Random photo montage of enjoyment......

This pic JUST surfaced on the net. Unfotunately Dad's not in the picture, but this is the plane he flew while on Sapian with the 318th FG, flying ground attack to Tinian and Guam. I've never seen this pic before!

Goddam the P-47 was a big airplane . . .

The Jug was a beast.

The D model was 7 tons, and the N model was 11 tons. And I think that was before they hung another ton or so of ordnance on it. That prop was 12'6" across.

"I hate Illinois Nazis..."

That must be a pretty fancy Pz III.

I found some amazing photos on a fascinating website. I'd give my good eye to see these ships out my window in the Port of Seattle terminals.
http://global-mariner.com/index114WhenShipsDie.html

Still slowly going through Dad's letters home from WWII. I picked out one from July 1943, when he was in cadet training in San Antonio, and I found negatives in the envelope!!!!
So here's 22-year-old cadet Jack Payne and a couple of his buddies, cutting sharp figures, champing at the bit to get in an airplane and shoot something.

Is that a nuke going off?

Looks like it.

Ah:

The pic is a frame from a GIF of the blast at giftrunk.com, but it gives me a "not found".

EDIT: Got it -
http://i.giftrunk.com/b7wdx6.gif

WOOT!

That's fantastic! That family could make a mountain of money if they sold those planes to be restored and displayed. I would love a C-82 Packet!

Well, an F-7U Cutlass is a 1950s jet, not a WWII airplane. But... cool!

Damn, man, sell those to someone who'll fix them up!

Godzilla was here!

Ah, the salvage of the Japanese Battleship Mutsu. It's too bad those gun turrets weren't saved for posterity.

Brewster "Let's see if we can make a pickle barrel fly" Buffalo.

My paternal grandfather (father's father) and his father during World War I.

This one is for @Nova:

Five HA-1112-M1L used in The Battle of Britain movie found in a Texas barn.

They're for sale.



I've emailed the company to see if they'll tell me where the barn is because I want to do a story on it.

I heard back from them.

The town isn't in my market.

They look pretty restorable. At the worst, there are 5 more RR Merlins available!

There's a guy who found a DB 605 engine and converted one of the BoB Hispanos into an authentic Bf-109G. It would be awesome if some more DBs were found.