A Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15bis Fagot on display in the National Museum of Naval Aviation on NAS Pensacola, Florida.
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A Curtiss P-40B Warhawk in the livery of the 1st American Volunteer Group "Flying Tigers" at the National Museum of Naval Aviation on NAS Pensacola, Florida.
From the museum's web page:
Never included in Naval Aviation's inventory, the P-40B Tomahawk is displayed to honor those Naval Aviators who joined Colonel Claire Chennault's American Volunteer Group (AVG), better known as the Flying Tigers. Entering combat in December 1941, the AVG quickly gained fame flying against overwhelming odds. As America entered the war, and U.S. units moved into China, the AVG was summarily disbanded on 4 July 1942. In its short life, however, the AVG shot down 299 enemy aircraft and destroyed another 153 on the ground.
The P-40B Tomahawk evolved from the Curtiss Model 75 Hawk, a radial-engined fighter introduced in the mid-1930s. First flown in October 1938, the XP-40 was the fastest U.S. Army fighter at the time, and deliveries of the P-40 began in June 1940. The P-40B first flew in November 1941, and was quickly sent to the Royal Air Force (RAF) under Lend-Lease. The original models lacked self-sealing fuel tanks and carried two .50-caliber cowl-mounted guns and two .30-caliber guns in the wings. The P-40B was improved with self-sealing tanks, pilot armor and two extra wing guns, though the RAF versions of the Tomahawk were armed with six .303-caliber machine guns. B and C-model Tomahawks served with the RAF in North Africa in 1941-1942, where it was quickly discovered that the aircraft was inferior to the German BF-109, except at low altitude. The British turned down further deliveries, preferring to wait for the more powerful P-40D and E "Kittyhawk."
With the signing of the Lend-Lease Act, the Chinese Commissioner of Aviation, T.V. Soong, approached the U.S. to procure aircraft for China's air force. A number of P-40Bs were available, and were sold to a Chinese company. CAMCO, as it was called, shipped crated P-40Bs to Rangoon, Burma, where they were assembled. In a parallel move, CAMCO hired retired Navy and Army officers to travel to U.S. naval air stations and Army fields to recruit pilots, promising better pay than the U.S. military offered, along with getting into the war that America, at the time, resisted entering. In 1937, Claire Chennault, a retired U.S. Army captain, had been hired by the Nationalist Government to train Chinese pilots, then flying both Russian and Italian aircraft far inferior to the Japanese. Forming the AVG, Chennault had new P-40 aircraft and a host of American recruits.
Though initially planned for three groups, the AVG actually fielded only one before America placed a freeze on the release of active duty personnel. Among the Naval Aviators who resigned their commissions to fly with the AVG were David Lee Tex" Hill, Chuck Older, Dick Rossi, and Gregory Boyington, to name a few. In fact, the majority of the pilots in the AVG were Naval Aviators. "Tex" Hill became one of the top aces in the AVG, Older was a double ace with both the AVG and Army Air Forces 23d Pursuit Group, and Boyington returned to the Marines to become a four-time ace and command the famous "Black Sheep" of Marine Fighting Squadron (VMF) 214. Another former Naval Aviator who served in the AVG, James H. Howard, eventually became an Army Air Forces pilot and received the Medal of Honor for actions over Europe in 1944. From 20 December 1941 to 4 July 1942, the AVG downed 299 enemy aircraft, and destroyed another 153 on the ground.
The Lockheed XP2V-1 Neptune (89082) named the Truculent Turtle on display in the National Museum of Naval Aviation on NAS Pensacola, Florida.
In 1946, Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Chester W. Nimitz sought to put the Navy's newest patrol aircraft to the test, calling for a flight to investigate the range of the P2V Neptune and at the same time test the crew's ability to navigate and physiologically endure an extended period airborne.
The aircraft was nicknamed the "Truculent Turtle," ironic given that fierce, which is the meaning of the word truculent, is not generally an attribute of turtles.
For the flight, which began at Perth, Australia on September 29, 1946, this aircraft carried 8,467 gallons of gas, a crew of four, and one stowaway in the form of a baby kangaroo. All told, the gross weight of the aircraft on takeoff was 85,575 pounds, necessitating a Jet Assisted Take Off (JATO) for the aircraft to get off the ground.
This new display outside the Museum of Flight seems to beckon people inside. Aside from flying with the prestigious Blue Angels, this aircraft had a storied career ever since she first took to the skies in 1986. Read more at www.museumofflight.org/exhibits-and-events/aircraft/mcdon...
A Curtiss P-40B Warhawk in the livery of the 1st American Volunteer Group "Flying Tigers" on display inside the National Museum of Naval Aviation on NAS Pensacola, Florida.
From the museum's web page:
Never included in Naval Aviation's inventory, the P-40B Tomahawk is displayed to honor those Naval Aviators who joined Colonel Claire Chennault's American Volunteer Group (AVG), better known as the Flying Tigers. Entering combat in December 1941, the AVG quickly gained fame flying against overwhelming odds. As America entered the war, and U.S. units moved into China, the AVG was summarily disbanded on 4 July 1942. In its short life, however, the AVG shot down 299 enemy aircraft and destroyed another 153 on the ground.
The P-40B Tomahawk evolved from the Curtiss Model 75 Hawk, a radial-engined fighter introduced in the mid-1930s. First flown in October 1938, the XP-40 was the fastest U.S. Army fighter at the time, and deliveries of the P-40 began in June 1940. The P-40B first flew in November 1941, and was quickly sent to the Royal Air Force (RAF) under Lend-Lease. The original models lacked self-sealing fuel tanks and carried two .50-caliber cowl-mounted guns and two .30-caliber guns in the wings. The P-40B was improved with self-sealing tanks, pilot armor and two extra wing guns, though the RAF versions of the Tomahawk were armed with six .303-caliber machine guns. B and C-model Tomahawks served with the RAF in North Africa in 1941-1942, where it was quickly discovered that the aircraft was inferior to the German BF-109, except at low altitude. The British turned down further deliveries, preferring to wait for the more powerful P-40D and E "Kittyhawk."
With the signing of the Lend-Lease Act, the Chinese Commissioner of Aviation, T.V. Soong, approached the U.S. to procure aircraft for China's air force. A number of P-40Bs were available, and were sold to a Chinese company. CAMCO, as it was called, shipped crated P-40Bs to Rangoon, Burma, where they were assembled. In a parallel move, CAMCO hired retired Navy and Army officers to travel to U.S. naval air stations and Army fields to recruit pilots, promising better pay than the U.S. military offered, along with getting into the war that America, at the time, resisted entering. In 1937, Claire Chennault, a retired U.S. Army captain, had been hired by the Nationalist Government to train Chinese pilots, then flying both Russian and Italian aircraft far inferior to the Japanese. Forming the AVG, Chennault had new P-40 aircraft and a host of American recruits.
Though initially planned for three groups, the AVG actually fielded only one before America placed a freeze on the release of active duty personnel. Among the Naval Aviators who resigned their commissions to fly with the AVG were David Lee Tex" Hill, Chuck Older, Dick Rossi, and Gregory Boyington, to name a few. In fact, the majority of the pilots in the AVG were Naval Aviators. "Tex" Hill became one of the top aces in the AVG, Older was a double ace with both the AVG and Army Air Forces 23d Pursuit Group, and Boyington returned to the Marines to become a four-time ace and command the famous "Black Sheep" of Marine Fighting Squadron (VMF) 214. Another former Naval Aviator who served in the AVG, James H. Howard, eventually became an Army Air Forces pilot and received the Medal of Honor for actions over Europe in 1944. From 20 December 1941 to 4 July 1942, the AVG downed 299 enemy aircraft, and destroyed another 153 on the ground.
Probably the original monoplane dive bomber. It was a transitional model replaced by updated models as World War 2 got underway. There were only 260 of these planes manufactured. This is the only remaining example and this was resurrected from a crash in Lake Michigan. Seen in the National Naval Aviation Museum on NAS Pensacola.