do, Pete...my little bro was impressed with the amount of nudity on some of the noses...guess some of the boys were REALLY missing home!

[/ QUOTE ]

Boobs especially in a lot of the nose art....and talented work from some fellas who seemed to have a real eye and feel for it? .
A couple nights ago I briefly leafed through this month's Warbird or whichever of the mags I haven't had a chance to read yet and there's a great nose art picture of the 'Weenie Merchant'. . Seems the pilot was well known as somewhat of a ladies' man and the boys painted up his plane w/ this Weenie Merchant name including a weiner character when he was on leave....it's great! . Anyone here w/ a digi camera have this issue yet? .
Looking forward to whatever you can post Rob plus there's others that may be very interested in studying any pictures of planes and nose art you have? . There's often no known pics of some of these planes and being such a big part of these guy's lives could mean a lot to some of the surviving Veterans left or their families. .

~ Pete

[af1fe]

Wow,

[nuch_ss396]

A very good friend of mine was a bomber pilot ( B-25 )
during WWII and he told me that as the war went on,
and the losses of air crews mounted, the censors eased
up on the air crews about the nose art. I have seen
pictures of some nose art that would be considered to be
somewhat risque by todays standards, let alone 60 years
ago. Wish I could remember where I saw them..........

On a side note, I just thought I would share this with the
group. After WWII, my friend stayed in the Air Force ( Army
Air Corps then ) and started to fly fighters in Korea and
Vietnam. His last stint was in the F-4 Phantom over the
skies of Vietnam. As this was one of my all time favorite
airplanes, loud as hell, I decided to do something very
special for his 79th birthday. Using this thing called the
internet, I started doing research into his last stint in
Vietnam and more importantly his squadron back then. After
many months of effort, I found the correct tail markings,
color scheme, etc. for his last F-4 and I commissioned the
building of a highly detailed model to exact specifications,
right down to the inclusion of his name on the canopy. I
did this all without his kowledge as I wanted to present it
to him as a total surprise on his actual birthday.

In any event, I went to Florida with the model in tow and
unveiled it at his party. He was so overcome that he
cried. I later learned that he had also commissioned
replica's of each & every plane he flew during the wars.
Unfortunately, they were all lost to a fire sometime in the
late 1970's. He never thought he would see one again.
It was a touching moment.

Steve

This is his original squadron patch ( found via. research )


This is a vintage image of a F-4C from his squadron ( 1968 - Tan Son Nhut airbase ):


This is a "not so complimentary" image of the finished model:


By the way, the tail number was an ad-lib as I could not
find that information anywhere. So, I opted instead to
assign his age as the tail number.

[SS427]

Steve,
Great story and very nice model.

Attached is a shot of my dad presenting Jimmy Doolittle a model of a B-25. Not one of the actual B-25 that he flew off the carrier in the Tokyo raid in 1942 but possibly a later one he flew.
Rick

[47Hammer]

Make it a '69

[47Hammer]

Front shot.