ikar Posted June 30, 2011 Share #1 Posted June 30, 2011 I'm not sure what this one is but when he decided to a shot of the cockpit he got caught taking the pictures. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ikar Posted June 30, 2011 Author Share #2 Posted June 30, 2011 Here's the rest: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gwb123 Posted June 30, 2011 Share #3 Posted June 30, 2011 Wow! You've got some cool pre WWII history here! I'd have to look most of these up, but I believe the round, barrel shaped fighter is a P-26 Peashooter. I think the one with the pointy nose is a precursor to the P-40. You might want to make some high quality scans and send these off to the National US Air Force Musuem in Dayton. This is neat suff! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cobrahistorian Posted June 30, 2011 Share #4 Posted June 30, 2011 Phenomenal shots Bob! The first pics really are throwing me for a loop, but it looks like that you may have shots of one of the YP-37s, more than likely 38-472 with the Allison V1710-21 engine: http://www.aerofiles.com/curtiss-yp37.jpg There are a few differences, but the majority of features do match up. I'm not 100% convinced though. The cockpit doesn't seem back far enough in relation to the wing, but that may just be the angle the photo was taken on. EDIT: Now that I really scrutinize the pics, the tail feathers are completely wrong for a YP-37, but the nose is dead-on, so I'm not sure what this is! I've forwarded this thread to some friends of mine who may be able to help! The next two shots are of a Douglas B-18 Bolo, but the one after that is a great shot of the aft end of a Bell YFM-1 Airacuda heavy fighter!!! REALLY rare airplane! The one with the steps next to it is a North American O-47 and after that is a nice P-36 Hawk. I love the two shots of the B-23 Dragon too. I've got a few original B-23 photos as well and I've REALLY been tempted to scratchbuild a fuselage for one that I can stick my 48th scale C-47 wings on. It's a pretty impressive airplane. Keep em coming! Jon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cobrahistorian Posted June 30, 2011 Share #5 Posted June 30, 2011 It is a YP-37, just an odd angle. Check out this photo: http://www.aerofiles.com/curt-yp37camo.jpg Empennage matches up as does the nose. I think it's the angle that's throwing me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dschneck Posted June 30, 2011 Share #6 Posted June 30, 2011 These are great. Do you know when and where they were taken? You should get a high res scan of each one and make sure you put a copy of the file someplace safe. In some cases there are very few existing photos. Thanks for sharing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ikar Posted July 1, 2011 Author Share #7 Posted July 1, 2011 I'm not exactly sure but I think they were at Langley. My father used to talk about the P-39s they had there and how the pilots weren't too happy sitting in front of the engine. They lost a few. One went down in a school yard, another near a town where the pilot's chute caught on a flagpole and it sent him into sombody's apartment. Another went down in a field and they followed the pilot;s chute where they found him out cold in an empty grave. They revived him after they got a shot. He said that the gunners in the Airacuda hated that thing. If they had to leave the ship and the prop didn't disconnect, they would have to take off their chute, climb into the fuselage, put it back on and then jump. I have got to find the picture my father snuck one day during a test of a bi-plane equipped with tri-cycle gear. He shot it over the hood of a staff car while everyone's back was to him as they watched the test. They just took some pipes with a wheel, put holes in the fuselage and ran the pipes through to attach them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sgtbrown Posted July 1, 2011 Share #8 Posted July 1, 2011 I wonder what a Bellanca Cruisaire (Post #2, Photo #6) is doing mixed in with all those military craft. As far as I know there never was a military version. Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sabrejet Posted July 1, 2011 Share #9 Posted July 1, 2011 You have some rare birds there for sure! Sabrejet :thumbsup: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hawk914 Posted July 25, 2011 Share #10 Posted July 25, 2011 Been a long while since I've been around these parts, and what a wonderful collection of photos to find upon returning... thanks so much for sharing these! Jon has done a good job of ID here, but I'll try to offer some additional IDs and info... This is one of at least four YP-37s that served with the 8th Pursuit Group. Not sure if this is the IP of the YP-37 or not... it could also belong to a P-36 or early P-40. One of three Boeing P-29s built... If this P-36 is from the 8th Pursuit Group, like the YP-37, then it is from the 36th Pursuit Squadron... based on the white nose and high plane-in-group number. (Looks like 85?) The insignia just aft of the cockpit on this ship looks like it might be that of the 36th PS. Whatever squadron it's from, this is the C-Flight Commander's ship, denoted by the rearward swept stripe on the aft fuselage. T-6 in the background... I'll get to a few more of these later... got a thunder-boomer getting close and don't wanna fry the PC... Fade to Black... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cobrahistorian Posted July 25, 2011 Share #11 Posted July 25, 2011 Steve, Great to see you back in these parts! Thanks for the additional info on these. How've you been? Jon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lritger Posted July 26, 2011 Share #12 Posted July 26, 2011 Been a long while since I've been around these parts, and what a wonderful collection of photos to find upon returning... thanks so much for sharing these! Jon has done a good job of ID here, but I'll try to offer some additional IDs and info... This is one of at least four YP-37s that served with the 8th Pursuit Group. Not sure if this is the IP of the YP-37 or not... it could also belong to a P-36 or early P-40. One of three Boeing P-29s built... If this P-36 is from the 8th Pursuit Group, like the YP-37, then it is from the 36th Pursuit Squadron... based on the white nose and high plane-in-group number. (Looks like 85?) The insignia just aft of the cockpit on this ship looks like it might be that of the 36th PS. Whatever squadron it's from, this is the C-Flight Commander's ship, denoted by the rearward swept stripe on the aft fuselage. T-6 in the background... I'll get to a few more of these later... got a thunder-boomer getting close and don't wanna fry the PC... Fade to Black... Steve, I just keep bumping into you all over the damn 'Net, don't I? Excellent calls on all these, and I'm pretty certain that instrument panel is out of the '37- no cowling gun butts are visible. By the way, in case it wasn't obvious, these are all from Langley Field, so I am really drooling over all this awesomeness. Thank you SO much for posting these... would it be possible to get larger scans of them? Cheers! Lynn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack's Son Posted July 26, 2011 Share #13 Posted July 26, 2011 Very nice pictures indeed. Over what period of time, and where were they taken ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Man Posted February 10, 2015 Share #14 Posted February 10, 2015 Hello, Gentlemen. I am a modeler, working on a model of a YP-37 (in 1/72, nothing huge). I came upon the pictures posted here of PH/102 at Langley (I believe the number indicates attachment to the HQ section of the 8th P.G.) in searching for images of the type. The pictures have been very useful, and I expect PH/102 will be the markings I use when the model is complete. I would like to thank the fellow who posted them up, and if possible contact him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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