# Wright Field 1945 Victory Display color photos



## GrauGeist (Dec 17, 2014)

Here's a series of aircraft that were photographed at Wright Field during the Victory Display in 1945. Some of these aircraft went on to become points of historical note, others were unceremoniously scrapped later on.

These color photos were taken by Jack Canary, who was a rep. for North American Aviation during and after the war. He remained active in the aviation world, restoring and flying aircraft and was unfortunately killed while flying a PT-22 during the filming of Tora! Tora! Tora! in 1968.

We'll start with some American aircraft:

*Beechcraft XA-38 (43-14407)*






*Lockheed XP-49 (40-3055)*





*Lockheed P-80A (44-84997)*

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## GrauGeist (Dec 17, 2014)

Now for the Axis aircraft...

*Mitsubishi A6M5*










*Focke-Wulf Fw190G-3 (160016) EB-104*










*Heinkel He162*

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## GrauGeist (Dec 17, 2014)

And more Axis.

This is the last of the photos, although I am sure there were more, I just can't seem to find them.

If I do run across them, I'll be sure to add them!

*Messerschmitt Me163A (191301) FE500*





*Messerschmitt Me262A-1a (500491) FE-111*





*Junkers Ju290*





*Junkers Ju388L-1 (560049) FE-410*

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## rochie (Dec 17, 2014)

what fantastic pictures Dave, cheers for posting them.

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## vikingBerserker (Dec 17, 2014)

Yes, I will take one of each please!

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## Wurger (Dec 17, 2014)




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## Capt. Vick (Dec 17, 2014)

Sweet!


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## Graeme (Dec 17, 2014)

Very nice photos Dave - thanks for that! It would be nice to be able to go back in time for a closer look.

Looks like a Bachem Natter between the Zero and the Junkers?

What's that green nose belong to in the P-80 photo?...






And behind the Grizzy, a taildragger?...

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## GrauGeist (Dec 17, 2014)

That green nose peeking out past the P-80 almost looks like an Airacomet, doesn't it?


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## vikingBerserker (Dec 17, 2014)

That was the first thing that popped in my mind as well.


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## GrauGeist (Dec 18, 2014)

Well, Graeme has my curiosity primed and I am on the hunt to see it that is, in fact, a P-59 on the ramp near the P-80 (I have seen a similar photo of a P-59B with a tube extending from the nose).

In the meantime, here's two more photos I ran across on my drive from that Victory Display...

*JB-2 "Loon" (Republic-Ford built V-1)*





*Yokosuka MXY7 "Ohka"*

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## Graeme (Dec 18, 2014)

Hi Dave. 

To my eyes it looks like there is a small open cockpit at the front, which threw me...






But looking around, I found this... 






Anyway, nice photos mate.

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## Snautzer01 (Dec 18, 2014)

FE 1/T2-1 Bachem Ba 349 Natter at Wright Field 1946 Victory Display

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## Capt. Vick (Dec 18, 2014)

Graeme said:


> And behind the Grizzy, a taildragger?...
> 
> View attachment 280153



My wish guess would be the Douglas Mixmaster or Jetmaster, but it's probably just a plane old Invader.

Oh, or maybe a Bowlus glider.


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## Snautzer01 (Dec 18, 2014)

Plan Lay out for Wright Field 1946 Victory Display

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## Airframes (Dec 18, 2014)

Great stuff Dave, and nice find on the layout brochure Snautzer.

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## Snautzer01 (Dec 18, 2014)



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## Snautzer01 (Dec 18, 2014)

Ar234B-2 FE-1011 T2-1011 also USA 40, WNr.140311 Surrendered to the RAF at Stavanger, Norway and at Freeman Field in May, 1946
Ar234B-2 140311 unbekannt 08.11.1944 Übergabe an 8./KG76, 28.11.1944 Übergabe der Maschine an Kommando Lukesch (Einsatzstaffel III/KG76), jan-45 Übergabe an III/KG76. Source: Source: Motorbuch Verlag, Strahflugzeug Arado Ar234 Blitz, Griehl, 2003

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## FLYBOYJ (Dec 18, 2014)

8)


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## Capt. Vick (Dec 18, 2014)

Damn this is a good thread! Hey, was this the show that the Curtiss XP-55 crashed at?

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## T Bolt (Dec 18, 2014)

Wonderful pictures Dave. Never thought I'd see some of these birds in color.


Capt. Vick said:


> My wish guess would be the Douglas Mixmaster or Jetmaster, but it's probably just a plane old Invader.
> 
> Oh, or maybe a Bowlus glider.


Does look an awful lot like a Mixmaster tai.l I tried to match it up to other photos and the tail looks like a match, but the wheel rims are different. Did they make more then one B-42?

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## evangilder (Dec 18, 2014)

Having spent some of my growing up years haunting the museum at WPAFB, this is some neat stuff. I wonder if that is the same Natter that was on static display in the 70s (and probably still is). Great thread, Dave.

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## Shinpachi (Dec 18, 2014)

Many awesome photos, Dave 
Thanks for sharing!

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## GrauGeist (Dec 18, 2014)

Glad everyone's enjoying the photos!

I had thought, for some reason, that these color photos had been posted on the forum before. I have several other photos (B&W) that can be added and the contributions by Snautzer are great, also! 

For an extra treat, here's a couple of color movies taken during the Victory fair! 


_View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jrXTHMtX5Nc_


_View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOqnkUKBD1k_

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## GrauGeist (Dec 18, 2014)

Capt. Vick said:


> Damn this is a good thread! Hey, was this the show that the Curtiss XP-55 crashed at?


42-78847 crashed in May of '45, during a War Bond airshow, five months before this Victory Display.


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## DerAdlerIstGelandet (Dec 19, 2014)

Great pics.

Imagine if all these aircraft had survived...


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## Capt. Vick (Dec 19, 2014)

Thanks amigo!

Some of them have. The Ju 388 for example, but as we have said...sadly not the Ju 290.


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## GrauGeist (Dec 19, 2014)

That was a shame about the Condor...it survived the war, flown across the Atlantic and made several appearances at air shows...just to be scrapped in the end.


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## Capt. Vick (Dec 19, 2014)

Yeah...but it was actually called the Sea Adler IIRC my friend. I believe the Fw 200 was the Condor.


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## Snautzer01 (Dec 19, 2014)

Ju290 -->> Seeadler


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## GrauGeist (Dec 19, 2014)

yes it was the Seeadler, I was just testing you guys! (That's my story, at least)

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## Wurger (Dec 20, 2014)

Great stuff here.


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## Wayne Little (Dec 21, 2014)

Agreed Wojtek!


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## Gnomey (Dec 21, 2014)

Great shots! Thanks for sharing.


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## GrauGeist (Dec 21, 2014)

Glad everyone enjoyed the shots, I truly regret not being able to find more...there may, in time, be more that turn up.

And I have to laugh about the Fw200 and Ju290 name mix-up! I think it's sort of a dyslexia, since I have always mixed the Condor and Seeadler up for as long as I have known about these two aircraft.

I can look at the Ju290, I know it's a Ju290 and yet I'll still refer to it as the Condor (and visa-versa with the Fw200) and then later I'll do the facepalm when I realize that I did it once again!

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## Capt. Vick (Dec 21, 2014)

It's all good brother. Just take your meds and get some rest. You're a tough kid.

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## GrauGeist (Dec 21, 2014)




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## nuuumannn (Dec 21, 2014)

Fantastic thread from all who have contributed. A bit of info on the Axis aircraft fates. Obviously the Ju 290 didn't survive, but neither did the He 162 White 7, or at least no record of its disposal has been found - it was transferred to Park Ridge on 31 May 1946 for museum storage, but never made it to a museum. The Fw 190 EB-104 was renumbered T2-125 and was scheduled to go to Park Ridge for museum storage, but the last official record of it was at Freeman Field and it's presumed it was scrapped. The Ar 234 FE-1011/T2-1011 was presumably scrapped at Freeman Field, but parts of it were robbed to keep T2-1010 flying, which is the NASM example that survives today. The Komet, Natter, Ju 388 and Me 262 are all NASM airframes that survive as well as the Zero, which was TAIC 7 and was named _Tokyo Rose_.

The Ju 290 made an historic Atlantic crossing beginning on 28 July 1945, from Paris Orly to the Azores, then on 30 July, the Azores to Bermuda, then the next day, Bermuda to Patterson Field (adjacent to Wright Field, not joined at the time), then on 1 August from Patterson Field to Freeman Field. Apparently, when it departed Lajes in the Azores it left after President Truman's C-54, but it arrived an hour ahead of the C-54 in Bermuda. When it was scrapped at Wright Field, a German made plastic explosive device was found in its wing near a fuel tank: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Junkers_Ju_290


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## GrauGeist (Dec 21, 2014)

The He162 on display at Wright Field (shown earlier in this thread) was actually "White 4" (WkNmr 120067), seen here at the USAAF Y76 depot, Kassel, Germany at war's end. It was later designated USAAF FE-493 and T2-493 (and for some reason, painted "White 7").


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## nuuumannn (Dec 22, 2014)

Interesting; I've not seen that pic before. It's most likely that it was incorporating bits from different aircraft by the time it was White 7; the rear fuse is natural metal and the engine cone looks newer. There were a few He 162s around at the time with Col Watson, including FE-489/T2-489 'Nervenklau', which was test flown only once at Muroc by Bob Hoover. That one's with Planes of Fame now, but T2-493 was presumably scrapped.


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## Capt. Vick (Dec 22, 2014)

Is the nose art "Nerve Stealer" on the 162 actually Luftwaffe applied or post capture like "Allies Kaputt" on the 290. Anybody know for certain?


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## nuuumannn (Dec 22, 2014)

From my limited resources, I think it was original to the aircraft. This from _War Prizes_ by Phil Butler: "The He 162 is currently in the Planes of Fame Museum, Chino Airfield, California, which is the present location of Ed Maloney's museum. It is marked as 'Red 1' of JG 1. with the nickname 'Nervenklau', both original markings. 'Nervenklau' was the nickname of the Heinkel's pilot, Lt Gerhard Hanf."

I'm sure "Alles Kaputt" was an original Luftwaffe nickname?! It's got so much meaning! 

In that picture that Dave posted of T2-493 as White 4, you can see a P-61 on jacks in the background.


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## javlin (Dec 22, 2014)

Cool thread!


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## Capt. Vick (Dec 22, 2014)

Yes, the 290 nose art was applied after capture.


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## Capt. Vick (Jan 8, 2015)

Found this on Youtube, but it says it was taken in 1945, though I think that might be wrong...

Airshow 1945 with Captured Nazi World War II Planes (stabilized) 


_View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXCZLSih9DY_


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## T Bolt (Jan 8, 2015)

What an amazing video! Don't you just which you could go to an airshow like that!


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## Capt. Vick (Jan 8, 2015)

HELL YEAH!


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## blueskies (Apr 1, 2015)

GrauGeist said:


> Now for the Axis aircraft...
> 
> *Mitsubishi A6M5*
> View attachment 280106
> ...



What is up with the cowling on this zero?

I don't think I've ever seen a carb intake like that before.


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## Wurger (Apr 1, 2015)

There is nothing wrong with the engine cowling methinks.


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## GrauGeist (Apr 1, 2015)

blueskies said:


> What is up with the cowling on this zero?
> 
> I don't think I've ever seen a carb intake like that before.


I hadn't really paid attention until now, but there actually is something odd about this cowling.










It certainly is not like other A6M5 cowls and at first I thought it might be an A6M8, but the inlet and ducting is different.


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## Wurger (Apr 1, 2015)

Is that really the inlet and ducting at the top od the engine cowling? I would say it is a part of anti-glare strip and either the light reflection at the sillver skillet of the top MG or a kind of its filling of the white colour.


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## GrauGeist (Apr 1, 2015)

Wurger said:


> Is that really the inlet and ducting at the top od the engine cowling? I would say it is a part of anti-glare strip and either the light reflection at the sillver skillet of the top MG or a kind of its filling of the white colour.


I considered the anti-glare paint creating an optical illusion, too...but when looking closely at verified A6M5 cowls, there is a noticeable difference.

I also considered an illusion created by the MG ports and this also was ruled out by close inspection of both painted and unpainted cowls.


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## Wurger (Apr 1, 2015)

Here is an image of the kite while ( still ?) wearing the Japanese insignia. I have enlarged the shot a little bit. IMHO there wasn't any air duct at the top.


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## Shinpachi (Apr 2, 2015)

There are a pair of patches on both sides of the inlet but invisible when painted in black.
The photo looks normal to me like Wojtek too.

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## Capt. Vick (Apr 2, 2015)

Yeah, I don't see a difference...


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