Short Sunderland over-flying the Dover Patrol monument at St Margarets at Cliffe - ebay photo find #110

 

Short Sunderland overflying the Dover Patrol monument at St. Margarets at Cliffe, east of Dover. The Dover Patrol Monuments are a trio of war memorials designed by Sir Aston Webb to commemorate the Royal Navy's Dover Patrol of the First World War. Two identical granite memorial obelisks, 75 feet (23 m) high, were erected near Dover and on the Cap Blanc-Nez near Calais in 1921 and 1922. The third obelisk is in New York.

More Cant Z 506/501 - daily Ebay photo find #46

Cant Z 501 carrying bomb suspended on wing struts

here

Beriev MBR-2 Soviet floatplane

Superb David Pentland artwork reposted from the "Early Russian Aircraft" FB page.

A Beriev MBR-2 Soviet floatplane bombing a german cargo ship, probably over the Baltic sea.

Captured Loire 130 seaplanes

The Loire 130 seaplane was constructed in Saint-Nazaire at the SNCAO plant. During late June 1940 the plant was occupied by German troops. At that time, some twenty examples of the type were in various phases of assembly. In 1941, the German authorities gave their approval to resume work on the assembly line in order to finish 20 machines for the French Navy. Upon their reception flights the a/c were air ferried from Saint-Nazaire to Mâcon on the river Saône, north of Lyon. Although flown by French pilots, as part of the ferry flights were over German occupied part of France, the Loire were obliged to wear German markings. Those temporary markings were painted with washable paint over ordinary French markings and were washed out in Mâcon before the last part of the ferry flight to Berre, next to Marseille, where the Loire were put under storage. Thus, those 20 aircraft (n° 75 and 81 to 99) wore Luftwaffe markings for ferrying purposes only.

 Below;  Loire 130  wearing Kennung "BI+XA" in Brest-Poulmic seen shortly prior to a transfer flight to the E-Stelle at Travemünde in early 1941. The crew comprised pilot Lt. Paul Metges, Uffz. Steckel and Fw Just. Note the modified engine cowl.



Loire 130 n° 75 sporting the code DI+XA following a ferry flight from Brest-Poulmic to Travemunde. A single example of the type was transferred to Germany (during early 1941?)  following the fall of France

French flying boats of WWII Ebay photo find # 30 - Seeflieger album - Breguet Br 521 Bizerte, Bv 138, He 115

Spotted on ebay with four days still to bid, currently at around 500 euros. An album featuring some nice images of Luftwaffe seaplane types photographed in Holtenau and Brest, France..

Above; two views of the rather ungainly "nose" of a Breguet 521 Bizerte - a feature which proved very useful for observation tasks while the aircraft was in flight. Note the defensive position to the right of the cockpit. Following the armistice at the end of the Westfeldzug (campaign in the West) the Germans had an urgent requirement for air-sea rescue seaplanes along the French Atlantic and Channel coastlines. Bizerte seaplanes were sold to the Germans by the Vichy government during the summer of 1940. The first loss of a Bizerte was SG+FM (N° 11), launched on 16 November 1940 to look for the crew of a KG 100 He 111 and intercepted and shot down by a N° 236 (Coastal Command) Squadron Blenheim. As of April 1944 the Luftwaffe Seenot Staffeln had just five Bizertes on strength, two with 3. Seenot at Berre (N° 20 and ??) and three with 1. Seenotstaffel (N° 3, 4 and 36) at Biscarosse. With the Allied landings in Provence during August 1944, both Staffeln were ordered back to Germany. At least one of these machines (N° 4) remained in France to be incorporated back into the French naval air arm with 30S post-war. Bizerte flying boats were based in Hourtin (Atlantic coast, north of Bordeaux) and Brest among others. It was in Hourtin that Leutnante Klingspor and Unterhorst first arrived on 30 July 1940 with two crews to take possession of Bizertes N° 11 and 34 abandoned on 18 June. Both machines were repainted in German colours and flew into Lanvéoc-Poulmic (Brest, southern Brittany) on 7 August 1940..

more Bizerte pictures below including  rare cockpit shot, and some shots of Bv 138s

The original Ebay link to the sale is here

French flying boats of WWII - the Sud-Est SE.200 Ebay photo find #23

The Sud-Est SE.200 Amphitrite  (named after a Greek sea goddess)was a flying boat airliner built in France in the late 1930s, originally developed as the Lioré et Olivier LeO H-49 by the brilliant young Russian designer Paul (Pavel)Asantchéeff prior to the nationalisation of the French aircraft industry. Asantchéeff had been captured by the Germans at the end of WWI on the Baltic Front and arrived in France in 1920 after two years as a POW. After employment with Renault he was taken on at Villacoublay in the Breguet design office and went on to complete his studies in aeronautical engineering. As a Lioré et Olivier design engineer he specialised in large flying boats and led the SNCASE design bureau following the nationalisations of 1937. The SE 200 was a large, six-engine design powered by Gnome Rhone 14R radials with a high-set cantilever monoplane wing of 52 metres span and twin tails. It was developed in response to a French air ministry specification of 1936 for a transatlantic airliner for Air France with a range of 6,000 km (3,700 mi) and capacity for 20 passengers and 500 kg (227 lb) of cargo. Planned to enter service with Air France in 1942, the SE 200's six engines could in theory develop 9,000 hp at takeoff  and propel the 72 ton fully loaded machine at some 390 km/h making it one of the fastest flying boats ever constructed - however fuel payload at 42,000 litres was not sufficient to transport a planned 60 passengers from Biscarosse to New York (see Gerard Hartmann in "L'hydravion le plus rapide du monde...." )

http://www.ebay.de/itm/Foto-Wehrmacht-Beute-franzosisches-Flugzeug-Flugboot-F-BAHE-Frankreich-/161180989737

Only three of the five SE.200s ordered were actually built (at Marignane, Marseilles). Work on them continued after the fall of France, along with a fourth and fifth machine now started. The first aircraft, christened  Rochambeau flew on 11 December 1942.Following testing, it was seized by the Germans and taken to the Bodensee (Lake Constance), where it was destroyed in an air-raid by RAF Mosquitos on 17 April 1944. A USAAF raid on Marignane on 16 September destroyed the second SE.200. Aircraft no. 3, coded F-BAIY made its maiden flight on 2 May 1946..on 30 July 1946 it flew a test flight at its maximum TOW of 70 tonnes...

SE 200 no. 3 at Berre in 1947. After three years of testing it made its last flight in October 1949, remaining on the water at Marignane until 1963, date of its scrapping

more Italian types on Ebay, Hungarian Caproni Ca.135, SM. 66 - daily photo find #21

Caproni Ca.135 - medium bomber, one of the winner's of the 'R' Plan conceived by General Valle - Chief of Staff of the Regia Aeronautica- to modernise the Italian air force in the early-mid 1930s. If the Br. 20 was  the 'Italian Mitchell' then the Caproni Ca. 135 with its low fuselage more resembled the B-26 Marauder. However , given the Regia Aeronautica preference for three-engined bombers (eg, the Cant 1007 and SM. 79) the Ca 135 never actually served with units of the Italian air force and became a machine destined for export service only. Of a total of 150 built, about 100 were supplied to the Hungarians (image below) and attached to the German Luftflotte IV seeing service on the Eastern Front.

http://www.ebay.de/itm/Italienisches-Flugzeug-Savoia-Marchetti-SM-79-Decimomannu-Sardinien-1941-/231108151634

Above; Savoia Marchetti SM 66, three-engined twin-float seaplane with capacity for eighteen passengers, a larger development of the SM. 55, one of the most highly publicised aircraft of the late 1920s, renowned for its transatlantic crossings at a time when such an event was a hazardous undertaking. Operated a commercial service with Ala Littoria on the Rome-Cagliari-Tripoli route during 1932, cruising speed 152 mph and a range of 750 miles. Fiat A. 22R twelve cylinder vee engines driving four-bladed pusher props.

http://www.ebay.de/itm/Italien-Italiener-Wasserflugzeug-Aereoplano-Idrovolante-HAMMER-Foto-/321262742596

Vought OS2U Kingfisher - "Avions" magazine issues 195 & 196

The Vought OS2U Kingfisher was a US catapult-launched observation and rescue floatplane, a compact mid-wing design with a central float and small stabilising floats. Performance was modest, because of its light engine. The OS2U could also operate on fixed, wheeled, tail dragger landing gear. The OS2U was the main shipboard observation type used by the US Navy during WWII and 1,519 of the aircraft were built. It served on battleships and cruisers of the US Navy, with the US Marine Corps in Marine Scouting Squadron THREE (VMS-3), with the US Coast Guard at coastal air stations, at sea with the Fleet Air Arm of the Royal Navy and with the Soviet Navy. US Navy Kingfishers based in Alaska were regularly deployed on dive-bombing or low altitude bombing sorties carrying 159 kg bombs due to lack of more suitable types in this theatre during the Japanese landings of June 1942. On 15 July 1942 two Kingfishers of VS-9 participated in the sinking of U-576 off Diamond Shoals, North Carolina.

Issues 195 & 196 of leading French aviation magazine "Avions" feature an extended two-part series on the Vought OS2U Kingfisher by Rene Francillon, chock full of fabulous colour photos and artwork by Thierry Dekker. A selection of the photographs in the articles courtesy of editor/publisher Michel Ledet. Click to view large..

Below;   about to embark for a training sortie from the Pensacola NAS training school during 1942. Note the adhoc boarding 'plank'. The pilot, left, is in full flying kit, while the ground crews are more appropriately attired for the hot Florida sunshine. Note the two Consolidated P2Y-2 of VN-4-D8 in the background - USN photo via RF

Corpus Christi (Texas) NAS Kingfisher in the standard camo scheme circa 1942 (Blue Grey and Light Grey) with areas of orange yellow on the wings denoting training aircraft. Note the wingtips in blue-yellow-red. Just visible is the red safety stripe on the central float to highlight the passage of the prop blade...

Above; OS2U-2 "32" preparing for a training sortie from the Pensacola NAS training school during 1942. The instructor crouched on the wing gives his final instructions to the student pilot.

Daily Ebay photo find

The majority of these images are currently on offer and reproduced here courtesy of Ebay seller Kurmark-Antik (Oliver Rogge). 

Access all Oliver's Ebay sales via the following link

http://www.ebay.de/sch/kurmark-antik/m.html?hash=item5aef4ed178&item=390561976696&pt=Militaria&rt=nc&_trksid=p4340.l2562

Above; Arado 95 torpedo floatplane and below Henschel Hs 123, pilot is Fritz Karch later Kommandeur II./ JG 2

Heinkel He 60 being launched from Schlachtschiff Tirpitz

PZL 11 and Ms 406

SM 82 Condor Legion

French flying boats of WWII - Biscarosse, home to Pierre Georges Latécoère and his seaplanes (Lieutenant de Vaisseau Paris Latécoère 521 )

Short video in French outlining the story of Biscarosse, on France's south Atlantic coast, home to Pierre Georges Latécoère and his transatlantic seaplanes.  Latécoère is sometimes described as a visionary, the first French aeronautical engineer to design a series of aircraft conceived expressly for transatlantic mail flights via Spain and Africa to the South Americas as the aeronatiucal powers sought to conquer the Atlantic during the 1930s. His Latécoère 521 was a 37-ton monster that soon went on to break long-distance flight records.
Article extract from the remarkable " Flight " archive ...

http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1935/1935%20-%200181.html?search=latecoere%20lieutenant%20vaisseau%20de%20paris

The various sub-assemblies of the Latécoère 521 were constructed at Montaudran, Toulouse, and then taken by road to Biscarosse on France's Atlantic coast where they were assembled. Biscarosse was soon designated France's 'hydro-base transatlantique' and became a hub for transatlantic flights with Pan Am Boeings and BOAC Short seaplanes regularly touching down on the lake..

During the war the Germans also deployed their seaplanes from Biscarosse and post-war the new Air France launched the six-engined Laté 631 from Biscarosse - the 631 is still the largest sea-plane ever operated..the video was produced by the office du tourisme de Biscarosse

 Also on this blog the Latécoère 631 six-engined flying boat http://falkeeinsgreatplanes.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/the-latecore-631-six-engined-flying-boat.html