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Fork-Tailed Oddballs

Fork-Tailed Oddballs

There’s the P-38 Lightning known and loved by generations — a large, yet lithe twin-engine, twin-boom fighter with an informed sense of streamlining that inspired descriptions like “three bullets on a knife.” The P-38 marched through the war generating alphabetical models through “M” totaling around 10,000 copies. But it would be facile to leave the […]
Lightning: The Fork-tailed Devil Revealed

Lightning: The Fork-tailed Devil Revealed

Is there a more identifiable outline in all of fighterdom, WW I to today, than the Lockheed P-38 Lightning? We don’t think so. No other airframe has emblazoned such a clear image in history’s hall of fame. So, what can be said about it that hasn’t already been said? The answer is “nothing.” The facts […]
Caudron C.460 Ancient Speed Demon Reborn

Caudron C.460 Ancient Speed Demon Reborn

Speed has always been a drug, of sorts. It has captivated mankind for as long as he has stood on two legs and nowhere has the urge to see who is the fastest been stronger than in aviation. And at no time has that competition been more fierce than during the 1930s, the uncontested golden […]
Ace in a Day

Ace in a Day

The kills and claims of the top shooters On the morning of April 7, 1943, American fighter pilots on Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands responded to a red alert. More than 100 Japanese aircraft were inbound, sending Wildcats and P-40s scrambling to intercept. In a prolonged combat, the defenders claimed 39 victories and actually got […]
The Soccer War

The Soccer War

I was seated in first class enjoying a cocktail at 33,000 feet, looking west at the vast Pacific Ocean en route to Guatemala on a Pan Am 707 when a thought passed: “I sure hope this isn’t a one-way trip.” It was the summer of 1969. But while the Vietnam War proceeded, an unlikely feud […]
A Wingspan From Disaster

A Wingspan From Disaster

BY CHARLES O’MAHONY Our Martin B-26 Marauder crew arrived on the island of Sardinia in the Mediterranean Sea to begin our combat tour in July of 1944. We joined the 320th Bomb Group, and we were assigned to one of the four squadrons, the 441st. The Group was operating off Decimomannu airfield, a one-of-a-kind dirt […]
Unarmed and Unafraid

Unarmed and Unafraid

RA-5 Vigilante: Going to war with a camera The Vigilante was doing 650 knots near the North Vietnamese port of Hon Gai when there was a huge explosion behind the tail from either heavy caliber antiaircraft fire or a SA-2 missile. On fire and with the flight controls failed, the crew, Lt. Cdr. James Bell, […]
Double Nickel Killers

Double Nickel Killers

Late war aerial combat with the 55th Fighter group by James P. Busha The early strategy of the 8th Air Force fighter groups was to stay with the bombers, escort them, save them, and to not leave them and go chasing after the Luftwaffe. That all changed when General Jimmy Doolittle took over in early […]
Hunting the Hunters

Hunting the Hunters

Memories of a Night Intruder Pilot The seemingly endless air war over Europe did not stop when the sun went down. The skies over England came alive almost every night as British Bomber Command sent wave after wave of medium and heavy bombers to selected targets all over the Nazi-controlled continent. These bomber crews had […]
Ruff Stuff

Ruff Stuff

Memories of an Early War South Pacific Fighter Pilot By the time newly minted U.S. fighter pilots entered WW II in late 1941, they faced a Japanese adversary whose pilots had been flying combat since 1937. Not only were these “flying Samurai” pilots old hats, but they also flew a trump card in the form […]
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