Some additional pix from my dad's aviation career-p-51s,etc

[Enforcer57]

I know most of you saw my post on the ubi forum aobout my late dad's long career

flying about everything that ever had wings, so here are some more additions to that

which i think are along our interests here.

I really appreciate the posts you guys made, and i was really floored by the one comrade

Beepop made with that great shot; My ol man would have been really impressed, as he

would have fit in here really well.

the first selection is from occupied Japan, where

he spent most of his time manning a radar early warning post on a cliff, but he also spent time

processing photos from the recon P-51 unit (F-6s?-cant remember) stationed there as well.

those guys spent alot of time trying to photograph each other with those oblique mounted

cams in the fuselage. you will also note that he carried a camera with him most of the

time, but usually photographed odd stuff, as you will see.

The recon 51 outfit (based there along with standard Ds and P-61s)

also spent alot of time flying recce over soviet positions in North Korea, as early as

46, and even made some trips near vladivostok-I bet that took soem long range tanks.

The military knew that eventually we'd have a fight there. The Ruskies also flew recce

low level in modified "Yaks" (who knows what they really were) and some of the early

jets.

Anyway, he helped himself to a few prints from the lab as he developed them. I just wish

the photos of the RAAF late mod Spits from the base next door had survived, as well as

some of the P-61 squadron there.

He was in when the AAF became the USAF in 47, and they changed the P designation to F.

Used to drive me nuts when i was a kid- he always refered to them as F-51s.

Here's the 19 yr old AAF private hanging out on the tarmac, basically accepting the

absurd fact that he should be flying those things and would be if not for the war

ending.

Heres a shot of some 51s near Mt Fuji I think, taken from a recce bird. I just wish more of

these had survived the decades. No idea where the rest wound up.

Another shot of one named Linda something. The clouds are kinda neat. Notice that some of

these planes have invasion stripes. I wonder if that was from the landing on Okinawa, or

in preperation for operation Coronet in 46-the invasion of japan itself. Dad wasnt sure.

Here you can easily see the camera port in the aft fuselage. these pix are kinda outta

center because these guys are manuvering to get shots of each other...usually.

Would be easier just to buy a good camera in one of the many japanese shops.

These are called F-6s arent they? Im too lazy to look it up.

this shot also was cropped from a much larger view of the terrain.

An A-26C getting maintenance at a nearby base. I lightened it a bit in photoshop to show

a bit more detail. This bird no doubt wound up flying combat in Korea eventually, as they

and the 51s based in Japan (as well as F-82s which showed up after my dad left) were in

huge demand in the early days of korea.

As I said, he photographed unusual stuff. the caption on the back of this small print said

"typical Jap truck". This thing looks like something outta a stephen king novel-check that

oddball engine. I think it was powered by Hammy's oriental cousin. I wonder if Oleg could

model this in the next series of sims. Those guys sure have come a long way in the truck

dept.

This was a hangar on the Japanese airbase they were based at. They had several huge, hardened

hangars that survived, and put most of the 51s in one especially big one that had survived several

hits. This one wasnt so llucky...the caption on back said "note firecracker in can effect".

Ok, now for something completely different (in John Cleese's voice). Here it appears that the ol man

(left brandishing .45) has caught Rhett Butler cheating at cards while Abe Lincoln Freaks. I asked

him decades ago what the devil was the deal here, and he just told me to look at the bottles on the

table......."do you really think I remember what the hell was going on?" He said he did remember

that alot of guys on the base had been totally entertained by whatever they were doing.

Ok, all I can say here is...?? He was pretty sure it was him, and that it was associated with

the previous photo. In one shot I have, he's the one in the Abe outfit. GIs without a war get really

bored I guess.

Ok, I told you guys he photographed "odd" stuff he saw. Take a look at the Japanese version

of the Incredible Hulk. Check out the lady to the rt, then check the dude on the left.....he has elevated

shoes on.......I guess he didnt wanna lose too much face to his pal. I gotta wonder what this guy

did in the war.

[Enforcer57]

Ok, last one for now ....ill add some more later if you guys wanna see em. (like I dont

know the answer to that one). This is a compilation of some really tiny prints (postage

stamp size) I found, and they are all taken from a train he rode regularly that passed

thru Nagasaki. Each one says "atom bomb damage" on the back. Compared to

Hiroshima, the place got off alot easier, but its still trashed really bad. Theres another

one somewhere that shows a bent smoke stack...just gotta find it.

[Klinger]

Great stuff Enforcer. ~S~ to the old man.

[Blairgowrie]

I saw your post on the UBI Forum m8 and now this is the icing on the cake. Beautiful pictures. I know you are very proud of your old man. Just from the pics, you can tell he was one heck of a dude.

[B16Enk]

Again thank you and ~S~ too

[Cold_Gambler]

Fantastic!

[Enforcer57]

Ok, my fellow combat aviator wannabe dudes (Im gonna start a support group for that, kinda

like AA for virtual pilots), here's some more stuff I think you may find entertaining. My ol man

was definitely an entertainer, as listeners to the Ludlow radio show for 8 yrs can attest. He'd

get a real hoot outta you guys.

I found these recenltly, and my mother told me this was one of Ike's many visits to

Spence AFB (south Ga) in Columbine, the same AF-1 you guys saw in the AF museum.

He liked to play golf near there. Note the cars that would be priceless today, and the T-28s

on the ramp.

Im bound to run outta bandwidth at some point, but ill try and get these up for you...i reduced

a hell of alot to try and avoid that and make them fit.

this is the worse (only actually) damage he ever had inflicted to an AC he was flying, and his

only actual mishap (but there were many inflight emergencies he managed to get out of). He

was on a take-off run at the small grass strip at Moultrie Ga (spence AFB) and he hit, of all things,

a hole in the runway that somehow had avioded being hit since it was a stage field in WW2. This

was 1955, so it's kinda amazing that the blasted hole was hidden in the grass all that time. Note

the busted wood prop and the metal backing. His bird was flying a couple of weeks later.

This was a little later, with his Champ and all his camera gear. Man, i cant believe the size of those

camera cases. Note the huge cam on the rt, designed for aerial photography. That was a loaner, the rest were his. He's got even more than I do, but only a few still are around. I guess this proves

I'm not a product of a liason with the milkman or something. (can this be considered DNA

evidence?)

This is one of his classes of students after graduating basic in T-37s. This one was

titled "skunk flight". note the patches. T-37s were (are) so dinky. They're

finally being replaced by turboprop T-6 Texan IIs, after a half century of use.

These were the cat's ass back in the late 50s. I gotta find the 8mm film of

aerobatics he made in them.

Well, like the Skywalker family, there's a bit of the dark side present. In a blatant

example of child abuse, he would dress up his 9 yr old kid in odd paraphanalia,

and then embarrass him by posting 8x10s at the base,

usually with a caption titling them as one of his friends doing something deviant.

God the horror! He was doing this crap to me into high school-using me to entertain

his goofy friends at work.

Of course, he would usually bribe me with a model kit or a glider he made or such.

Here he's stuck a ww2 pilots helmet on me, stuck his USAF issue sunglasses

on me, and given me his pipe (but wouldnt let me smoke it). This was in the 60s at

Ft Rucker. Of course, his friends would all crack up when I walked into the

room-they were always coming over there assing off with me. They would all

fit in here really well. Most were combat vets, and I got some great war stories.

His friends included an Army col. named "Buck" weaver. This guy built a Pitts Special

(and I dont mean a kit) and got his jollies by watching my ol man fly the damn thing.

He was a judge in aerobatic contests, and sometimes he would get Dad to fly in

the assorted air show in South Ala. Here he has just finished an aerobatic routine at

an airshow somewhere in Ala.

This is in Iran in about 1976. If you look closely, you can see the Huey is balancing on an

aquaduct on the front of the skid. He taught them this for use in combat when there was

no level ground availible. He would use this technique alot in the future firefighting.

This will be the last One ill post, since bandwitdth is becoming an issue i think.

Here he's led a flight of about 12 Cobras on a cross country into northern Iran, to

a Kurdish village in the mountains. (if it posts).

[Cold_Gambler]

If bandwidth is an issue, you can open an account at Photobucket.com and post more of these goodies

[sged]

Wow, impressive!

And yes, check out photobucket....

[Enforcer57]

Im using photobucket...this is where they are all coming from. I thought it would be aproblem

from there to. Im not too well versed on such, I just know that it wouldnt post anymore

at this point. I really dont know how the bandwidth thing works. There are a few more

I think you might like, but i dunno if i can actually get them posted. Ill give it a try again.

Well it works again for some reason. Ok, I guess Ill try a few more if you wanna see em.

this is at the same Kurdish village in northern Iran. Everybody thought this flight of cobras landing there

was the most exciting thing to happen "since the baloney slicer broke down" (his words).

A shot of an Iranian student in the gunners posit, where the instuctor usually flew from.

Note the movable gunsight, which you could position all over the cockpit, with the 3

barrel 20mm following it...quickly. it was very effective.

The ol man in the usual position he flew in, the gunners seat. It had full controls as

well as the gunsight. once the gunsight came loose when an Iranian student landed

hard (instead of hovering like he was supposed to be doing). The sight came

loose and knocked him in the head. That's why you wear helmets in these things.

he still saw stars though, then he looked out and saw all the unexploded ordinance

laying around (at the range). TOW missles, 2.75" rockets, 20mm (it spits out

a few live rds to clear itself when fired). This is somewhere in those endless mtns.

Another Cobra shot, this one taken by the Iranian student. They could carry bigger

rocket pods on the inboard pylon. These are 7 rd pods, but they could carry 19

rd pods as well. The magazine in the nose held over 1000 rds of 20mm if I remember

correctly. Note the pilots sight for firing rockets, and he could lock the 20mm forward.

This is an earlier shot in 76 when he was teaching basic in Hueys. He liked flying

those things. The instructors sat in the left seat in copters, oppostite planes.

THis apparatus hanging beneath the Bell 206 in 1979 is called a helitorch.

It starts backfires, and basically drops napalm. Im trying to find the shot

of flame actually coming out of it. This is firefighting in Ca. He had several

shots taken of him by news reporters.

This was about a week before that kid hit him in the drivers side. It's his

Grumman Yankee, the great grandson of hte Hellcat. He would commute

from Ft Rucker to Ga on weekends. I only got one ride in it, but that thing

is a littel fighter. I got some stick time in it, and man it was like flying

a Spit in the sim.

Ok, Ill sum it up wiht this one. This is the last kind of flying he could do, as his center vision

was going out and he had to stop flying the ultra light in the late 90s. This is the late 90s

in Cave Sprg Ga, where he would fly wiht the RC club. He was the guru on the mtn to

that outfit. He always had that expression regardless of what he was flying. When I was about

16, i was with him in a Cessna 140 (neat plane) landing at Calhoun airport in lousy weather

that had come in suddenly. just as we crossed the threshold, we got hit by a tremendous cross

wind-a microburst I believe its called now. I never saw so much rapid or extreme movement

of all controls before or since (except when im about to slam into the stern of a carrier). Yoke,

throttle, rudder, all were being manipulated in the extreme....but we stayed level, though

bounced about a bit, and landed with no problem. Anyone else and I would have been

scared into "staining my fruit of the looms" (his expression). As we taxied back, he said

"well, That was interesting." But the expression on his face never changed from what you see here.

He would try and watch me fly the sim some, but his vision limited what he could see.

He kept making observations about manuvers etc, and critiqued my landings as I

was doing them in the simulator. He was impressed with out little virtual world

of ww2 air combat, and would loved to have flown this thing. His limitations when I

set this up at their house just wouldnt allow it though. I would read to him the posts on the

forums sometimes, and he thought that was a real hoot to. Especially the one several

mos ago when i posted on Ubi the photo of him flying the J-3 while Henry dangled

on the ladder. I shoulda posted this stuff before now so guys could ask him

questions, but I just didnt think of that. Enjoy.

[Beebop-RIP]

So f-in' cool!

From the first time I heard your voice on comms I had a feeling you were an all right fella. You've proved it again and again as a HellHound. We are proud to call you our own. Now with this tribute to your dad, I can see where you got it from.

As far as I care you can keep posting these photos until you run out of them.

~Salute~ to you and

~SALUTE!~

to your father.

[Cold_Gambler]

Again.... THANK YOU for posting these!

And might I add that this factoid: "Note the movable gunsight, which you could position all over the cockpit, with the 3 barrel 20mm following it...quickly." is very

[delta7]

Thank you for these great pictures and fine descriptions.

A fitting tribute to your dad

~S~

Dave

[Dubbo]

More great pics mate. That is so fucking cool. Thanks for sharing them.

[BadAim]

Good Stuff.

[Arsenal]

yeah, awesome stuff. What's that plane that bent the gear on? Luscombe 8A?

*Edit* Upon further examination, I suppose that is a Aeronica Champ as well, since the Luscombe is a side by side and not a tandem configuration like the aircraft shown in the pic...

[Enforcer57]

yeah, its a champ. While he had that, my mother had a Cub. they both had these things

before they were married. They sold them both shortly after I was born in 57

-I was a bit of an accident I think.

They didnt get another plane till a friend of his (who flew 51s in the 8th AF-3.5 victories)

restored an aeronica Chief, which had the side by side seating. They sold that just a few

yrs ago as it wasnt getting flown any. I got some hrs on that one.

The guy my mother sold her cub to got killed in it a few mos afterwards......aerobatics

too low. Yrs later in 78, I was a dispatcher at the local PD, and on the wall of the station

they had pix from the dept's adventures. Low and behold, there was a shot of a crashed

cub with a broken back-her plane with a detective I knew standing in front of it when he

was a rookie cop. I wish I had been able to get a copy of that, but back then it just

wasnt that easy-and i wasnt into cameras yet.

[DAZZA]

Absolutely fascinating mate. Truely inspiring

what a life! total respect to your da and to you mate