Blows my mind we went to 150k+ in the first 50 years of naval aviation and then only to 166xxx since then.
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The Great, Constantly Changing Picture Gallery...part DEUX
- Thread starter Gatordev
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Blows my mind we went to 150k+ in the first 50 years of naval aviation and then only to 166xxx since then.
Same raid, different plane. The one I posted is from the Enterprise VT-6. BuNo 0298. Until they found these two there were NO known existing airframes. But the is more! A research group found one off the coast of San Diego and the museum at Pensacola is hoping to restore one of them.
Just four months after Pearl Harbor, this is my favorite moment in WWII history. Naval officers of the Asiatic Fleet in starched whites at the club with nothing more than old four-stacker destroyers, straight deck carriers, tubby Wildcats, and plodding Devastators holding the line against what was at that moment the most advanced navy in the world. Hell, my dad still hadn't entered the V-7 program at this time.
Just four months after Pearl Harbor, this is my favorite moment in WWII history. Naval officers of the Asiatic Fleet in starched whites at the club with nothing more than old four-stacker destroyers, straight deck carriers, tubby Wildcats, and plodding Devastators holding the line against what was at that moment the most advanced navy in the world. Hell, my dad still hadn't entered the V-7 program at this time.
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...........and carrier killing Dauntless's.
No carrier kills that early, but the Dauntless was there. We shouldn't forget the delightful Brewster Buffalo!
They were out of the CAGs (mind your anachronisms!) by the time war broke out in the Pacific.
The Finns actually made very good use of the Buffalos vs the Russians. Combination of tinkering and better tactics.
Ya gotta give some credit to those baby-blue swastikas.
They told everyone they were "actually" ancient good-luck symbols before it was cool.
From 1917 to 1935 they went to 9999. From 1940-1945 they started again and went from 00001 to 99999, and continued to 170000+ today. Of course a lot of those numbers were assigned to aircraft orders that were cancelled and never delivered.
It's all here, plus some interesting research on the current status of each plane.
http://www.joebaugher.com/navy_serials/navyserials.html
Correction, according to that guy the most recent is 169226
The Buffs that ended up on Midway were part of Saratoga's air group and were headed to Wake as part of the relief force. That mission was dumped and were left at Midway where they did quite well considering the limited experience of the pilots.
As for that ugly bird, keep in mind that it beat the Wildcat in Navy tests (and Grumman modified the F4 based on those tests) and was highly thought of as slow, but very maneuverable. In fact, Pappy Boyington said it could turn and roll inside a phone booth.
Happy Navy Birthday to all those raised their hands and were part of this great tradition of Naval Aviation. I'm posting this surrounded by Naval Aviation museum relics, a monument to the sacrifice of those who came before us all. I'm proud to be a part of this team.
I was up in Maine over the weekend visiting my son at his school, the Charles Dickens School for Holligan Lads, and managed to get a few nice shots. I will post them here.
First. The new Zumwalt class destroyer at Bath Iron Works. There is an Arliegh Burke in the yard as well.
First. The new Zumwalt class destroyer at Bath Iron Works. There is an Arliegh Burke in the yard as well.
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