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Showing posts with label Vintage_and_Warbirds_Pictures. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Vintage_and_Warbirds_Pictures. Show all posts

2018-01-21

[Vintage_and_Warbirds_Pictures] Northrop P-61 Black Widow – December 2017 Restoration Update

Forwarded message - From: Steve Link steven_link



 
One step closer to flight......

The Mid Atlantic Air Museum's P-61 Black Widow as she looked at a recent WWII Weekend Air Show outing. Other aspects of the restoration have progressed significantly ...


Northrop P-61 Black Widow – December 2017 Restoration Update
Northrop P-61 Black Widow – December 2017 Restoration Update
Clip Betterhttp://warbirdsnews.com/warbird-restorations/northr…
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Aircraft of Australia Aviation Photography:
http://www.aircraftofaustralia.com
Vintage and Warbird Aircraft of the World: http://www.vintageandwarbirds.com
We hope that you enjoy these photographs, but please respect the photographers copywrite and don't re-publish or post these photographs without first asking the photographers permission.


2018-01-13

[Vintage_and_Warbirds_Pictures] A-20 Wreck

 Forwarded message - From: Steve Link steven_link



 
From a WIX Facebook post…

Mystery of the Boston bomber wreck solved! In co-operation with Finnish Aviation Museum, Finnish National Bureau of Antiquities and Nord Stream 2 AG gas pipelin...e company, we got the opportunity to dive the previously unidentified WWII era aircraft wreck Douglas A-20 Havoc/Boston bomber at 100 m depth in the Northern Baltic Sea. This almost intact twin-engine bomber was found by Nordstream 2 company during their seabed surveys. During our dives last July we discovered and identified the original manufacturer's serial number, as well as the operating squadron's tactical number, "White 24". With this data, and other details of the wreck, and aided by Russian, German and Finnish sources and researchers, curator of Aviation Museum Matias Laitinen was able to put together the pieces of the puzzle: the entire history of the aircraft from the manufacturer's plant to its' loss! The story behind the aircraft and its' crew turned out to be incredible.
This A-20 was built in USA and delivered to Soviet Union under Lend-Lease act. It was flown by 51st Mine and Torpedo Air Regiment of Soviet Baltic Fleet Naval Air Forces. On 18th Sept. 1944 "White 24" aircraft attacked German cargo ship m/s Moltkefelt, which was escorted by minesweeper M 151. M 151 AA-gunners opened fire and scored hits, which resulted in pilot Gusman Miftahudinov having to ditch the aircraft. Crew, Miftahudinov, gunner/radio operator Gleb Lokalov and navigator Yuri Aksenov got out from the sinking aircraft onto a life raft. They drifted a few days in the tiny raft to Åland Archipelago near Kökar island, where they were rescued by Finnish Coast Guard "Motor Yacht" MP-103! Finland had just made armistice with Soviet Union, so Miftahudinov's crew didn't become POWs, and were thus returned to Soviet Union at best possible speed. After a few months, Miftahudinov's crew flew together again.. On 14th Jan. 1945 they were shot down in an air raid against German shipping in the Bay of Gdansk, with the entire crew perishing in the crash.
Twin machinegun turret. This A-20-G20 subtype was the first G-series model equipped with electrically operated "Martin electric" turret armed with two 0.5" Browning machine guns. The aircraft is almost intact, but half buried into the bottom organic sediment. Cockpit, engine cowlings and leading edges of the wings are in the sediment. Tail is pointing up at a 20 degree angle.


Serial number 42-86826 was readable on the vertical stabilizer. It is the original manufacturing number painted in the USA, positively identifying the aircraft. This Douglas A-20-G20 Havoc was built in the Douglas plant at Santa Monica, California, USA in between July and September 1943. All in all, Douglas built 7478 A-20 aircraft. Almost half of which, 3140 were delivered to Soviet Union under "...Lend-Lease" act. Soviets adopted the British name "Boston" for all their Havocs. Above the serial number, there is the "tactical number", a unit and plane specific number painted by Soviets. This number "24", painted in white, was used by 3rd Squadron of the 51st MTAP (Mine and Torpedo Air Regiment) of Soviet Naval Air Forces and flown by Gusman Miftahudinov on 18th Sep. 1944.

Shows how the fuselage is embedded into the bottom sediment. Soft sediment reaches up almost to landing flaps in the inner wings, below the machine gun turret. Tail is to the left. Originally this A-20G was a two-seater, pilot and gunner only. Soviets modified the plane to accommodate a third crewmember, the navigator, in the rear fuselage behind the machine gunner's position. Careful study of the image reveals the rectangular shapes above and front of an oval shaped hole in the fuselage. These are navigator's windows covered in silt. Adding the navigator to the crew reflects how much Soviets appreciated this aircraft type as a marine attack bomber.
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Posted by: Steve Link <steven_link@msn.com>



Aircraft of Australia Aviation Photography:
http://www.aircraftofaustralia.com
Vintage and Warbird Aircraft of the World: http://www.vintageandwarbirds.com
We hope that you enjoy these photographs, but please respect the photographers copywrite and don't re-publish or post these photographs without first asking the photographers permission.


2017-05-06

[Vintage_and_Warbirds_Pictures] Mitchell Monday (Final)

Forwarded message - From: Jeff Rankin-Lowe siriusproductions



 

VIRIN: 100417-F-2907C-1000
Multiple photos were combined to make a panorama of the 17 B-25 Mitchells from across the nation that participated in a formation flyover during the Doolittle Raiders' 68th reunion at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force on April 17, 2010. (U.S. Air Force photo illustration by Lance Cheung/Released)
A larger, high-res version can be viewed or downloaded here:
http://media.defense.gov/2010/Apr/26/2000370243/-1/-1/0/100417-F-2907C-1000.JPG

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VIRIN: 100418-F-2907C-144
Heat waves from the ground creates a mirage effect on the view of 17 B-25 Mitchells at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force as they get ready to take off for a formation flyover prior to the Doolittle Raiders Memorial Service in the museum's Memorial Park on April 18, 2010. (U.S. Air Force photo by Lance Cheung/Released)
A larger, high-res version can be viewed or downloaded here:
http://media.defense.gov/2010/Apr/20/2000372586/-1/-1/0/100418-F-2907C-144.JPG

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Posted by: Jeff Rankin-Lowe

Aircraft of Australia Aviation Photography:
http://www.aircraftofaustralia.com
Vintage and Warbird Aircraft of the World: http://www.vintageandwarbirds.com
We hope that you enjoy these photographs, but please respect the photographers copywrite and don't re-publish or post these photographs without first asking the photographers permission.

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2016-01-10

[Vintage_and_Warbirds_Pictures] Kermit's Ducks

Forwarded message - From: Steve Link steven[Vintage_and_Warbirds_Pictures]
Date: 20 December 2015 at 13:15
Subject: [Vintage_and_Warbirds_Pictures] Kermit's Ducks
To: Vintage_and_Warbirds_Pictures@yahoogroups.com



 
From Kermit Week's Facebook page….I think the TallMantz one was used in "Murphy's War", some excellent footage.

It's a little known fact that I have been the second largest Grumman Duck owner since the US Navy in WWII, having owned FOUR! My Tallmantz Collection Duck was traded as part of a deal to the USAF Museum (when I got the Seversky P-35a) and another one I purchased from the San Diego Air and Space Museum was traded to Dan Friedkin for one of his Grumman F3F's.
Sadly now, I'm down to only two!

This Duck was owned by Sam Poole from Lake Wales, FL and, as you can see, had seen better days!
I remember hearing about it while driving up to Central Florida working on my Fantasy of Flight project and purchased it from Sam in the late 1980's. It needed a LOT of work but the price was right!



Sam used the plane to deliver supplies to settlements along the Amazon but at some point got sidetracked with other business interests and the parked plane became un-airworthy. Leticia is located at the headwaters of the river, right next to Peru and Brazil at the southernmost point of Colombia. He eventually disassembled the plane (the float was drilled into two pieces) and brought it back to Miami in a DC-6.



Here, I interview Sam in front of the project. The hull and fuselage have since been rebuilt and I have an overhauled engine for it.


One great story of Sam's with the airplane was when he accidentally hit a log on take off with an outboard wing float and damaged one of the lower wings. He then taxied 400 miles down the Amazon, picking up a few nuns along the way that needed a lift!
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Posted by: Steve Link


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Aircraft of Australia Aviation Photography:
http://www.aircraftofaustralia.com
Vintage and Warbird Aircraft of the World: http://www.vintageandwarbirds.com
We hope that you enjoy these photographs, but please respect the photographers copywrite and don't re-publish or post these photographs without first asking the photographers permission.