Where are the pictures of you in the gun turret of Witchcraft? That would be one cool picture---not that the others aren't cool too. I guess I just gravitate toward the picture with a gun in hand.
What absolutely cracking pics there! and you certainly look the part with the 50 mission crusher, K-1s and A-2 jacket! Boots are pretty neat too it has to be said! Lucky you, I'm green with envy on this one!! I'd have been like a kid in a candy store, and that's not a pretty sight!! LoL. Pics like these make checking into FL a real pleasure, thankyou!!! Pure escapism is what it is all about.
What Karma...the same day of Wingnuts "toys" thread, I picked up the current issue of Air Classics and Witchcraft is the featured aircraft. The issue also contains a 32 page pull out of first person accounts of pilots and aircrew from WWII. (Wingnut, if you can't find a copy of this issue....PM me with an address and I'll mail mine to you.)
Say Wingnut, that's All American right? It looks like they gave her a new name and paint! Looks really nice!!
Always good to see NINE 'O' NINE as well. I saw these two bombers once a few years back. I LOVE THEM! Nothing like a B-17G and a B-24 to make ones day. And to hear those engines!!! Music my frined, just music!
Root, you are correct, according to the article in Air Classics, Witchcraft was indeed previously named All American. Before it became Witchcraft it was briefly known as The Dragon and his Tail.
I remember that! I remember seeing that nose art, or should I say body art since it ran the whole length of the plane. That I believe was only painted on one side wasn't it?
Any way, it's nice to see it painted in OD. Looks real good. But, what I would like to see is more 24's in the air. I know there are a few out there in storage and museums, but I guess there is a lack of money to make them air worthy.
Sad that these WWII bombers don't get the funding they really need.
Root.
PS. 24's also have been known for some very elaborate art work. Here is one that must have taken some tmie to do!
http://www.cafb29b24.org/diamondlil.shtml
That is owned by the Confederate Airforce,... er now the COMMERATIVE AIRFORCE ( can't offend anyone with a Confederate Dixie flag these days!) and is based in Midland Texas. Actually, it's not a B-24, but a LB-30 which stands for Land Bomber "30" and was an early version for the British, and other sources say it's a C-87 which was a cargo version of the B-24. Same thing. There was also a C-109 that hauled fuel over the "Hump" in the CBI. It was given the nickname "C-ONE-O-Boom!", as there were several that just blew up in flight. You can see the large cargo door on the side, as well as the passenger windows just fwd of it and on the other side as well. This gripes me somewhat about the CAF, as they have a very historic and rare aircraft and they represent it as something it isn't. Rather than painting it up as a heavy bomber (IT's NOT!) they should display, operate and show it as the C-87 that it is and honor the men who flew the Hump in India and China during WWII. They said that flying the hump at a time was more hazardous than a bombing mission over Germany. The route they flew became known as "The Aluminum Trail" due to the trail of wrecked and lost airplanes and crews.
The CAF also is know for destroying rare and historic aircraft equally as well as saving them and restoring them. This year they lost a PV-2 Harpoon, last year they lost a He-111, and in the past have destroyed a rare Douglas A-20, severely damaged an F-82 Twin Mustang, and others I can't recall off the top of my head right now.... :cry:
It is really just a risk you take whenever you fly a vintage aircraft. You can either shut them all up inside museums where they are safe and never fly them again, or fly them where they can be enjoyed more but at greater risk.
Speaking of keeping vintage planes flying...I just got a ride in a Vultee BT-13 this weekend at a local fly-in. I was grining from ear to ear through out the entire ride. I felt as if I was an air cadet and it was 1942 all over again. You can"t get that from a museum piece. Jake
'Ya beat me to the punch with the "Nine O Nine" Took my first ride her on Memorial Day weekend near Sacramento, she has been restored and flys great, what a smooth ride, I didn't know she crashed 17 yrs ago, took over 5 years, but she is in perfect form today, see link below on crash details.
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