1944 North American NA-88 Texan (AT-6D) (SNJ-5)

Today's Tribute to WWII Aircraft highlights the North American NA-88 Texan (AT-6D) (SNJ-5) the plane featured in Judy Luck's Wings of Angels Photo Shoot. This beautiful plane currently resides at Yanks Air Museum in Chino, California.

"In 1937 North American won the Air Corp design competition to produce the new combat trainer that developed into the AT-6.

The most universally used trainer in the allied air forces. Known as the AT-6 by the USAAF, the T-6 after 1948, was produced well into the 1950's.

Cadet training consisted of 26 weeks of pre-flight, 11 weeks primary training in the N3N and 22 weeks advanced training in the SNJ.

Carrier landings, gunnery, bombing and rocket attack were completed and finally the reserve officer was moved to a combat training team.

The attack on Pearl Harbor found the Navy with only 4,000 combat pilots.  By the end of the war there were 60,747 Navy aviators.

Over 2,000 AT-6's remained in service after WWII also serving abroad as the famous T-6F Harvard.
This powerful trainer was very successful in prepping pilots for fighter aircraft." (Yanks Air Museum)

The North American Aviation T-6 Texan was a single-engined advanced trainer aircraft used to train pilots of the United States Army Air Forces, United States Navy, Royal Air Forceand other air forcesof the British Commonwealth during World War II and into the 1950s, and of Israel. Designed by North American Aviation, the T-6 is known by a variety of designations depending on the model and operating air force. The USAAC and USAAF designated it as the AT-6, the United States Navy the SNJ, and British Commonwealth air forces, the Harvard, the name it is best known by outside of the US. After 1962, US forces designated it the T-6. It remains a popular warbird aircraft used for airshow demonstrations and static displays. It has also been used many times to simulate the Japanese Mitsubishi Zero in movies depicting WWII in the Pacific.

Specifications:

Manufacturer: North American
First Produced: 1938
Horsepower: 550
Service Ceiling: 24,200 feet
Top Speed: 205 mph
Range: 750 miles
Armament: (1) .30 cal forward firing machine gun, (1) .30 cal machine gun in rear cockpit

Photo Credits: Michael Malak, Malak Photography.com, Wings of Angels, Yanks Air Museum

Mitchell III - The B-25J Bomber

Today's Tribute to the WWII Planes features the 1945 North American B-25J-30-NC also nick named "Mitchell III" which was the plane featured in Sarah Barton's Wings of Angels Photo shoot. This beauty can be found at the Yanks Air Museum in Chino, California.


The North American B-25 Mitchell, a twin-engine bomber that became standard equipment for the Allied Air Forces in World War II, was perhaps the most versatile aircraft of the war. It became the most heavily armed airplane in the world, was used for high- and low-level bombing, strafing, photoreconnaissance, submarine patrol and even as a fighter, and was distinguished as the aircraft that completed the historic raid over Tokyo in 1942.

 
It required 8,500 original drawings and 195,000 engineering man-hours to produce the first one, but nearly 10,000 were produced from late 1939, when the contract was awarded to North American Aviation, through 1945.
Basically, it was a twin-tail, mid-wing land monoplane powered by two 1,700-hp Wright Cyclone engines.Normal bomb capacity was 5,000 pounds. Some versions carried 75 mm cannon, machine guns and added firepower of 13 .50-caliber guns in the conventional bombardier's compartment. One version carried eight .50-caliber guns in the nose in an arrangement that provided 14 forward-firing guns.

During its long career, the B-25 experienced a number of modifications. The first major change occurred with the G model that included a 75mm cannon and two fixed .50-cal. guns in the nose. The H model was the first to add additional forward firing .50-cal. guns in cheek blisters. In the J version, the most numerous variant, the aircraft returned to its initial arrangement as a level bomber, reverting to a transparent nose that included one flexible and two fixed .50-cal. guns.

Driven by requirements in the Pacific, however, field-modified Js and finally production versions once again featured a solid nose that housed eight fixed .50-cal. guns for low-level attack. In this configuration, the J model could devastate vehicles and shipping with up to 14 forward firing heavy machine guns. 

The B-25 would go on to gain national fame in the United States as the aircraft used by the famous "Doolittle Raiders", the end result having shown the American ability to bomb the heart of Tokyo from the USN carrier stationed in the Pacific (USS Hornet).

The B-25 was initially designed as a three-crew high-mounted wing bomber utilizing twin Pratt & Whitney R-1830-S6C-3 radial engines.By the end of its production run, the system would be overhauled to include 5 to 6 crew members in various gun positions, a shoulder mounted wing assembly, and twin Wright GR-2600-A71 radial engines. After over 9800 were produced, the Mitchell had evolved into a host of variants that included trainers, dedicated ground strike, reconnaissance and torpedo carriers.

The more identifiable B-25s were a twin-engine design with radials mounted underneath either wing element. The forward fuselage was a green-house type of design affording the forward-locating gunners and bombardiers a good field of vision. The pilot and co-pilot sat in a raised location just behind the nose assembly and had good vision forward, above and to the sides. A top dorsal turret was included and was mounted with twin .50 caliber machine guns. Waist gunner positions were added with single .50 caliber guns, as was a twin .50 caliber gun position in the tail. The b-25 made use of a powered-tricycle landing gear system and a decent internal bomb bay. Twin rudder assemblies differentiated the system from other similar looking twin-engine medium bombers of American design. 

Photo Credits; Michael Malak, Malak Photography.com, Yanks Air Museum.

 

An In-depth Look at the Whistling Death ~ F4U-4 Corsair

Today's Tribute to Planes takes us to the F4U-4 Corsair that Ashten Goodenough modeled with in the Wings of Angels Project. Owned at the time by Doug Matthews, this is truly a one of a kind legend. Designed with speed in mind that plane was designed by Chance Vought with it's oversized propeller and distinctive bent gull-wing design. Oddly the size of the Pratt & Whitney R-2800 Double Wasp engine required to use of a larger propeller to fit into the small frame of this plane, it proposed a problem in utilizing it aboard the Naval Aircraft carriers for which it was ordered. The dilemma was either to increase the length of the landing gear or shorten the propeller, but neither were a viable option. To lengthen the landing gear would weaken it when the plane landed on the hard deck of the aircraft carrier. To shorten the propeller would be a waste of the power of the engine.

To get around this problem, the designers came up with a novel solution – the bent ‘gull wing’ design.  This meant that the landing gear could be mounted on the lower tip of the wing bend giving it enough strength for a deck landing whilst having enough clearance for the long prop.  It was later discovered that this design also improved the aerodynamics of the plane, boosting the top speed. In order to increase the aerodynamics of the plane even further, the newly introduced technique of "spot welding" insured greater airstream flow without the protrusion of the rivets.

Yet despite all this design changes when it came to utilizing the Corsair on board the aircraft carrier there were problems they couldn't fix. One of them being the long nose of plane protruding up to 4 meters in the air posed problems for the pilot. When the plane was sitting waiting for take off with the nose pointed in the air, the pilot couldn't see anything. When they attempted to land, the pilot couldn't see the Landing Signals Officer. To make matters worse oil and fluid leaks in the engine compartment by streaking across the windshield further impairing visibility.

Until these issues were resolved the Corsair was deemed unsuitable despite being built for use on aircraft carriers and was used in land based operations for the US Marines. It was here that the Corsair truly shined gaining an impressive kill ration of 11:1, 11 kills for every one Corsair lost. The Corsairs were also sent to Britain, France, New Zealand and Australia for use during World War II.

Indeed, it was the British who managed to find a way to use the plane on their carriers, by altering the final approach landing pattern to a slow continuous curve, only aligning with the deck to touch down at the last second.  This meant the pilot could keep the Signals Officer in view up until the last moment.   They also managed to fix the problem with the fluid leakage by fixing the panels shut with wire.  This diverted the fluid streams onto the fuselage rather than the cockpit. After the carrier landing issues had been tackled it quickly became the most capable carrier-based fighter-bomber of World War II.

For the US Marines and the other nations using the Corsair, the plane performed exceptionally well.  The Marines put the plane to good use in the Pacific Theatre against the Japanese, using islands as mobile bases to launch the planes from. The Japanese considered the plane to be a serious threat and speculation continues as to whether they, the Japanese, nicknamed it ‘Whistling Death’ due to the distinctive high-pitched sound made by wind through the engine vents.

A large number of Corsairs have survived to the present day, many in the hands of private collectors.  They are a common sight at air shows in America and across the world. During the flybys you can hear the distinctive sound that resulted in the plane being nicknamed ‘Whistling Death’!It was a true privilege to be able to photograph the F4U-4 Corsair and to be able to utilize it in the Wings of Angels Project.

Corsair losses in World War II were as follows:-

• By aerial combat: 189
• By enemy ground and ship-board anti-aircraft fire: 349
• Operational losses during combat missions: 230
• Operational losses during non-combat flights: 692
• Destroyed aboard ships or on the ground: 164

The F4U-4 Corsair "The Whistling Death" from AIRSHOWVID.COM on Vimeo.

Photo Credits: Michael Malak of Malak Photography, Doug Matthews, Ramona Airfield and AirShowVid.Com.

End of a Legend - F6F-5 Hellcat

Today's tribute to World War II Aircraft goes to the Grumman F6F-5 Hellcat which was the plane used in the Wings of Angels Photographs featuring model Victoria Elder. It is currently on display at Yanks Air Museum in Chino, CA. The United States Navy preferred the F6F-5 Hellcat over the F4U Corsair due to the preference of carrier landings despite the speed difference of the Corsair. This was a critical component for success for the Navy and thus the Corsair was used primarily for land based sorties. The Corsair was eventually cleared for carrier landings but not until late in 1944. The Wildcat was the forerunner to the Hellcat. It truly earned its name with an average kill ratio of 19:1 against the enemy attacks.

The U.S. Navy loved that the Hellcat was easy to maintain and able to withstand considerable damage in addition to it's superiority in being utilized for the aircraft carrier sorties. They were designed with the task of getting the pilot back to base and take damage if needed. Designed with a bullet-resistant windshield, add in 212 pounds of cockpit armor as well as an armor fitted oil tank and oil cooler and you have the makings of a tank with wings in retrospect. Combined with armament of six .50 inch M2/AN Browning machine guns with 400 rounds per gun along with a center-section under the fuselage could carry a single 150 gal (568 l) disposable drop tank. Later planes were equipped with single bomb racks underneath each wing. Further revisions would include the use of night radar and cameras for reconnaissance duties.

The Hellcats despite their air superiority in being faster, did in fact have some disadvantages when utilized against the Japanese Zero Type 52 planes. The F6F outclimbed the Zero marginally above 14,000 ft and rolled faster at speeds above 235 mph. The Japanese fighter could out-turn its American opponent with ease at low speed and enjoyed a slightly better rate of climb below 14,000 ft. When it came to engaging the enemy it came down to one simple strategy:

“Do not dogfight with a Zero 52. Do not try to follow a loop or half-roll with a pull-through. When attacking, use your superior power and high speed performance to engage at the most favorable moment. To evade a Zero 52 on your tail, roll and dive away into a high speed turn." (Spick, Mike. Fighter Pilot Tactics . The Techniques of Daylight Air Combat. Cambridge, UK: Patrick Stephens, 1983.)

What makes the F6F-5 Hellcat that I utilized in the Wings of Angels Photographs is that this is one of the few planes that still retain the original "cat mouth" paint scheme that earmarked this plane for use aboard the USS Princeton. When the Princeton was attacked and sunk, the painted Hellcats were requested to comply with current Naval regulations in which Hellcats were supposed be painted in accordance to the aircraft carrier to which it was assigned. The Navy frown on the "cat mouth" design since this was something done strictly for Hellcats stationed aboard the USS Princeton, and thus this one is truly a one of a kind aircraft and the end of a WWII legend. 

 Photo credits: Malak Photography.com, Michael Malak, Wings of Angels. F6F-5 Hellcat courtesy of Yanks Air Museum.

A True Work Horse - The Flying Fortress B-17G

I thought each week I would showcase one of the WWII planes I've had the distinct pleasure to photograph during the Wing of Angels Project. It truly has been a once in a lifetime opportunity to be able to not only photograph these beauties, but to be able to sit inside the cockpit or walk the lengths of their bodies and see just what it would have been like to be a part of the air campaigns during WWII. Today I will share with you a behind the scenes look at the B-17G or Miss Angela that currently resides at the Palm Springs Air Museum if you ever want to see it close up. This is the plane that I shot with Wings of Angels Model Caitlin Litzinger.

In order to gain the upper hand during the war, many wondered if we simply needed to do this from the air. It would strengthen our resolve in order to weaken the enemies will and their capacity to resist. Thus we began the air campaign utilizing the B-17's. The air raids began with some experimentation during daylight hours beginning with the use of the RAF's or Royal Air Force planes, but when losses became unbearable they started with night campaigns instead over Germany. Estimates of between 60,000 and 100,000 people were killed according to the information from Germany.

Precision bombing targets needed improvement because of the various factors involved from clouds, fog, smoke, enemy fighter opposition, and haze. Studies show that only 20% of the bombs dropped hit their intended targets, and it wasn't until February of 1945 that the percentage of 70% was achieved. The need for a tactical formation became the standard for a greater success due to enemy fighter opposition. Studies show that the German people were left in fear based on the success of the air raids. They lost faith in their leaders and only wished for the war to end. They resorted to "Black Radio" listening to hear how the war was going on the other end.  The city devastation caused by the war were unprecedented as well as the loss of lives left by the bombing raids on both sides.

The B-17 became known for being labeled as the Flying Fortress. It was the bombing of Pearl Harbor that cause the rapid increase of the  production of the B-17's. They were flown by the United States Army Air Force throughout the United States participation in WWII during the daylight bombing raids on German targets, such as aircraft factories, oil refineries and railroad marshalling yards. This resulted in heavy losses to both planes and crew. Due to the heavy maneuverability of the plane it left it open for enemy fighter opposition. The need for a better defensive against the loss of aircraft and crew were needed. The United States Army Air Force deployed the use of the P-51 Mustangs as escorts to ensure the Bombers were able to make it to the targets in Germany.  Delivery of the B-17G (a major production version) with the "G" being the first variant to have a .50 caliber gun turret under the nose which increased the planes armament to 13 guns. In all there were 8.680 B-17G's built by Boeing, Vega and Douglas making this the largest production variation.

Now for some fun facts about the B-17G plane. Besides housing a crew of between 8-10 and having up to 13 50-caliber machine guns at its disposal for defensive attacks, the B-17G's top air speed was 287 mph with a cruising speed of 250 mph. The B-17G is read as follows. B=Bomber, 17=17th Bomber Design approved by the US Army Air Corps, and G=7th version of the aircraft.

Length: 67ft 11 in
Height: 19 ft  1 in
Wing Span: 103 ft 9 in
Weight Empty 32,720 lbs
Weight Maximum: 53,000 lbs

"The Miss Angela B-17G-105VE, with VE signifying that is was built by Lockheed Vega at its Burbank California plant. It was used by the Caribbean Air Command, Sixth Air Force. It was also flown by the U.S. Army Air Force and the U.S. Air Force in Brazil. It served for more than twenty years as a civilian Forestry Service fire bomber. Its markings are of the 34th Bomb Group, 8th Air Force, 1945. It  is housed at the Palm Springs Air Museum in California."(Palm Springs Air Museum).