Doolittle Raiders Reunion – 70th Anniversary, 20 B-25 flyover

I thought some of you might be interested in my photos from the event and the museum.

This whole week I’ve been at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio for the 70th Anniversary of the Doolittle Raid on Tokyo. Four of the surviving five crew members from the raid were there and were honored by a flyover of 20 B-25 Mitchells, the largest such gathering since World War Two.

On Wednesday, April 18th, I was fortunate enough to fly on a a B-25. It was the 70th anniversary of the raid and the 20th anniversary of the restoration flight of “Miss Mitchell”, the plane I flew in. I was joined on the flight by a pilot from WWII who had logged 68 combat missions in B-25 Mitchells nearly 70 years before. The aircraft was combat-ready, one of only 2-3 Mitchells on earth with fully functional turrets in both positions.

If you’re interested, I’ve uploaded some of the photos from the trip to a few Photobucket albums, including a lot more from the USAF Museum itself. I’ll also post just a few of my favorites below, too. Enjoy!

Doolittle Raiders Reunion – Day 1
Doolittle Raiders Reunion – Day 2
Doolittle Raiders Reunion – Day 3

Cheers,

Logan

I know it would never happen due to political reasons, but I always thought that perhaps a variant of the Mi-17 Hip would have been perfect for the CSAR-X program. It is larger than a Blackhawk, yet it has proven high-altitude performance (as shown in Afghanistan both in the 80’s and much more recently).

I know it’s crazy, but am I the only one who thinks the Hip would’ve been a rather good choice?

Everything seems great about it, but the all-weather capability just wasn’t there (just to name one thing). The Pakistani Hips have to be stripped down to absolutely nothing to to medivacs in the mountains. The Indians have the same problem, which is what sent them shopping for Chinooks. I’m unconvinced that Blackhawks are the right choice, but they’re better than the venerable Hip would be. Just look at the Chinese. They operate hundreds of Mi-17s, including the very latest and greatest models. What do they use in the mountainous regions of China? S-70 Blackhawks that were delivered when the first “Back to the Future” was in theaters!

As a side note, I love the Mi-17 and I think it’s the best all-around military helicopter in the world. Certainly a better value than the UH-60 in most respects. It’s just not the best CSAR platform.

IIRC, didn’t the EH101 win out first time around?

Anyone got any links to the history of the CSAR-X program?

That said, if the USAF wants something bigger, the HH-71 or an S-92 variant looks like the right size, and the winner of these two would be a sure winner of the VXX competition.

Nope, that was the Marine One replacement. The last winner of this competition was the HH-47 Chinook. Everyone threw a fit, the USAF got egg on its face (again), and here we are.

Cheers,

Logan

The IN Sea Harriers are mainly for fleet air defence, & their recent upgrade was to enhance that capability, by giving them improved radars & BVR missiles.

The RAF Harriers being retired don’t have any radar at all, & only WVR missiles. While newer, they are grossly inferior at the primary task of IN Harriers, & would therefore not be an adequate replacement.

They would only be useful in the strike role, complementing (not replacing) the air defence Sea Harriers, & carrying on in that role for a while as MiG-29K replaces Sea Harrier.

I understand all of that, and I understand why the Indian Navy may not decide to purchase the aircraft, especially if they looked over the Sea Harrier FA2. I was merely saying that I saw no point in the Indian Air Force acquiring a VTOL aircraft that it had no interest in. At least the Navy would have some reason for it.

The Indian Navy was in the middle of an upgrade for its Sea Harriers when the FA2 became available. It would already have as many FRS1-equivalents with new radar and new weapons as it needed. More aircraft with a similar role and similar capabilities would have been nice, but superfluous. Had the offer come up 5-10 years earlier, they probably would have gone for it, even without AMRAAM and Blue Vixen.

The Harrier GR9s, however, offer a role expansion for the Indian Navy. It offers a true strike platform with more power, a heavier payload, more updated avionics, newer airframes, smart weapons, and targeting pods. Given the very multirole nature of the incoming MiG-29Ks, this may be seen as an advantage capability to bring in for training purposes as much as anything.

That having been said, I’d be surprised if the Indians go for it. They didn’t go for the Sea Harriers and I doubt they’ll go for the GR9s. They’re getting out of the VTOL game (like the RN and RAF), not expanding it. The airframes they have will last them, so why throw away the money?

Most will end up in museums or storage until being scrapped.

Cheers,

Logan

Ah, wonderful. Thank you.

This seems to be the original article.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/e40ac0ca-e53c-11df-8e0d-00144feabdc0.html

It seems to be speculation on the Financial Times’ part. Not bad speculation, mind you–just speculation.

Cheers,

Logan

The Chilean Army band playing the Imperial March from Star Wars is pretty funny.

Cheers,

Logan

A glimpse into Syrian archives has revealed that 3 Syrian MiG-23MF pilots are listed having confirmed kills against Israeli F-16s – their names are Merza, Hau and Deeb. Wonder if any of these claims correspond to Israeli losses. :confused:

The serial numbers don’t allow for these losses according to Israeli aircraft spotters far more dedicated than I. It’s likely that they were never lost. I put them in the same claim category as the HMS Invincible in 1982 and that B-2 in 1999.

Cheers,

Logan

Wow thanks never knew of this. But it seems a Mirage2k got the kill, not a russian plane.

Anyway with regards to Sukhoi, has any Su ever been superior to its american equivalent? If so, how come Eagles have shot down flankers but never the other way around. I just dont see how people think Su closed a 30 year gap.

Its like, “We ha no funds, No experience, But we made a better product in 20% of the time the americans took”. It sounds ridiculous.

That ignorance on your part led to a sweeping statement that was incorrect…just as this post has. To my knowledge, no Su-27 has ever been lost in air-to-air combat to the F-15 (or any other fighter for that matter).

Sukhoi builds a quality product that challenges the F-15 in many areas and in the hands of the right pilot with the right support network and weaponry may prove to be the better plane. A number of mock engagements between the aircraft have certainly challenged the F-15’s dominance in a very disconcerting way for the Eagle community. That’s why F-15s are used to simulate the Flanker as aggressors. They’re very closely matched.

Let’s hope that they never meet in a weapons-free environment, as I doubt it would be a bloodless encounter.

Cheers,

Logan