Tag Archives: usaaf

Technology

Time to see the ‘Doc’

Video

These USAF pics of Boeing B-29 Superfortress ‘Doc’ were taken at the Wings over Whitman Air & Space Show, in Missouri, 14JUN2019.  You didn’t have to worry about that new fangled stall software grounding all those Boeing airliners today.

Flight engineer station.

You know what kind of grin that is!

Video, B-29 Doc taxis-in, Whiteman, 09JUN2019:

Video from June 2017, McConnell AFB, Kansas, B-29 take-off, co-piloted by Brigadier General Paul W. Tibbets the Fourth, grandson of the pilot who flew the Enola Gay:

Official video report, after 60 years B-29 Doc comes back from the dead:

Restoration efforts, 2014.

B-29 NAVIGATOR: “WOULD I EVEN BE ALIVE TO EAT THE SANDWICH I SAVED?”

Kit Bashing, U.S.

B-29 navigator: “Would I even be alive to eat the sandwich I saved?”

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“We lost so many good men, I don’t have many fond memories. My crew almost perished during a mission over the city of Gifu, where we were shot up so badly, bailing out of the plane seemed like the only option. Why we did not die that day, I will never know.”-Rowland Ball

In 2016, Rowland Ball made a trip to Guam.  It had been 71 years since the last time he was there.  During World War Two he was a navigator on the Boeing B-29 Superfortress bomber Weddin’ Belle (back when the U.S. Air Force was called the U.S. Army Air Force).

The B-29 missions were long, 18 hours.  Ball told a captive audience of Air Force personnel “The cooks would give us three sandwiches for an 18-hour mission. I had to decide how I would eat them. Should I eat two before a bomb run or after? Would I even be alive to eat the sandwich I saved? One time, ice cream was included in our meal. Now why would they give us ice cream of all things? So, during that mission, we decided to fly at a higher altitude than normal, to keep it frozen. Unfortunately, by the time we completed our mission, the ice cream was unsalvageable.”

Rowland Ball checks out the assortment of kool models at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam.

Ball was impressed with the latest USAF technology for navigation: “It’s mind-boggling the type of equipment we have now. The technical advantages have come a long way since my time. I remember having to look up at the stars to navigate, but now there is this amazing equipment that makes navigating much easier and efficient. It’s a different world altogether.” 

 

MODEL KIT EC-130J GETS SPECIAL HANDLING BY NATIONAL GUARD!

U.S.

USAF 69 years on!

18 September is the official birthday of the U.S. Air Force, created in 1947 when the U.S. Congress seperated it from the U.S. Army.  Prior to that it was known as

U.S. Army Air Forces (1941-47),

U.S. Army Air Corps (1926-41),

U.S. Army Air Service (1918-26), Division of Military Aeronautics (1918), Signal Corps Aviation (1914-18), and Signal Corps Aeronautics (1907-14).

NATIONAL AIRBORNE DAY!

U.S. COAST GUARD, 226 YEARS OLD!

Kit Bashing, Reviews

Kit Bashing: Italeri P-51 Mustang 1 Out of Box Review

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Unfortunately this kit is not what it should have been.  I read some positive reviews about some of Italeri’s 1/72 scale kits, but I don’t think having nice decals and recessed lines qualifies as good.

Initially this Mustang 1 kit looked good to me, until I did some research on the actual aircraft.

The overall shape of the fuselage looks okay, but the wings are for the P-51D.  This kit comes with a sprue of parts for the P-51 Mustang 1, which include the fuselage.  The sprue with the wing on it is actually from Italeri’s F-51D Mustang kit.  The Mustang’s wing shape changed as each new model came along, so how could Italeri think their F-51D wing would suffice?

Also, since the wings are for the F-51D it has wing tip lights, which is incorrect for the earlier model Mustangs.

Oddly, considering a lack of concern over accuracy, Italeri molded a deep recess line around where the air scoop is, I assume because the actual Mustang 1 air scoop could open up for more air flow.  The instructions don’t mention this.

The canopy is lacking canopy framing.  The cockpit interior is typical of most 1/72 kits; there’s detail, but it’s not accurate.

The decals look good.

You get markings for one USAAF in North Africa, and one RAF recon aircraft.  The box art depicts the USAAF version as a recon aircraft, with a camera behind the pilot, but of course there is no camera in the kit, nor is the canopy right for a recon version (recon variants used anything from bulged clear panels to panels with holes cut in them).

I recommend this kit if you’re looking for a quick build, and are not concerned with contest winning accuracy (that would require a lot of correcting, scratch building & kit bashing).