“Italy, Sicily. - Officer with fighter model with the training of pilot, demonstration of the attack on an American bomber B-24 of 12Uhr-Position; PK XI. Flier corps” (Babelfish)
October 28, 2009, 11:02pm
x planes
experimental aircraft. exotic aeromachines. oddities. sleek silver cigars. pedal-o-trons. soviet hive-mind bombers. aerial joy. the olden days. action shots. propaganda posters. etc
[xplanes] [at] [hotmail] [dot] [co] [dot] [uk]
Designed by Redfield. Icons by Cameron Hunt.
“Leutnant Franz von Werra. Adjutant of II./JG 3. Later captured by the British and became famous as the only German airman to make a ‘home run’. The epic story of his escape across Canada and the USA was the subject of a film starring Hardy Kruger. Shown here with Simba, the Gruppe’s mascot.”
I haven’t seen the film, but this is one seriously epic story.
October 27, 2009, 8:21pm
reblog: mudwerks:
WWII: Intense Propaganda Posters - Photo Gallery, 37 Pictures - LIFEBlackout!
A 1943 German poster exhorting citizens to keep their lights off at night to hinder Allied bombings reads: “The enemy sees your light! Blackout!”
Photo: Galerie Bilderwelt/Getty Images, Jan 01, 1943
Reblogged from sloth unleashed.
October 27, 2009, 8:51am
“from the private collection of a Luftwaffe pilot of Fighter Wing (Jagdgeschwader/JG) 54, taken in September 1943 at 9/JG54’s airfield at Schwerin-Görries. The “Staffel Umbrella”, with hand-painted “Devil’s Head” emblem, created by members of the Staffel (squadron), appears to be made of parachute silk..”
October 27, 2009, 1:02am
sunday fantasy #158: Karl Hans (Joachim) Janke
(via Hilary Rakestraw’s Tumblr)
October 11, 2009, 9:47pm
Howard Hughes owned a German Messerschmitt Me 262 jet fighter, and wanted to race it at the 1947 Cleveland Air Races..
to quote Bill Hicks: “I’ll let that sink in..”
Aircraft “FE-4012” was one of the captured airworthy examples flown out of Germany and shipped to the US to be evaluated by ‘Watson’s Whizzers’ - America’s first (unofficial) Jet Squadron.
It is believed that Hughes used his extensive government and military contacts to get the aircraft shipped to his aircraft company at Culver City, California. Obsessed with speed, Hughes wanted to enter the aircraft in races to compete with the Air Force’s P-80 Shooting Stars, but this was officially frowned upon.
The aircraft ended up at the Planes of Fame Museum, but was sold to Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen in 2000 - and is currently (and secretly) being restored in England..
October 07, 2009, 9:47pm
Film production crew and cast pose in front of the Sikorsky S-29, modified to resemble a German Gotha bomber, which was used in the 1930 Howard Hughes movie Hell’s Angels
When looking back at the life of Hughes, it is easy to become lost in a mire of recollections, rumours, accusations, Leo DeCaprio - and of course that Simpsons episode..
For the World War One based Hell’s Angels, Hughes - aged just 23 - basically assembled the world’s largest private air force - approximately ninety aircraft - at a cost of around $600,000
For the scene in which the Gotha bomber (above) was shot down, Hughes insisted that the aircraft be put into a spin - with the aircrew bailing out if necessary. Daredevil pilot Al Wilson accepted, for the sum of $10,000. A mechanic named Phil Jones volunteered to be his assistant, releasing black smoke to simulate the aircraft being hit by gunfire. Jones lost his life when the aircraft fell to earth during the filming of the scene.
Two other stunt pilots died whilst involved with the movie, including Al Johnson of the legendary 13 Black Cats. Hughes himself was injured crashing a plane (allegedly whilst trying to micro-manage his stunt pilots in the air)
Annoyingly, the advent of the talking picture during production meant that Hughes had to reshoot large sections of the film with dialogue - and cast the largely unknown Jean Harlow to replace the existing female lead.
The film ended up costing Hughes a record $4 million to make. Despite a spectacular premiere and warm reviews, it is believed that the movie takings did not recoup the costs for at least a couple of decades..
October 05, 2009, 5:35pm
The most interesting version of the V-1 flying bomb was the Reichenberg - a manned variant intended for use against high-value targets. Flight tests began in September 1944.
The Reichenberg was assigned to the Leonidas Squadron, part of the secret Battle Wing 200 (KG 200). The squadron, named after King Leonidas I of Spartaaaaaa was a suicide unit, using volunteers. Hitler and many other officers were highly against the idea of self-sacrifice, but training on the Reichenberg was approved due to the slim chance of the pilot being able to bale out.
By March 1945, over 200 Reichenbergs had been assembled, but they never entered operation. It seems the Leonidas Squadron was finally disbanded at this time.
More on KG 200, and also the final stages of the V projects, including the V-2, soon..
September 17, 2009, 10:36am
The V-1 threat effectively ended towards the end of March 1945. By then, an estimated 10,000 had been fired at England - 1,200 launched from the air by Heinkel He 111 bombers. 4,300 were brought down by aircraft/anti-aircraft fire/barrage balloons, 2,400 reached London - killing 6,000, injuring 20,000, and damaging/destroying tens of thousands of buildings.
Between October 1944 and March 1945, approximately 4,000 V-1s were fired at the Belgian city of Antwerp - a supply port that had been captured by the Allies. Just over 600 hit the city, claiming thousands of lives. Defensive artillery around the city shot down over 50% of incoming missiles, and fired almost a million rounds of ammunition in the process (via)
September 17, 2009, 9:43am
The German V-1 “buzz bomb” attacks on England began, in force, on June 15th 1944 - almost 300 fired at London, and a few at Southampton. London was always the priority target, and the Germans used reports from agents based there to try to ascertain any corrections needed to the guidance system of the weapons. Many of the reports back contained false information, which lead to some V-1s being programmed for a shorter range, resulting in them falling short of London.
The V-1s came in at 400mph, and at around 2,000ft. Various aircraft were used to intercept - modified Supermarine Spitfires, Hawker Tempests, de Havilland Mosquitos - and American P-51 Mustangs and P-61 Black Widows. The jet powered Gloster Meteor also saw limited service against them.
The V-1s were fairly hard to bring down - lacking vunerable areas such as the pilot and oxygen sytem. A direct hit on the warhead by an explosive shell from a fighter’s cannon, or a very close anti-aircraft shell explosion, were the most effective forms of gunfire. There were also other slightly crazier methods..
Tempest pilots claimed 800 of the 1,771 V-1s shot down by the RAF, with Squadron Leader James Berry claiming a record 58…
September 16, 2009, 5:18pm
“The Fieseler Fi-103, better known as V-1 (German: Vergeltungswaffe 1 (“vengeance weapon”)), developed at Peenemünde by the German Luftwaffe during the Second World War.”
The V-1 was powered by a simple pulse jet engine. This engine - cheap to build and able to operate on cheap-grade gasoline - pulsed about 50 times a second, giving rise to the V-1’s most common nicknames - “buzz bomb” and “doodlebug”.
The low thrust of the engine meant that the V-1 had to be launched from special ground-based catapult ramps. In November 1943, RAF photo-reconnaissance pictures of Peenemünde revealed a prototype V-1 on one of these ramps for the first time..
September 16, 2009, 2:49pm
“The ‘Robot Plane’ - A Secret Weapon Hitler Promised The Allies, Dives Down On Its Deadly Mission Over Picadilly Section, London, England.” (June 1944)
September 16, 2009, 10:05am
“The Siemens torpedo glider, seen under the hull of Zeppelin L35.” (circa 1915)
September 15, 2009, 5:56pm
