Aviation Orientated Countdown...

[Jigsaw]

edit...ooops too small (sound like my wife now)

[Mackrick]

51 Sqn RAF

[Dan4th]

BUFF ALERT:::::BUFF ALERT!!!!!!!



D.

(...if you listen, ol' Slim actually pronounces it correctly!)

[Saracenman]

No. 50 Squadron, Royal Flying Corps, was formed at Dover, Kent, on 15 May 1916, as a Home Defence squadron. The squadron October of that year contributed twelve Lancasters to No. 5 Group's celebrated low-Ievel dusk raid on the Schneider works at Le Creusot. In 1943 it took part in the first shuttle-bombing raid (when the targets were a radar factory at Friedrichshafen and the Italian naval base at Spezia), and the epic raid on the German V-weapons experimental establishment at Peenemünde. Among the targets that it attacked in 1944 were the V1 storage sites in the caves at St. Leu d'Esserent in the oise valley, and the dykes at Flushing on the German-held Dutch island of Walcheren. In December 1944, it took part in a raid on the German Baltic Fleet at Gdynia, and in March 1945, was represented in the bomber force that so pulverised the defences of Wesel just before the crossing of the Rhine that Commandos were able to seize the town with only 36 casualties. In April 1945, came the last of the squadron's operations against the enemy - an attack on an oil refinery at Vallo (Tonsberg) in Norway.

Among the many decorations won by No. 50 Squadron in the Second World War were a Victoria Cross (awarded posthumously to Flying Officer Leslie Thomas Manser), 6 DSOs, 70 DFCs and 114 DFMs.

The Squadron flew Lancasters until they were replaced with Avro Lincolns in 1946 which were flown until the Squadron disbanded on 31 January 1951. No. 50 reformed on 15 August 1952 at RAF Binbrook with Canberras which were flown until disbandment on 1 October 1959. The Squadron was reformed again on 1 August 1961 at Waddington as a V-bomber Squadron equipped with Avro Vulcans. During the Falklands War No. 50's Vulcans were converted to flight refuelling duties and the Squadron was disbanded on 31 March 1984.

[Wedgy]

Northrop Aircraft Co. pioneered the flying-wing design and developed the YB-49, which first flew in 1947.

[Spitfire]

Casadio 1/48th scale all-metal Spitfire F Mk XIV
RAF 41 Sqn 2nd Tactical Air Force, Germany 1945

[Hihonyr8811]

The C-47










Nicknames: Gooney Bird; Super DC-3 (R4D-8); Skytrooper; Biscuit Bomber; Tabby (NATO code name for the Showa L2D); Cab (NATO code name for Lisunov Li-2); Dumbo (SC-47 Search-and Rescue variant); Sister Gabby/Bullsh*t Bomber (EC-47 dispensing propaganda-leaflets in Vietnam); Spooky/Puff the Magic Dragon (AC-47 Gunship); Dowager Dutchess; Old Methuselah; The Placid Plodder; Dizzy Three; Old Bucket Seats; Duck; Dak; Dakleton (South African C-47s which replaced their Avro Shackletons), Vomit Comet (Nickname used by US Army paratroops during the Normandy invasion), Fantasma /"Phantom" (AC-47T in Columbian Air Force service.

AC-47

[Dan4th]

Thank You, Helen......

In MY humble little opinion, the One and
Only Truly Iconic Aircraft of All Time!!!!!!!

As I've stated before, in the Dictionary next
to the text for Airplane (or) Aeroplane there
ought to be a nice little engraving of the
old girl herself!

A Totally PURE form!

Dan4th

[Wedgy]

Curtiss C- 46 Commando
The C-46 was developed from the new and unproven commercial aircraft design, the CW-20, which first flew in March 1940. Deliveries of the AAF C-46s began in July 1942 for the Air Transport Command and Troop Carrier Command. During WW II, the AAF accepted 3,144 C-46s for hauling cargo and personnel and for towing gliders.

The C-46A, D, and F models were used in Korea, and a few aircraft were used by Air Force Special Air Warfare Center in the early years of the Vietnam War. C-46s were in limited Air Force service as late as 1969. Many went into civilian hands after World War II, and a fair number are still in use today.

[Hihonyr8811]

Thank You, Helen......

In MY humble little opinion, the One and
Only Truly Iconic Aircraft of All Time!!!!!!!

As I've stated before, in the Dictionary next
to the text for Airplane (or) Aeroplane there
ought to be a nice little engraving of the
old girl herself!

A Totally PURE form!

Dan4th

Well I was waiting all night to post that
Totally agree too

[Mayfly]

45 SQUADRON

My first association with 45 Sqn was at Wittering in the 70s when they flew hunters. In 1995 DT joined them flying Jet Streams for multi engine pilot training when the squadron moved from Leeming to RAF Cranwell. Friday 13th was his last working day for them, they now fly the Beechcraft KingAir B 200 .......

Their Squadron Crest is a winged Camel commemerating the aircraft used for most part of WW1

http://www.raf.mod.uk/rafcranwell/about ... istory.cfm

[Xplumberlives]

45 SQUADRON

My first association with 45 Sqn was at Wittering in the 70s when they flew hunters. In 1995 DT joined them flying Jet Streams for multi engine pilot training when the squadron moved from Leeming to RAF Cranwell. Friday 13th was his last working day for them, they now fly the Beechcraft KingAir B 200 .......

Their Squadron Crest is a winged Camel commemerating the aircraft used for most part of WW1



http://www.raf.mod.uk/rafcranwell/about ... istory.cfm

There you go!

[Mackrick]

Robinson R44



43 Squadron.



Motto: Gloria finis - 'Glory is the end'. The motto of the Brook family, Sqn Ldr AF Brook being the Squadron Commander from July 1925 to January 1928.

Badge: A black gamecock - approved by HRH King Edward VIII in July 1936. The badge was developed from an unofficial design produced in 1926 when the Squadron was equipped with the Gloster Gamecock.

[Saracenman]

1942 - the year when this little beastie entered RAF service

[Spitfire]

BAE Jetstream 41



April 1941 - Gloster E28/39 First flight



The aircraft was delivered to Hucclecote for ground tests beginning on 7 April using a non-flightworthy version of the Power Jets W.1 engine. With these satisfactorily completed, the aircraft was fitted with a new engine, and on 15 May, Gloster's chief test pilot, Flight Lieutenant Gerry Sayer flew the aircraft under jet power for the first time from RAF Cranwell, near Sleaford in Lincolnshire. The flight lasted 17 minutes and was a complete success. Tests continued with increasingly refined versions of the engine over the following months. Later in the test program, small, auxiliary fins were added near the tips of the tailplanes to provide additional stability in high-speed flight.

[Mackrick]

1 Jan 1940 - The RAF introduces Identification Friend or Foe (IFF) signals to help identify Bomber, Coastal and Fighter Command aircraft on radar screens.

[Spitfire]

Bell P39 Airacobra

An aeroplane built around a cannon.

[Mackrick]

June 1938- The Supermarine Spitfire, perhaps the most famous RAF aircraft ever, enters service with No. 19 Squadron at Duxford.

[Xplumberlives]

Rick, that's a mighty small picture of a Spitfire over the sea!

[Spitfire]

June 1938- The Supermarine Spitfire, perhaps the most famous RAF aircraft ever, enters service with No. 19 Squadron at Duxford.

That's a MK IX

Must have a REAL picture

Spitfire Mk IA K9795 of 19 Sqn at Duxford in 1938

K9795, the ninth production Spitfire, being flown by the CO of 19 Squadron Sqn. Ldr. Iliffe Cozens in 1938. Note the pre-war roundels.



The first public outing for the RAF's new fighter - the opening of Marshall's new aerodrome on Newmarket Road in Cambridge, 8 October 1938.



Six 19 Squadron Spitfire Mk Is, pictured in October 1938

[Mackrick]

Thanks Spitfire I knew you would have a proper photo.

[Spitfire]

It's a pleasure Mackrick - where Spitfires are concerned

The Hindenburg disaster - May 6th 1937

[Mackrick]

6 Mar 1936- The RAF's first operational "modern" monoplane, the Avro Anson Mk I
6,688 Mk Is were built. Powered by two 350 hp Armstrong Siddeley Cheetah IX or two 395 hp XIX engines, equipped with a retractable undercarriage, entered service with No. 48 Squadron, RAF Manston.

[Spitfire]

Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II stealth fighter

[Saracenman]

Ventura B-34 Lexington / B-37 PV Ventura / Harpoon



The Lockheed Ventura was a bomber and patrol aircraft of World War II, used by United States and British Commonwealth forces in several guises. It was developed from the Lockheed L-18 Lodestar transport, as a replacement for the Lockheed Hudson bombers then in service with the Royal Air Force. The RAF ordered 675 Venturas in February 1940. They were delivered from mid-1942 onwards.

The Ventura was very similar to its predecessor, the Lockheed Hudson. The primary difference was not in layout; rather, the Ventura was larger and heavier than the Hudson. Venturas were initially used for daylight raids on occupied Europe. They proved unsuited to this task, because (like many other bombers used by the RAF), they were too vulnerable without long-range fighter escorts. They were replaced in this role by the de Havilland Mosquito. The Venturas were gradually transferred to patrol duties with Coastal Command.

The RAF placed a further order for 487 Ventura Mark IIs, but many of these were diverted to United States Army Air Forces service. The U.S. Army Air Forces placed its own order for 200 Ventura Mark IIA, which were put into service as the B-34 Lexington. Later redesignated RB-34.

sm