Jack Northrop had a knack for thinking outside the box.and coming up with radical, unusual aircraft designs. And not all of them worked.the XP-56 Black Bullet is a shining example of that kind of glorious "failure" that comes from pushing the envelope of design. Our two "photos" today are morphs, glossy 8x10 press photos that are based on actual ph ... More >>
A pair of VMF-115's Skyrays cruise over the mountains of the Mojave Desert. (Mojave Transportation Museum Collection) From the archives of the Mojave Transportation Museum come today's three photos, depicting the Douglas F4D-1 Skyrays that Marine Fighter Squadron VMF-115 operated from MCAAS Mojave during the summer and fall of 1956. VMF-115 had bee ... More >>
One of the unique aspects of collecting snapshots is the almost innocent, unpretentious glimpses it gives us into the daily lives of the people who took them. With the explosion in air travel during the 1930s and 1940s, not only did the nation and world become smaller for passengers, it became an "adventure" for the people who crewed the airliners. ... More >>
(Today's post had originally intended to run last week, but was preempted by th C-17 retirement event) Thursday, April 26th, marked a quiet little milestone in commercial aviation history, the 40th anniversary of the introduction of Lockheed's L-1011 Tristar airliner. Launch customer Eastern airlines took delivery of their first L1011, N306EA, on A ... More >>
A MD corporate 8x10 print showing the freshly painted T-1. These prints are slightly "well worn". As I've written before, when you're in the hunt for old photos, it pays to ask That works at yard sales, too. I came across one that had on old framed space shuttle litho for a buck (and which was essentially worthless), but I took the time to ask the ... More >>
Handwritten on the back of this small snapshot is "1946, Memphis Tenn." During World War II, over 10,000 P-38 Lightnings were produced by Lockheed, and was the only US fighter that remained in continuous production throughout the entire duration of America'sparticipationin the conflict. But as soon as hostilities ceased, the Army Air Corps had a hu ... More >>
This week, we celebrate the 50th anniversary of the first flight of the first of the Blackbird family of aircraft, Lockheed A-12 serial 60-6924. Because it was designed as a spy plane for the CIA, the A-12 stayed secret - as did its first flight - for many years. As far as the public knew back then, it was the YF-12A interceptor versionthat was the ... More >>
Sometimes, when you're searching for old photos, it helps to ask, and then to not take "no" for an answer. I had canvassed this one particular antique store and found nothing, and when that's the case, I always make a point of asking the proprietor if they happen to have any photos that I may have overlooked. "No", the kind, elderly lady answered, ... More >>
As you can see by the inscription, todays photo is from the first flight of C-2A ship 20. Like me, you might ask, what in the world is so special about the 20th aircraft? The first one, I can understand, but the 20th? The C-2A Greyhound, or more commonly the COD (for Carrier Onboard Delivery), was originally derived from the E-2 Hawkeye in 1964 wit ... More >>
Vultee SNV-1 tail number 12947 gets ready to taxi. Note the jaunty angle to the marshaller's cap. Today we feature a small collection of 8x10 glossies from the WWII era when the training of Naval Aviators was going full swing at NAS Corpus Christi, the Navy's largest flight training station. Through the war years, around 35,000 navy pilots earned t ... More >>
