Dornier Do 26 Flying Boat Part II – Catapult Trials

The Do 26V1 shows her elegant lines for the camera. Deutsche Lufthansa employed several large flying boat designs as mail couriers on the trans-Atlantic routes to North and South America, and this was the intended service for the new Dornier. Lufthansa had developed some unique technical solutions to ensure the success of their flying boat fleet and Seeadler was selected demonstrate the Do 26s compatibility.

While many nations employed catapults for launching aircraft from ships, for the most part the aircraft types were floatplanes or small seaplanes. Germany was unique in building ships whose primary purpose was launching large multi-engined flying boats. Before the war Lufthansa had seven of these catapult ships in service supporting the trans-Atlantic mail service. This is the Friesenland, a large ship displacing 11,500 tons with a length of 461 feet (140.5 meters).

Early in 1939 Seeadler was assigned to catapult trials aboard Friesenland. The practice was for the seaplane to land on the water in a sheltered location and then be hoisted aboard the ship. While there the aircraft could be refueled and serviced, and the crew & passengers rested. Here is Seeadler’s flight crew preparing the aircraft for hoisting. Note the open hatches and mooring line at the nose.

Cables are lowered from the Friesenland’s crane. Additional lines are secured to the aircraft, these lines will be tended to help keep the aircraft steady and prevent it from swinging.

The Friesland’s crane had a rated capacity of twenty tons. This perspective shows the crane fitted with extra padding to prevent damage to the aircraft as well as a large floodlight fixed to the upper portion for night operations.

Another view of Seeadler being hoisted aboard. The Friesenland’s huge catapult track is clearly visible.

Seeadler positioned on the catapult running up her engines. In addition to servicing the aircraft, Lufthansa’s use of catapult ships allowed the flying boats to be launched without risk of damage due to rough seas, even while heavily loaded.

Another view, evidently on a rainy day. An unusual angle, but one which shows the gull wings to advantage.

Seeadler at the moment of launch. Catapult trials were a success!

Part III Do 26 Interior and Details here: https://inchhighguy.wordpress.com/2026/01/07/dornier-do-26-flying-boat-part-iii-interior-and-details/

Italeri Macchi MC.202 Folgore of Capitano Maurizio Ruspoli in 1/72 Scale

Prince Maurizio Ruspoli di Poggio Susa was a member of the Italian aristocracy as well as a successful fighter pilot. He was credited with a total of ten victories over several fronts, including Greece, Russia, and North Africa. He survived the war.

Macchi MC.202 Folgore of Capitano Franco Lucchini of 91a Squadriglia, 10° Gruppo, Fuka, Egypt, September 1942. Italeri kit, Cartograph decals.

Construction here: https://inchhighguy.wordpress.com/2025/11/14/macchi-mc-202-folgore-comparison-build-hasegawa-and-italeri-kits-in-1-72-scale-part-i/

Douglas DC-3 Walk Around Part I

Photographs taken at the Lone Star Flight Museum, Houston, Texas by Don Gilman

DC-3 walk around part II here: https://inchhighguy.wordpress.com/2026/01/04/douglas-dc-3-walk-around-part-ii/

Grumman F4F Wildcat Walk Around Part II

Photographs taken at the Lone Star Flight Museum, Houston, Texas by Don Gilman

Part I FM-2 Wildcat here: https://inchhighguy.wordpress.com/2020/10/11/grumman-fm-2-wildcat-walk-around/

Women Warriors Israeli Defense Forces Special Edition 2025

Dear Sister, Register for A.T.S. W.A.P.S. at the recruiting bureaus of the Haya- ATS recruiting poster WWII

IDF tankers with Nagmachon IFV equipped with slat armor

It’s up to you to shorten the path to victory – ATS recruiting poster WWII

IDF armor trainees, note tank simulators built on Humvees

A.T.S. Calling Her -ATS recruiting poster WWII

The recruitment of women for military service was announced – Enlist! -ATS recruiting poster WWII

Italeri SM.79 Sparviero Build in 1/72 Scale Part III

The model was primed and any flaws got the fill-sand-fill routine until smooth, then the panel lines were restored. Given all the fit issues and filling I was surprised there weren’t more issues.

One of the places where the PE actually did come in handy were the engines. The PE fret has parts for the wiring harnesses and the cowling braces which make the engines look suitably busy.

One of the options for Italian torpedoes is an overall natural metal finish, although this was sometimes wiped down with grease.

After much deliberation, here are the colors I settled on. All were mixed with various amounts of white to lighten them up. The white fuselage stripe was masked off, the rest of the pattern was applied freehand. This scheme is interesting because the light gray was applied to the front of the aircraft in an attempt to blend in better with the sea haze when making low-level torpedo attacks.

Decals were from the kit and were applied over a gloss coat of Future. Strangely, the large decal on the fuselage has settled in well with Micro Scale products alone while the small weight stencil on the tail from the same sheet will need something stronger. Not everything works the same all the time!

Underside details with the torpedo in place. The mass balances and gear doors were added at the end of the build to reduce the chances of breakage. Gun barrels are CMK resin U.S. .50 caliber barrels, a type which has perforated jackets just like the Italian weapons. The kit guns were molded nicely by the way, and I will be saving them for use in more open positions on future builds where they can be better seen.

A view of the finished model. I like the SM.79 but this build fought me all the way, and there are some compromises I was obliged to make in the interest of getting done. I rarely give up on a build no matter how far sideways it goes, learning how to correct problems helps build confidence for the next project. Having said that this one is not very competitive and will not be going to the shows, but it will look okay in the case. If there ever is a new tool Sparviero released there are still some very interesting schemes to try so I’d be up to do another someday!

Construction part I here: https://inchhighguy.wordpress.com/2025/12/12/italeri-sm-79-sparviero-build-in-1-72-scale-part-i/

More completed photos here: https://inchhighguy.wordpress.com/2026/01/13/italeri-sm-79-sparviero-in-1-72-scale/

Picture of the Week 104

A formation of USMC SBD-3 Dauntless dive bombers on a transfer flight between Pearl Harbor and Midway Island, 1942. An interesting series of original color photos as they clearly show a variety of fading and weathering of the Blue Gray over Light Gray camouflage. (LIFE Magazine) More photos from this series here, and follow the links for additional SBD color photos: https://inchhighguy.wordpress.com/2019/05/15/douglass-sbd-dauntless-color-photographs/

Dornier Do 26 Flying Boat Part I

The Dornier Do 26 flying boat was designed as a trans-Atlantic mail plane for Deutsche Lufthansa in the late 1930s. Its first flight was in May 1938. Three aircraft were completed before the war with another three completed for the Luftwaffe after the war began.

One hallmark of many Dornier designs was a propensity to mount engines in tandem. The Do 26 mounted four Junkers Jumo 205C diesels on the upper wings. An unusual feature is rear engines could be angled upwards ten degrees to help reduce the amount of spray hitting the pusher propellers. Seen here is an unmarked Do 26 minus spinners with the engines raised.

Like many flying boats the Dornier design featured gull wings with the engines mounted at the angle. This was an attempt to elevate the engines as much as possible above the water’s surface.

The first aircraft (V1) was assigned the civilian call letters D-AGNT and named “Seeadler” (Sea Eagle). The call letters were repeated on the upper and lower wings as well as the fuselage sides. The outrigger floats retracted flush into the wings which gives us a view of the wing call letters.

A fine portrait of D-AGNT in calm waters. The diesel engines exhausted through ports on the nacelle sides, the soot staining follows the course of the airflow over the wings.

The Do 26 was intended to carry up to 500 kg (1,100 pounds) of mail across the Atlantic. It had a crew of four and could also carry four passengers.

Earlier Dornier designs had relied on fuselage sponsons for stability on the water, the Do 26 utilized outrigger floats which were fully retractable into the wing while in flight.

The V2 aircraft was named “Seefalke” (Sea Falcon) and featured black engine nacelles. Her call letters were D-AWDS as seen here.

Seefalke is pushed from a beach. The rear engines are in their elevated positions.

“Seemöwe” (Seagull) was the name given to Do 23 V3, the third production machine, registration D-ASRA.

A view of Seemöwe on the water. Her pusher engines are raised and appear to be stopped. The radio call letters on the upper wing surfaces are clearly visible.

Part II here: https://inchhighguy.wordpress.com/2025/12/31/dornier-do-26-flying-boat-part-ii-catapult-trials/

Hasegawa Macchi MC.202 Folgore of Capitano Franco Lucchini in 1/72 Scale

Franco Lucchini opened his account on 12OCT37 while flying a Fiat CR.32, he was credited with one Republican fighter. He would bring his total to five before the Spanish civil War ended. He himself was shot down twice over Spain, the second time he was taken prisoner.

When Italy entered the Second World War in 1940 Lucchini was sent to North Africa with 10° Gruppo flying the CR.42. He continued to increase his score against the RAF, but was wounded on 27SEP41 over Malta. He was back in action in November as commander of 84a Squadriglia of 4° Stormo flying the Macchi MC.202 Folgore. On 24OCT42 he was shot down and injured again, this time he did not return to duty until June 1943. By that time the fortunes of war had turned against Italy, and Lucchini led 10°Gruppo in defense of the homeland against ever-increasing formations of Allied aircraft. On 05JUL43 he led the Gruppo on a flight to intercept a formation of B-17 Flying Fortresses. His Macchi was hit by defensive fire and was seen to crash near Catania, killing him. He was credited with 22 aerial victories in WWII, 5 over Spain, and 52 damaged, making him Italy’s leading ace of the Second World War.

Macchi MC.202 Folgore of Capitano Franco Lucchini, commanding 84a Squadriglia of 10° Gruppo, Fuka, Egypt, August 1942. Hasegawa kit, Cartograph decals.

Construction here: https://inchhighguy.wordpress.com/2025/11/14/macchi-mc-202-folgore-comparison-build-hasegawa-and-italeri-kits-in-1-72-scale-part-i/

Harpoon Missile vs Surface Ships Book Review

Harpoon Missile vs Surface Ships: US Navy, Libya and Iran 1986–88

By Lon Nordeen, Illustrated by Jim Laurier

Osprey Duel Series #134

Softcover, 80 pages, bibliography, and index

Published by Osprey Publishing, January 2024

Language: English

ISBN: 978-1472859204

Dimensions: 7.3 x 9.7 x 0.3 inches

The Harpoon anti-ship missile program began in the 1960s as a design study to give the United States Navy a weapon to use against surfaced submarines. In the 1970s then-CNO ADM Elmo Zumwalt greatly accelerated the program when it was realized that USN surface combatants had lagged behind their Soviet counterparts in both offensive and defensive weaponry. The resulting missile soon was adapted for use by surface ships (RGM-84), aircraft (AGM-84), and submarines (UGM-84). Later the design also formed the basis for an air-launched land-attack variant known as the Standoff Land Attack Missile (SLAM). Harpoon missiles were produced in large numbers and equipped several classes of USN and allied nation vessels as their primary anti-ship armament.

In this book author Lon Nordeen has drawn upon U.S. archival sources and narratives to detail the two engagements where Harpoon missiles were fired in anger by USN aircraft and surface ships. These were the 1986 engagements against the Libyan Navy in the Gulf of Sidra and Operation Preying Mantis in 1988 against the Iranians in the Persian Gulf. Both of these actions are covered in detail, but the earlier 1980 use of Harpoon by the Iranians against Iraqi Osa missile boats is only briefly mentioned. Many readers will be surprised to learn that the Iranian missile boat Joshan also fired a Harpoon at the USS Wainright (CG-28) during Preying Mantis before she was destroyed, this engagement is discussed from the American point of view.

This is one of the more interesting volumes in the Osprey Duel series as it documents in detail two of the earliest Cold War “war at sea” engagements fought by the USN and gives several insights into how the American Navy conducts these operations. The author presents the situational overview and sequence of events intermixed with anecdotal accounts from the people directly involved. On the down side the author tends to jump back and forth between the two incidents rather than presenting them strictly sequentially, and only U.S. sources are used so there is no opportunity to hear from the Libyan or Iranian participants. Overall though, this is a fascinating subject for anyone interested in modern naval warfare, recommended!