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

The Heritage Flight of Electra Jr.

So just what does famed photographer Michael Malak do for fun on the weekends, he invites his sister and brother-in-law along for an air to air photo shoot at Yanks Air Museum out in Chino, California. Under brilliant blue skies and few clouds and temperatures hovering around mid 80's, we all meet for a pre-flight check for the Lockheed 12-A Electra Jr (C-40D) (UC-40D), a plane similar to that of the one Amelia Earhart purchased and flew. Built in 1938, this nostalgic plane had quite the flying history.

This glistening beauty was polished and shined to perfection for an air to air shoot using the Texan T-6 Trainer as the plane that Michael would use for the photos you see represented here. As the pilots gathered for a pre-flight check and discussion of the types of shots that they wanted to gain, it was agreed that they would do two passovers the Yanks Air Museum before heading out to Lake Elsinore and Lake Matthews for some brilliant air to air shots that only a handful of people ever get to witness.

Michael was strapped in the gunner's seat which is capable of rotating 360 degrees allowing for freedom of movement within the plane itself. The only thing lost in the process was Michael's Texas Tech baseball cap (pictured above) probably landing somewhere over the airport or the city of Chino. If you happen to find it, please drop it off at Yanks and tell them you found Mike's hat! All in all the photo shoot was pretty incredible and can't wait for even more opportunities to do this in the future.

Some fun facts about the Lockheed 12-A Electra Jr (UC-40D) (C-40D) that is housed in Yanks Air Museum is that it was the fastest transport plane in the world. It could out-climb and out-fly any other twin, it handled nicely, had power to spare and pilots liked to fly it. Night crossings and poor terrain were restricted to twin aircraft in 1934, this created a need for the new Electra. Big and small businesses like the advantage of landing in many small town airports. Many options were offered including: autopilot, partitions, plush seats, couch, lavatory, desk and typewriter. The first all-metal aircraft and the first twin-engine aircraft built by Lockheed was the Electra. The fastest transport aircraft in the world was the Lockheed Electra Jr. The Electra name was made famous by the story of Amelia Earhart. A favorite of oil barons, the steel industry and the government this was a glistening, glamourous, revered aircraft. Just being inside this beauty was truly a once in a lifetime experience. (Yanks Air Museum.) 

Photo Credits: Michael Malak, Malak Photography.com, Yanks Air Museum, Steven Smith Photography (Behind the Scenes Photo)

Special Thanks to All Pilots involved: Lockheed Left Seat Pilot: Matt Walker, Right Seat Pilot: Frank Wright, Back Seat: Bob Haden, T-6 Camera Ship Pilot: Chris La Fave, Christen Wright

A heart felt thanks goes out to Yanks Air Museum for the opportunity to take part in this Heritage Flight of the Electra Jr Air to Air Photo Shoot! What a memorable time!

After 76 years it's still going strong!

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.

 

Yanks P-51D Mustang Prepares to Fly

Yanks Air Museum in Chino, CA contacted me to see if I wanted to take some pictures of the P-51D Mustang known as Miss Judy, with the engine cowls off, as it is undergoing its annual maintenance in preparation for flight. I stopped by on my way home from work to capture the images you see here.

For those of you that are interested the P-51D Mustang was used by Army Air Corps and the plane was introduced late in WWII and was one of the most effective planes used. It is also one of the most popular planes for WWII fans. The engine is a V-12 Rolls Royce Merlin. The top speed was 437 mph, and was a long-range, single-seat fighter and fighter bomber used in World War 2 as well as other wars to follow.

This was also the familiar plane to accompany B-17 bombers to aid in their successful missions with the Tuskegee Airmen. For more information on this particular plane you can visit Yanks Air Museum's website.