Pictures of Cold War aircraft. (9 Viewers)

[Donivanp]

I spent my first four years with SAC stationed at Andersen AFB Guam. I left there for a five year stint at Grissom AFB Indiana. When I was given my orders the first thing I said was "Hey Chief, where the hell is Indiana and where the hell is Grissom?" I got there on a hot August afternoon and went through in processing where they issued me a second field jacket, four sets of long John's, a artis weather parka and parka pants, set of muckaluks and a set of rubber air filled aritc boots we called bunny boots. A kamakozy hat. I said "why all this cold weather gear? He says, oh don't worry, we support Tule Greenland but haven't gone in years. Freaking smarta$$! I used EVERY bit of that gear over the next five winters there.

My first winter the windchill was around -27° F and three days later I flew dow to Panama where it was 98°F.

 

[tyrodtom]

Here is a rare one for you. The Lockheed B-69.

Yes, it is a P2V Neptune, mostly. But the CIA wanted some for intelligence gathering and the USN declined the honor of doing the logistics support so the USAF got the job. Okay, so you have this Secret Spy Plane and rather than make it look like all the P2V's you paint U.S Air Force on it and make it blindingly obvious it is SPECIAL.

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It's blindingly obvious what it is even if it had no markings on it.
We had a squadron of those at NKP, Thailand, with Navy markings, and no tail stinger, just chopped off flat right behind the rudder.
With 4 or so holes back there that held seismic probes that they dropped on Ho Chi Minh trail.

 

[MIflyer]

We had a squadron of those at NKP, Thailand, with Navy markings, and no tail stinger, just chopped off flat right behind the rudder.

The USN even tried using armed P2V's for interdiction on the HCM Trail.

 

[MIflyer]

I got there on a hot August afternoon and went through in processing where they issued me a second field jacket, four sets of long John's, a artis weather parka and parka pants, set of muckaluks and a set of rubber air filled aritc boots we called bunny boots.

At Tinker AFB we had a hard winter 1977-1978. One storm after another hit so close together that the ice did not have time to melt. They ran road scrapers through the parking lot, creating an Ice Wall you had to climb over to get to the building. When he heard about this our O-6 said, "Walk around it." The 'effing building was a MILE LONG! And in the Base Bulletin every issue had a notice reminding everyone that ONLY flight line workers were allowed to wear parkas and that even if you had a parka previously issued at another base you could not wear it. The caliber of our leadership was abysmal!

I had a parka I had got in college. It was blue, not unlike our uniforms, and wore it to work every day during that period. The civilians I worked with assumed it was Air Force issue. To hell with the 'effing regulations!

 

[Snowman]

 

[Snowman]

 

[GTX]

 

[GTX]

 

[GTX]

 

[GTX]

 

[GTX]

 

[Donivanp]

Tankers for EVER. "NKAWTG"

 

[Donivanp]

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And I thought Buff's and A model Takers were bad!

 

[GTX]

Yeah

 

[SaparotRob]

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Need an F-103.

 

[GreenKnight121]

Although argueing with a Marine is usually a dumb thing to do, I do have Steve Ginter's book on the P4M-1 for backup. The two R-4360s were assisted by J-33s. One comment from the book says with all engines at takeoff power, the P4M could out climb any of that era's piston engine fighters to 20000 feet. There also several accounts of intercepts while on elint missions where all four were used.
As an aside, I was fortunate to see and photo the last P4M-1Q on the ramp in California. The other survivors were scrapped in Japan however the last was flown home and scrapped here. I have under construction a controlline model, however like most of you modellers, it is put off because of starting something new.

I was going by how none of the photos I'd seen showed added jet engines like the P-2 gained during its service life - which was the case with almost every other mixed-propulsion aircraft.

I had missed that, uniquely, the P4M had its jet engines in the aft end of the piston engine nacelles!

Thanks for making me look closer - I learned something!

 

[Gnomey]

Nice shots!

 

[GTX]

 

[GTX]

 

[Snowman]

During the Suez Crisis, French Privateers of the 28.F Flottille operated from Karouba, Tunisia, and carried out maritime reconnaissance.