Some of the 4th FG and a lot of A-2s

[Greg Gale]

I see what you mean - then again, in the majority of the pics they're not wearing any chutes and the sleeve lengths are the same. I can imagine that having a heavy "backpack" on can make the sleeves ride up more when reaching forward or upwards though.

 

[Smithy]

Dude of the Day...

Seeing as I picked up Frank Speer's "One Down, One Dead" today it seems only right that Frank should be today's dude.

 

[B-Man2]

Tim
Great Photo!

Greg
He's wearing your new Ray Bans!

 

[Smithy]

It really is a great photo Burt. Maybe it's just me but Frank in that photo along with one's like Blakeslee standing in his A-2 and cowboy boots just epitomise to me what was cool about the USAAF fighter pilot during WWII.

 

[Smithy]

Dude of the Day...

The one and only Kidd Hofer:

 

[Brettafett]

Legend!

 

[B-Man2]

He’s looks so young, that he looks like he just landed to attend to his newspaper delivery route. What a fantastic generation of war fighters, regardless of what nation they represented.

 

[Smithy]

He’s looks so young, that he looks like he just landed to attend to his newspaper delivery route. What a fantastic generation of war fighters, regardless of what nation they represented.

He was young Burt like the vast majority of them. Not long from school, in another country and in charge of an exceedingly powerful machine with fearsome firepower and having to pit himself and this machine against other very young men flying similar weapons of war. And sadly like so very many Kidd Hofer never made it home.

 

[B-Man2]

He was young Burt like the vast majority of them. Not long from school, in another country and in charge of an exceedingly powerful machine with fearsome firepower and having to pit himself and this machine against other very young men flying similar weapons of war. And sadly like so very many Kidd Hofer never made it home.

Tim
I never knew that story . When you see them young and smiling you forget that part of the equation. It puts a pain in my heart to hear that. If you know, how was he KIA?

 

[Smithy]

Tim
I never knew that story . When you see them young and smiling you forget that part of the equation. It puts a pain in my heart to hear that. If you know, how was he KIA?

It was thought for a long time that he was shot down by a 109 but documents uncovered in 2003 showed that he was shot down by a flak unit when he was attacking Mostar-Sud airfield. He was a very unconventional and daredevil pilot who was famous in the 4th FG for disobeying operational orders and op procedures. Don Blakeslee was usually apoplectic when it came to Hofer. He was however a very gifted pilot but like so many great pilots who liked to do their own thing he ultimately didn't survive.

 

[B-Man2]

It was thought for a long time that he was shot down by a 109 but documents uncovered in 2003 showed that he was shot down by a flak unit when he was attacking Mostar-Sud airfield. He was a very unconventional and daredevil pilot who was famous in the 4th FG for disobeying operational orders and op procedures. Don Blakeslee was usually apoplectic when it came to Hofer. He was however a very gifted pilot but like so many great pilots who liked to do their own thing he ultimately didn't survive.

Tim thanks for that .

 

[Smithy]

Dude of the Day...

Deacon Hively. Not a huge image but a good one as it shows clearly the red outline around the star and bar which was used for a shortish period during spring/summer 1943.

 

[johnwayne]

That red outline looks quite crudely done too and very odd to the right (his left) - retouched pic perhaps but still crude!
Interesting to see Frank Speer's use of English flying goggles, not uncommon I think to see RAF gear used by USAAF boys.

 

[Smithy]

That red outline looks quite crudely done too and very odd to the right (his left) - retouched pic perhaps but still crude!
Interesting to see Frank Speer's use of English flying goggles, not uncommon I think to see RAF gear used by USAAF boys.

No it's kosher, I have other photos showing the same. A lot of aircraft marking was incredibly crudely done but in this day of exactly painted warbirds and scale model decals most people think these things were painted neatly. D-Day stripes are probably the perfect example, most seem to think they were masked and perfectly painted, the reality is most aircraft flying on D-Day and the days following looked like they'd been painted with a broom. The order to paint invasion stripes was only issued less than a half day before take off (for security reasons) so groundcrews had to hastily paint aircraft as well as making sure they were mechanically operative.

In terms of flying kit, there was a lot of RAF clobber used in the USAAF, probably the most common items being flying helmets, goggles and boots.

 

[Smithy]

Dude of the Day...

Vic France again but the nose art on that Jug is great too!

 

[johnwayne]

His A2 looks a bit on the roomy side from what we can see, still a cool dude though!

 

[Pilot]

Nice...

 

[Brettafett]

Some more Vic France

 

[Brettafett]

Steve Pisanos

 

[Pilot]

Wow!
RAF life jacket...