Worth A Look, Some Bomber's

[Robbie Stuart]

USFG PHOTO
DESCRIPTION; A U.S. Army Air Force North American B-25B Mitchell bomber taking off from the U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Hornet (CV-8) during the Doolittle Raid on 18 April 1942.

USFG PHOTO
DESCRIPTION; Seven U.S. Army Air Force North American B-25C Mitchell bombers of the 82nd Bomb Squadron, 12th Bomb Group, and seven Martin Baltimore bombers of No. 21 Squadron, South African Air Force, during a sortie against German forces in North Africa in 1943. The B-25C in the foreground, s/n 41-12863, was written off on 19 April 1943. A single escorting Curtiss P-40 Warhawk fighter is visible in the left background. Original caption: "Operations in North Africa by Allied air forces. Mitchell B026 bombers of the United States Army Air Forces and Baltimore bombers of the South African air forces flying together in formation on their way to attack Rommel's position in North Africa."

USFG PHOTO
DESCRIPTION; The Enola Gay Crew.

USFG PHOTO
DESCRIPTION; The D-558-2 #2 is launched from the P2B-1 in this 1956 NACA High-Speed Flight Station photograph.

The D-558 Phase Two aircraft was quite different from its Phase One predecessor, the Skystreak. German wartime aeronautical research records, reviewed in 1945 by Douglas Aircraft Company personnel, pointed to many advantages gained from incorporating sweptback wing design into future research aircraft. These findings along with wind tunnel studies performed by the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) at Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory, resulted in the modification of the straight wing D-558-1 Skystreak contract to include investigation of sweptback wings.

Three redesigned aircraft were built by Douglas Aircraft Company under a contract from the Navy Bureau of Aeronautics and named D-558-2 Skyrocket. Originally all three were designed for ground take-off and used mixed power propulsion systems, consisting of a turbojet engine for take-off and a rocket engine, for greater speed in flight.

The early flight tests were made using only the turbojet engine with the rocket engines added, when available. As the flight program evolved, only one D-558-2 ended-up powered by a mixed rocket and turbo-jet propulsion system.

From the experience gained during the X-1 rocket program and from Skyrocket mixed propulsion flights, the Navy and the NACA proceeded to have all three of the D-558-2 aircraft modified for air launching from a Navy-operated P2B-1 Superfortress (Navy version of the Air Force B-29), later becoming NACA 137.
Although not designated an "X vehicle," the D-558-2 was essentially an X-vehicle aircraft in design and function, and contributed much to aeronautics research.

USFG PHOTO
DESCRIPTION; * Martin B-57E Canberra in flight. Aircraft towing target is B-57E (SN 55-4269)

USFG PHOTO
DESCRIPTION; North American XB-70A with Convair B-58A chase aircraft before landing. The white colour is pardly burned down through the high temperatures during a high-speed test.

USFG PHOTO
DESCRIPTION; A Color Photo of a Convair B-36B in Air.

USFG PHOTO
DESCRIPTION; A Royal Air Force Avro Vulcan Display Team Vulcan B. Mk 2 aircraft performs during Air Fete '85.
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[PropsRule]

Great photos, thanks for sharing them. The one of the B-25s and Baltimores flying together is interesting...usually all the photos I see of combat formations are of the same type. Does anyone know the colour scheme used on the B-57s? It looks like they have a colour painted on top with natural metal on the bottom.

Also, I've never seen an XB-70 with burned up paint. That thing was FAST!

[cadet77]

Good photos. Thanks for posting them.
The B-57 colors are orange on top and silver aluminum on the bottom.

Here is a photo my dad took at Casper, WY of a B-57 that has similar paint scheme used on a target tow jet.


cadet77
Larry

[PropsRule]

Thanks for the answer to the B-57 paint question. Being target tugs, I thought they might have some cool "Don't shoot me" paint scheme. Maybe if I ever build another model that might be an idea for a subject.

[Ken]

--Any chance the desert B-25C tail number is actually "869"?

--Looks like they may have copied Doolittle's tail gun decoys.

[Robbie Stuart]

--Any chance the desert B-25C tail number is actually "869"?

--Looks like they may have copied Doolittle's tail gun decoys.

Ken the aircraft tail number is 112869.
Robbie