Picture of the day. (20 Viewers)

[syscom3]

A Bf 110B with the "Fliegender Haifisch" (Flying Shark) paint scheme which later became quite
popular throughout the Wehrmacht (it also was used on tanks, for instance). The Messerschmidt
is flying above the English Channel sometime during August 1940.

 

[syscom3]

A colorized shot of Leutnant Franz Xaver Baron von Werra with his BF109 E4 - II.JG 3
at Wierre au Bois, France. This is some time in August 1940. Von Werra is playing with
his pet lion cub Simba, who finds the plane's 20 mm cannon interesting. Von Werra
later becomes famous as the only German POW to escape from Canadian custody and
return to action in Germany.

 

[syscom3]

Royal Air Force men examining the wreck of a Nazi bomber, in Scotland on August 4, 1940, which they did not bring down. It flew too low and a mountain peak got in the way.

 

[Viking1066]

Kokusai Ki-76 Stella observation aircraft ALTH

 

[Viking1066]

Dutch Martin Model 166 (1938-1939 export version of the Martin B-10) WIKI

 

[GTX]

The Royal Aircraft Factory N.E.1 was a night fighter first flown on 8 September 1917. The first prototype was equipped with a 40mm Vickers Q.F. Gun, Mk II for the gunner, who sat in tandem behind the pilot. A searchlight was fitted to the nose of the aircraft to aid in searching for zeppelins and bombers.

 

[SaparotRob]

View attachment 841415

The Royal Aircraft Factory N.E.1 was a night fighter first flown on 8 September 1917. The first prototype was equipped with a 40mm Vickers Q.F. Gun, Mk II for the gunner, who sat in tandem behind the pilot. A searchlight was fitted to the nose of the aircraft to aid in searching for zeppelins and bombers.

I can only imagine the pilot's reaction to a 40 mm Vickers gun blast behind his ears.

 

[Lancero99]

Japanese Kawasaki Ki-61 Hien Type 3 Army Fighters (Allied codename: Tony) fighters at Hate Tabako Airfield, on Halmahera Island in the Dutch East Indies, April 1944
Perhaps 78 Sentai?

 

[Viking1066]

Japanese Kawasaki Ki-61 Hien Type 3 Army Fighters (Allied codename: Tony) fighters at Hate Tabako Airfield, on Halmahera Island in the Dutch East Indies, April 1944
Perhaps 78 Sentai?
View attachment 841430View attachment 841431

Looks like a good call on the Sentai.

 

[Viking1066]

Markings of 3 Chutai 50th Sentai on a Ki-27b Philippines January 1942 KEGO

 

[GTX]

Wiss EKW C-3603

 

[GTX]

View attachment 841523
Wiss EKW C-3603

Eventually led to:

 

[Lancero99]

Very rare image of a Kawasaki Ki-61-II Kai of either the 55 or 56th Sentai with the cut down fuselage and bubble or teardrop canopy, only around 99 planes of this variant were made before the transition to the Ki-100

 

[Viking1066]

Seaplanes at Norderney with a Gotha WD14 far right FLYN

 

[Viking1066]

SF5 '1021' with FF33L '941' 1917-1918 FLYN

 

[syscom3]

A shot-up Heinkel which took massive damage but still made it in for a level landing in
France, August 1940.

 

[syscom3]

After being shot up off Swanage on 8 August 1940, Sgt
Denis N Robinson of No 152 Squadron RAF makes a
crash-landing in a field near Wareham. The 22-year-old
pilot is unhurt but Spitfire Mk I UM-N is a write-off.

 

[Viking1066]

3-B-1 (VB-3) making first landing on the ship. Probably USS SARATOGA HISN

 

[Viking1066]

Grumman XSF-1 BuNo. 8940, on the flight deck of USS SARATOGA (CV-3) Being informally inspected by naval and civilian personnel. The tail of an SU-1 BuNo. 9063 HISN

 

[Viking1066]

USS SARATOGA Operating off Panama, 21 April 1934, at about the time of fleet problem 15. Photographed from a USAAC plane from France Field, Canal Zone HISN