AT-6's (SNJ's) from the film Tora! Tora! Tora!, Natrona County International Airport.

I heard them flying over downtown and looked up and saw them flying, but didn't notice the Japanese markings.  After realizing what they were, I went out the next day and to see if they were still there, and they were.

These are the SNJ's that were altered and remodeled to closely resemble Japanese Navy A6M's (Zeroes) and Nakajima B5N's (Kates) for the 1970s movie Tora! Tora! Tora!.  The resemblance to the Japanese aircraft is truly remarkable.

The Commemorative Air Force maintains and flies this team of aircraft today, preserving the excellent replica work done for the film.

In this instance, these aircraft were on their way to an airshow in Salt Lake City.

AT-6 in original markings.

AT-6 alte4red to resemble B5N.

SNJ rebuilt to resemble A6M.

The Delta Blues*

In local and semi local news:

1.  Last Saturday evening, a Delta Airlines 757 bound from Atlanta to Salt Lake City lost cabin pressure and had to land at the Natrona County International Airport.

2.  On June 17the Casper/Natrona County International Airport Board of Directors notified the Fly Casper Alliance (FCA) that it voted to withdraw support for the minimum revenue guarantee which has kept SkyWest flying as the Delta Connection to Salt Lake.  This will almost surely end commercial air service from Casper to SLC.

Footnotes

* The reference is to the type of blues associated with the Missippii Delta.

Monday, June 23, 1924. First dawn to dusk transcontinental flight.

Lex Anteinternet: Monday, June 23, 1924. First dawn to dusk transco...:

Monday, June 23, 1924. First dawn to dusk transcontinental flight.

Protype of the excellent Curtiss P-1.   The P-1 was the first of a series of "hawk" biplane fighter aircraft manufactured by Curtiss that would serve right up until the eve of World War Two.

1st Lt. Russell Maughan made the first dawn-to-dusk transcontinental flight across the United States.

Landing at Crissy Field in San Francisco one minute before technical sundown, he had started the day off at Mitchel Field, Long Island and had flown his Curtiss P-1 across the country with stops in Dayton, Ohio; St. Joseph, Missouri; North Platte, Nebraska; Cheyenne, Wyoming and the Bonneville Salt Flats at Salduro

Maughan was a significant early military aviation pioneer who has appeared on this site before.

Last prior edition:

Wednesday, June 18, 1924. The Cummins Incident.

Labels: 1920s, 1924, Denmark, Diplomacy, Mexico, United Kingdom, USSR

Lex Anteinternet: Tuesday, June 23, 1914. America

Lex Anteinternet: Tuesday, June 23, 1914. The decisive Villista Vic...:

Tuesday, June 23, 1914. The decisive Villista Victory.

The first flight of the flying boat America took place in anticipation of a transatlantic flight that would not occur due to the outbreak of World War One.

Lex Anteinternet: Saturday, June 17, 1944. A stateside tragedy.

Lex Anteinternet: Saturday, June 17, 1944. A stateside tragedy.: 

Saturday, June 17, 1944. A stateside tragedy.

B-24J 42-100023 piloted by 2nd. Lt. Richard Zorn of Connecticut crashed on top of Casper Mountain, south of Casper, Wyoming, at about midnight, killing all on board.

Lex Anteinternet: Tuesday, June 13, 1944. D+7. First use of V-1s on London.

Lex Anteinternet: Tuesday, June 13, 1944. D+7. Heavy fighting in N...: 

Tuesday, June 13, 1944. D+7. Heavy fighting in Normandy.

The first V-1 rockets were launched on London.

V-1s are, basically, a pulse jet drone, and therefore heralded an advance in weaponry which we're only now seeing the full application of in combat.  One of a variety of late war German "Wunderwaffe", they were primitive in their category and while they affected terror, they stood no chance of being war altering.  The same can not be said of the V-2, which was a ballistic missile and truly revolutionary.

Armed drones would be revolutionary, but it would not really be until the advent of cruise missiles that they'd become effective.  With advances in targeting, they're now a massive dangerous weapon which has been one of the things which has allowed Ukraine to disproportionately take on Russia in the ongoing Russo Ukrainian War.

Lex Anteinternet: Friday, June 13, 1924. Macready jumps into the dark.

Lex Anteinternet: Friday, June 13, 1924. Macready jumps into the dark.: 

Friday, June 13, 1924. Macready jumps into the dark.

Lt. John A Macready, already famous for this; 

The Aerodrome: First "Crop Dusting". August 3, 1921.:

First "Crop Dusting". August 3, 1921.

On this day in 1921, crop dusting, spraying pesticides by air, was performed for the first time in an experiment involving the U.S. Army and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

First crop dusting being conducted.

The first flight featured Army Air Corps pilot John A. Macready and aircraft engineer Etienne Dormoy who performed the test with a Curtiss JN4 over a field outside of Troy, Ohio.  Lead arsenate was sprayed to attack caterpillars.

Dormay left, Macready right.

Macready would complete an Army career prior to World War Two, leaving the service in 1926, but was recalled to serve in the Second World War.  He retired from the Army Air Force in 1948.  He was a legendary pilot at the time and had many firsts while in the service, including being the first Air Corps pilot to parachute from a stricken aircraft at night.

made his aforementioned night jump.

He landed in a tree, which saved his life.

Which, in an odd way, brings up this item:

Mosquito Control Notification: Aerial Granular Larvicide Scheduled for June 13

Laramie, Wyoming – City of Laramie Mosquito Control has scheduled the application of granular larvicide to control larval mosquitoes in rural areas adjacent to the city.  The application is scheduled for Thursday, June 13th beginning at daylight.   The product is a granular form of Bacillus thuringensis israelensis (Bti) that is designed to penetrate heavy grasses and brushy foliage to reach water sources, especially in maturing hay fields, where larvae are present. The application is targeting both nuisance and vector mosquito larva. The product is environmentally friendly and will not harm fish, amphibians, livestock, or other aquatic invertebrates. If weather conditions are not favorable for the application, it will be postponed until weather conditions allow for the application. 

Treatment areas include irrigated acreages along the Big Laramie River southwest of the city, flooded riparian zones in the Big Laramie flood plain southwest and north of the city, and acreages north and west of the city that are irrigated by the North Canal and the Pioneer Canal.  

Schedules regarding Mosquito Control, Parks, and Cemetery chemical applications for control of weeds and insect pests are available daily through the Mosquito Control and Integrated Pest Management Hotline at 721-5056. The schedule is updated at approximately 4pm daily. Spraying information is also available on the city website. Look for the daily mosquito and chemical application hotline tab on the home page at www.cityoflaramie.org.   For further information contact Hunter Deerman, Mosquito/IPM Supervisor at 721-5258; hdeerman@cityoflaramie.org or Scott Hunter, Parks Manager at 721-5257 SHunter@cityoflaramie.org.

Silent Cal had a brief statement for the Press:

Blog Mirror: Around the World in 175 Days, 1924: Department of State Contributions to the U.S. Army Flight Around the World: Part IV: Shanghai, China

 

Around the World in 175 Days, 1924: Department of State Contributions to the U.S. Army Flight Around the World: Part IV: Shanghai, China

Lex Anteinternet: June 3, 1909. Dreadnoughts and Flyers.

Lex Anteinternet: June 3, 1909. Dreadnoughts and Flyers.: 

June 3, 1909. Dreadnoughts and Flyers.

The Imperial Russian Navy, down to four ships following the Russo Japanese War, began a program of rebuilding, laying down keels for four dreadnoughts.

The Wright Brothers returned to Ft. Myer, Virginian, with an improved Wright Military Flyer.  The prior version had killed Lt. Thomas E. Selfridge.

Last prior edition:

Tuesday, June 1, 1909. Pathfinder Dam completed.

Labels: 1900s, 1909, Alaska, Alaska-Yukon Pacific Exposition, Arizona, Australia, California, California (Oakland), North Platte River, Oakland California, panoramic, Platte River, Wyoming, Yukon Territory

Blog Mirror: Casper Loses Out On Being Home For $100 Million National Championship Air Races

 

Casper Loses Out On Being Home For $100 Million National Championship Air Races

Lex Anteinternet: Wednesday, May 24, 1944. First production B-29.

Lex Anteinternet: Wednesday, May 24, 1944. Hitler to Caesar.: 

First production B-29, May 24, 1944.