Old airplane pictures

Wow. Those are awesome. Thanks for taking the time to share with us.

Wonderful pictures, brought back memories leading off with the first one.....

AD-6 (later A1) My first Navy Squadron

A-4 "Scooters". Pilots loved them

F-4 Phantom. Pilots disliked them

B-24 "Liberator" Other versions too. Produced by Ford During WW2. My cousin lost an eye in one during a combat mission over Germany

B-36 "Peace maker". (I think) Based at Pease Air Force Base in New Hampshire near my home town

B-58 "Hustler". Everybody's all time favorite

Lockheed "Super Constellation". Flew in one from Pensacola to Boston

British Comet. Square passenger windows caused crashes due to metal fatigue

Vought F8 Crusader. Noisy beast that I loved to watch taking off.

P-80 "Shooting Star". Still in service at Pensacola in the '50's. I trained pilots with a simulator based on it.

Thanks for the pictures and letting me share some of my memories.

Bob

I find the Grumman Albatross appealing. That's just a plane that you don't see much off and one has to respect all it has done not too mention the last of the flying boats.

All the pictures are truly awesome, but I have to admit that my favorite is the first picture of the A-1 Skyraider. I have always had a love for the 'Sandy' after watching the movie 'Flight Of The Intruder' at the end where they finished things off. I don't honestly know what it was, but the first time seen them, I knew that they were my favorite. Now if we're talking jets, it would be a tie between the F-14 Tomcat and the A-6 Intruder. Two very different aircraft, but both just have so much appeal to me.

NEW222 wrote:All the pictures are truly awesome, but I have to admit that my favorite is the first picture of the A-1 Skyraider. I have always had a love for the 'Sandy' after watching the movie 'Flight Of The Intruder' at the end where they finished things off. I don't honestly know what it was, but the first time seen them, I knew that they were my favorite. Now if we're talking jets, it would be a tie between the F-14 Tomcat and the A-6 Intruder. Two very different aircraft, but both just have so much appeal to me.

Check out these two videos.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ZukhUgtVYc&app=desktop

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOeNWN8B9pc&app=desktop

My first squadron in the Navy was VA-35 flying the then AD-6. Some 20 years later by coincidence my son was assigned the same squadron only this time flying the A6 Intruder.

Fantastic photos, Slick049, very nice and very well done, lots of details not seen today. And thanks, Jason, your newsletter works. I somehow missed this post until I clicked your link.

I remember seeing some of those planes when I was in the Hawaii Civil Air Patrol in the late 1960's at Hickam AFB and while visiting Barbers Point Naval Air Station as a military dependent. Then, the RB-47 was still being used for reconnaissance, the A4D was still the Navy's bread and butter aircraft carrier plane (IMO). Back in the 1980's while working at Douglas Aircraft, I remember the last of the replacement A4D wings made by the plant being shipped to the Navy.

An interesting history of the A4D:

https://www.avgeekery.com/douglas-a-4-skyhawk-that-little-attack-jet-that-could-and-did/

And, that personal photo of the X-15 research rocket plane being slung under the wing of the B-52 is really nice. Thanks for posting.

- George