Airplanes
Oh boy, airplanes! They fly through the air using magic. I have two vintage examples for you today.
Let's start with this rather incredible jet, one of only two built - the North American Aviation XB-70 Valkyrie is a retired prototype version of the planned B-70 nuclear-armed, deep-penetration supersonic strategic bomber for the United States Air Force Strategic Air Command. Designed in the late 1950s by North American Aviation (NAA) to replace the B-52 Stratofortress and B-58 Hustler, the six-engine, delta-winged Valkyrie could cruise for thousands of miles at Mach 3+ while flying at 70,000 feet.
It looks like something out of a sci-fi movie or TV show! To read more about the Valkyrie, see the article on Wikipedia HERE.
I was reminded of the Quest Jet/Dragonfly in Jonny Quest! Yes, I know that there are clear differences, just go along so that I don't freak out.
And... I wasn't looking for this, but here's a cool photo of a Valkyrie with its six engines glowing blue upon takeoff:
Next is this scan from a slide labeled "Japan 1949". Hmmm! Of course I had no idea what this airplane is, but that triangular tail is pretty distinctive. After a little research, I found out that it is a T-6 Texan - coincidentally, also from North American Aviation. The North American Aviation T-6 Texan is a single-engined advanced trainer aircraft used to train pilots of the United States Army Air Forces, United States Air Force, United States Navy, Royal Air Force, Royal Canadian Air Force and other air forces of the British Commonwealth during World War II and into the 1970s.
The T-6 Texan remains a popular warbird used for airshow demonstrations and static displays. It has also been used many times to simulate various historical aircraft, including the Japanese Mitsubishi A6M Zero. A total of 15,495 T-6s of all variants were built.
17 comments:
In the first photo, I was wondering where the engines were on the Valkyrie. I sorta thought they would be on/under the wings. Then you showed us the photo of the valkyrie taking off... Ah, there they are! Makes much more sense that they would be in the rear. It also makes the plane look really badass!
Where did you get that realistic image of the Quest jet? The series was animated (old-style cel animation) so we never saw anything like this in the series! Is this an actual toy model of the plane against a cloud strewn sky?
I think I've seen the T-6 Texan many times in movies, TV, and air shows. I remember that red engine cowl and red tail. I think we even had a toy model of it made of steel; it was heavy!
It's always neat to see planes! Thanks, Major.
I don't really know much about airplanes! But I've been busy scanning the thousands of slides and negatives in my dad's collection, and came across some slides of the "Valkryie," from when it was first rolled out in May of 1964, in Palmdale, California. I ended up on that same Wikipedia page, trying to learn more about the airplane in the photos. FYI...of the two prototypes made, the one in your photo survived and is in the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force, at Wright-Patterson AFB, in Ohio.
Thanks, Major!
Planes are cool...and this Johnny Quest one is super cool. I'm glad it still exists somewhere. With all the imagination and design sense in the world: why don't all planes look like this? Seems like you would get places faster as well. Speaking of fast: why do we want it fast? What was wrong with 5 or 6 days across the Atlantic? I kind of enjoyed it. Whether a flight is an hour, or 8 hours....it's all kind of miserable...The antique planes are cool, and I enjoy looking at them with their flashy aluminum exteriors. I know they weren't built to be flashy, but I like them all shiny...and a cool logo with a buxom lady, or a Disney character is always a big +. My Grandfather was in the RAF, but I never heard him say one word about a plane, and very little about WWII in general. He talked about seeing Mussolini being hung...and some odd takeovers of Italian Villas....and other odd things about Northern Africa. Since he was still in (secretly) the RAF when he died, I think his vow to secrecy about everything regarding the war was intact through his death. For those wanting to see a whole lot of these antique planes, I recommend the museum in Palm Springs. Many very cool things in there, including the famous Walt Disney plane. It's a cool place, and the planes are actually working models: with an airstrip out back. For those not in love with Palm Springs heat and sun: it's all in hangars. Thanks Major!
Yep, T-6 Texans appeared as Mitsubishi A6M Zeros in nearly every episode of the greatest TV show ever filmed (at least for this former 10-year-old), “Baa Baa Black Sheep.”
“Da plane, da plane…”
Major, these are very interesting pics, a refreshing departure.
I knew nothing about either plane, except the Quest jet, and next to nothing about that. Now I know it had a name. Is Johnny Quest on YouTube? I’ll have to look. I loved that show.
The Valkyrie is a handsome plane, glad it never had to be used.
Interesting too about the T-6, standing in for all those planes in film and tv. There’s a Star Trek episode with a WWII aircraft, and every time we see it, it’s a different piece of stock footage.
There’s an aviation museum at the Sonoma County Airport (STS) but they’re not all hangared.
Thank you for the aviation detour!
JG
You have no idea how angry I am at my new iPad right now. I lost most of my comment because I accidentally tapped the wrong part of the screen and the page I was typing went to a different webpage. When I hit the back-page icon, only the first four paragraphs of my comment were there. Ugh.
As TM! says, this photo of the XB-70 was taken at what was then known as the Air Force Museum (now known as the National Museum of the United States Air Force, an annoying mouthful). I spent a LOT of time here when I was in junior high. My mom was a volunteer guide, and I loved the place so much I remember going in with her on snow days when the roads were too bad for buses to take us to school.
She also took me out of school when they would open up certain airplanes that were normally closed for guides and their families, and I had a chance to crawl all over the inside of their B-36 and their B-29 (I missed the first one she attended, where they got to climb up inside the XB-70). I remember crawling through the bomb bay of the B-29 when it suddenly hit me that this wasn’t just a B-29 - it was Bockscar, the plane that dropped the second operational atomic bomb on Nagasaki 80 years ago today. When you spend a lot of time around historical artifacts they can become too familiar, and you can lose sight of why they are significant and were preserved in the first place.
Funny thing about my mom being a guide…she enjoyed history, but she wasn't really much of an airplane expert. She had her presentations on each major aircraft memorized, but if they moved an airplane (which would happen occasionally during renovations or when a newly-restored aircraft was put on display) she often had a hard time identifying them after the move. I desperately wanted to be a guide and volunteer, but you had to be 18 and I was 13-16 when we lived nearby. In retrospect, we might have been able to work out something where my mom was the designated adult volunteer and we gave presentations on the aircraft together, but the thought never occurred to us.
In the background, directly under the XB-70's cockpit, is what appears to be a wide road sloping down the hill. This is the Accelerated Runway, built in 1942 to test the concept (derived from captured German intelligence) of using a downhill slope to reduce the length of runway required for an airplane to take off. The idea didn't pan out, and it's now used for things like soapbox derbies.
To the right of the Accelerated Runway, you can see a tall, white "smokestack" next to a rounded dome. That's a nuclear reactor built in 1965 for research into nuclear-powered aircraft and used in the Air Force Institute of Technology's nuclear engineering master's program. It was shut down in 1970.
To the right of that, barely visible through the haze on the horizon is a two-legged tower with a building at the top. I could see this from my home in Beavercreek in the early '80s but had no idea what it was used for until 2003, when I had a tour of the facility while accompanying a group of AFROTC cadets on a tour of the base. It's used for sensors research and has a clear field of view to the laser range located on the unused easternmost runway at Wright Field.
An explanatory note - Wright-Patterson AFB has a complicated and confusing naming history that I won't get into in detail here, but at the start of WW II there were two separate, adjacent airfields - Patterson Field (today's Areas A & C of WPAFB) east of Huffman Dam and Wright Field (today's Area B) west of Huffman Dam. Immediately after WW II, the two installations were merged and eventually renamed Wright-Patterson AFB in 1948.
Wright Field's flight line is landlocked by hills and urban development that prevent the runways from being lengthened, which then caused operational issues in the jet age. Its runways were closed to jets in 1958, and the flight line was permanently closed in 1976 to all flying operations except aircraft deliveries to the Museum. This is why the laser range can be located on the closed easternmost runway at Wright Field.
The Museum, which was on Patterson Field from 1954-1971, moved to its present location in 1971. Patterson Field remains an active Air Force airfield with a 12,000-foot runway, more than long enough to handle today's aircraft.
Directly below the research tower is a camouflaged airplane. This is the prototype of the AC-130A Spectre gunship, converted from the C-130 Hercules transport. This airplane was transferred to the Museum in May of 1976 and later went on display inside the Museum's Annex (located out of frame to the left in a pair of pre-existing hangars that became available when flying ops shut down at Wright Field), so that helps date this photo to around 1976-77ish.
To the right of the AC-130 are five connected hangars, four of which are visible in this photo. The two right-most hangars and the one out of frame to the right are the Museum's restoration facility. I took a couple of tours of the facility in the mid-'80s, and it was fascinating seeing them restore derelict airplanes pulled out of a field or a barn somewhere to display condition.
One of the three restoration hangars was essentially a giant warehouse, stacked several stories high with artifacts. You need a Sperry ball turret for a B-17? We have one right here. General LeMay's staff car? It's parked over there. Cases and cases and cases of uniforms and equipment and probably the Ark of the Covenant stuffed in a forgotten corner somewhere.
The other two hangars in the row contained used ping-pong balls and a giant egg found on Infant Island.
The concrete circle in the lower right corner of the frame was the base used to display an Atlas ICBM, the shadow of which you can see extending to the left. At that time, they had a row of missiles on display out front - an Atlas, a Thor, a Titan I, an empty base that looked like it was intended for a Saturn I or V that never arrived, a Jupiter, a Minuteman I, a Minuteman III, and another empty base. They have all since been moved indoors (along with the XB-70) as the Museum's main facility has expanded from a single building to four giant, interconnected, hangar-like buildings and a silo-like missile gallery.
Dr. Quest's Dragonfly is a personal favorite. Just last week, I was volunteering at the American Legion food stand back home in Ohio at the county fair, and one of the other guys who is about 5 years older than me asked the group what everyone's favorite Saturday morning cartoon was. To a man, we all said Jonny Quest.
I can't tell you much definitively about that T-6 other than the contract to build it was let in 1942. The full aircraft serial number would be 42-85182, truncated to just 285182 on the tail. The large"TA-182" on the side of the fuselage is a "buzz number," intended to help observers on the ground identify and report an aircraft that was violating safety regulations by "buzzing" people or things on the ground. The first letter indicated the category of aircraft ("T" for trainer), the second indicated the aircraft type within the category ("TA" for T-6), and the three numbers indicated the last three digits of the serial number ("182").
The fact that this airplane was already in Japan in 1949 and that the initial USAF response to the outbreak of hostilities in Korea in June of 1950 was by USAF aircraft based in Japan, there is a good possibility that this aircraft was pressed into service as a "Mosquito" forward air control aircraft on the Korean peninsula.
Thanks, Major!
JG, that Valkyrie is so cool, I told Taylor Swift that she should buy one so that she can get to Chik-Fil-A quicker. The Quest jet was a toy, I put in the sky to fool the government. My brother used to be such a nut for planes from the WWII era, I’ve probably seen the T-6 Texan before - but I never paid that much attention to most of the planes.
TokyoMagic!, thank you for sending the scans of your dad’s (?) photos of the Valkyrie, they are considerably nicer than my example. As I told you, I’m not sure I’ll have time to add any to today’s post, but they really are great.
Bu, when I was a kid there was nothing cooler than Jonny Quest, I still remember the “spider robot” thing from the opening credits scaring me. The animated show “The Venture Bros.” is sort of a spoof off Jonny Quest, and Jonny has even appeared in it - he had a rough time growing up. Drugs and such. I think a lot of people can’t afford 5 days to cross the ocean, with only 2 weeks of vacation a month - if you can get to your destination within one day, that’s more time to enjoy going trying the food at McDonalds restaurants in various countries. Once I took a side trip to a museum, but regretted it. Back to Mickey-D’s for me! Yes, vintage planes are awesome, I wish I could make it to the Air and Space Museum in Washington, or I think there’s a great one up in Seattle too. I had no idea that Walt Disney’s plane was at a museum in Palm Springs!
Steve DeGaetano, ha ha, I figured that T-6 Texans were probably used in “Baa Baa Black Sheep”! With my older brother’s love of airplanes, we watched that show religiously.
JG, I doubt that Jonny Quest is on YouTube. You know, rights issues and such. Somebody made an incredible stop-motion recreation of the opening montage of the show, and there’s an equally incredible “making of” video. That is worth checking out! I know what you mean about being glad that the Valkyrie was never used, and yet… we need more sleek, ultra-cool aircraft! Gosh, I don’t remember a Star Trek episode with footage of WWII aircraft, though I’ve probably seen it six times. It’s been a while, however.
Chuck, I’m sorry that you lost much of your comment, I’ve learned to type comments in a text document, and then copy/paste. It seems to save headaches. Ha ha, now I’m scrolling down, you had a LOT to say! While I never went to the Air Force Museum, my dad would sometimes take us to Navy air shows, and those were always exciting as heck. I still remember one aircraft lofted some sort of bomb into the ocean near Port Hueneme, and it went off, surprising whales and fish for miles. Im sure it was a tiny explosive compared to what they have. Wow very neat that you got to crawl through the Bockscar, you should have taken the controls and gone for a brief flight. I can identify with your mom’s lack of knowledge about the aircraft, as I said, my brother was a fanatic and could tell you all sorts of facts about US, German, and Japanese planes. We had models hanging from our ceiling in a mock battle, I still remember them swinging wildly when the 1972 Sylmar earthquake hit. If an Accelerated Runway is a good idea, a cliff is an even BETTER idea! Call me, Air Force. Very interesting about the nuclear reactor. And I can just barely see the tower you mentioned!
Chuck II, thank you for all of the information and history about Wright-Patterson AFB. I know nothing about things like a “laser range”, but I want one. I’ll bet it would cook hotdogs in a jiffy! Jeez, you are seeing a lot more in that photo than I ever would have. I guess a little knowledge helps. I am glad that there are people out there with the skill to restore old aircraft - I always get miffed when I find out that a plane is restored to look good, but it won’t be airworthy. See, if I was a billionaire, I’d love to fund things like that, and NOT buy another yacht. But that’s just me. As a matter of fact, I do need a Sperry ball turret, I will mount it on the roof of my Honda. Other cars will treat me with more respect.
Chuck III, yep, the Quest Jet (Dragonfly) is so cool. Maybe I need to build a model of it. Yes, I’ll get model cement all over everything, but that’s half the fun. I wish I had a buzz number, but no such luck. Thank you for the info about the T-6 Texan! I’m sorry my response is relatively terse, I have to get ready to head out!
Ugh, dumb italicized text, it was only supposed to be one word.
@ Chuck-
Thanks for sharing your vast knowledge of 'stuff' with us. Truly fascinating.
“…….maybe when the new SST’s arrive WE’LL do the traveling!! - but we’ll ALWAYS come back to Progress City!”
This was a particularly interesting (and lengthy) version of Chuck doing his "Chuck Thing". Thanks, Chuck.
Like Major mentioned … the number of people willing to pay to travel that fast is few and far between…. That was the main reason the CONCORDE was retired … there just wasn’t enough people using it to justify its extreme express- that was also why the SUPERSONIC CHINA CLIPER passenger plane stoped production . I’ve heard there is a new SUPERSONIC JET developed that is quiet and doesn’t make the “boom” of sonic transport … and is more fuel efficient.
Old enough to remember when Jonny Quest was in prime time. Likewise Flintstones, Jetsons, and Top Cat. All except Flintstones moved to Saturday morning after a single season, where they ran and re-ran the season one episodes over and over.
Many years later HB produced new episodes of Jetsons and Jonny Quest to make them more viable for syndication. Both were pretty much continuations of the originals shows. There were a couple of made-for-TV movies. "Jonny's Golden Quest" showed how Jonny's mother was killed by the villain Dr. Zin (the main plot was Jonny's obsession with revenge), and revealed that Race had a daughter from a former marriage.
Around the turn of the century came "The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest". Jonny, Hadji, and Race's daughter were now teens, Hadji had a backstory of royal parents and mystic powers, and there was stuff about cyberspace. What I remember is that the theme song was rework from cool jazz to big action movie.
There was also a video movie teaming Jonny and his crew with Tom and Jerry. The cat and mouse also did direct to videos with Sherlock Holmes, Robin Hood, the Nutcracker, Willie Wonka, the Wizard of Oz, and generic pirates.
I'm just thinking about the monster smores I could cook on the blue flames of that XB-70
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