Innholdsfortegnelse for September/October 2025 i Flight Journal

THE SPITFIRE FOUGHT ALL OVER THE WORLD, but the hands on the stick weren’t always British. Thousands of foreign pilots joined her in the fight against the Axis. Some even called America home, and few realize just how many Americans flew the Spit, especially early in the War, before the U.S. industrial machine kicked into high gear. Enter Claude Weaver III, an American from Oklahoma who joined the Royal Canadian Air Force in 1941 and was sent to the Mediterranean to fly Spitfires with no. 185 Squadron in the defense of Malta. Not only was Weaver fighting for the British in a Spit, but at only 18 years old, he became the youngest Allied fighter ace after splashing five German Me 109s in a week! On that day he was…

Squadron Leader Ralph Sorley is widely unappreciated for his contribution to the Spitfire’s armament. The original specification listed four .303-caliber guns, which, considering the nature of combat, would have been woefully inadequate. But Sorley, who had flown with the Royal Navy in WW I, was the right man in the right place at the right time. Working in the operational requirements office, he recommended upgrading the new fighter’s armament to eight machine guns. As it was, eight .30 calibers proved marginal against bombers. In anachronistic terms, the “throw weight” of the British and German fighters’ armament favored the latter. A three-second burst from eight .303s produced 13 pounds of projectiles downrange while the 109’s combined cannon/MG battery yielded 18 pounds. But undoubtedly far less than 10 percent of all rounds…

Claude Weaver III, an American from Oklahoma City, joined the Royal Canadian Air Force in February 1941 and flew Spitfires with 185 Squadron Royal Air Force in the fierce aerial battles in defense of Malta in 1942. Shortly after arriving on the island in July 1942, Weaver shot down five German Messerschmitt Bf 109s in a week, becoming the youngest Allied fighter ace at the age of 18. Four of his kills, plus a half-shared victory against a Junkers Ju 88 bomber a day later, were achieved flying Spitfire Mk Vb EP122, which is part of the Comanche Fighters collection in Texas, painted again in her distinctive 185 Squadron Malta markings. As a rare combat veteran and one of the most significant aircraft to have been involved in the defense…

“WE ONLY HAVE ROADS INTO TOWN three months of the year, while all the lakes and rivers are frozen. Otherwise the only way into Norman Wells and many of the other communities around us is by airplane. Usually float planes. That’s why I had the Bellanca CH-300 restored. In the 1930s it was one of our favorite links with the outside world and is a historical connection from then to the modern aircraft we fly today.” The speaker is Warren Wright, who has operated North-Wright Airways for decades. His fleet of 21 aircraft—many on floats, some on wheels, and some on tundra tires—provide an aerial lifeline for the many small villages and camps that dot the wilderness of Canada’s Northwest Territories. For reference, Norman Wells is located just 90 miles…

Piloting the largest flying boat produced during World War II is an exercise in teamwork—both in the air and on the water—Peter Killin stresses, particularly in the aerial firefighting role the aircraft took on for nearly 60 years after a decade of U.S. Navy service. Converting the four Mars acquired by Forest Industries Flying Tankers in British Columbia in 1959 to firebombers included the addition of several water tanks in the fuselage and two retractable pick-up scoops that could rapidly fill the tanks with 7,200 gallons of water. Water drops were made via 22 doors in the aircraft’s hull. Killin extensively flew both “Philippine Mars” and “Hawaii Mars” on aerial firefighting missions. The aircraft were equipped with 24WA-series versions of Wright’s 3350 radial engine capable of producing up to 2,500…

The brown-green fighters swept down from altitude, pushing 300mph to attack the serried ranks of gray-green bombers. Within 1,000 feet of the enemy formation, the fighters opened fire, each with eight machine guns. Properly aimed, the effect could be devastating. Throughout the day, the Germans took a beating: 32 bombers destroyed and 18 damaged, plus nearly 30 fighters downed. But behind the numbers lay blood, fear and suffering. Radio operator Horst Zander’s Dornier 17 was riddled with bullets from British fighters. “The cabin was full of blood. Our pilot was hit. In the intercom, I heard him say feebly, ‘Heinz Laube, you have to take us home.’ The flight mechanic put a dressing on the badly wounded pilot, and our observer with his B-2 pilot’s license took over our shot-up…

The Battle of Britain is most often portrayed from the cockpit of a Hurricane or Spitfire. But RAF fighters existed for one reason: to shoot down enemy bombers. Seven decades later, the Luftwaffe’s Kampfgruppen (bomber wings) still are taken for granted as “spear carriers” rather than star performers that drove the aerial opera. The Luftwaffe was largely designed to support the army and therefore lacked heavy bombers. Consequently, Germany was unable to deliver enough bomb tonnage on industrial targets significantly to affect British production. Some British wartime documents stated that German bombers concentrated crews in the forward part of the aircraft to boost morale. It was a specious argument, implying that Luftwaffe aircrew lacked motivation. In truth, crew coordination was enhanced by placing pilots, navigators and bombardiers together—similar to the…

Originally ordered in August 1941, Spitfire Mk Vb EP122 was part of the fourth batch of Spitfires manufactured at the Castle Bromwich Aeroplane Factory, comprising 904 aircraft built as Mk Vb and Mk Vc Spitfires. On completion and having been air tested, EP122 was flown to a maintenance unit on May 24, 1942, for fitment of operational equipment. On June 8, the Spitfire was crated and then loaded onto the merchant vessel SS Guido for shipment to Gibraltar, where it arrived on June 25. At Gibraltar the aircraft was reassembled by the RAF’s resident Special Assembly Group and its top surfaces were repainted with an unusual Malta camouflage scheme of extra dark sea grey and slate grey. It was then loaded onto the aircraft carrier HMS Eagle, which sailed closer…

THE CONTINENTAL CONGRESS established the United States Navy on October 13, 1775, authorizing two ships modified as privateers. It was an extremely modest beginning for what became the world’s dominant sea power. Some 136 years later, in 1911 the United States Navy entered the air age, borne upon wood and fabric wings and the spiritual lift of hope and optimism. That March, Congress appropriated the grandiose amount of $25,000 (about $835,000 today) for development of naval aviation. At the time the Navy had 51,000 men with 202 ships. Dawn of naval aviation Curtiss pilot Eugene Ely already had proven shipboard takeoffs and landings in 1910-1911, but the first aeroplane purchased under the daring initiative set back Uncle Sam some $5,500. Thus, the Curtiss A-1 series became the first of tens of…

IN MARCH OF 1944, a Stinson-Vultee OY-1, Bureau of Aeronautics number 02766 and USAAC serial number 42-99699, was constructed as an ambulance model and delivered to the United States Marine Corps. Assigned to Marine Observation Squadron 4 (VMO-4) that was currently training in Hawaii, it was one of 10 new OY-1s delivered in October of 1944 prior to the invasion of Iwo Jima. When the airplanes were finally loaded aboard their ship for the long sea journey to the Pacific Theater, only seven of the original 10 made it to Iwo Jima prior to the invasion. Combat records indicate that 02766 was flown by USMC Lt. John Sutkus on March 1, 1945, during a three-hour mission. Lt. Sutkus again flew 02766 the following day for another three-hour hop in support…

Whether Adolf Hitler actually wanted to invade is uncertain, but Germany would have been sorely tested to conduct “D-Day in reverse.” The Wehrmacht lacked both experience and equipment for a major amphibious invasion, as demonstrated by the near-disastrous landings in Norway in April 1940. Additionally, the Germans possessed almost no purpose-built landing craft. The main vehicle of invasion would have been barges to transport troops. But through 1940, the Wehrmacht lacked the types of landing craft essential to an opposed landing, especially those capable of delivering tanks and trucks. Assuming the Luftwaffe achieved air superiority over southeastern England, the rest of the country remained largely immune to air attack. And the Royal Navy’s base at Scapa Flow lay beyond the range of effective bombing. Three or four days steaming from…

Britain’s “secret weapon” in the battle was hard to miss: a line of radar transmitters on 350-foot towers along the southeast coast. Chain Home radars usually operated at 20 to 30 MHz in the high-frequency band. They provided warning of inbound aircraft from 120 miles or more, while Chain Home Low was a VHF radar better suited to detecting aircraft at closer ranges. Receivers on 220-foot towers took the return echo of the transmitters and yielded a range and bearing, though altitude often was indistinct. Radar operators passed their data to Fighter Command headquarters, which alerted the appropriate group for action by individual stations and squadrons. Luftwaffe attacks on radar stations were mostly ineffective, and Göring halted the raids.…

Standing 38 ½ feet tall with a 200-foot wingspan, a 13 ½-foot beam and 117 feet long nose to tail, Martin’s JRM Mars was the largest Allied flying boat produced for World War II. Just seven of the mammoth seaplanes were built for the U.S. Navy between 1942 and 1947. But the impression they made on those who flew them, were transported by them or simply saw them over more than eight decades was as outsized as the aircraft themselves. Mars Captain Peter Killin was one of them. He was seven years-old in 1960 when he first gazed at the Mars aircraft that had been acquired from American aircraft scrappers by a company in British Columbia, Canada called “Forest Industries Flying Tankers.” For just over a decade, the Mars fleet…

I ENTERED THE SERVICE FOR TWO REASONS in late December 1941 my brother Tony had earned his wings in 1940 and I wanted to be just like him, but more importantly, the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor and I wanted to return the favor. By the time I earned my wings, I was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Marine Corps and was assigned to fly Corsairs. Unfortunately, I had a little mishap with one on landing so they thought I would be better suited flying the PBY Catalina. The PBY was old, slow, and reliable and could do just about anything—at half the speed of a Scooter! I have to admit the scenery was quite nice flying around the Caribbean in 1943 looking for German U-boats, but I still…

SEVEN P-51S AND THE B-29 “DOC” were among the warbirds that flew in for the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum’s “Innovations in Flight” day on June 14 at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia adjacent to Dulles International Airport. The aircraft arrived for the one-day event in celebration of the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II. Innovations in Flight is the NASM’s annual fly-in and outdoor display, created to explore the engineering and design achievements of the past century of flight. Visitors were able to chat with pilots and get up close to the warbirds, active duty military/government aircraft and general aviation planes on hand. All told, 13 warbirds flew in for the event. Many more were expected but a low overcast and thunderstorms around…