Warbird Information Exchange

http://s76.photobucket.com/albums/j40/robbieroberts/

Guys- If the link works right, I just posted a whole lot of photos from Atsugi Airbase, Japan and North Field, either Tinian, Saipan or Guam, and also from an airshow at Warminster NAS, Pa. from the late 1940s.

The guest password is WWIIPics, as it is a private album. All pics are copyright Water I. Roberts & Scott A. Roberts...

Enjoy- There are all sorts of early jet, and late prop aircraft, including the "Pacusan Dreamboat" B-29, some great damage shots of Atsugi in 1947, etc.
Check it out- Seemed to work when I tested it: I recommend using the "links" layout- you can get a good medium size view. I did not have a chance to label them a yet...

Robbie

Way Cool! This F4U-4 is from VMF-225, my dad's squadron.

Groovy stuff, thanks much!

Looks like there's a few shots among the Warminster photos showing what looks to be the original Blue Angels 'Beetle Bomb'... images 44, 45, & 46... too-cool!


Fade to Black...

These are all photos my Dad took when he was on Saipan, in Japan, and back here, at Warminster NAS. I found them in one of several photo books, and I am planning to scan the rest in, but there are several hundred photos, and I want to scan them all in. I did all the aircraft photos first: I was actually able to scan them in with high enough resolution I could read the signs on the buildings at Atsugi, Japan- that's how I found out where that was!

I was also able to bring up all the names on the "Pacusan Dreamboat" a B-29 that set a word record for speed and distance from India to the USA, if I recall correctly. If you google it, it comes right up with the details!

Dad was stationed on Saipan from 1946-47, and spent two weeks in Japan as a participant in the Army Olympics. The photos from Atsugi and North Field and Guam are all from that trip I believe. I found it interesting that a year and a half after he war, the collapsed hangars were still untouched. But then again, most of the pictures of Tokyo are the the same way.

As to the Warminster NAS photos, he may have been freelancing for one of the local newspapers at the time. I was intrigued by the mixture of the propeller aircraft and jet aircraft- it is a window to the end of one era, and the beginning of another! So many interesting aircraft- I looked them all up(the ones I didn't know) There is a twin engine Navy fighter, an F7F, a Douglass A-26, and a very late P61! Also a PB4Y2, as well as a B-24 (PB4Y) with some type of pod-ordinance, which may be an early guided missile(Maybe a variant of a "Bat" missile?). AN F-82 Twin Mustang, and an F84 Thunderstreak(straight wing)... Shooting Stars, Cargo planes, T-6's, even a T-6-Zero mock-up! I would have loved to have been at that show! Look how close the audience gets to everything! Paratroop drops! Even a CG--4A Waco glider got taken aloft and flown! I really enjoy sharing these pics...

Glad you found ones you like Dave!

And I wanted to mention- The original photos are all B&W, printed size 1-3/4" by 2-1/2"!(plus border) Tiny photos giving such great details!

Robbie

Hey Robbie, thanks for the photos! Some rare stuff there - the P-61 is actually an F-15 Reporter recon version; the glider is a CG-15A; and there's a C-74 as well. I wonder how long after the war the Navy was flying the early Liberators?

My dad was in Japan just after your dad was there; I posted some of his photos in this thread a while back:

http://warbirdinformationexchange.org/p ... ight=itami

Looks like they were using the same type of camera!

_________________

All right, Mister Dorfmann, start pullin'!
Pilot: "Flap switch works hard in down position."
Mechanic: "Flap switch checked OK. Pilot needs more P.T." - Flight report, TB-17G 42-102875 (Hobbs AAF)

We thinks that F4U-4 went up on her nose a tad

_________________
Don't touch my junk!!

No way Jack! Can't you see the tail hook firmly planted in the ground?

_________________
"There are old pilots and bold pilots but few old, bold pilots."

Wow great pics of NAS Warminster! People used to dress up in suits and dresses to go to an airshow. They had benches on the flight line how neat is that! Is that what they called the base in the 1940'? I grew up about a 5 minute walk from there in the 1960's and 70's and it was called the Johnsville Naval Air Development Center. Anyway really enjoyed your pictures if you have more please post them. Did you grow up in the Warminster area?

I'm not sure what they called it back in the 40's- Dad only said it was at Warminster...

These are all the aircraft related photos I found- the rest are lots of pics pf Saipan, Japan and a cross country train trip on his return to CONUS.

To answer your question, Dad is from West Chester, PA and Narberth, and I grew up in South Jersey...

Robbie

This base closed in the late 90s. Today it is houses where the runway was. The base buildings have been converted to industrial use. The original hangars are gone as well.
Rich

Originally the location was known as Brewster field with it being renamed Naval Air Modification Unit Some time in the late 50s or early 60s , it was not renamed Warminster Naval Air Station. It was also known as the Naval Air Development Center with that being changed to Naval Air Warfare Center in the mid 70s.

My mother was an Air Traffic Controller there from 1941 to 1953.

The PB4Y(B-24) (twin tail) is marked on the side of the nose- Looks like it says "Johnsville, Pa." I have the pics set upon my computer so they open up to a full screen- and have pretty good quality for the starting size: I can almost read some of the tail numbers! Would be fun to trace and see if any are still flying!

Robbie

PS- Glad I wasn't the guy who had to set up ALL THOSE CHAIRS!

If you look at my copies- which I can zoom into pretty well, being large scale the shot of "Beetlebomb" from the starboard side clearly shows the "US NAVY" lettering on the Bearcats, on both the side, and the folded wing! So it appears I have pics of the Original Blue Angels! Cool... And the Bearcats flying in formation are them!

I went through, blew up the pics, and pulled the following tail numbers:

In the Warminster pics, markings are: One of the SNJs has two stars, vertically, on a colored field on the oil cooler scoop on the Port cowl, numbered 90726 (726, NAMC) . Another one is tail numbered 481753(TA-753). P-82-Twin Mustang is 465168(PQ-168) P-80s are 58465(RN465) & 486491(PN-491), F-84 Thunderstreaks are 559495(PS-495), 56465(PN-465) & 559485(PS-485), The A-26 appears to be 454743, C-119 is CQ-048(tail number obscured), Beech Bonanza is NC2722V, NATS C-54 is 56495, PB4Y(twin tail) is NMU 309, The R4D is CE-090(tail number illegible) Waco CG-4A is 55561, Curtiss Pusher is NX62E, L5 Grasshopper, with white on top of wing, number is unreadable, Stinson, unreadable, Taylorcraft(?) has an NC, unreadable beyond NC.

In the SWPac photos, the B-17(converted to a hack or transport) is 483661 FEAF, C-54s are 56528(NATS)& 272629(?Transport? Carrier Squadron- big wing paint job)

Also noticed the Civilian painted C-47(yes, it has the cargo door) marked for "Quaker City Airways" NC52460(may be NC53460- hard to read) with "BUNNY WARD SKY-DEVILS" spray painted behind the open cargo door. This is the one supplying the jumpers. I tried looking up "Quaker City Airways" but ony found references for the ate 50's though this is clearly late 40s.

Robbie

The P-82 is Betty Jo, now in the NMAF.
http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/factsh ... asp?id=284
Rich

P-82 is "Betty Joe" now at the USAFM.

<EDIT>Rats! Rich beat me to it!</EDIT>