Picture of the day
- Thread starter jwhc
- Start date
Dark Alley Dan
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Darkest Edmonton
Tupolev TU-4:
"I swear on Lenin's tomb, Comrade Tupolev's design bureau engineered this airplane from the first rivet. Is Americans who stole it from us!"
Later with turboprop power. Looks kinda awesome:
"I swear on Lenin's tomb, Comrade Tupolev's design bureau engineered this airplane from the first rivet. Is Americans who stole it from us!"
Later with turboprop power. Looks kinda awesome:
Last edited:
the soviets "captured" 4 B-29s during the war. the americans refused to supply them with any, but some made emergency landings in soviet territory. they got 3 repaired, one was kept whole to use for refence, one taken apart for reference, and one used to train crews.
stalin had ordered an exact copy be made, so there was much infighting to allow the use of soviet weapons and engines, with even an american radio used. they got special permission to use soviet seats and parachutes early in the project.
after the war, the soviets had a big parade, and it included 3 tu-4s, which were thought to be the 3 that were captured (the fourth was returned to the us) until a tu-70 which was a transport version was shown.
the tu-4 had an interesting feature: an extra hole in one of the wing panels. a boeing employee had misdrilled a rivet hole and left it. this aircraft was one that the soviets copied and added the rivet hole to every Tu-4
In my mind, partly because of WWII action movies, I always picture the B-29 as some monstrously huge behemoth.
Compared to modern bombers and commercial aircraft, it really isn't that big at all.
I am guessing that the first "F111" is an "F117" ? but I am not a plane expert
A few years back, one of the surviving Lancasters came to Winnipeg. I was surprised when it was on the taxiway how small it was compared to Boeing 737's. 737's are small by today's standards. The sound of the Rolls Royce engines was awesome. I don't have a pic of the 737's, but I can honestly say that the pilots in the lineup (there were three 737's waiting to get out) were straining their necks getting a look at the old bird. Here's some pics of it on the taxiway and some close up. The cockpit was tiny, my poor son is cramped in there lol.
Dark Alley Dan
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Darkest Edmonton
That very aircraft earlier in her career:
...aaaaand a little later...
....aaaaand in formation with BBMF's Lanc:
Long may she fly.
...aaaaand a little later...
....aaaaand in formation with BBMF's Lanc:
Long may she fly.
Dark Alley Dan
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Darkest Edmonton
Bit of a mystery here:
Note the flag on the tail. This dates the pic to post-1965.
According to http://www.canadianwings.com/Aircraft/aircraftDetail.php?LIBERATOR-148 , the last B-24 in Canadian service was pensioned off in 1948 or so.
And so, WTF? Ideas?
Note the flag on the tail. This dates the pic to post-1965.
According to http://www.canadianwings.com/Aircraft/aircraftDetail.php?LIBERATOR-148 , the last B-24 in Canadian service was pensioned off in 1948 or so.
And so, WTF? Ideas?
Bit of a mystery here:
Note the flag on the tail. This dates the pic to post-1965.
According to http://www.canadianwings.com/Aircraft/aircraftDetail.php?LIBERATOR-148 , the last B-24 in Canadian service was pensioned off in 1948 or so.
And so, WTF? Ideas?
Could be the ex-Indian Air Force B-24 that was flown back to Canada for the National Air Museum in 1968. I was playing a round of golf on the CFB Trenton golf course when I heard multi engine noise which was a lot different than the usual C-130/Yukon activity. Sure enough this one came in on final and landed nicely right next to the fairway. We went over to look at it later. It was a strictly stock B-24; guns, turrets, the whole $hiteree. The IAF Coastal Command had flown it this way since WW2. The plane was flown home by an RCAF crew, but I can't remember if it was in IAF or RCAF markings( no cell phone cameras in those days). Its still in the museum in Ottawa.
Medal set of Brigadier Ernest Deighton Danby, DSO, OBE, CD
Brigadier Danby started his career pre-WW2 with the Seaforth Highlanders of Canada, in Vancouver, BC. He ended up serving in WW2 and Korea, and even Vietnam with the UN, earning an impressive array of medals and awards.
DSO, OBE, 39/45 Star, Italy Star, France & Germany Star, Defense Medal, CVSM with bar, 39/45 Medal with Oak Leaf (MID), Korea Medal, Canadian Volunteer Service Medal for Korea, United Nations Service Medal (Korea), ICSC, Centennial Medal, Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal, Efficiency Decoration with Bar, Canadian Forces Decoration with bar, Croix de Guerre avec Etoile de Vermeil (France), Legion of Merit (Degree of Officer) (United States)
This medal set is now in the collection of the Seaforth Highlanders of Canada Museum and Archives.
Brigadier Danby started his career pre-WW2 with the Seaforth Highlanders of Canada, in Vancouver, BC. He ended up serving in WW2 and Korea, and even Vietnam with the UN, earning an impressive array of medals and awards.
DSO, OBE, 39/45 Star, Italy Star, France & Germany Star, Defense Medal, CVSM with bar, 39/45 Medal with Oak Leaf (MID), Korea Medal, Canadian Volunteer Service Medal for Korea, United Nations Service Medal (Korea), ICSC, Centennial Medal, Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal, Efficiency Decoration with Bar, Canadian Forces Decoration with bar, Croix de Guerre avec Etoile de Vermeil (France), Legion of Merit (Degree of Officer) (United States)
This medal set is now in the collection of the Seaforth Highlanders of Canada Museum and Archives.
Medal set of Brigadier Ernest Deighton Danby, DSO, OBE, CD
Brigadier Danby started his career pre-WW2 with the Seaforth Highlanders of Canada, in Vancouver, BC. He ended up serving in WW2 and Korea, and even Vietnam with the UN, earning an impressive array of medals and awards.
DSO, OBE, 39/45 Star, Italy Star, France & Germany Star, Defense Medal, CVSM with bar, 39/45 Medal with Oak Leaf (MID), Korea Medal, Canadian Volunteer Service Medal for Korea, United Nations Service Medal (Korea), ICSC, Centennial Medal, Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal, Efficiency Decoration with Bar, Canadian Forces Decoration with bar, Croix de Guerre avec Etoile de Vermeil (France), Legion of Merit (Degree of Officer) (United States)
This medal set is now in the collection of the Seaforth Highlanders of Canada Museum and Archives.
i assume there is a ship with out propellers out there because all of the brass available at the time was put on this guys chest
Currently on display at the Canada Aviation Museum in Rockcliffe, near Ottawa, Ontario, Canada: Formerly HE-773 “M” of the Indian Air Force, built by the Ford Motor Company’s plant at Willow Run, Michigan. It was allocated to the RAF under the Lend-Lease programme, and assumed the RAF serial KN 820.
It was ferried to India and delivered on 30 July 1945, serving with No 355 Squadron. Arriving too late to play an active bombing role in the Burma Campaign, it served in an aerial photographic survey role for the Government of Bengal, until mid-1946.
In May 1946 No 355 Squadron RAF disbanded. In common with other Liberators in the theatre, KN 820 was delivered to No 322 Maintenance Unit, Kanpur, for storage and disposal. There was a specific requirement that at the end of hostilities it was to be either returned to the US or disposed of.
The aircraft was refurbished and restored to flying condition by the Indian Air Force and HAL. It was allocated the IAF serial HE-773 and the ID letter “M”. Like most Indian Liberator survivors, HE-773 was serving with No 6 Squadron at the time she was selected for preservation.
During its IAF service this aircraft, like all IAF Liberators, would have flown in a natural metal finish, wearing IAF roundels and fin flash, and sporting her squadron badge on her nose - the Charging Elephant while with No 5 Squadron, and the Flying Dragon with No 6. It would have spent the bulk of its IAF service based in Pune.
In 1967 Air Chief Marshal Arjan Singh and Air Marshal E M Reynolds arranged for a Canadian-restored Westland Lysander to be gifted to India, and an Indian-restored Liberator to Canada. The two air forces had both operated these types, and were fortuitously able to fill gaps in each others’ museum inventories.
The Lysander was delivered to India crated; but the Liberator was ferried to Canada under its own power. A Canadian Forces crew of six men arrived in India in May 1968, to ferry the aircraft to Canada. This was a volunteer crew, experienced at flying multi-engine aircraft, but with no Liberator experience – the Canadian Forces had ceased operating Liberators some considerable time before 1968! Air Chief Marshal Arjan Singh handed over HE-773 to the Canadian High Commissioner at a formal ceremony on 27 May. Meanwhile the Canadian crew began conversion training with No 6 Squadron in Pune.
While the Canadian crew was undergoing their conversion training, HE-773received a number of mods, to enable it to make the long journey to Canada. These included the installation of radio and navigation equipment for trans-Atlantic travel, oxygen equipment and winter flying gear – none of which the aircraft had ever required during its 20 years’ operations in the warm weather and low altitudes of the IAF’s maritime air ops environs! The aircraft was also given Royal Canadian Air Force markings, but retained <bthe Flying Dragons badge of No 6 Squadron on the nose, and the side letter “M” that the aircraft had worn throughout its Indian Air Force service.
On 5 June HE-773 left Pune. Sqn Ldr Marwah accompanied the Canadian crew for their first two legs, from Pune to Agra and on to New Delhi for customs clearance. The Canadian crew flew HE-773 next day to Jamnagar, for an overnight halt. No 6 Squadron technicians had been pre-positioned at New Delhi and Jamnagar, and dealt efficiently with minor snags relating to blown fuses. The Station Commander at Jamnagar, who hosted the Canadian crew for their last night on Indian soil, was Group Captain (later Air Commodore) P M “Pete” Wilson, one of India’s most distinguished bomber pilots.
After leaving India HE-773 staged through Bahrain, Nicosia, Athens, Decimomannu (now home to NATO’s annual live-firing exercise), Lahr (where it was buzzed by German F-104 Starfighters – now there’s a dissimilar formation to appeal to aviation enthusiasts!), and Prestwick, until Keflavik, Iceland was reached on 15 June. An attempt to reach Goose Bay, Labrador, the same day had to be abandoned because of the cumulative adverse effects of icing and cold weather on engines, pitot tube, and turret perspex – factors HE-773 had never had to cope with, over the previous quarter-century! However, sound airmanship and temporary repairs on the ground overcame these problems. The leg to Goose Bay was completed next day, in company with a Canadian Forces Canadair Argus; and HE-773 was on Canadian soil. On 17 June the crew was joined by a Canadian Forces liaison officer, and flew the remaining leg to Trenton, carrying out a low pass for the waiting press and families, before touching down on schedule. The ferry flight had covered nearly 17,000 km in 69 flying hours.
Colonel Pudsey described the story of this flight in the Canadian Forces magazine Sentinel.
Over the years that this aircraft has been on display at the Canada Aviation Museum, it has worn several different schemes. When it arrived it was still in the natural metal scheme that it had worn in India. It was later re-finished in a maritime scheme, consisting of white with dark sea-grey topsides. Interestingly, as can be seen from photographs available on-line at the Canada Aviation Museum’s archive site, the Canadians appear to have retained the Flying Dragons badge of No 6 Squadron on the nose, for some time after the aircraft had taken up residence at Rockville, through re-paintings in different schemes. They also retained the side letter “M” that the aircraft had worn in Indian Air Force service. Pure whimsy, perhaps; but also perhaps a nod of respect to the Indian connection!.
Currently on display at the Canada Aviation Museum in Rockcliffe, near Ottawa, Ontario, Canada: Formerly HE-773 “M” of the Indian Air Force, built by the Ford Motor Company’s plant at Willow Run, Michigan. It was allocated to the RAF under the Lend-Lease programme, and assumed the RAF serial KN 820.
It was ferried to India and delivered on 30 July 1945, serving with No 355 Squadron. Arriving too late to play an active bombing role in the Burma Campaign, it served in an aerial photographic survey role for the Government of Bengal, until mid-1946.
In May 1946 No 355 Squadron RAF disbanded. In common with other Liberators in the theatre, KN 820 was delivered to No 322 Maintenance Unit, Kanpur, for storage and disposal. There was a specific requirement that at the end of hostilities it was to be either returned to the US or disposed of.
The aircraft was refurbished and restored to flying condition by the Indian Air Force and HAL. It was allocated the IAF serial HE-773 and the ID letter “M”. Like most Indian Liberator survivors, HE-773 was serving with No 6 Squadron at the time she was selected for preservation.
During its IAF service this aircraft, like all IAF Liberators, would have flown in a natural metal finish, wearing IAF roundels and fin flash, and sporting her squadron badge on her nose - the Charging Elephant while with No 5 Squadron, and the Flying Dragon with No 6. It would have spent the bulk of its IAF service based in Pune.
In 1967 Air Chief Marshal Arjan Singh and Air Marshal E M Reynolds arranged for a Canadian-restored Westland Lysander to be gifted to India, and an Indian-restored Liberator to Canada. The two air forces had both operated these types, and were fortuitously able to fill gaps in each others’ museum inventories.
The Lysander was delivered to India crated; but the Liberator was ferried to Canada under its own power. A Canadian Forces crew of six men arrived in India in May 1968, to ferry the aircraft to Canada. This was a volunteer crew, experienced at flying multi-engine aircraft, but with no Liberator experience – the Canadian Forces had ceased operating Liberators some considerable time before 1968! Air Chief Marshal Arjan Singh handed over HE-773 to the Canadian High Commissioner at a formal ceremony on 27 May. Meanwhile the Canadian crew began conversion training with No 6 Squadron in Pune.
While the Canadian crew was undergoing their conversion training, HE-773received a number of mods, to enable it to make the long journey to Canada. These included the installation of radio and navigation equipment for trans-Atlantic travel, oxygen equipment and winter flying gear – none of which the aircraft had ever required during its 20 years’ operations in the warm weather and low altitudes of the IAF’s maritime air ops environs! The aircraft was also given Royal Canadian Air Force markings, but retained <bthe Flying Dragons badge of No 6 Squadron on the nose, and the side letter “M” that the aircraft had worn throughout its Indian Air Force service.
On 5 June HE-773 left Pune. Sqn Ldr Marwah accompanied the Canadian crew for their first two legs, from Pune to Agra and on to New Delhi for customs clearance. The Canadian crew flew HE-773 next day to Jamnagar, for an overnight halt. No 6 Squadron technicians had been pre-positioned at New Delhi and Jamnagar, and dealt efficiently with minor snags relating to blown fuses. The Station Commander at Jamnagar, who hosted the Canadian crew for their last night on Indian soil, was Group Captain (later Air Commodore) P M “Pete” Wilson, one of India’s most distinguished bomber pilots.
After leaving India HE-773 staged through Bahrain, Nicosia, Athens, Decimomannu (now home to NATO’s annual live-firing exercise), Lahr (where it was buzzed by German F-104 Starfighters – now there’s a dissimilar formation to appeal to aviation enthusiasts!), and Prestwick, until Keflavik, Iceland was reached on 15 June. An attempt to reach Goose Bay, Labrador, the same day had to be abandoned because of the cumulative adverse effects of icing and cold weather on engines, pitot tube, and turret perspex – factors HE-773 had never had to cope with, over the previous quarter-century! However, sound airmanship and temporary repairs on the ground overcame these problems. The leg to Goose Bay was completed next day, in company with a Canadian Forces Canadair Argus; and HE-773 was on Canadian soil. On 17 June the crew was joined by a Canadian Forces liaison officer, and flew the remaining leg to Trenton, carrying out a low pass for the waiting press and families, before touching down on schedule. The ferry flight had covered nearly 17,000 km in 69 flying hours.
Colonel Pudsey described the story of this flight in the Canadian Forces magazine Sentinel.
Over the years that this aircraft has been on display at the Canada Aviation Museum, it has worn several different schemes. When it arrived it was still in the natural metal scheme that it had worn in India. It was later re-finished in a maritime scheme, consisting of white with dark sea-grey topsides. Interestingly, as can be seen from photographs available on-line at the Canada Aviation Museum’s archive site, the Canadians appear to have retained the Flying Dragons badge of No 6 Squadron on the nose, for some time after the aircraft had taken up residence at Rockville, through re-paintings in different schemes. They also retained the side letter “M” that the aircraft had worn in Indian Air Force service. Pure whimsy, perhaps; but also perhaps a nod of respect to the Indian connection!.
Great to see the full story on this. I knew that I was seeing something special when I saw this B-24 arrive in Trenton back in 1968. Thanks.
Why would they do that??
There were lots of Russians at Ladd Field then ..
and this document (PDF online) has many photo's of Russian military serving there ..
[h=3]]WWII Heritage of Ladd Field - National Park Service[/h]
Medal set of Brigadier Ernest Deighton Danby, DSO, OBE, CD
Brigadier Danby started his career pre-WW2 with the Seaforth Highlanders of Canada, in Vancouver, BC. He ended up serving in WW2 and Korea, and even Vietnam with the UN, earning an impressive array of medals and awards.
DSO, OBE, 39/45 Star, Italy Star, France & Germany Star, Defense Medal, CVSM with bar, 39/45 Medal with Oak Leaf (MID), Korea Medal, Canadian Volunteer Service Medal for Korea, United Nations Service Medal (Korea), ICSC, Centennial Medal, Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal, Efficiency Decoration with Bar, Canadian Forces Decoration with bar, Croix de Guerre avec Etoile de Vermeil (France), Legion of Merit (Degree of Officer) (United States)
This medal set is now in the collection of the Seaforth Highlanders of Canada Museum and Archives.
The good Brigadier must've had a steel bar sewn into the spine of his dress jacket in order to balance all that metal on his chest......
