WWII Aircraft Pics from lesofprimus...

[Nonskimmer]

maybe a 416 pilot but he's not Canadian the uniform doesn't have the Canada shoulder flashes so he's probably a Brit

Maybe, but not necessarily. I've seen photos of Canadian pilots without the CANADA flashes. The Commonwealth air forces in Europe were pretty mixed anyway, so he could possibly have been a Canadian in the RAF attached back to an RCAF squadron.

 

[lesofprimus]

More shots...

 

[the lancaster kicks ass]

the P-51 rockets shot must be staged or a test surely?

 

[lesofprimus]

I would assume so as the Stang doesnt have any squadron letters...

 

[Gnomey]

Still they got a good photo despite it being staged. The Spitfire flying under the bridge is Ray Hanna (or Mark) and their Spitfire (MH434) taken sometime in the 90's if I remember correctly.

 

[the lancaster kicks ass]

yes that photo got a lot of publicity following ray's death............

 

[BlackWolf3945]

Info on the FM-2 pilot and his mount from page 5 of this thread can be found HERE...

The Russian pilot in his Yak-1 on page 7 is Mikhail Dmitriyevich Baranov and the image is a scan from the original in my collection. Baranov was killed in January of 1943.

Here's another photo taken during the same shoot...

Image source


Fade to Black...

 

[lesofprimus]

A few more...

 

[comiso90]

Thanks for all the great photos. Too many good ones to pick a favorite although the mangled mountains of p-38s on the first page has to be the most disturbing.

 

[comiso90]

the P-51 rockets shot must be staged or a test surely?

I REALLY bothers me that in "Saving Private Ryan:, Mustangs are refered to as "Tank Busters."

They dont show musch of the aircraft. They just as esaily could have mentioned Typhoons or P-47's!

 

[the lancaster kicks ass]

what my comment has to do with that i dunno but yes it was a bit odd, they could just as easily have said "mustangs", the problem is there're no flyable typhoons and at the time only only flyable P-47 in europe, which has now gone to America rather sadly..........

 

[Matt308]

No tank busting P-51s? What about 3" rockets in christmas tree tubes?

 

[Wildcat]

I'm pretty sure i've read somewhere that they did want to use P-47's, but because none were available they went with P-51's.

 

[the lancaster kicks ass]

that does make sence as does blackwolf's take on it..........

 

[STARMAN 352ND]

Cool pictures ...
JP

 

[Matt308]

Nicely said Blackwolf.

 

[comiso90]

No tank busting P-51s? What about 3" rockets in christmas tree tubes?

Not that there weren't tank busting P-51's but if you were the historical consultant for the movie I'm sure you would have suggested alternatives. There are so many other aircraft more deserving the mantle of "Tank Buster."

They show so little of the aircraft that they probably could have used CG P-47's.

 

[comiso90]

However, for someone who hasn't been exposed to, and has little or no interest in such things, it would be tough to be able to identify a certain type of aircraft.

Fade to Black...

Perhaps the P-51 is Speilbergs favorite plane!

 

[the lancaster kicks ass]

i'll wager it was simply because they were all that was available........

 

[drgondog]

I would assume so as the Stang doesnt have any squadron letters...

Dan - The production -30 had rack/stub for rockets, the photo is of a P-51D-10 which could easily be a NA test bed for the rocket mounts. I'll set up my own thread and show them.

I can't quite make out the last three tail numbers or I might be able to figure out whether it saw combat.

The WRA is Kinnard's 1st 51D-30 in April 1945 - note the three racks in second pic

The WR-B is Marshall's last P-51D-25 - no retrofit, post war Gablingen