Wednesday, April 24 1946. Firsts.

The Blue Angels, flying F6F Hellcats, were formed.

The first Blue Angels.

The MiG-9 and the Yak-15 flew for the first time.

Lex Anteinternet: Wednesday, December 5, 1945. Flight 19.

Lex Anteinternet: Wednesday, December 5, 1945. Flight 19.: 

Wednesday, December 5, 1945. Flight 19.

The legendary aviation mystery of Flight 19 occurred when five Grumman TBFs disappeared in a training flight between Florida and Bermuda, together with a PBM Mariner that was sent to look for the missing aircraft.

The PBM is believed to have exploded.

No doubt because none of the aircraft have ever been found, the mystery remains an enduring and popular one, and it is part of the Bermuda Triangle set of myths.

The French government nationalized five banks.

Last edition:

Monday, December 3, 1945. A Walk In The Sun.

Labels: 1940s, 1945, 1945 at the movies, Advertising, Aircraft, Arab League, British League of Nations Mandates, Israel, Movies, Palestine, Retail, Royal Navy, World War Two

Lex Anteinternet: Wednesday, November 10, 1943. Heroes and martyrs.

Lex Anteinternet: Wednesday, November 10, 1943. Heroes and martyrs.: 

Crash-landing of F6F-3, Number 30 of Fighting Squadron Two (VF-2), USS Enterprise, November 10, 1943.  Lt. Walter L. Chewning Jr., the catapult officer of the USS Enterprise, is seen leaping up on the burning blame to rescue the pilot, Ensign Bryon M. Johnson.  Johnson would receive hardly any injury.

Lex Anteinternet: Tuesday, August 31, 1943. Debut of the F6F.

Lex Anteinternet: Tuesday, August 31, 1943. Debut of the F6F.: 

Tuesday, August 31, 1943. Debut of the F6F.

Grumman F6Fs made their combat debut.

The fighter was a leap in Navy fighter technology, joining the Corsair as a new generation of flattop launched fighter aircraft.  The plane would be responsible for approximately 2/3s of the Japanese aircraft shot down by the U.S. Navy during World War Two.

The carrier born first use was in a day-long raid on Marcus Island.

Radar equipped F6F's would remain in service until 1954, completing their service as night fighters.

On the same day, the 14th Air Force bombed Gia Lam, Co Bi, Ichang Airfiled, Stonecutters Island and the Yoyang rail yards.  The 5th Air Force hit trages in Saint George Channel and the Dutch East Indes.

Lex Anteinternet: Saturday, May 22, 1943. ME 262 and Escort Carriers.

Lex Anteinternet: Saturday, May 22, 1943. Comintern dissolves.: 

Sarah Sundin's blog reports:

Today in World War II History—May 22, 1943: USS Bogue’s TBF aircraft damage German U-boat U-569, which is scuttled by her crew, the first victory for an Allied escort carrier unassisted by surface ships.

She also noted that Luftwaffe General Adolf Galland flew the ME262 on this day and was impressed by it, as anyone would have had to have been.

Lex Anteinternet: Friday August 1, 1941. New things.

Lex Anteinternet: Friday August 1, 1941. New things.: The United States Navy was about to get a brand new, and very advanced, torpedo bomber in the form of the Grumman TBF. TBF's at the Natr...

Grumman TBF Torpedo Bombers, as Fire Bombers, Natrona County International Airport

Grumman TBF Torpedo Bombers, as Fire Bombers, Natrona County International Airport

There are WWII vintage Grumman TBF torpedo bombers serving as fire bombers post-war. These aircraft were kept at the Natrona County International Airport up until the 1980s, when they were stripped of their skins and stored. Within the last five years, there were sold and moved to a new location.

I'm not sure when this photo was taken, other than that I can see the back end of our 1965 Mercury Meteor off to the side. We had that car until 1973. I'm also not too sure who took the photo. Given the odd angle, and the height of it, I suspect I did as a kid.