WWII Kodachrome warbird photos

Those are great pictures, my family used to have every life magazine from WW2, as a kid I remember going through them, the war pics and articles were very compelling...

 

This is such a great thread. And I agree about the Republic Rainbow. Beautiful aircraft in much the same way the Concorde is classically beautiful--just clean.

I also have a soft spot for the XB-70 too.

 

Interesting bunch of pictures. If I may add, many shots were pre-war and some planes carried old or interim markings. Red and white tail stripes,etc. but those with the large white or grey numerals on the nose would be stateside training aircraft. Good stuff to look at.

 

OMG, Tommy, brings back so many recollections of my childhood during WWII; first the Northrup P-61 Black Widow night fighter that I'm not sure ever saw combat. Several photos of the SBD Dauntless dive bombers that my close cousin, Col Jonathan deSola Mendes USMC, flew in combat in the South Pacific. He was recalled for Korea, was CO of a squadron there before returning to Pensacola as a combat flight instructor to check out Ted Williams and Jerry Coleman in jets. Over a decade ago Jon became the oldest runner ever to finish the Marine Corps Marathon in Washington DC and four years ago finished the New York City Marathon three days after his 90th birthday. Happily, the tough old jarhead is still with us as spunky as ever.

 

Yippee was the 5000th P-38 built and went on bond tours in the US.

 

This is a great thread. Awesome pictures posted. The flickr account linked above was great to look through. It took some time but it was definitely worth it.

 

Great thread, thanks. Pulled this from my home town paper's online archives.

Wichita plant.
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I saw that airplane flying over Lake Washington in the 50's and wondered why it was up here and what it was going to do. never heard a word from any source and the airplane never appeared again. The red paint had typically weathered to a dull reddish gray and it wasn't too pretty. In the sir, the P-38 has a its own distinctive appearance and sound.

 

Taken a couple years after WWII was over... the Air Force was born in 47.

 

Classic aircraft have a special place in my heart. There are very few planes left unclaimed by the USAF and I hope at some point in my life that I can bring one back from the dead (Walter Soplata's YB-36 would be very nice).

 

I actually saw many of those in my day, most at NACA at Langley Field in 1945. Didn't see the oddball Martin, Caproni, or the ME 110, but all the rest, I think. The most impressive of all was the FW-190, the ultimate fighter.

 

I posted this in the ABC world of flying but relevant here: http://www.ww2color.com

 

Nice picture of Bockscar in the wild. It was the plane that dropped the bomb on Nagasaki. I remember seeing it indoors at the museum in Dayton, next to mock ups of the original atomic bombs.

 

These are incredible!