Grumman F7F Tigercat Walk Around Part V

Photographed by Don Gilman at Lewis Air Legends

Part I here: https://inchhighguy.wordpress.com/2024/03/03/grumman-f7f-tigercat-walk-around-part-i/

Women Warriors 263

Aerial Gunner Mary Howe, 4th Special Ops Squadron AC-130

USAF CAPT Jammie Jamieson, F-22 Raptor Pilot

ww449b_Serbian_2K12 Kub SAM — **Serbian Army 2K12 Kub SAM**

ww449c_USARMY_Specialist Jenny Martinez — **US ARMY Specialist Jenny Martinez**

ww449d_Italy_B1Centauro_TankDestroyer — **Italian Army B1 Centauro Tank Destroyer**

(from right) 1Lt Julie “TIMBER” Ayres, Capt. Mary “GINGER” Melfi, and Capt. Tally “VIXEN” Parham, three of the five female fighter pilots from the 379th Air Expeditionary Wing that flew in combat missions in support of Operation IRAQI FREEDOM from this forward-deployed air base in the Middle East, walk together down the flightline on May 3, 2003. Lt Ayres and Capt. Melfi, from the 336th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron out of Seymour Johnson A.F.B., NC, are weapons system officers on the F-15E Strike Eagle. Capt. Parham, from the 157th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron out of McEntire, SC, is a fighter pilot on the F-16CJ and is part of the S.C. Air National Guard. The 379th AEW is credited with flying 3,440 sorties and delivering over 1,500 tons of ordnance during the combat phase of Operation IRAQI FREEDOM. (RELEASED)(U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. DERRICK C. GOODE)

ww052wasp — **WASP pilot Shirley Slade**

To see more Women Warriors, click on the tags below:

ICM Focke Wulf Fw 189 Uhu Build in 1/72 Scale Part III

Priming revealed relatively few seams to re-fill, so I proceeded to paint the yellow identification panels. I base coated these with white as the yellow really doesn’t cover very well on its own.

Here is the model at maximum mask. The German splinter patterns were not random, they followed a standardized plan. Hours of masking, minutes of painting.

The standard Luftwaffe bomber camouflage scheme was a 65 / 70 / 71 splinter pattern, transports and reconnaissance type were also painted this way, as were fighter types for the first few months of the war. This lasted until the last year of the war when the colors shifted to the late-war greens, but few types other than fighters were being built by then. RLM 70 and 71 have a similar appearance in photographs and it’s often difficult to see the difference. I think the Mr. Color 71 is a bit too light, here I have darkened it with some 70.

I have posed the model with open canopies to better show the interior, but quite a bit is visible through the clear parts in any case. Definitely the most challenging part of this build, there are fourteen parts to the canopy before any cutting needed to open the panels up.

Here is the finished model. I like the looks of the Fw 189, but I would not recommend this kit to the novice. The molding is great but the canopy is complex and difficult to assemble. I am tempted to give the kit another try at some point, there are a few interesting camo schemes and I would hope to get a better result with the lessons learned from this one. The Bv 141 used a very similar crew nacelle, if there is ever a new mold of that aircraft I would be obliged to try it as well.

Construction Part I here: https://inchhighguy.wordpress.com/2024/03/15/icm-focke-wulf-fw-189-uhu-build-in-1-72-scale-part-i/

Picture of the Week 13

Many surface to air or air to air missiles use infrared (IR) seekers for targeting. These systems are passive, and home in on the target aircraft’s hot engine exhaust. The aircraft can counter an IR missile by releasing flares at the proper moment, the missile’s seeker hopefully locking on to the hotter flare instead of the aircraft. A popular subject for aviation photographers is an aircraft making a “flare angel” by releasing its entire supply of flares and allowing the wingtip vortices to spin the smoke trails into wing shapes. Here is an Ilyushin Il-76 making a flare angel.

Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses of the 301st Bomb Group Color Photographs

A series of beautiful color shots of B-17s of the 301^st Bomb Group taken by famed photographer Robert Capa. These were taken at RAF Westover, many of these aircraft arrived in England in August 1942.

A peaceful scene as cows graze near B-17F-1-BO serial 41-24359 “Turd Burd” was assigned to the 325th BS. The aircraft survived the war, fate of the cows is unknown.

Nose of B-17F-1-BO serial 41-24361 “Wabash Cannon Ball”, a common name for aircraft due to a song popular at the time. Assigned to the 348th BS, survived the war. Note the canvas cover over the Norton bomb sight and .30 caliber nose gun.

Crew gathers under the nose of B-17F-1-BO serial 41-24363 “Bad Penny” of the 32nd BS. She went Missing in Action 28NOV42 over Bizerte, Tunisia.

Another photo of “Bad Penny” undergoing maintenance.

A fine view of B-17F-1-BO serial 41-24366 “The Puffin’ Hussy II”. She crash landed on 19AUG44 and was salvaged.

Additional photos of “The Puffin’ Hussy II”.

B-17F-5-BO serial 41-24407 “The Goon”, which was another common aircraft name. She was assigned to the 346th BS and survived the war.

B-17F-5-BO serial 41-24422 “Dickie Doodle II” of the 352nd BS. She survived the war.

An unidentified Fortress on the taxiway.

More B-17 color photographs here: https://inchhighguy.wordpress.com/2019/05/29/color-b-17g-flying-fortress-nose-art-of-the-490-bomb-group/

The Book of Five Rings Audio Book Review

The Book of Five Rings

Written by Miyamoto Musashi, Translated by William Scott Wilson, Narrated by Peter Noble

Audiobook, 4 hours and 12 minutes

Published by SNR Audio

Language: English

ASIN: B0CJYFB5SM

In Japan, Miyamoto Musashi is regarded as the greatest swordsman who ever lived. Born in 1584, he is reputed to have won his fist duel at the age of 13. He was never defeated in combat. He was victorious in 60 singular combats and survived 3 military battles. In the later part of his life he taught swordsmanship and studied Buddhism. He also became adept at several arts including painting, sculpture, calligraphy, and construction. The last two years of his life were lived as a hermit in cave, where he meditated and documented his thoughts on strategy and swordsmanship, including the five scrolls which comprise the Book of Five Rings. Musashi died in 1645 at the age of 62, most likely from lung cancer.

The five chapters of the book are Earth, Water, Fire, Wind, and Void. Broadly, these discuss general precepts of the martial arts, which in Musashi’s time were defined as armed combat, primarily with the sword. Much of the text is devoted to specific sword techniques, all of which are assigned a name, and after each Musashi writes. “You must study this thoroughly”. There are philosophical observations intermingled with the mechanics of swordsmanship, readers of Sun Szu will find many of these familiar. In the current era there are many businessmen who study Musashi likely for these nuggets.

Musashi was a proponent of using both the long and short swords typically carried by Samurai simultaneously, one in each hand. He found two-handed swords unbalanced. Pikes and glaives were useful in open fields. Archery was outstanding in battle but useless against fortifications. He considered firearms to be superior weapons except for close combat. He cautioned his students that it was as bad to overly favor one type of weapon, but to be proficient in many. Although he is typically thought of as a swordsman, he fought two of his most famous duels with improvised staffs, one fashioned from a boat oar.

I would describe this book is a detailed description of Japanese sword techniques with an ample sprinkling of The Art of War as seen through a Buddhist lens. I have read this book a few times, but it was also useful to listen to it in audiobook form. The sword techniques may not have much application today, but there are many fundamental strategic lessons for the careful listener. Recommended, both for those insights and as a window into life in feudal Japan.

Grumman F7F Tigercat Walk Around Part IV

Photographed by Don Gilman at Lewis Air Legends

Part V here: https://inchhighguy.wordpress.com/2024/03/31/grumman-f7f-tigercat-walk-around-part-v/

2024 Dayton Wright Field Modelers IPMS Show

Photos from the 2024 Dayton Wright Field Modelers IPMS Show. A small vendor’s room but some great models on display. The show was literally just up the road from the National Museum of the United States Air Force, and it’s hard to resist a day out at the museum!