Spitfire wreck photographed on Braye dune near Dunkirk in June 1940 and a couple of interesting shots of a belly-landed Fairey Battle - note the strange location of the roundel, apparently over-painted - perhaps as Allied forces retreated - and re-painted on the rear fuselage behind the codes- by the Germans for a few photos ?.. just a theory. I would love to hear any thoughts on this one....
Some nice shots from the Polish Sukhoi Su 22 M Fitters tactical demo and the Slovak MiG 29 display at Florennes airshow June 24 2012, pics courtesy of Nico Charpentier. Click on the images for the full version..
posted by Ken 'Flankerman' Duffy on britmodeller.com
" Anatoly Kvochur in the 'Test Pilots' Su-27 at the IAT Boscombe Down 1992. He had flown non-stop from Moscow (others say he transitted via Jersey?) in formation with the support Tu-134. As the Tu-134 landed, he flew alongside at zero feet, then climbed, did an impromptu display and then landed. He apparently got a bo**ocking from the Flight Safety Committee. I got his autograph later on that weekend. He was also responsible for this flypast in China and, no, it isn't faked....... Ken "
As indicated in "Fighters over the Desert" two 2 PRU losses are recorded as taking place on September 22, 1942. Tony Wood's listing has the two Crete PRU losses as occurring on September 22, the morning one flown by P/O Ford being shot down at 0920 by Uffz Hanns Loffler and the afternoon mission flown by F/L Day shot down at 1520 by Uffz Moycis, both of 9/JG-27. In FOTD the a/c flown by L/L Day and shot down by Uffz Moycis is reported as "....crash landing on the island after his attack" Since F/L Day was shot down into the sea, perhaps this airplane is the one flown by P/O Ford. posted by Andy Fletcher on the rafcommands.com forum "...I've rechecked the 2 PRU ORB and both the F.540 and F.541 agree on the dates of the losses:
P/O FORD's take off time from Kilo 8 is given as 07:30 (refuelling at Dekheyla [Dekheila])
F/L DAY's take off time from Kilo 8 is given as 06:30 (refuelling at Dekheyla [Dekheila]). Presumably the date (23rd) in DAY's obituary for his loss near Crete comes from the family and this ties in with the ORB.
I've also checked on http://spitfires.ukf.net for the loss dates.
22 Sep 42 - BP883, agrees with ORB 23 Sep 42 - BR435, agrees with ORB 22 Sep 42 - BR411, contredicts ORB but would indicate two 2 PRU losses on this date. However looking through the ORB BR411 is recorded as flying sorties on 22nd, 23rd, 26th, 28th and finally on the 30th. So 22 Sep 42 must be an error.
According to the ORB 2 PRU flew only one sortie (P/O FORD) to Crete on 22 Sep 42 so the afternoon claim by Uffz MOYCIS wasn't against a 2 PRU aircraft..."
via Marco at koelsch 333 Ebay sales - Beute or captured Stirling crash-landed in Germany. Only one Stirling was captured intact, a 7 Sqn machine which forced-landed in Holland on the night of 15/16 August 1942. Pic sold for 159 euros...
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
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"
" 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. .."
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.
