fabulous! or should I say ‘superbe’ – more please

Lukeylad–

Air tankers as in firefighting…converted military bombers dropping retardant in the path of wildfires to “cut them off” so as to allow firefighters on the ground to put them out. (Flying-boat types equipped for “scooping” off lakes, et cetera, are also used in a related technique, but the water is usually dumped directly onto the fire). Not too many Mitchells were used for tanking. The A-26, the PB4Y, and some of the classic prop transports (C-54; DC-6) were much more commonly employed this way. Emerson–many thanx for posting these shots, I’ve rarely seen photos of the Canadian Mitchell tankers and never managed to see the aircraft themselves…

S.

Steve T. – There’s a Ju 390 thread on the forum where Emerson states that his dad used the B-25 for hauling diesel fuel into the high Artic regions, so your reply to Lukeylad might not be correct in this instance. It has to be said that the Mitchell is probably not the most suitable aircraft for either application

You obviously missed the CIA Aurora spyplane that was in for some drop in maintenance that day. You really must pay more attention when visiting these places if you want to elevate yourself to “Super-spotter” status…reminds me of my super spotting days in the WoGB hangars back in the good old days……ah happy days! 🙂

I realise I’m diverting off thread a bit – no, actually quite a lot – but the jokey reference to Aurora reminds me of the occasion around 1990 when I saw a Lockheed U2 coming in to land at BAE Hatfield. I obviously know the where, but can any super-spotter out there supply the exactly when and, most importantly, why?
or did the pilot think it was Alconbury

…sorry, Alex, we all forgot our tape measures….as I’m (comparatively) local to the museum I’ll try and get over there when they open for business in the Spring.

Bruce, make sure the tea machine is working and stock up with Mars Bars

a cool Yule to y’all, and blue skies over any remaining airfields in Hertfordshire

If you can find it, and if you don’t mind ‘civvies’ too much, try The Cannibal Queen by Stephen Coonts, in which the well-known author jollies about in his Stearman all over the lower 48 in the U.S. of A.
He also recounts some of his time as a Navy pilot, flying A-6’s in S.E.Asia. An interesting read.

count me in + friend