eBay: Martin B-10

[vikingBerserker]

Very cool muskeg, I just sent you a PM.

 

[muskeg13]

Enlisted crew and maintenance personnel. Photo of a photo taken at the Elmendorf AFB (Alaska) Hospital yesterday. My uncle, SSgt Russel E. Junior is kneeling on the far left.

 

[muskeg13]

According to the 3d Wing History Office, Old #145, piloted by CPT Edwin Bobzien and navigated by CPT Ross Hoyt, ran out of gas (shortly) after taking off from Merrill Field in Anchorage and had to ditch in Cook Inlet off of Bootlegger's Cove.

My wife and I were there today, in the snow and sleet, listening to the echo of the 21-gun salute being rendered as the USS Anchorage was being commissioned.

 

[muskeg13]

Another 3d Wing History Office photo. Lt Col Henry "Hap" Arnold is congratulated by Secretary of War Henry Dern on his successful return from Alaska to Bolling Field, Washington D.C. LTC Arnold was awarded the 1934 Mackay Trophy for this mission.

 

[vikingBerserker]

Excellent, I appreciate you posting these, esp the one with the enlisted men. THANKS!

 

[muskeg13]

Doesn't the guy kneeling in the center look like Gen Arnold in coveralls? This just a guess, but since there were 10 planes, and each crew was usually 3, a commissioned pilot, a commissioned navigator/bombardier-nose gunner and an enlisted radioman/rear gunner...I'd guess the enlisted flight crew on this mission were the ones in the first two ranks, with the ground maintenance crew standing in the third rank. My uncle was a radio operator.

 

[vikingBerserker]

He does look like him, but I do not think it is him.

The 10 B-10's used were crewed by 14 Officers and 16 Enlisted - Hap Arnold had increased the Enlisted ratio so he could bring along more mechanics. There was also an advanced party that meet them in Alaska consisting of more officers and enlisted as well as additional supplies. Two advance flyers flew to Fairbanks before the B-10's in a couple of O-38s and it was one of those pilots (CPT Edwin Bobzien) that landed 145 into Cook Inlet. He apparently had less than 20 hours in the B-10 and it did not run out of gas but Capt Bozbien had not operated the fuel system correctly and starved the engines. He did not have the altitude to correct the problem before he crashed. Interestingly Hap Arnold had done the same thing on the flight up but had enough altitude to correct the problem.

 

[Marcel]

The B10 is just a beautiful aircraft. Thanks for posting the pictures.

 

[muskeg13]

Capt Bozbien had not operated the fuel system correctly and starved the engines. He did not have the altitude to correct the problem before he crashed.

That's what I was thinking because having to ditch for running out of gas within seconds of taking off makes no sense whatsoever.

 

[muskeg13]

I'll try to go into the 3d Wing History Office in the near future and see if they might have more info on the 1934 mission. Who in the flight crews were the designated photographers? One of the goals and accomplishments of this flight was to conduct aerial mapping.

 

[vikingBerserker]

Capt George Goddard (from the Support Team) was the officer in charge of photography. Of the 10 planes, only 6 were equipped with the Fairchild 5-Lens cameras but when 33-145 ditched, the camera was destroyed so that left only 5 to do the actual mapping.

I've ordered a number of items from the National Archives - one of which is about the Alaskan Flight which hopefully will contain more information. If you have the chance to go to the 3d Wing History and get something I'd love the chance to look at scans of it. I'm more then happy to share the stuff I've acquired about it during my research.

Regards
David

 

[vikingBerserker]

I've been meaning to post this picture of the Argentinian Martin 139WAA B-511 (MSN 763). On June 15 1942 during a flight to test the engines the aircraft crashed causing considerable damage to the nose. Instead of completely repairing it back to spec they constructed a new nose. The turret was removed and the nose was glassed in with 3 positions for machine guns. A similar event happened to their B-510 in 1945 and was given a similar nose.

 

[Capt. Vick]

Great pic! Thanks for posting!

 

[Bernhart]

is there any decent plastic kit of b-10's out there.? always wanted to do a dutch one but can't seem to find a kit

 

[vikingBerserker]

The most common one is the Williams Brothers B-10 in 1/72 scale which is out of production (I bought mine on eBay). It has some quality issues and I would not recommend it for a beginner, but somebody with Moderate skills can do a great job. There are after market decals for the country you want to do. There is also the 1/48 scale in Resin but it is really hard to find and pricey.

If you need info on a particular plane just let me know.

Good luck!

 

[vikingBerserker]

Ok this has me stumped. The pic below is of B-10 34-61 used by Major Davis and was the first aircraft of the 11th Air Force which at the time was to be stationed in Alaska. The question I have is of the spinner. Originally I thought it was some type of early deicer but further research showed them to be considerably smaller. I then thought it might be a tank for alcohol as part of a chemical deicing system but I do not see any deicing boots on the blades. I've also wondered that since this aircraft was stationed in Alaska if it was to restrict air flow. Does anybody have any ideas?

 

[Capt. Vick]

Hmmmmm......

 

[Wurger]

I couldn't find any info on the spinner. Here is another image with the one seen in...

 

[vikingBerserker]

Brilliant find! That's the best picture I have seen yet of it and might actually be of a different aircraft. Thank you both!

 

[FLYBOYJ]

My guess it's just a spinner or more of a protective cover for the prop hub.