impressive photography

Found on http://thesunsetempire.tumblr.com/

it started with one rivet, and ended up costing 1 million British pounds

A joke 40th birthday present led to Martin Phillips setting out to achieve his boyhood dream.

Martin had talked about restoring a Spitfire fighter aircraft for so many years that his friends finally clubbed together to buy him his first piece.

But it wasn't a propeller, wing or engine which set the £2.5m project rolling. It was a tiny "pop rivet" — suspended on a string in a huge cardboard box.

Now, some 13 years later, the 53-year-old businessman from Exeter has not only completed the mission of rebuilding the heroic Battle of Britain fighter plane but also realised his dream of seeing the Second World War aircraft take to the sky once more.

Mr Phillips spent years of his life meticulously restoring the iconic fighter plane to its former glory in his Langford warehouse, outside his home in Newton St Cyres, near Exeter.

He has travelled the world in a desperate search for spare parts, expert knowledge and inspiration – although one of its wings comes from a Spitfire which crashed near Exeter Airport and lay for decades in a hedge near a pub until it was salvaged. Mr. Phillips sourced the main fuselage from a scrapyard in South Africa,

http://www.exeterexpressandecho.co.uk/Martin-s-Spitfire-returns-sky/story-18013935-detail/story.html



photos from http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2270031/Businessman-spent-1m-restoring-Spitfire-scrapyard-10-years-ago-sees-fly-again.html

river crossing genius... don't bother making a bridge... just use some cable and the truck rims or rim attachments

Viet Cong’s Truck crossing a river during the Vietnam War found on http://historicaltimes.tumblr.com/

the Pima Air and Space Museum has restored their B50 (B-29 revision)

The Boeing B-50 Superfortress strategic bomber was a post–World War II revision of the Boeing B-29 Superfortress, fitted with more powerful Pratt & Whitney R-4360 Wasp Major radial engines, stronger structure, a taller fin, and other improvements.

found on http://www.warbirdsnews.com/warbirds-news/kb-50j-displayed-pima-air-space-museum.html

Armistice day demo of WW1 airplanes in New Zealand

the Hood Aerodrome has this cool event every year.. where else could you see these antiques up and flying around?!  http://hoodaerodrome.org.nz/

USMC helo on the beach, looking torn up

Found on http://shttyadvce.tumblr.com/

nose art, yeah, that is cool... but this is cooler

how to field assemble a P 47 Thunderbolt.... awesome training film, skip the first 3minutes 30sec

skip the first 3minutes 30sec

Found on http://www.warbirdsnews.com/warbirds-news/fun-facts/uncrating-field-assembly-p-47-thunderbolt-fighter-1944.html

why were the B52 Stratofortresses cut up and thrown away?

Because of the nuclear disarmament treaty of 2011 for some reason they decided to point the finger at the b52's as the method for launching nuke weapons. As if subs can't do that. Anyway, it was a surprise to me, and I thought I'd share the info http://www.warhistoryonline.com/war-articles/b-52-bombers-cut-arizona-compliance-russian-treaty.html

the boneyard at Davis Monthan Air Force base in Arizona

found on http://sploid.gizmodo.com/beautiful-time-lapse-of-the-boneyard-the-airplane-ceme-1532723971

Planes look quite birdlike with the nose gear retracted. Unfortunately this B1 bomber had to crash land. That nose gear was not coming out to play

Found on http://sploid.gizmodo.com/impressive-b-1b-bomber-emergency-crash-landing-on-a-dry-1531957512

Did you know a U2 could land on an aircraft carrier for a refuel?

there was a bit of a story about the whole thing:

The landing followed a mission over northeast Russia . The U-2’s 80-foot wingspan meant it could only go a short distance before it collided with the superstructure of the ship. Because of the ship’s speed and a headwind, Beeler said he was able to touch down and come to a stop in about five feet. “When I came aboard they had a ceremony welcoming the Air Force into the Navy. I said, ‘I don’t have much I like about the Navy except one thing,’ ” he said. That one thing was the Navy pilots’ leather jackets. Before he left the ship the following day, the captain had given him one.

a B 29 is nearing the end of it's restoration, in Wichita Kansas. Named "Doc" for one of Snow Whites dwarves, it was found in the Mojave where it had been baking for 40 years

Jeff Turner, chairman of the non­profit group Doc's Friends, said the goal of flying Doc to Oshkosh in 2014 is in sight, but as much as $2 million more needs to be raised to make it happen. The Doc project has been in Wichita since 2000, but only this year was it turned over to the new 501(c)(3) nonprofit foundation. That lengthy gestation may be attributed to the stewardship of project organizer and founder Tony Mazzolini, who wanted to ensure any foundation taking on Doc had the right vision. "I needed to make sure I put the aircraft into the right hands for the future,'' Mazzolini explained. When refurbished, Doc will be only the second flyable B-29 in the world.
It will take an estimated $7 million to $9 million to finish the restoration, get the plane flying and secure a hangar, Turner said. “None of us are professional fundraisers,” Turner said. “We’re looking for people who want to step up.”
As the Air Capital of the World, Wichita has the aviation expertise to see the project through, officials said. “The aviation infrastructure here is very good,” Sarver said. “There’s a lot of talented people with the skills we need.” Still, the project needs volunteers with specific skills, such as aircraft electricians, sheet metal mechanics, another inspector and those with radial engine experience.
From : http://www.kansas.com/2014/01/01/3206432/hopes-high-that-restored-b-29.html

for more: http://www.b-29doc.com/

Margaret Bourke White was sent to cover the 8th Bomber Command in WW2, here are a couple of her photos

Photos found on http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2294284/WWII-color-Rare-photos-1942-Flying-Fortress-bombers-heroic-crews-The-Mighty-8th-Command.html

B 24 being restored in Australia for 19 years is now taking longer to restore than it's hanger building will last, and needs a new hanger to finish restoration

Full story at http://www.warbirdsnews.com/warbirds-news/b-24-liberator-restoration-australia-home.html

Quirky fact, it was being used as a chicken coop in Moe Victoria in 1995 when found 

Relics of WW2 at Popondetta ( New Guinea ) airport, are a B-25 Mitchell bomber and a P-47 Thunderbolt fighter.

Found on http://www.warhistoryonline.com/war-articles/world-war-2-relics-papua-new-guinea-travelogue-in-1980-by-bwana_brown.html

the Lonesome Polecat, was raised from a Swiss lake in 1952, put on display, and scraped in the 1970's because it hindered a building development

The plane sank largely intact to the bottom of the lake, where it stayed until 1952, when it was raised, restored and exhibited around the country. In 1966, it travelled to St Gallen, where a businessman planned to build a “bomber theme park”.

 This never materialised, so in 1970 the plane went on display in St Moritz. But after a few years it was blocking a building development; since no buyer could be found, it was turned into scrap metal despite being of historical value.

http://www.warhistoryonline.com/war-articles/warbirds-crashed-switzerland-wwii.html

this B 17 wreck was still there in New Guinea as of 2008

known as the Gray Ghost, or the Black Cat Pass B17... full information here: http://www.pacificwrecks.com/aircraft/b-17/41-9234.html

News flash: Agent Orange contamination, was also happening due to contact with the airplanes that sprayed it, for a dozen years after they came back from Nam

From 1971-1982, Air Force reservists, who flew in 34 dioxin-contaminated aircraft used to spray Agent Orange and returned to the U.S. following discontinuation of the herbicide spraying operations in the Vietnam War, were exposed to greater levels of dioxin than previously acknowledged, according to a study published today in Environmental Research by senior author Jeanne Mager Stellman, PhD, professor emerita at the Mailman School of Public Health’s Department of Health Policy and Management.

These aircraft were subsequently returned to the U.S. and were used by Air Force reserve units between 1971 and 1982 for transport operations. After many years without monitoring, tests revealed the presence of dioxin (also known as TCDD). All but three of the aircraft were smelted down in 2009.

The Air Force and Department of Veterans Affairs have previously denied benefits to these crew members. http://www.warhistoryonline.com/war-articles/blue-water-navy.html

http://www.warhistoryonline.com/war-articles/air-force-aircraft-returned-vietnam-postwar-source-agent-orange-contamination.html

real Jeeps could take about anything you could do to them, but sometimes, they needed a field repair and there were no garages, ramps, or pits to access their undercarriage. Soldiers and mechanics made do

Found on http://offroadaction.ca/2013/08/23/from-the-archives-154/

I have a cool old gas can just like that. No use for it, just cool garage eye candy