The Gannet really suffered when it was at Bradley Int, New England, hopefully it has a rosier future now.

I saw her there about 20 (!) years ago. At least she didn’t appeared to have been damaged by a tornado, like several of their planes, and escaped scrapping, like their Caravelle (originally United Airlines, later Airborne Freight).

J Boyle:

Thanks for the tip about The Northrop Story — that series of planes have long been a favorite of mine, as with the Lockheed Plywood Bullets. Then there’s the link between them: Jack Northrop. Another Lockheed alumnus was Gerry Vultee and his V-1A airliner looked a lot like a metal Lockheed Orion.

Another Canadian Nomad (a bit later):

http://www.canadianwings.com/Aircraft/aircraftDetail.php?NOMAD-174

http://www.ody.ca/~bwalker/RCAF_10261_10287_detailed.html

This is Atlantic City, New Jersey, a short while ago:

http://instagram.com/p/RXoEkohmER/

The whole city is reported to be this way.

Sandy is expected to make landfall tonight — near Atlantic City.

Thanks! It really brings these planes and choppers to life — and often suggests the cold of Korea.

This was the golden era of the USAF buzz number, the large figure consisting of (usually) two letters denoting mission and design (e.g., FU for F-86) and the last three digits of the individual craft’s serial number. A few comments on the buzz numbers in the pictures in the first link:

FS-613-A This F-84 has a rare buzz number with a suffix, done only when two units of the same type had the same last three digits in their serials.

LTA-582 One of the LT-6G Texans used on “Mosquito” forward air control missions. As far as I know, this was the only type with a buzz number with a three-letter prefix.

RF-843 The RF prefix is a giveaway that this an RF-51 — note the camera windows aft of the cockpit.

FT-487 A Shooting Star with a fighter prefix even though it’s an RF-80 (camera window instead of gun ports). The olive drab paint on the upper surfaces is interesting — I’ve seen shots of an F-86 similarly painted as part of some USAF camouflage experiments about this time.

Pepsi-Cola used to have its own skywriting plane, a Travel Air D4D. In 1979, they used it to spell out MARRY ME SUE for a TV commercial. The message could be seen for miles.

The story goes that about a half dozen men in that area got phone calls from girlfriends named Sue who simply said YES.

A more recent electronic design, sometimes used for real:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0PhU-PIsUMw&feature=related

Probably the most common air raid sirens in the United States were the Thunderbolt 1000 series by Federal Signal. Many remain in service to warn of tornadoes, tsunamis, and other natural hazards. Here’s one having its monthly test, first the steady alert signal and, at about 1:55, the alternating attack warning:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kzFyGWdj6MI