Hi,
Having recently acquired a copy of this wonderful and rare book,
I was surprised to find some of the “first flight” dates in this
book on some aircraft quite different from what has always been
traditionally written?
One example is the AF Guardian which in all published and online
sources (including mine), has been 19 Dec. 1945 but Francillon’s book
states 23 Dec. 1946!!
At first I thought this was a typo of some sort but further reading
revealed this wasn’t the case including data in the appendix.
Several other Grumman types also have differing first flight dates.
I wonder if Francillon is correct and all the sources out there have
just been copying each other for so long its become lore?
Afterall there doesn’t seem to be many sources quoting this work as
a source.
By: Simon Beck - 18th December 2009 at 01:47
Mine are the same as yours all up. Was just surprised to see
such a different date! usually you come across ones with a
few days difference but a whole year is amazing.
By: Al Elliott - 17th December 2009 at 18:48
Hi Simon!
A quick browse through my sources revealed the following first-flight dates for the XTB3F-1 Guardian:
Dec 19, 1946 (“Grumman AF Guardian” , Naval Fighters 20, by Bob Kowalski)
Dec 19, 1946 (“American Combat Planes of the 20th Century” by Ray Wagner, 2004 Edition).
Dec 19, 1945 (“United States Navy Aircraft since 1911” by GordonSwanborough/ Peter M. Bowers)
Dec 19, 1946 (“Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships” Vol V)
Francillon’s “23. December” seems to be the odd one out, and someone obviously got the year wrong. But 1946 shows up more often than 1945.
What sources do you have?
Al
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December 17, 2009 at 6:01 pm