“(CNN) -- As German Gen. Erwin Rommel chased British forces across
the North African desert, a stray Royal Air Force fighter crashed in the
blistering sands of the Egyptian Sahara on June 28, 1942. The pilot was never
heard from again. The damaged Kittyhawk P-40 -- a couple of hundred miles from
civilization -- was presumed lost forever.”
“Until now!”
Cassi Creek: There is a slide show attached to this
article. It is well worth the time
required to view it and will tell you a great deal about the skill and
abilities of the pilot. Landing a warplane
in desert sands without destroying the aircraft is no mean feat. Yet, the article indicates he became confused
and failed to follow his flight plan, which caused him to run out of fuel. The big, three-bladed propeller demonstrates the
forces involved in the final landing.
The
Curtis P-40 KittyHawk was a signature airplane of WWII. It was already becoming eclipsed by newer and
more powerful airframes but saw service in all the theaters of WWII. A moderately lengthy article about the history
of the plane can be found at
These planes, if embellished
beyond unit and service markings, often had shark jaw painted on the nose. I’m curious as to how this one was painted.
Nose art was very common on allied aircraft during
WWII. http://www.nose-art.net/index.html The paintings made aircraft more easily
identifiable in combat, and were morale boosters in a war where most people
served for the duration of the war. The
names of planes and the images used often were selected by the individual
aircrew commander/pilot. From the nose art,
you might learn all manner of things about the pilot and crew.
Notice the pin-up quality
image, the crew’s names and rank, and each bombing mission they flew denoted by
a yellow bomb painted on the aircraft.
Nose art endured through the Korean War but was far less
common in VietNam. Changing aspects of
how war was carried out, layers of secrecy to prevent aircraft being identified
for propaganda purposes and to prevent the North Vietnamese learning when air
strikes were to take place, and the beginnings of political correctness applied
to warfare were all factors in the demise of the traditions of nose art.
I wonder what images this latest flier carried on his
plane, if any.
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