from the Erwin R. Steele Collection
October 31, 2009, 1:02am
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.
“El Diablo, with nine missions to its credit, survived to fly back to the US in May 1944..”
October 30, 2009, 11:21pm
B-17 assembly ship of 384th Bombardment Group, Eight Air Force - referred to as the ‘Spotted Cow’, or the ‘Speckled Hen’.
October 30, 2009, 12:49am
“”First Sergeant” was a war-weary Consolidated B-24D used to assemble large formations. Once the formation was formed up, this aircraft returned to base”
(more here)
October 29, 2009, 11:39pm
A colourful B-24 assembly ship of the 458th Bombardment Group, 96th Combat Bomb Wing, Eighth Air Force, circa 1944
October 29, 2009, 11:01pm
“As part of a publicity project, the US Forces daily newspaper Stars and Stripes organized a competition to find ‘the most beautiful WAC’ serving in England. The resultant vote awarded the distinction to Pfc Ruby Newell from Long Beach, California.
To mark the event, a bomber was named in her honour and an aircraft of the 549th Bomb Squadron was selected. Cpl William Ploss was commissioned to paint a likeness of Miss Newell on the B-17 and a christening ceremony was arranged.
The fortress was lost on 24th March 1945.”
October 29, 2009, 10:12pm
“Frank, mascot to a bomb group of the Fifteenth Air Force, gazes at the nose of the Consolidated B-24 Liberator Howling Wolf, Italy, 1944”
October 29, 2009, 6:09pm
the Getti Tonanti (Thunder Jet) display team, of the Italian Air Force - that took part in the opening of Olympic Games in Rome in 1960
September 23, 2009, 3:06pm
“5th May 1918: American aviator and lieutenant Eddie Rickenbacker (1890 - 1973), dressed in uniform, stands next to his World War I plane in a field near Toul, France.”
July 09, 2009, 11:23pm
Fokker V.4 - F.1 and Albatross D.III aircraft flown by German ace Werner Voß
Voß was shot down in a historic dogfight on September 23, 1917 in which he single-handedly engaged at least six - possibly eight - aircraft of the Royal Flying Corps over Poelcappelle, Flanders
July 09, 2009, 9:57pm
“Captain René Paul Fonck, French Air Service, standing beside a Spad XIII aircraft
Fonck ended the First World War as the top Allied fighter ace. Known for his clinical professionalism, he applied mathematical principles to combat flying and his engineering knowledge regarding the capabilities of the aircraft he flew was unsurpassed among his fellow pilots. Fonck took few chances, patiently stalking his intended victims from higher altitudes. He then used deflection shooting with deadly accuracy on enemy pilots at close range, resulting in an astonishing economy of ammunition per kill. His idea of aerial combat was not a dogfight, but a surgically merciless execution.
He was also not entirely popular. Some quotes from the time:
“a dreadful show-off, intolerable, always bragging, egotistical, ham-like, a poseur, gaudy, loud, hard to take, expressionless at times, morose, deliberately cruel, over-neat, tightly tailored, etc.”
And from his best friend:
“He is not a truthful man. He is a tiresome braggart, and even a bore, but in the air, a slashing rapier, a steel blade tempered with unblemished courage and priceless skill. … But afterwards he can’t forget how he rescued you, nor let you forget it. He can almost make you wish he hadn’t helped you in the first place.”“
July 09, 2009, 7:39pm
