Warbird Information Exchange

Mark Allen,

Does your photo collection include the rare Martin A-30 Baltimore in USN markings? It was BuNo 09804 and apparently had been assigned to the BuAer Rep at Martin Aircraft Co. It survived until possibly 1949 and photos of it are rare indeed. The book "P4M Mercator" by Steve Ginter has a factory ramp photo of the P4M's and the A-30 can been seen in the distance and I believe (IIRC) with the red line added to the US insignia. The A/C was in natural aluminum. It was originally a Baltimore Mk IV RAF serial FW 289.

Who actually owned the A-30? The RAF, USAAF or USN ? What happened to it? More mystery ...

Did any Marauders wear post-47 marks?

One possibility for the Martin...the "Middle River Stump Jumper"...the B-26 modified with tandem landing gear. The test pilots for the B-47 flew it in 1947 before making the first flight of the Stratojet that December...whether or not it had the new markings I don't know.

In US Military Aircraft since 1909 Peter M. Bowers says all variants of the Cessna T-50 (UC-78, AT -17) were declared obsolete in 1949..anyone know if any remained in service that long?

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Remember the vets, the wonderful planes they flew and their sacrifices for a future many of them did not live to see.
Note political free signature.
I figure if you wanted my opinion on items unrelated to this forum, you'd ask for it.

I once did see a photo (20+ years ago) of a Martin JM Marauder that indeed have a post 1947 scheme. Like the OS2U pictured at the beginning of this link, it had a fresh O/A midnight blue paint scheme with the updated red bar in the insignia. I have no recollection where I saw it but I was amazed as the Douglas Invader's (ex-RAF order) were rapidly replacing the JM's.

JDV
http://www.fuselagecodes.com

The WACO glider in the #299040 photo is a CG-15A::the glider has flaps, shorter wings and a different wheel carriage from the CG-4A. The pictured glider may be the same as is in the 82nd museum on Ft Bragg which was the first CG-15A production article; all were built by WACO. That glider still has art of the rigid tow bar connector on the nose and some of the test instruments inside.

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Charles Day,
Silent Ones WWII Invasion Glider Test & Experiment CCAAF Wilmington Ohio

Charles: The one in the museum and the photos are the same a/c according to what I was able to find.

Since I originally brought up the subject of the USN Martin A-30 Baltimore I felt obligated to post this crisp photo of the subject aircraft. The photo was taken at the Martin factory in Baltimore, MD and provided to me by the Glenn L. Martin Museum. Apparently the A-30 was eventually donated to a trade school and what happened to it after that remains a mystery. Although the photo is dated May 1946 I did indeed see another photo of the aircraft elsewhere where the red line had been added to the horizontal bars of the US insignia.





JDV
http://www.fuselagecodes.com

Another post-1947 photo of a USN aircraft. It's a Vultee TBY Seawolf that was still in the inventory a few years after the war. IIRC there were about 180 delivered to the USN during the war but none made it into combat. For whatever reason still thought to be worthy to receive a fresh wrap-around midnite blue paint job and an updated insignia. Photographed at NAS Norfolk, VA





JDV
http://www.fuselagecodes.com