Lufthansa pre-war types - Udet U 11 Kondor

A selection of pre-war Lufthansa press photos offered on http://www.ebay.de/. Udet U 11 Kondor, das erste viermotorige Verkehrsflugzeug der Lufthansa (um 1926) -the first four-engine Lufthansa transport (circa 1926)

Super photo of a Focke-Wulf F 19a "Ente" in front of the Focke-Wulf Flugzeugbau AG Bremen buildings.  Kennzeichen D 1960

WW II RAF Kittyhawk located in the Egyptian Sahara

 THE aviation story dominating the historic aviation forums during April 2012- the discovery of a WW II RAF Kittyhawk located in the Egyptian Sahara.

https://picasaweb.google.com/114682566226043469349/Zdj_samolot?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCKjxkt6rkNTFKg&feat=directlink#





At the time of writing neither the pilot nor the aircraft ID is established with certainty.
Terry McGrady on hyperscale;  "on 28/6/42 ET574 piloted by F/Sgt DCH Copping 785025 left 260 Squadron for a ferry flight to an RSU . The A/C flew with u/c locked down due to damage . An incorrect course was set and the a/c was thought to have crashed in the desert due to fuel exhaustion.
F/Sgt Copping is listed as missing on that date
Now I'm not saying this is the A/C , just that it MIGHT be, in view of :-
a) there being no apparent signs of Battle damage
b) the fact that the U/C was wiped off in the crash"


from the lengthy Flypast forum thread ;

" At that date 260 Squadron would have been at Landing Grounds 76 and 115. Assuming the former, that would be located about 30 miles due south of Sidi Barrani. The likely base for the RSU is the Cairo area. If so the choice would to fly along the coast to short of Alexandria then head SE to Cairo, the safer option, or fly direct across the Qattarra Depression. That latter course would take it to within about 50 miles of the reported 'Spitfire' in my earlier post. On a flight of that duration, over pretty featureless terrain, 50 miles is well within the zone of navigational error.."

Contempory report on Copping's loss "Kittyhawk Pilot" by James 'Stocky' Edwards and Michel Lavigne, first published in 1983;

28th June 1942

"...The order was given to evacuate immediately," Eddie wrote. "All serviceable aircraft were flown off by the light of a few drums set on fire. They landed under similar conditions at LG-106." The Kittyhawks landed at their new base about thirty miles east of LG-09 in the dark. It was about nine o'clock and the day had been long for most, but not long enough for F/Sgt Copping. He didn't make it over the ground convoys who fumbled their way to LG-106 in the dark, pushing their trucks through the heavy sand. Fear gripped the fighter pilots when they heard their orders on 29June. "Retreat again," was the command that came down. The-German spearhead had advanced confidently all day as the Desert Air Force moved further east. By nightfall, the Afrika Korps had reached an area twenty-five miles south of El Daba, providing the Luftwaffe with operational landing grounds close to the scene of the next battle. 260 Squadron of the RAF and the South African fighter squadrons were ordered back from LG-105 and LG-106 to LG-85 at Amriya during the day. .."

98th Troop Carrier Squadron, Ninth Air Force

 98th Troop Carrier Squadron photo album currently on Heiko Fuchs Ebay sales page.

The 98th Troop Carrier Squadron was activated in July 1943 as a Troop Carrier C-47 Skytrain Squadron. After training in the United States, at various bases, sent to Baer Field, Indiana for final equipping with aircraft, personnel and other equipment. Deployed to Ninth Air Force in England, assigned to IX Troop Carrier Command in February 1944 during the build-up prior to the invasion of France.

During the D-Day invasion, the squadron dropped paratroops of the 101st Airborne Division in Normandy, subsequently flying numerous missions to bring in reinforcements and needed supplies. During the airborne attack on The Netherlands (Operation Market Garden, September 1944), the squadron dropped paratroops, towed gliders, and flew resupply missions. Later participated in the invasion of southern France in August 1944. The squadron supported the 101st Airborne Division in the Battle of the Bulge by towing gliders full of supplies near Bastogne on 27 December 1944. In addition, its units participated in the air assault across the Rhine River in early 1945 (Operation Varsity) and later flew numerous freight missions to carry gasoline, food, medicine, and other supplies to allied ground forces during the Western Allied invasion of Germany in April 1945 near Wesel.

Beute Bloch MB 200

Some nice clear shots of a captured Bloch 200 bomber courtesy of koelsch333 ebay sales

More on this blog on the Bloch 200 & 210 here

Flying Fortress crash landing, Kyushu Q1W Tokai

B-17 Flying Fortress carries out a crash landing on 23 June 1943 - location, probably North Africa, no other details known.

Fourth pic down was actually advertised as a Ju 88 night fighter - although similar in appearance to the Ju 88 the Kyushu Q1W Tokai was a smaller aircraft than the Ju 88. Developed for the Japanese Navy as a land-based anti-submarine patrol bomber, it was assigned the Allied reporting name Lorna. I have no details on the Pacific scene in the fifth photo in this post. Antikfuchs Ebay sales...

HMS Dauntless departs Portsmouth for the Falklands

HMS Dauntless, the Royal Navy's most advanced destroyer, has set sail from Portsmouth to patrol the waters around the Falkland Islands. HMS Dauntless, a Type 45 destroyer, is the Royal Navy's latest piece of kit costing some £1billion and is designed to provide an air defence shield for an entire task force. The 152 metre-long vessel  is considered one of the most advanced air defence warships in the global theatre, boasting the Sea Viper missile system, described by the Ministry of Defence as “the punch of the type 45”. Sea Viper's strike capability has a range of up to 70 miles, while the highly maneuverable missiles, which travel at speeds in excess of Mach four, can knock drones, aircraft or even other missiles from the air, guided to their target by the Samson radar - the large top on the ship’s distinctive tall mast. Defences also include a 4.5-inch gun on the forecastle (the forward part of the upper deck), which can fire 24, 80lbs high explosives with a range of around 12 miles for bombarding shore or sea targets, as well as two 30mm calibre guns amidships and a radar-controlled Gatling gun.

disbandment of Escadron de Chasse 1/12 and closure of Cambrai-Epinoy - Armée de de l'Air Mirage

French defence cuts coming into effect and starting to bite. Yesterday saw the last flying activity at Cambrai-Epinoy BA 103 with the 'official' disbandment ceremony of EC 1/12 "Cambrésis" with their Tiger banner and traditions being tranferred to the EC 1/7 "Provence" flying the Rafale at Saint-Dizier. Note the Rafale toting its MICA air-to-air missiles. EC 1/12 has been at Cambrai-Epinoy since 1952 and the height of the Cold War. The three runways at Cambrai were constructed by the German Fritz Todt Organisation in 1941 and their construction employed over 1,000 local workers. The Dornier bombers of Kampfgeschwader KG 2 operated through much of WWII against the UK from here.

Pics by work colleague and good friend Nico Charpentier, trying out a brand-new 1,300 euro lens! Click on the images for a larger view.


More from Cambrai on this blog
http://falkeeinsgreatplanes.blogspot.co.uk/2011/07/nato-tigers-50th-anniversary-meet-ba.html

Report on the dissolution of the EC 1/12 in the regional press, la Voix du Nord
http://www.lavoixdunord.fr/Locales/Cambrai/actualite/Cambrai/2012/03/30/article_ba-103-dernier-acte-scene-1-alinea-1-12.shtml

50 aérodromes pour une victoire – Fifty airfields for victory, June-September 1944

Lt. William B. King from the 355th Fighter Squadron, 354th Fighter Group, 9th Air Force leans on the wing of his Mustang named "Georgia Peach".



9th Air Force Thunderbolts from the 50th Fighter Group at a base somewhere in France. The two nearest machines are from the 81st Fighter Squadron. Note the damaged RAF Spitfires in the background and the one damaged P-47.

New book from Heimdal  50 aérodromes pour une victoire – Fifty airfields for victory, June-September 1944

Due out in May 2012 is this latest 336-page volume from French publisher Heimdal devoted to the fifty principal Allied air forces airfields in Normandy established in the immediate aftermath of D-Day, 6 June 1944. With plans, period images and over one hundred profile artworks of the aircraft based on these airfields along with the history of the units’ participation in the Normandy campaign.

D-Day, 04:00 hours - the 834th Engineer aviation battalion is ordered to prepare two ELS ( Emergency landing strips) of 600 metres length suitable for aircraft in difficulty to put down on - location, directly behind Utah beach at Pouppeville and Omaha beach at St Laurent sur Mer. The engineers work around the clock under enemy fire. The ground is prepared but the shelling and bad weather hinders operations - the men also have to dig trenches  and fox holes to give themselves some shelter. But these temporary tracks are ready on D+1 - but are not designed to be used for mounting operations since air superiority over the front is not yet assured. This would not be the case until 19 June in accordance with the a plan drawn up by IX Engineer Command. The 368th FG P-47s would be based at 'A3 Cardonville'..

A flak damaged Thunderbolt from the 367th FS, 358th FG, 9th AF after crash-landing at an airfield in France. The pilot (Lt. Jacob C. Blazicek) was wounded by the flak and knocked unconscious when the plane nosed over. Republic P-47D-20-RE Thunderbolt s/n 42-76436




P-47 Thunderbolt pilots from the 397th Fighter Squadron, 368th Fighter Group, 9th Air Force at a rough strip near St. Mere Eglise on June 15,1944. By the end of August, all 18 of the 9th Air Force's fighter-bomber and 4 of its medium bomber groups were based on the continent. (U.S. Air Force photos)

Spitfire Mk. XI of the 7th PG (photo-recce group)- Spitfire 944

June 12, 1944. PR photo taken from an altitude of around 9,000 metres of Juno beach sectors Mike Red and Mike Green. At right is the village of Graye sur Mer. Photo taken by Lt John S Blyth, 7th Photo Group, who on this day flew a sortie to photograph the Loire bridges from Nantes to Tours. He was flying a 14 Squadron (7 PG) Spitfire MK XI coded PA 841 from Mount Farm, Oxfordshire, UK. Montage by Michel Le Querrec on Flickr. Original photo posted via John S Blyth's son on Flickr and reproduced here via their embed code. John S Blyth and the 7th PG feature in a short film downloadable via iTunes entitled Spitfire 944
Colour images via http://www.ww2color.com/



Lt. John S. Blyth of the 14th Squadron 7th PRG at Mount Farm, Oxfordshire, UK 1944.
 Photo embedded via Flickr and posted there by Scott Blyth  - " The photo is of my father Lt. John S Blyth and he flew with the 14th squadron of the 7th PRG based at Mount Farm, UK. According to him the flight suit was an experimental American design. He still has it...I'm not certain if this was his first mission in a Spitfire Mk XI but that wouldn't surprise me. He flew a number of sorties in F-5s (P-38s) before that when he was with the 22nd Squadron 7th PRG.."

The 7th Photographic Group was established at Mount Farm, near Dorchester, Oxfordshire on 7 July 1943, the group being transferred from Peterson AAF Colorado and absorbing the assets of the 13th photo squadron.

The group consisted of the :
13th Photographic Squadron (red rudder)
14th Photographic Squadron (green rudder)
22nd Photographic Squadron (white rudder)
27th Photographic Squadron (blue rudder)

The Spitfire XIs were concentrated in the 14th PS. The Mark XI featured a deep 'chin' housing an enlarged oil tank and a frameless windscreen and those examples delivered to the 7th PG were initially all in RAF PRU blue with black spinner. The 'paint job' was removed in early 1945 for a natural metal finish while the aircraft serial no. was painted on the tail fin in large figures/letters. The Mk XI had a very considerable range of over 1,300 miles and with a drop tank a round trip to Berlin was possible. The 7th PG also flew F-5 (P-38) and P-51s and fulfilled a variety of mission types; photographing bombardment targets and damage inflicted by bombing operations, providing a mapping service for air and ground units and observing and reporting on enemy transportation, installations and positions as well as obtaining data on weather conditions.
Prior to June 1944, the group photographed airfields, cities, industrial establishments, and ports in France, the Low Countries, and Germany. Following the Berlin raid in March 1944, Major Walter L Weitner flew the first Eighth Spitfire photo sortie to Berlin on 6 March and by 11 April the Group had chalked up its 1,000th sortie. The 7th received a Distinguished Unit Citation for operations during the period, 31 May - 30 June 1944, when its coverage of bridges, marshalling yards, canals, highways, rivers, and other targets contributed much to the success of the Normandy campaign. The group covered missile sites in France during July, and in August carried out photographic mapping missions for ground forces advancing across France.

A  newly delivered Spit XI seen at Mount Farm during 1944

I am indebted to Malcom Laird's "American Spitfire camouflage and markings" Vol II (Ventura Pubs) for assistance with this post !

And another one from Scott Blyth to conclude, Spitfire MK XI MB 948 'Oh Johnnie'


"..This was supposedly assigned to my father Lt John S Blyth, 14th Squadron, 7th Photo Group, Mount Farm, UK. The reality was that just about every pilot in the squadron flew it at one time or another. The invasion stripes suggest that this photo was from June, 1944. Please note the iron cross mission marks..."

Flying Legends 2012 - trailer and some pics from previous shows!

Here's a look at the latest trailer for the 2012 Flying Legends Air Show at Duxford. The show will be held on Saturday 30th June and Sunday 1st July, for more information and to buy tickets go to www.fighter-collection.com after you have scrolled down these pics. Plenty more Legends pics to come on this blog as we move closer to this year's event, with coverage of the event itself. Prior to that we'll be at the Jubilee airshow in late May also in Duxford and the Folkestone Jubilee airshow on Sunday 02 June. And if you are reading this via flugzeugforum.de, ich wünsche euch viel Spaß auf meinen Blog (Webseite) and feel free to post these there ! To start some pics from Legends 2006 - please click on the photos to see a much larger image !