DC-6s are still flying on a regular basis in Alaska with cargo airlines. They sound like nothing else in the air, and I heard one fly over a few nights ago. During the summer months, you can see a DC-6, DC-3 or C-46 fly by almost daily.
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DC-6s are still flying on a regular basis in Alaska with cargo airlines. They sound like nothing else in the air, and I heard one fly over a few nights ago. During the summer months, you can see a DC-6, DC-3 or C-46 fly by almost daily.C-54 Douglas Skymaster was another long life plane, with origins in WW2. I believe they flew in one form or another, until the 1990s.
I seen this aircraft at Mojave a few times many years ago. About 10 years ago a young kid joined the flying club I was in, his grandfather was one of the Skyfox Company founders. "Johnny" formed a local band here in Denver that got some local play time on the radio. Their name? SKYFOX!-And then there is (what might be) the last gasp of the P/F-80 series: the Skyfox which could have been the poor man's A-10.
-I recall seeing something in the late '50s after the P6M Seamaster was cancelled, a proposal to give the Navy some retired B-47s to use as jet propelled PB4Ys, Given the Stratojet's issues and the still extant DoD internecine warfare... excuse me, I mean wholly professional well intentioned rivalry (revelry sometimes??) I suspect that whoever put forth the proposal either had his tongue in cheek or foot in mouth.
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This something I've wondered about for quite awhile. The IJN/IJA feud is legendary. Is there anything like it in our current armed forces? Is that internecine insanity ever brought up in training or at the academies? I can't say it cost Japan the war because they just weren't going to win, no matter what they did.-And then there is (what might be) the last gasp of the P/F-80 series: the Skyfox which could have been the poor man's A-10.
-I recall seeing something in the late '50s after the P6M Seamaster was cancelled, a proposal to give the Navy some retired B-47s to use as jet propelled PB4Ys, Given the Stratojet's issues and the still extant DoD internecine warfare... excuse me, I mean wholly professional well intentioned rivalry (revelry sometimes??) I suspect that whoever put forth the proposal either had his tongue in cheek or foot in mouth.
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I don't honestly believe that the American military ever really reached that level of internecine warfare, but there have been times when things got bad. Just look up "Revolt of the Admirals" sometime. But I'm pretty sure that during the War the U.S. Navy usually remembered that Japan was the Navy's #1 enemy, and the U.S. Army was only #2.This something I've wondered about for quite awhile. The IJN/IJA feud is legendary. Is there anything like it in our current armed forces? Is that internecine insanity ever brought up in training or at the academies? I can't say it cost Japan the war because they just weren't going to win, no matter what they did.
Admiral Spruance (5th Fleet) was respected by the Navy's top brass, but Admiral Halsey (3rd Fleet) was loved by the sailors. One time two sailors were talking about Halsey, and one of them said, "I'd follow that old son of a bitch to hell and back." Then they looked up, and there was Halsey, eavesdropping. He stared at them for a moment, then said, "Oh, I'm not that old" and smiled at them.I don't think the revolt of the admirals was quite at the same level. At least, I find that a bit understandable. I like to think that the level of cooperation is akin to what I read about Admiral Halsey. He fostered camaraderie when assuming command of a theatre. Reminding his expanded staff who the enemy was. Pranks and joshing are indeed part of our national heritage. As long as it skips the whole assassination thing.
This something I've wondered about for quite awhile. The IJN/IJA feud is legendary. Is there anything like it in our current armed forces? Is that internecine insanity ever brought up in training or at the academies? I can't say it cost Japan the war because they just weren't going to win, no matter what they did.
The DC-3/C-47 is still in harness and STILL earning its keep. That plane can never be overrated, IMHO.I suppose you could say that the Douglas DC-47 had it's origin from the DC-3 root, in the 1930s. Some modified form of the original saw combat up through the Vietnam War. I think there are still DC-3s flying around the world, somewhere.
That has to be one of the oldest designs, still flying --- for commercial functions (not simply museum pieces).
I'd love to see the original, 1945, drawings of the B-52 proposal. A straight wing B-52. That's something I'd like to see.While not having it's origins in the direct WWII timeline, the specifications that ultimately resulted in the B-52 originated from a request issued in November 1945...
The design started to take shape in '46 with the Model 462, which was a huge, straight wing, six engine (turboprop) proposal.I'd love to see the original, 1945, drawings of the B-52 proposal. A straight wing B-52. That's something I'd like to see.
Hi HoThe design started to take shape in '46 with the Model 462, which was a huge, straight wing, six engine (turboprop) proposal.
The process then went through several iterations (mainly because the Army Air Force and then Air Force kept changing requiremens) resulting in the Model 464 with quite a few sub-variants.
When I was kid and already a spotter, I remember seeing a P2V7 possibly from the French Navy Flotille 23F or 25F flying over the Ouistreham beach of D-Day fame in 1971.
Same here, mon frere!When I was kid and already a spotter, I remember seeing a P2V7 possibly from the French Navy Flotille 23F or 25F flying over the Ouistreham beach of D-Day fame in 1971.
The last French Neptune was retired in 1984.