Air & Space Mag No.1 - Pre-W.W.II USA

[JDK]

The Air & Space Reader Scrapbook has some great images that have been added by the public. Sadly they are only available at low res, but there's a lot of gems there. Here's a few that caught my eye. (Link to the page below the image.)

Bernard Pothier of Middleton, Massachusetts, writes: "This photo was taken on November 1941, just one month before Pearl Harbor. I was stationed at Clark Field in the Philippines just before World War 2 started. My outfit was the H.Q. squadron, 24th pursuit group. The P26 Peashooter was in action a few hours after Pearl Harbor!"

http://www.airspacemag.com/reader-scrap ... rt=337&c=y

Paul Turley writes: "I was about 12 in 1935, walking around Lambert Field in St. Louis with my Kodak Brownie, when I spotted this (I believe) Seversky P-35. I couldn't believe I was actually seeing a fighting (pursuit) plane. So much for security, 1935-style."

http://www.airspacemag.com/reader-scrap ... rt=337&c=y

Dave Fiack of Parker, Colorado, writes: "Attached are some photos I believe were taken by my father-in-law, Virgil Cordell. He was a photographer during his career in the U.S. Army Air Corps, later USAF. This one is labeled as 'P-38, P-36, P-40'."

http://www.airspacemag.com/reader-scrap ... rt=277&c=y

What a great story:

Paul Wirth of Olney, Illinois writes: "Attached is a 1925 picture of Marine Aviator Lt. Christian F. Schilt landing his plane on a visit to his hometown, Olney, Illinois. At the time he was stationed at Chanute Field in Rantoul, IL, attending a photo recon school. The aircraft is a Grumman but I don't know the model. What is most significant is the fact that three years later, Schilt would be awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. His citation reads as follows: 'During the progress of an insurrection at Quilali, Nicaragua, 6, 7, and 8 January 1928, 1st Lt. Schilt, then a member of a marine expedition which had suffered severe losses in killed and wounded, volunteered under almost impossible conditions to evacuate the wounded by air and transport a relief commanding officer to assume charge of a very serious situation. 1st Lt. Schilt bravely undertook this dangerous and important task and, by taking off a total of 10 times in the rough, rolling street of a partially burning village, under hostile infantry fire on each occasion, succeeded in accomplishing his mission, thereby actually saving 3 lives and bringing supplies and aid to others in desperate need.' Schilt went on to a 40-year distinguished career in the Marine Corp, retiring in 1959 as a four-star general."

http://www.airspacemag.com/reader-scrap ... rt=385&c=y

[Chris Brame]

That last one looks to be F3F-2 BuNo 1025 but the contributor is way off on the date - it's gotta be late 1930s, not 1925.