Stories and Illustrations of combat airplanes, missiles and the people that flew them

I talk to old combat pilots/crew, draw their airplanes and pass on whatever I've learned. ©2008 - 2025 John Mollison

11 September, 2009

Profile 36: PREVIEW "YO-YO" as flown by Sen. George McGovern

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10/6 Update: Almost done... As a lark, I sketched this little aerial combat scene - no clouds, but a single German Bf.109 G-6/R6 arcing in o...
06 August, 2009

Profile 35: "Four Six One" as flown by Kyösti "Kössi" Karhila

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Kyosti "Kossi" Karhila was a fighter pilot in the Finnish Air Force. He shot down well over 32* Russian airplanes in air-to-air c...
26 July, 2009

Profile 34.6 - Yellow 6 as flown by Kyösti "Kössi" Karhila

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8/2/09 update - tail and fuselage shown...but Kossi thought the cockpit area was too "fat" so I'm not showing that quite yet. ...
23 June, 2009

Profile 34: KAY II as flown by "Sandy" Moats

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"KAY II" was a last-minute request to support Colonel Len Kloeber's book, "Victory Principles - Lessons from D-Day....
06 June, 2009

Profile 33: 03 as flown by William "Bill" Creech

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"03" is an A-36 Apache, the P-51 Mustang's older, quirky brother. The airplane was given the "A for Attack" appellat...

Temporary post - D-Day's unforgotten casualty

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Unfortunately, I don't have an airplane ready to post today. But I do have a picture and a story to share. The strangely tinted photo a...
24 May, 2009

Profile 32: SNEEZY as flown by Donald "Mac" McKibben

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"Olive Drab" is the official name but in reality, the color runs everywhere from forest green to sludge brown. Sun, rain, oil, san...
23 May, 2009

Profile 32: SNEEZY Preview

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This is my latest work-in-progress, a P-47 Thunderbolt flown by "Mac" McKibben of the 352nd FG. I wanted to get something up in t...
17 May, 2009

Profile 31: 18 as flown by Eugene "Red" James

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History buffs will quickly recognize that the airplane above isn't WW2 vintage. For those who aren't so buffy, the clue that this Co...
24 April, 2009

Profile 30 - MAJ MAC as flown by Morris Magnuson

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Firstly, the response to this blog has lead me to believe readers would like to learn more about my interviews and what I "do." S...
04 April, 2009

Profile 29.75 - MAJ MAC Preview

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The next profile, a P-47D-28 flown by a member of the 36th Fighter Group is not quite finished. The sketches shown were done on our kitchen...
15 March, 2009

Profile 29 - RUSTY as flown by William R. Preddy

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Visually, "Rusty" is a rather unremarkable P-51. The 339th FG color scheme was, by WW2 standards, somewhat hum-drum. However, to...
09 November, 2008

Profile 28 - DEL-O-MINE as flown by Burton Hawley

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"Dell-O-Mine" took her pilot Burton Hawley over German-occupied territory in southern France, northern Italy and everywhere in bet...
11 September, 2008

Profile 27 - LADY BELLE as flown by Dana Wetherbee

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I didn't interview Lady Belle's pilot, Dana Weatherbee.  Instead, I had the interesting diversion of getting to know the airplane...
23 August, 2008

Profile 26 - 13 as flown by Josef Priller

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Josef Priller died in 1961 of an apparent heart attack. He was 45 years old - way before I was born.  From all that I've read about Pri...
15 August, 2008

Profile 25 - FLYING DUTCHMAN flown by Robert Goebel

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"Flying Dutchman" is an old rendering that was hastily masked and updated to meet a signing deadline.  Unfortunately, it's bey...
10 August, 2008

Profile 24 - DIMPLES flown by JD Collinsworth

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It's a shame "Dimples" isn't one of my better pieces because JD "Jerry" Collinsworth is an unforgettable, excell...
05 August, 2008

Profile 23 - TARHEEL flown by George Preddy

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George Preddy was just another combat pilot in the South Pacific, flying rugged but outclassed P-40E's against the agile Zeros of the Im...
28 July, 2008

Profiles 18-22: Hellcats and Wildcats

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27 July, 2008

Profile 22 - 22 flown by Jack Hankins

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Seems like everyone has one of those Weird Stories that make a person wonder if there are unseen forces at work.  My Weird Story involves th...
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JSM
I've been drawing airplanes since I was 3 and haven't stopped. Along the way, I got to know the pilots and crew...and this blog is a result.
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