The old kodak kodachrome warplane gatherings ...

[Mark Allen M]

Glad some folks Never threw out their negatives.

These photos come from the Smithsonian Rudy Arnold Photo Collection. If you have an interest and plenty of time, there's something nice for everyone I'm sure.
Link below.
https://sova.si.edu/details/NASM.XXXX.0356#ref10

Physical Description:
3,058 color transparencies
Series note:
"This series contains 3,058 4 x 5 inch color transparencies (positive images). Of the 3,058 images in this section, 2,751 have water damage. This damage is visible in the transparencies as areas of color variation, but in general the damage does not obscure the image of the aircraft. The majority of the transparencies in this series depict aircraft (grouped by aircraft type) with folder titles corrected to NASM Aircraft Authority standards. The remaining subject groupings are those believed to have been used by Arnold. Arrangement presents one folder of "Groups of Aircraft" followed by individual aircraft types (alphabetical by manufacturer then model) and ends with subject groups (alphabetical by title).
Digital slideshows are available for the aircraft, aircraft spotters, and airlines subject groupings of this series; each image of a color transparency in the folder appears immediately followed by an image of its NASM-produced transparency envelope. The number prefixed "XRA" appearing in pencil in the upper right corner of each envelope is the NASM image reference number for that color transparency. The digital images in these slideshows were repurposed from scans made by an outside contractor for a commercial product and may show irregular cropping, orientation, and color balance. Irregular color variations within an image are generally the result of damage to and deterioration of the original color transparencies."

[Mark Allen M]

The link below will give you a bit of description for most of the photos posted. You can also enlarge the photos and print or save a copy.

http://edan.si.edu/slideshow/viewer/?ea ... 56_ref1214

[Mark Allen M]

Looks like either the first two are flipped or the third is. Or maybe all of them ... ugh! sorry about that.

[Michel Lemieux]

Mark...they are just superb!!!!!

Tks for finding and sharing.

Original and new material (NOS ) is always sooo cool!

[Mark Allen M]

There's a "surprise" in this series, I'll see if you can spot it ...

[Joe Scheil]

Surprises....

The Spad is very cool... were they going to fly it? Importantly is this the Old Reinbeck aircraft?

The Me-109 is alos very neat and looks like at the Buffalo factory?

My favorite "Surprise is the color shots of a personal favorite Corsair....the second XF4U-3 Bu 49664?

The ultimate "First Generation" Corsair....

[phil65]

What is the P-38 spraying ?

Phil

[Craig59]

What is the P-38 spraying ?

Phil

My guess would be DDT, a not uncommon practice in South Pacific bases. Some of my late fathers old PBJ 8mm footage shows the same.

[Baldeagle]

Surprises....

The Spad is very cool... were they going to fly it? Importantly is this the Old Reinbeck aircraft?
.

Not only is that the Old Rhinebeck SPAD, it appears to have been taken before there even was an Old Rhinebeck. I think that photo was taken at Pete O'Brian's airport at Stormville, New York. Cole started at Stormville in the late 1950s, and the SPAD was the first airplane he rebuilt to flying condition. He is pictured here filling the wing tank, and would've been in his early 30s at the time. The airplane of course is now in the USAF Museum in Dayton. Cole thought that NASM and the AFM should each get one of his airplanes when he died, I believe that each museum was given a choice of which aircraft to take.



-

[Mark Allen M]

Another mish-mash series.

[JohnB]

Baldeagle thanks for giving us The SPAD history. I was wondering about it. Not many WWI aircraft flying in the late '30s - 40s (judging by the age of the truck).

The people in the bottom photo next to the R-5, are Igor Sikorsky and Col. H.F. Gregory, the Helicopter project officer at Wright Field and one of the first USAAF helicopter pilots. His name often appears in helicopter history, he rose from captain to colonel during the war. In the pre-internet days, I tried to find out about him, and I finally learned he retired as a BG in the '70s as a staff officer at HQ SAC. A few years ago, his family was selling some of his items on ebay. I wanted some of his factory models but they were pretty beat up (the dangers of kids and grandkids, I suspect).

He also wrote one of the first helicopter books, "Anything a Horse Can Do" in 1944. (I have an autographed copy along with an autographed copy of Igor's book from the same period).

The helicopter in the next to last photo is the little known G & A (a division of Firestone tires) XR-9. Like most helicopters of the period, it was test flown by Gregory.

First flight was in Dec.1944, but wrecked by a Army pilot (not Gregory), in June '45 while aggressively flying it, which he was told NOT to do. The G & A test pilot thought the mishap was intentionally done by the army ( I assume the alleged motive would have been to favor Sikorsky purchases).

Last edited by JohnB on Wed Sep 25, 2019 5:32 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[lucky52]

What kind are those gray bi-planes?

[Mark Sampson]

Those are Curtiss SBC Helldivers, Navy dive bombers from the late 1930s. They were withdrawn from front-line use just before Pearl Harbor, replaced by the Douglas SBD Dauntless, but it's a shame that none survived.

[Chris Brame]

SBC-4s, to be exact.

Another mish-mash series.

Fleetwings XBT-12, up till recently with the Soplata collection. Somebody pass that to WIXer marine air - he's the new owner.

And we have another survivor - XB-47 46-066. A good shot for the Registry, Scott?

[Snake45]

The first Corsair photo, with its seemingly contradictory features, threw me for a minute, and then I realized it was a rare shot of the equally rare turbocharged XF4U-3. Which a few photos later was confirmed. I believe one of the photos from this set appeared on the cover of Wings or Airpower back in the '70s.

BTW, has anyone ever turned up a photo of the exhaust arrangement of this airplane? I know two or three modelers beside myself who would love to build a model of this airplane, but the exhaust has us stumped. (My friend Joe Hegedus managed to come up with a schematic diagram of the turbo arrangement, IIRC, but still no clue as to the actual exit on the aircraft itself.)