-test

I am on the left. This was in France in 1951. I was 20. The airplane is a B-45. It was the forerunner of the B-47.
It was a 4 engine Jet. Less than 100 were made. It was a stopgap transition from the piston engine aircraft to the Jet age.

"I
have always been fascinated with airplanes. I had my first ride
in 1938 at the Knoxville airport. The cost was $3.00 for a 30
minute ride. Today, that would barely buy a gallon of aviation
gasoline. I learned to fly at 14, but had to wait two years
before I could legally be licensed. I spent 14 years ( 1948 -
1962 ) in the U.S.A.F. A great deal of that time was spent in the
air. I was a flight engineer on numerous aircraft such as the
B-26, B-45 (jet), C-97 and C-124.

I
would have made a career of the Air Force, but I reached a point
to where I could no longer support my wife and four sons. After
the forgotten war (Korea ) military pay lagged far behind
inflation and civilian pay. While in the military, I attended
college whenever possible and graduated from Georgia State
University in 1962. I spent the next 25 years with Shell Oil
Company. When I was a kid, I spent hours on end building model
airplanes. You could buy a stick model for 10c. Today, If you can
find a stick model, they are $ 25.00 and up. This excludes the
engine powered ones that start at around $75.00.



After retirement and moving from Houston to the Texas Hill
Country, my interest was re-kindled in building model airplanes.
Unfortunately, almost everything fit to build today is PLASTIC.
These require almost no skill and thus, no pride of
accomplishment. Most 8 year olds can assemble these no brainers.
I decided that I knew enough about aircraft, in general, to do my
own. All I really need is a few photographs, side, top and front
view. The wing span, fuselage length and height. All of this
information is available either on line or at the public library.
All aircraft color schemes, markings, aircraft numbers and
emblems are authentic. I taught myself how to form clear plastic
parts for aircraft canopies. I then decide how large I want the
model to be and reduce it to an appropriate scale. I draw the
plans to scale and make the model from scrap 2x4's which I can
pick up for nothing at most lumber yards or cabinet shops."

Navy F-4U Corsair

The F4U Corsair, with its distinctive gull wing, was unquestionably the best shipborn fighter of the war, and gained an 11:1 kill:loss ratio in the Pacific. The F4 first flew on May 29, 1940 and went into service in October of 1942. Production continued until 1952 with a total of 8663 being produced. It was popularized in the TV series, The Black Sheep.

P-38J Lightening

The Lockheed P-38 was first flown on January 27, 1939. It became operational in mid 1941 and had a top speed of 390 (later 414) mph which was greater than any American fighter at that time. A total of 9,923 were built. The majority being the J and L models. Using external fuel tanks, the P-38 could stay aloft for almost 12 hours. This was a great benefit in the Pacific theater of war where the distance between islands could be hundreds of miles.

The P-38 accounted for more Japanese aircraft destroyed than any other Allied fighter. Major Richard I. Bong was America's top-scoring fighter pilot with 40 victories.

P-51D Mustang

The P-51 Was first flown in 1940. It was conceived, designed, built and flown in just 117 days. No other aircraft can claim this record. It became the salvation for the 8th. Air Force B-17's deep penetration into Germany. Before the P-51, no other aircraft had the range to escort the B-17's allthe way to and from the targets. No other combat fighter could fly as high
or go as far as the P-51. It was a superb airplane that could out perform the Luftwaffe's best, the ME-109. It took on all comers and accounted for more kills than any other Allied airplane. 15,686 were produced. 281 pilots qualified as "Aces," with 5 or more kills. At 472 m.p.h., it was the fastest piston-engine fighter in W.W.II. It is the only piston engine fighter to shoot down two German Me 262 jets.

ME-109 MESSERSCHMITT

First flown in September 1935, 30,000 were built between 1940 - 1945 making it the greatest number built of any fighter aircraft of WW II. This was Germanys best fighter aircraft and it was superior to all others except the American P-51.

Major Erich Hartmann, Gruppen - Kommandeur (Group Commander) of Jagdgruppe 52 Was the leading ace of the Luftwaffe and the world's greatest ace with 352 CONFIRMED air-to-air victories. He was only 23 at the end of the war.

British Spitfire was the premier fighter during the Battle of Briton.

The Spitfire first flew on March 6, 1936. 23,000 were built in 33 variations before production was stopped in 1946. They were credited in saving Britain from German domination of the air in August, 1940.
Much can be said about this aircraft and its pilots. It was best summed up by Winston Churchill who said, "Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few."
They came by day and by night. They threatened the destruction of a proud nation. Yet, again and again, the waves of the Luftwaffe planes were met by the men and aircraft of RAF Fighter Command. In the face of seemingly hopeless odds, the few stood bravely against their adversaries. Thus, they richly deserved Winston Churchill's words of praise.

Junkers JU 87 "Stuka"

The JU 87 first flew in 1935 and entered active service in 1937. It was an imaginative weapon of considerable accuracy when operating in open skies clear of allied fighters. It was the premier air weapon in the 'Blitzkrieg of Poland.The dive bomber was equipped with sirens that screamed during its near vertical dive bombing runs. It effectively destroyed the country's communications, bridges, railways and airfields. It met its waterloo during the battle of Briton when it went up against the RAF Spitfire.

It became a very effective anti-tank weapon and was used with great success in North Africa and Russia. It was the most accurate dive bomber of WW2. Hans-Ulrich Rudel sank a battleship, a cruiser and a destroyer and destroyed 519 tanks which far exceeded any other JU 87 flyer

More than 5700 JU 87s were manufactured between 1935 and 1944.

Boeing B-17G Flying Fortress

The Boeing 299, prototype for the B-17, first flew on July 28, 1935. The first B-17's entered service in 1937. It became one of the most important bombers in history. It carried the war into the heart of Nazi Germany and transformed the impotent Army Air Force of early 1943 into a force of
devastating destructive power in just 12 months.
12,731 were built. An unarmed B-17 shot down by a Japanese Zero on the way
to Pearl Harbor was the first American combat loss in WW II. The 8th Air
Force suffered more than 47,000 casualties in raids over Europe. A B-17 flew
the first American sortie of the Korean War.

Douglas B-26C Invader

The Douglas A-26, later B-26, first flew on July 10, 1942. It was designed to replace the A-20 Havoc - and it incorporated the fruits of early wartime experience. It was the last American aircraft in the category of 'attack' bomber. It did not enter active service until 1944 and its speed of 355 mph
made it among the fastest of all American wartime bombers. Production was halted at the end off the war and only 2446 aircraft were built.

In spite of the above, this aircraft had a long and distinguished career. It flew during the Korean war and also served until the end of the Viet Nam conflict. From personal experience, this is the best aircraft I had the
privilege to fly in and I sorely miss it.

The SR-71 Blackbird was, and still is, America's super secret spy plane.

The Lockheed A-12, later SR-71 Blackbird was developed as a replacement for the U-2 spy plane, one of which had been shot down by the Russian military and its pilot Gary Powers was imprisoned by the Russian Government. It first flew on April 26, 1962. A total of 32 were built. It flew for three decades without a major accident. It was retired in March, 1990 but three were re-activated during the Gulf War.

The Blackbird is the most spectacular performer ever to leave the ground under its own power. Even in retirement, most of its secrets are still highly classified, right down to its black paint which is formulated to radiate excess heat while disrupting incoming radar energy. At operating temperature and altitude, it changes color from black to blue. A few of the known facts: On March 6, 1990, the Blackbird flew from L.A. to Washington D.C. in 68 minutes averaging a speed of 2,124 mph. The SR-71 is capable of getting a photograph of any part of the earth's surface in 6 hours. It can fly in excess 0f 100,000 feet, almost 19 miles high, at Mach 3. The aircraft skin heats to over 400 degrees F. The pilot wears the same type space suit as the Astronauts.