A Race Event: Airfields of the Southwest Pacific II.

[PRB]

Welcome aboard Craig!

[Moses03]

I will have teams of mechanics and large parts blocks (particularly cylinder sleeves, turbo bearings, and piston heads) sprinkled throughout the course. If Moses can get his Superfort into the airfield, I'll be happy to share.

Thanks Craig!

[Spookster67]

Hey guys,

I'll join in with the Grumman F7F-3 (by Milton / SOH).

Regards, Martin.

[PRB]

Welcome Martin!

[Ron Attwood]

I enjoyed the Melbourne trip very much even though the blood pressure suffered a tad! I'll do this one but no GPS will tense me up a bit.

I'll be in this:

[PRB]

Welcome aboard Ron! Is that A2A's Pony?

[Ron Attwood]

Welcome aboard Ron! Is that A2A's Pony?

Indeed it is. And thanks.

[PRB]

Copy. Thank you sir.

[Taco]

Howdy all,Going to give this one a go. F6F flying FSX using MS weather. f

[PRB]

Sweet ride, Jim!

[Willy]

Hard to beat Navy blue!

[Willy]

If I have time and I can get it sorted out, I'm wanting to try a second run at it in the MAAM Turkey in FSX SE. (thus the "get it sorted out") Just not sure which one yet, but the TBF-1C is the most likely candidate.

[Taco]

Rgr Willy, also thinking about the Turkey for a retun trip. Have it loaded into FSX, but not all of the planes are showing up, and of course, the prop texture problem. Going to work on the problem here soon. Jim

[Willy]

Jim, check your email in about 10 mins.

Done, you have a present in your email.

W

[PRB]

I have decided what to fly. Got a good deal on a used TBM. Keeping it hidden in an undisclosed top secret hideout until the race starts. It needs a couple new ADF radio sets, couple spark plugs, a new tail wheel tire and a cup holder.

FSX, Vertigo Studios TBM, "built-in" real weather.

[robert41]

Good choice Paul. Thought I was going to be the lone wolf in the slow class.
And a good thing to hide out for awhile, never know what them Army pilots would want to borrow.

[MM]

Finally picked the Lockheed P-38L from MilViz … using Active Sky Next for weather.

This livery represents Col. Charles "Mac" MacDonald's Putt Putt Maru as it might have looked toward the war's end. (Thanks, Tom Stovall.) MacDonald was the CO of the 475th Fighter Group that was despised and feared by the Japanese. Tokyo Rose referred to the group as "the butchers of Rabaul."

Warren Lewis, a squadron commander and ace on his own right, described MacDonald: "He was a terrific leader, that was one of his attributes. He was a great planner … and he was a great fighter pilot. Some people are just natural hunters, and these were hunters of aircraft." Whenever the group took on a dangerous mission such as Wewak, Rabaul, Borneo, Leyte, or Manilla, MacDonald flew the mission and led his men in the air.

For more on MacDonald, the 475th Fighter Group, and Charles Lindbergh, see this description.

--M

[PRB]

How can you go wrong with a Lockheed twin?

[PRB]

Good choice Paul. Thought I was going to be the lone wolf in the slow class.
And a good thing to hide out for awhile, never know what them Army pilots would want to borrow.

Thanks Robert. I think we have a decent strike package now, with your SBD and Taco's F6F watching our "six"...

Mike's background story on his Lockheed reminded me that I intended to make a similar registration post, but in all the excitement, forgot. This paint represents the TBM flown by Gregory Fletcher, of VT-18, operating from the USS Intrepid (CV-11). On October 24, 1944, Fletcher and his squadron launched on a strike against the Japanese "Center Force" of battleships in the central Philippines, during the Battle of Leyte Gulf. Fletcher made a torpedo attack on the super battleship Musashi and was shot down along with his wingman. He was the only survivor among the two planes. He tells his story in his book Intrepid Aviators, The True Story of USS Intrepid's Torpedo Squadron 18 and it's Epic Clash with the Superbattleship Musashi.

[spokes2112]

To get in the spirit of the 70th anniversary of VJ day I switched from the civilian "PAUL I" to something more appropriate. It was difficult finding a repaint for the Wings of Power I P-51D / H series that was based in the Pacific or CBI theatre. Here's the one I will be flying. (Same P-51D, different paint) -

Piloted by 118th TR squadron commander Lt. Col. Edward O. McComas.
# 600 P-51D-5-NA s/n 44-11280 - 118TH TRS / 23RD FG / 14TH Air Force - Luliang, China 1945. ("The Black Lightnings")
Replacing P-51-C-NT s/n 42-103604 on Christmas 1944.

From - Facebook, "World War II Veterans Buried In Winfield Kansas Cemeteries"

Edward O. McComas was born in Winfield, Kansas on June 25, 1919. A graduate of Winfield High School, he attended Southwestern College and the University of Kansas before answering the call of duty in September of 1940 enlisting in the Air Force.

On December 23, 1944 Lt. Col. McComas became an “Ace in a Day” by shooting down 5 Japanese planes on the same day, becoming the 4th highest scoring Ace and the only “Ace in a Day” in the 14th Air Force in China during World War II.

For his efforts and aerial achievements on the 23 December mission, McComas was awarded a P-51D Mustang fighter plane by General Chennault on December 25, 1944. During his 7 months of tour, McComas scored a total of 14 aerial kills, 4 planes destroyed on the ground and one Japanese destroyer he and his wingman sunk in Hong Kong harbor (19 total). During his tour of duty, McComas had to bail out of his plane after taking enemy fire behind enemy lines. McComas re-injured an old back injury during the mission, an injury that would bother him the rest of his life. McComas was rescued by Chinese Nationalist guerillas and returned to active duty. Although he suffered from severe back pain, he didn’t let that get in his way of performing his duty.

Lt. Col. McComas would eventually return stateside for medical attention. In 1949 he attended the Air Command and Staff school at Maxwell Air Force base. McComas flew several missions at the start of the Korean War and in 1951 he was assigned duties at the Pentagon.


Lt. Col. Edward O. McComas died in Alexandria Virginia on June 22, 1954 and was laid to rest in Highland Cemetery, Winfield Kansas.

Other information

Other information - Bottom this page has typed, historical reports from the squadron. (PDF Files)

[Willy]

The Harpoon paint that I'm flying doesn't represent any particular aircraft but rather is meant more towards a restored PV-2 painted to represent all that flew out of Attu on missions to the Kurile Islands and Northern Japan. The nose art is a slightly modified Fleet Air Wing 4 emblem and the name "Empire Express" refers to the missions flown. I also added the old VF-2 "Flying Chiefs" emblem to honor the Navy's WW II enlisted pilots & made the pilot a Chief Aviation Pilot

[Ron Attwood]

Can I clarify a navigation point please? Can I use SkyVector with a flight plan? I've tried using this and the only help it gives is a bearing and by comparing what I see out of the window to what I see on the map.

Ron

[PRB]

Can I clarify a navigation point please? Can I use SkyVector with a flight plan? I've tried using this and the only help it gives is a bearing and by comparing what I see out of the window to what I see on the map.

Ron

As long as it doesn't update the vector as you fly, then it's fine. I plan to have Plan-G running on the other monitor, to be used as a "virtual paper chart". It would be expected that you would plan your flight by drawing a big red line on your chart from "point A" to "point B", and keeping the chart in your lap as you fly. Or in the case of my TBM, in that nifty pull out drawer in the instrument panel...

[Ron Attwood]

Excellent! Oh, OpusFSI weather, forgot to add.

[Craig Taylor]

I am flying "Sylvia" as repainted by The Outhouse's own Cazzie Dalton. The repaint represents the aircraft of Capt Marvin G. Grant of the 342nd FS, 348th FG while serving in New Guinea in the Summer of 1944, flying out of Port Moresby. After training for eight months, the 348th FG rotated to the Pacific Theater in May, 1943, where Capt Grant attained seven victories in campaigns in the Southwest Pacific, most coming during the invasion of New Guinea in 1944. Capt Grant eventually rose to the post of Operations Officer with the 342nd FS. He completed his tour of duty in the Philippines in February, 1945 with 187 combat missions. A sixth cousin of legendary Civil War general and U.S. President Ulysses S. Grant, Capt Grant hailed from Racine, Wisconsin.

Note: I will not be carrying the extra hardware during the race. I just wanted to point out that with a P-47, you ARE the strike package.