The Focke-Wulf 190 development project began in 1937. Conceived as a hedge against total dependence on the Messerchmitt 109, the 190 was designed by Kurt Tank utilizing a radial engine. This was against generally accepted design criteria in Germany, and many historians believe that the decision to produce a radial engine fighter was largely due to the limited manufacturing capacity for in-line, water-cooled engines which were widely used on all other Luftwaffe aircraft. Despite these concerns, Tanks design was brilliant, and the 190 would become one of the top fighter aircraft of WW II. The first prototype flew in mid-1939. The aircraft had excellent flying characteristics, a wonderful rate of acceleration, and was heavily armed. By late 1940 the new fighter was ordered into production. Nicknamed the butcher bird, by Luftwaffe pilots, early 190s were quite successful in the bomber interceptor role, but at this stage of the War many Allied bombing raids lacked fighter escort. As the W.........
The Chance-Vought F4U Corsair was arguably the finest naval aviation fighter of its era. Work on this design dates to 1938 and was headed-up by Voughts Chief Engineer, Rex Biesel. The initial prototype was powered by an 1800-HP Pratt & Whitney double Wasp radial engine. This was the third Vought aircraft to carry the Corsair name. The graceful and highly recognizable gull-wing design of the F4U permitted the aircraft to utilize a 13-foot, three-blade, Hamilton Standard propeller, while not having to lengthen the landing gear. Because of the rigors of carrier landings, this was a very important design consideration. Folding wings were also required for carrier operations. The F4U was thirty feet long, had a wingspan of 41 feet and an empty weight of approximately 7,500 pounds. Another interesting feature was the way the F4Us gear rotated 90 degrees, so it would lay flush within the wing when in the up position. In 1939 the Navy approved the design, and production commenced. The Corsair.........
The Axis attack on the British controlled island of Malta commenced in 1940 only one day after Mussolini committed Italy's forces on the side of the Germans during WW II. This strategically located island was a thorn in the side of Axis plans to dominate the Mediterranean and win control of North Africa. Malta would be attacked thousands of times by waves of both Italian and German bombers during the course of the War. On a per acre basis it may be one of the most bombed targets of WW II. In the early phases of the defense of the island a handful of Gloster Gladiators which were supplemented eventually by RAF Hurricanes carried on the brunt of the islands defense. Spitfires were sorely needed. The first Fifteen Spitfires arrived in Malta on March 7, 1942, and a second group of Spits arrived on March 29. In both cases they were launched from the HMS Eagle, and had to fly more than 600 miles over the Mediterranean to reach the island. In April of 1942, Churchill asked Roosevelt for.........
James Elms Swett was born in Seattle, Washington on June 15, 1920. He attended San Mateo Junior College in California, and entered the Navys flight training program during his second year of college. In April of 1942 Jim received his wings and was commission as a second lieutenant in the USMC at Corpus Christi, Texas. Swett arrived at Guadacanal for his first combat duty tour in March of 1943. Assigned to VMF-221 Swett flew the older F4F Wildcat, whereas the more experienced pilots in his squadron flew the newer and more advanced F41J Corsair. On April 7, 1943 Swett would get his first taste of aerial combat, and it would be a day for the record books. More than 150 Japanese bombers attacked Guadacanal on April 7 h . Hurling his four plane division into a formation of fifteen enemy aircraft, Swett personally splashed three Japanese Val bombers before his aircraft was hit with antiaircraft fire, and he became separated from his division. While proceeding alone to Florida Island, Swett .........
Pappy Boyingtons VMF-214 Black Sheep squadron continues to fascinate aviation and military enthusiasts to this day. VMF-214 flew three combat tours starting from September 1943 and chalked up a total of 153 aerial victories with more than another 100 Japanese aircraft destroyed on the ground. Rabaul Harbor, more than 200 miles distant from their airfields, was a stronghold for the Japanese and a frequent target for the Black Sheep of VM17-214. Most missions to Rabaul involved the escort of SBD Dauntless dive-bombers, TBF Avenger torpedo bombers, or B-24s. The Black Sheep usually provided high cover at 20,000 to 24,000 feet, and on some occasions Japanese fighters would be waiting in the clouds above them. The Zekes would use their altitude advantage and dive at great speeds to penetrate the top cover and get at the attacking American bombers. The Black Sheep utilized the Thatch Weave to protect their own flights from tail-end attacks by the Zekes. Rabaul Harbor was not an easy target .........
In 1936 the Lockheed Aircraft Company won a contract to produce a high altitude interceptor for the USAAC. This contract was won despite the fact that the company had been nearly bankrupt in 1932, and had never produced a fighter aircraft. Mr. Kelly Johnson, Lockheeds chief designer on the project, settled on a design incorporating a twin engine scheme utilizing twin booms to house the aircrafts supercharged engines, and a central nacelle which housed the pilot and all the armament. Despite an unfortunate crash of the prototype, the USAAC was impressed with the aircraft, and a production order was placed for the first P-38 Lightnings. The P-38 was to prove to be one of Americas top fighters of WW II. The Lightning was fast, very heavily armed, had excellent range, and a great rate of climb. The aircraft was capable of flying with only one engine, and this proved advantageous in improving long range reliability. The two most effective models were the J and the L, of which more than 6,.........
Alexander Kartveli was a engineer with Seversky Aircraft who designed the P-35, which first flew in 1937. With Republic Aviation Kartveli supervised the development of the P-43 Lancer. Neither of these aircraft were produced in large numbers, and neither was quite successful. However, the Republic Aviation P-47 Thunderbolt, also nicknamed the Jug, was quite a different story. The Jug was the jewel in Kartvelis design crown, and went on to become one of the most produced fighter aircraft of all time with 15,683 being manufactured. The P-47 was the largest and heaviest single seat fighter of WW II. The P-47 immediately demonstrated its excellent combat qualities, including speed, rate of climb, maneuverability, heavy fire power, and the ability to take a lot of punishment. With a wingspan of more than 40 feet and a weight of 19,400 pounds, this large aircraft was designed around the powerful 2000 HP Pratt and Whitney R-2800 Double Wasp radial engine. The first P-47 prototype flew in May.........
In 1938 Vought won a contract for what was to become one of the last of the great propeller driven fighter aircraft, the F4U Corsair. Designed to incorporate the most powerful air-cooled radial engine available at the time, the Pratt and Whitney Double Wasp, the Corsair was powerful, heavily armed, ruggedly built, and designed from the onset as a carrier based fighter. The Corsair was fast, and became the first military aircraft to obtain 400 MPH in level flight. The Corsair incorporated the largest three-bladed propeller ever utilized on a single engine aircraft, a unique distinctive gull wing design, and its 2804 cubic inch engine developed a whopping 1800 HP, more than twice the horsepower of the Japanese fighters which dominated the early years of the War in the Pacific. Despite its design emphasis the USN was reluctant to utilize the Corsair for carrier-based operations because of the aircrafts poor pilot visibility during landings. As a result, the Corsair initially entered serv.........
Stan Stokes painting depicts a P-38 mission flown by 10 Fighter Group pilots Milton B. Adams, Joe Gunder, and Bill Harris in early February 1945. The 18th Fighter Group, part of the Thirteenth Air Force, moved its base of operations to Lingayen Gulf from Mindoro in early 1945. The group participated in numerous daylight strafing missions of Japanese targets on Northern Luzon. The missions were largely very successful and the Japanese had a high chance of getting hit hard by the 18 h whenever they attempted to move men or supplies. In response to the punishment being inflicted by these missions, the Japanese switched to nighttime truck convoys. Typically accompanied by numerous trucks with either 50 caliber or 20min quad machineguns, the nighttime convoys became the principal means for moving both arms and supplies south. Although the P-38 Lightnings flown by the group were not equipped for night fighting, and the pilots lacked any training for such missions, the pilots felt that under.........
Claire Chennaults American Volunteer Group (Flying Tigers) continue to capture the imagination and interest of aviation history buffs more than fifty years after they flew combat missions for the Chinese Air Force. Composed of about ninety pilots and another 200 ground support personnel, the Tigers arrived in China in mid-1941. Flying Curtiss P-40s which had been rerouted from Britain to China, the Tigers flew from December of 1941 until mid-1942. Engaging a numerically superior Japanese force over a very wide front, the AVG was officially credited with downing 299 Japanese aircraft in aerial combat, and an additional 240 aircraft destroyed during ground attack missions. The Flying Tigers slowed the Japanese conquest in China, and caused Japan to focus more resources on this theater of operations than they had planned. Charles R. Bond was Vice Squadron Leader for the AVGs 1 Pursuit Squadron, the Adam and Eves. Bond was born in Dallas, Texas in 1915. He joined the Texas National Guard.........
The B-32 Dominator was produced by Consolidated Aircraft in parallel with Boeings development of the B-29 Superfortress. While both of these long-range heavy strategic bomber development programs encountered some difficulties, the B-29 was completed sooner, and was ordered in far larger quantities than the B-32. About one hundred Dominators were ultimately built and the aircraft saw some service very late in WW II. Powered by the same engines as the B-29, the B-32 had a distinctive very tall stabilizer. Four B-32s from the 386th BS of the 312th BG based at Yontan, Okinawa were given a three-day photoreconnaissance mission near the end of the War. On the third day of the mission, August 18, 1945, two aircraft were forced to turn back and only two aircraft, the Hobo Queen and the Hobo Queen II made it to Japan. The mission involved photographing an area north and east of Tokyo. The aircraft were unescorted, as the War was for all practical purposes over. As the two aircraft prepared to.........
On July 24, 1945, Air Group 87 on board the USS Ticonderoga was informed that the Hyuga, anchored off a small island near Kure, Japan, would be its target. The ship, a WW I vintage battleship which had been modernized in 1936, and later converted to part battleship and part sea plane tender, would be a formidable objective with its impressive firepower and the fact that its location would place the attackers in the line of fire of numerous shore batteries. The ship was 704 feet in length, displaced 39,000 tons, and carried a compliment of Aichi E16A1 Zuiun reconaissance aircraft which were code named Paul by the Allies. Lt Cdr. Kanaga would lead the squadrons Curtiss SB2C Helldivers on the attack. Each of the twelve Helldivers would carry a 1,000 pound bomb in the internal bomb bay, a 260 pound fragmentation bomb under one wing and a droppable wing tank under the other wing. The drop tank weighed substantially more than the 260 pounder so it was anticipated that the Helldivers might b.........
At the time of the attack of Pearl Harbor the Japanese had superior aircraft and plenty of experienced pilots fresh from combat in China. By 1944 the roles were reversed. Anxious to commence B-29 bombing missions against the Japanese homeland Rear Admiral Marc Mitschers Task Force 58 was given the assignment of supporting the recapture of the Marianas. This proved to be the last major carrier battle of World War II. On June 11, 1944 large formations of Hellcats were dispatched to lure Japanese land-based fighters into combat. Enough Japanese fighters were destroyed to allow the Fifth Fleet to land 140,000 troops on Saipan and Guam on June 15th. Also on June 15th the Japanese main fleet joined up with its mobile fleet about 300-400 miles from Task Force 58. Vice Admiral Ozawa detached a force to use as bait to lure the Americans within range of the main fleet. His bait not taken, on June 19th Ozawa launched three air strikes with about 250 aircraft. The relatively inexperienced Japanes.........
When War broke out in Europe in 1939 the British Government decided to establish a second source for the Curtis P-40 fighter. The Brits approached North American Aviation of Inglewood, California. North Americans manufacturing division was headed by James Dutch Kindelberger, and the division already was involved with Britain in supplying its AT-6 trainers to the RAF. Kindelberger rejected the British proposal and instead offered a new aircraft to be built using the same engine as the P-40, but with an improved more aerodynamic design. In May of 1940 a contract was signed for 320 of the new aircraft, designated NA-73, and North American put Raymond Rice in charge of the design team. The chief designer was Edgar Schmued who had immigrated to America from Germany in 1930. Incorporating a laminar flow wing, and a streamlined design, the NA-73X took to the air in October of 1940 under the control of Vance Breese, the projects test pilot. As production commenced a pair of aircraft were prov.........
The Lady Lex, (CV-2) as she was popularly called, was one of only a handful of carriers available when the U.S. was plunged into WW II. Although the Lex would be lost during the War, she played an important combat role early in the War. In Stans painting, of the 2nd USS Lexington (CV-16) F6F Hellcats pass over the Lady.
Item Code : STK0071
USS Lexington by Stan Stokes. - Editions Available
On April 18, 1943, in one of the more interesting, daring, and ultimately controversial missions of WW II, a flight of P-38s under the command of Major John Mitchell, intercepted and destroyed the aircraft carrying Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, Commander in Chief of the Japanese Combined Fleet, and the mastermind of the attack on Pearl Harbor. American code breakers had intercepted and translated a message indicating that Adm. Yamamoto would fly from Rabaul to an airfield on the southern tip of Bouganville on the morning of April 18, 1943. Because of the great distances to be covered during this intercept mission the P-38s would have very limited time over the rendezvous area. Fortunately for the Army Air Force pilots, Yamamoto was noted for his punctuality, and if he departed Rabaul on time the mission might just work. Major Mitchell led his flight of 16 P-38s to the rendezvous, with twelve of his fighters acting as high cover to fend off escorting fighters, while four pilots were design.........
Colin P. Kelly, Americas first hero of WW II, was born in Florida in 1915. He was accepted to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, and following graduation Kelly married the former Marian Wick. Kelly received his primary flight instruction at Randolph Field in San Antonio, and after earning his wings he moved across town to Kelly Field for advanced pilot training. Unlike many would-be fighter pilots, Kelly was not disappointed with being assigned as a bomber pilot. Kelly received a letter of commendation from The Secretary of War when he crash landed a Northrop A-17A he was ferrying to Mitchel field in a vacant street in Brooklyn. In September of 1940 Kelly was promoted to Captain, and was assigned to the 42nd Bomb Squadron as commander of a B-17. Kelly trained in Hawaii, and was later made Operations Officer for the 14th Bomb Squadron. In September of 1941 Kelly and his crew flew from Hawaii to Clark Field in the Philippines. The B-17s were an important addition to the woefully i.........
The Grumman F4F Wildcat was the third monoplane to see carrier service with the Navy. It was also the fighter aircraft which would carry the brunt of the fighting in the Pacific until 1943 when the F6F Hellcat would enter service. The Wildcat was flow by both USN and USMC aviators. The Wildcat lacked the range and maneuverability of the Mitsubishi Zeros it often faced, but the Wildcat was more heavily armed and able to take a lot more punishment than the Mitsubishis. Most of the pilots which obtained ace status while flying the F4F obtained most of their victories against Japanese bombers and reconnaissance aircraft. Eight individuals were awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor while displaying valor while in command of an F4F. The pilots of no other aircraft during WW II were as highly decorated. One of the most outstanding of this elite group was USMC Captain Joseph Jacob Foss. Foss, a South Dakota native, had been accepted as a naval aviation cadet following his graduation from t.........
