“Nanette” by Edwards Park. P39 pilot with the 41st FS, 35th FG early on in the PTO

“Of War and Weddings” Jerry Yellin. He was a P51 Pilot flying the VLR missions from Iwo Jima.

“New Guinea Skies” Wayne Rothgeb. P38 pilot with the 39th FS, 35th FG PTO

Steve Birdsall’s book “Flying Buccaneers” is a must for anyone interested in the 5th Air Force. It’s a great mix of photos, stories and info on the 5th.

His book “Saga of the Superfortress” is a great on on B29 ops.

Way back when, in the early 80s when I ventured out looking for Spitfire XII info, I was told by a former Lanc pilot turned aviation writer that there were two kinds of folks I’d run into. Those willing to share the wealth, and those who wanted to claim it for their own and keep it hidden.

He was of the share the wealth crowd and gave me my first ‘original’ photo of a Spit XII as well as pointing me in lots of directions and putting up with a first timer asking dumb questions.

Seems to me that’s the only way to go as we’re trying to pass on the history not hide it. Thankfully my experience has been one of dealing with all kinds of folks willing to share the history. I know I’ve done my best to pass that on.

In terms of what photos belong to who, I’m afraid the genie is out of the bottle. All you have to do is look at any number of books, e-bay, the web or wherever and you’ll see well known photos credited to any number of different people as their own.

I don’t have an answer for that bit, but I figure it’s better that people are seeing them, then having them hidden in someones file cabinet.

Wow! Looks great 🙂

Thanks for taking the profile the extra step!

Dunno about you lot but, I’m going to watch it on the night it comes out, in the cinema, scoffing pop-corn, ice cold coke, cheering when the hun gets shot down and enjoying the moment.;) I’ll probably end up buying the soundtrack and then the DVD (and the T’shirt!). If it gives me 2 hours of entertainment I won’t give a monkeys fart that a P51 does the odd manoeuvre here or there, or a B17 has the wrong markings, or the actors are not speaking 1940s Afro-american.

Once I’ve seen it, it will probably give me another 2 hours of entertainment on this very thread, reading what you thought about it!

anyway

knocked out a side-view in my premature excitement :rolleyes:

Great minds think alike? Did this one for my son

Visited “Twilight Tear” today with my little guy. I don’t know. It sure looked and felt like a piece of history to me. Like P9374, I’m sure folks would argue all day about it’s claim to fame.

It was all Mustang with all the pieces in the right places. It sure felt like I was looking at a time machine

The reason this matters is seen below. I never had to explain it to my older son when we talked WW2 aviation. I never thought about it much. My older son was stuck with a Dad with a passion for Spitfires and WW2 history. He never asked why there were no African American pilots were flying Spits.

My youngest son loves Mustangs. All of a sudden it mattered to me about the Red Tails a whole lot more as I know that he’s stuck with a Dad with a passion for WW2 aviation and he’ll have to ride along. The Red Tails are at least an opening to share that passion while trying to help him understand some of the idiocy that his country has gone through over time. It bothers me a lot that had we been around then, my two sons could not have flown together.

So I do get scared when I see stuff that doesn’t fit, even if it’s in a 2 minute trailer for the film. I do hope it gets kids to take a look at the real history. And I really hope that the film is better then the trailer indicates.

Reading the thread about G-AIDN, made me wonder about 2-seater Hurricanes, whereupon I found this thread.

I wonder why we don’t see any 2-seaters today ? (As far as I know)

Is it because, there being fewer Hurricanes flying, nobody wants to convert
one ?
Or is it that the construction of the Hurricane doesn’t lend itself to being
converted ?

I remember reading a while back that there was a Hurricane being done as a two seater based on the Hurricanes that were converted by the USAAF 350th Fighter Group during WW2. Each squadron had their own two seat Hurricane.

You can see a picture of the 345th bird on the 350th FG Blog. The Pilot in the photo, Earl Miller is still with us.

http://homepage.mac.com/vizcarraguitars/Hurricanes/index.html

It’s alright JDK, I was just kidding! 😀 I too much prefer the real thing!

My only issue was in people making a judgement on the quality of a film based on a very short trailer, calling the visuals ‘rubbish’ etc. Sure, some films are shockers, but it’s more in the story telling than the imagery, I believe. The “Iron Eagle” series used real planes, but have you seen the one with ‘warbirds’? Iron Eagle IV I think… Hilarious!

My biggest complaint is that they could have at least taken the time to get the markings on the bombers right. The 332nd wasn’t escorting 8th Air Force B17s.

More then likely they’d have been covering B24s, and 15th Air Force B24s at that!

Doesn’t make it too hard to understand why the guys fighting in the MTO got tired of the ETO getting all the press. Even 60+ years later the bombers are Fortresses of the 8th!