Bell RP-39Q Airacobra

Bell RP-39Q Airacobra Courtesy of Randy Malmstrom Bell RP-39Q Airacobra, serial number 44-2485. This particular aircraft did not see combat action. It was recovered from Carpenter Lake in British Columbia and restored by Pacific Fighters and is painted in Soviet Air Forces markings. My photos at Erickson Aircraft Collection in Madras, Oregon where it is…

N3N-3 Canary (“Yellow Peril”)

Naval Aircraft Factory N3N-3 Canary (“Yellow Peril”) Courtesy of Randy Malstrom Naval Aircraft Factory N3N-3 Canary (“Yellow Peril”), Bu. No. 2582-27. This particular aircraft was built on 1940 (I have not determined its service history) and was restored by high school teacher Bob van Vranken of Suisun, California who took the aircraft on an over…

Supermarine Spitfire Lf Mk XVIe

Supermarine Spitfire Lf. Mk. XVIe Courtesy of Randy Malmstrom Supermarine Spitfire Lf. Mk. XVIe, s/n TE356 (“Lf” in reference to low-altitude rated engine). This particular aircraft was built at the Vickers-Armstrong plant at Castle Bromwich and delivered to 695 Squadron of the British Royal Air Force in June 1945 and was reassigned to No. 2…

North American T-6G SNJ-6

North American T-6G (SNJ-6) Courtesy of Randy Malmstrom North American T-6G (SNJ-6) Constr. No. 168-47. I have not been able to get much in the way of history of this particular aircraft. It is painted in the markings of SNJ-6 “Felix the Cat” of VFA-31 (Strike Fighter Squadron 31) the “Tomcatters” with the call sign…

Messerschmitt Bf-109 G-10

Messerschmitt Bf-109 G-10/Hispano Aviación Buchón HA-1112-M1L Courtesy of Randy Malmstrom Messerschmitt Bf-109 G-10/Hispano Aviación HA-1112-M1L. This particular aircraft was built as an HA-1112-M1L Buchón by Hispano Aviación under a 1943 license from Messerschmitt and was fitted with an upright Hispano-Suiza V-12 engine rather than the inverted Daimler-Benz typical of the Bf-109, and thus had a…

Lockheed P-38L Lightning

Lockheed P-38L Lightning Courtesy of Randy Malmstrom Lockheed P-38L Lightning, s/n 44-53186 (no name). This particular aircraft was built at Lockheed’s Burbank plant and delivered to the U.S. Army Air Corps in July 1945 but it did not see combat action. Rather, it was sent to Dallas, Texas where it was converted to an F-5G…

Lockheed P2V-7/P-2H Neptune

Lockheed P2V-7/P-2H Neptune Courtesy of Randy Malmstrom Lockheed P2V-7/P-2H Neptune, #148360. One of 216 produced, this particular aircraft was one of the last of its type produced for the U.S. Navy: from October 1961 to 1977 it was on submarine patrol in the Atlantic, Arctic, Pacific and Mediterranean Oceans A maritime patrol and anti-submarine aircraft.…

Fieseler Fi-103 V-1

Fieseler Fi-103 “V-1” Courtesy of Randy Malmstrom Fieseler Fi-103 “V-1.” Vergeltungswaffe (German for vengeance/retaliatory/reprisal weapon – a nickname assigned by Hitler – or “Kirschkern” (Cherrystone) or Maikäfer (Maybug). Developed at Peenemünde on the Baltic coast beginning in 1936 (a precursor to today’s cruise missiles) it was aimed primarily against England and Belgium. The first deployments…

Fieseler Fi-103R-IV Reichenberg

Fieseler Fi-103R-IV Reichenberg Courtesy of Randy Malmstrom Fieseler Fi-103R-IV Reichenberg. This particular aircraft is one of six existing Fi-103R-IV aircraft, and was found in an underground facility that had been covered over by the advancing Soviet army at the end of World War II. It was restored by Bavarian restorer Alexander Kuncze in Geisenhausen (near…