Profile 45 - "Flak Shak" as flown by many.

Flak Shak is done.  Almost.  I might mask in a Browning .50 cal in the waist-gunner's spot if I have time before I have to get it off to the printer.  But, "life" for me right now has sifted all of my available time right out from under.  Hopefully, tail gunner Robert Hickman will sign the prints some time in the next few weeks.  He's the surviving crewman of the airplane.

Throughout the research, working on the art, talking to family and learning from 485th BG historian, Jerry Whiting, my thoughts toward Flak Shak bounced between the dramatic extremes of loss and victory.  This big bomber is a small symbol of war's terror, horror, power and grit.

I'm at a loss for words to describe Flak Shak's combat life.  But I have to try.

You're looking at an airplane that, on June 28, 1944, was the last stand for ten men over Romania.  It's shown here for you to view as it was the morning of that day.  By days end, it would not be so pristine.

Over the course of it's mission - and its lead position in the formation - no fewer than eight Luftwaffe fighters would take their turn, spraying cannon and machine gun fire into the bomber, slicing skin of both man and machine.

The duel began en route to the target when bombardier John Dempsey took a hit (from flak or German fighters, no one is sure) in the leg, splitting the bone.  But, as lead plane in the formation, Flak Shak was the que for the others to toggle their payload.  Dempsey held himself together through the run to ensure that its job was successfully completed.

Having a crippled crewman totally changed the already charged atmosphere within the airplane - imagine ten people on an RV trip and one is on the floor, bleeding from such a wound, and the nearest hospital exit 90 minutes away.

Now imagine that RV being then pounced upon by raiders with cannon and machine guns, raking it from stem to stern...

For some reason known only to the Fates, eight German Bf-109s selected Flak Shak for destruction, making pass after pass, firing into the bomber - hot splinters, fist-sized holes appearing like demonic magic in the wing, tail, fuselage -  the howl of wind, the roar of engines and the muffled pain of two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine crewmen, clutching from their fresh wounds...

But.

The crew of Flak Shak fought back.

Six of the enemy fighters were shot down.  To get your head around this, that meant that the gunners stayed in their positions and held their resolve with enough cool to not only hit but destroy their attackers.

For those who may not be so familiar, the job of a gunner on a flying, bouncing WW2 bomber was especially challenging.  It wasn't like the Alamo where the defenders shot from stationary positions.  Instead, Flak Shak's gunners were firing at fast moving targets from a moving position.  Like duck hunting from a circling boat.

The only explanation for the high victory count I can conceive is that the Germans were coming in awfully close and were especially confident that THIS pass was the one that would finally - finally - bring Flak Shak down.

But.

Flak Shak didn't go down.  At least out of defeat.  The pilot and co-pilot brought the maimed bomber to a short strip, forward airfield in Bari, Italy where it skidded to a dusty halt.  Sweet Lord - those first few seconds of realization that "we made it home" must have been dead quiet.  A moment of unearthly silence before the clank of boots, opening bomb bay doors* and the clamor of medics rushing to do their work...

Over 500 holes were counted but the decision was moot - Flak Shak would never fly again.  Yet, every crewman survived the mission.

At the end of this post, you can read the official Silver Star Citation.  I hope you do - the austere military verbiage lends a certain air to the crew's deed that I can't.

Below, the crew of Flak Shak shortly after their Silver Star presentation circa Sept 2, 1944.  Ironically, they were posed in front another B-24 named after the magazine, LIFE.

Front Row, Left to Right:  Kenneth Leasure, navigator; Volney Wiggins, pilot, and Matthew Hall, copilot.  Back Row, Left to Right:  Ed Hartupee, ballgunner; Virgil Anderson, top gunner; Francis Brittain Jr., nosegunner, and Robert Hickman, tailgunner.  (Missing from the photo are John P. Dempsey, bombardier; Martin J. Caine, radio operator, and Wilson B. Shimer, engineer.)  The missing crew members were still in the hospital from wounds.  Matt Hall was later killed on a  9/13/44 mission to Oswiecim, Poland.

I'm still at a loss for words.



*Entry into a B-24 was commonly done through the bomb bay door.

Special thanks to Jerry Whiting, 485th BG, and the families of Virgil Anderson (top gunner)—specifically Virgil's grandson, Matthew Rabe—and Robert Hickman (tail gunner).

Profile 45 - "Flak Shak" as flown by Capt. V. Wiggins...and crew

Don't let the appearance of slow progress fool you - "Flak Shak" is coming along nicely!  However, the progress is not so much the artwork as it is the research.

Look at the tail.  See that cross of two yellow bands?  Aside from the fact that it looks like "Racer X" of the Japanese cartoon, "Speed Racer," it was also a major head-scratcher for me.  Judging from the handful of good photos of 485th BG B-24s, the position of the intersection seemed to jump forward and backward from plane to plane.

But, I noticed that some of the bombers had their de-icing panels removed (?!), leaving the aluminum leading edges.  This created an optical illusion, fooling the casual glance into thinking the "X" was off center when it really wasn't.  When Flak Shak is finished, you'll see how the extra foot or so of aluminum leading-edge puts the cross point in the middle of the tail, where any self-respecting ground crewman would have put it.

That discovery doesn't make Flak Shak any easier.  The airplane has a handful of other quirks relating to its markings that will bear themselves out.  As in no visible serial number.  Hmmm.

However, I thought you'd like to see another shot of Flak Shak after she landed her historic mission.  Look closely at the holes under the waist window and surrounding the American insignia.  They coorrespond with the firing angle of one of the ten or so Bf-109s that attacked the bomber - seven o'clock level.

Imagine this - you're crouched behind the black breech of a single .50 calibre machine gun, sweating so much, the nervous liquid weeps out of your fleece-lined gloves.


Someone just called out "Fighter - seven o'clock" over the intercom and you pick up on the slim black fingernail banking into the attack just under the left rudder.


Dry mouth, panting, you pull the blade-like trigger and the Browning shakes and roars, spewing spent casings onto the floor of your bomber and copper headed bullets like a garden hose at full crank.


Staccato flashes blink from the Messerschmitt's nose...


BANG!


An explosion at your feet sprays shards of supersonic metal...and for thinnest slice of time, you have no idea what on earth just happened...


...something feels warm, then cold upon your skin...

Just wait.

Photo courtesy of the family of Virgil Anderson, crewman, Flak Shak.

Profile 45 - "Flak Shak" as flown by Capt. V. Wiggins...and crew.

The dynamics of a bomber crew are life in microcosm.  Inside the metal-skinned tube, a team of people work, each with their role, their function - a flying cell in the larger organism (formation) of others like it.

Most people understand that the romance of a tightly bound "band of brothers" that live, breathe and die together is more Hollywood than Reality.  True enough, I've heard of fights breaking out inside cockpits, pilots 'firing' crew members and stories of plane old boredom on long, arduous flights.

Then, there are the rare stories - thankfully rare - that stop you cold; drama and determination that would be utterly exhausting for even the most imaginative script writer to convey to the reader.  "Flak Shak" is one such story.

This airplane came to my attention purely by accident.  Having met the surviving son of a 485th BG crewman, he described the legend of a particular airplane within the Group named "Flak Shak" and how each of her ten crew was awarded the Silver Star for gallantry on June 28, 1944 during a mission to Romania.

Right now, I'm in correspondence with family & crew, hoping to bring this particular B-24 H back to virtual life.  My sketch above is crude, but will form the basis of what I hope to be as close to perfect of a Profile as possible.

In the meantime, have another look at the picture in the post below.  See if you can discern the battle damage.  There's more to come...

Profile 45 - "FLAK SHAK"

I'm waiting for Harold Thune to bless my rendering of his Hellcat.

With my bit of free time, this morning, I responded to an email regarding a B-24 Liberator that caught my breath...

Watch this space.  "Flak Shak" is about to take life...and oh, what a life she had!

Photo courtesy of the family of Virgil Anderson, crewman, Flak Shak.

Profile 44 - Another update to Thune's Hellcat

Another update!  Perhaps this will hold some interest while waiting for help with the markings from the USS Intrepid Air, Sea and Space Museum.  Once I get those, there's probably another 2, 3 hours before it's finished and I can send it off to the printer.  Can you tell the difference between this one and the one in the prior post?

However, this Hellcat promises to be one of my best yet.   And still, time will reveal that there are parts to Harold's airplane that are plane wrong. Pun intended.  But for now, I'm pleased and am hoping to be close to Malcomb Gladwell's "10,000 hour" mark. (Read Outliers).

The picture below is Hamilton McWhorter, a Navy ace of 12 aerial victories.  He's holding a hastily printed copy of my version of the Hellcat he flew from the USS Randolph in 1945.  I did it in 2002 and frankly, the practice since then has improved my skill.  To that point, last month, a Florida collector purchased the formal print and I spent a half hour making little touchups with a soft lead pencil!  The collector was pleased but I sure wish I could do Mac's plane over.

Practice may make perfect, but the time in between is corrupt.  Mac died two years ago.

There are some very cool things about this avocation and some very cruel as well.

Profile 44 - UPDATED! F6F-5 Hellcat as flown by Harold Thune

Wow!  From pencil studies to nearly finished in five days - that's a record for me.

This 'Cat is going back into the hanger until I get info on markings - hopefully in the next week or so.  Then, I'll put them in, quite like the real process when a factory-fresh Hellcat obtained her squadron marks.

Something to think about in the meantime - Harold is about 88 years old now.  In the span of his life, he's experienced economic calamity and boom, world war, travel to outer space...and four BILLION people added to earth's current occupancy.

I don't want to wax philosophical here - I do it badly anyway.  But, in 1920, the earth's estimated population was 2 billion.  Today, it's over 6 billion.  What that means to us, at least to me, is this - soon  the cumulative wisdom and energy of Harold's Generation will likely be absorbed into humanity and dissipated.  Like steam.  And it seems so...much like a waste.

Today, Harold's son - a United States Senator - is tasked with representing his state in all issues of American policy, including the profoundly far-reaching issue of Social Security for the elderly.

Politically, my views are unimportant.  But I do believe in activism and I encourage my generation to become active in the Social Security issue by doing one thing - connect with them .  Invite, engage, consult, but know that relationships with people who've already trodden our Roads Less Traveled is vital to the social fabric.

On one hand, the above airplane is just a drawing.  But on the other, it's an excuse to ask deeper questions, interpret the past and cast a clearer vision of the future.

[laughs] I'll get off the soapbox. However, it's a good time to think about this stuff, especially if Grandma/Grandpa are going to be a part of your Holiday experience. With some good luck, the next post will be Thune's finished airplane, excerpts from my interview and a few cool artifacts, too.  I hope to make it worth your time. :)

Profile 44 - F6F-5 as flown by Lt. Harold Thune

I decided to do Harold's -5 Hellcat, though still waiting for info on the markings.

The cowl is grafted onto my pencil sketch for two reasons - one, I think it looks cool to see the pencil sketch come to life this way.   Two, it shows how spot-on accurate my sketch was.  Yahoo - the blind squirrel found a nut! (laughs).

The dark blue is a wicked color, however.  In real life, it was almost black.  When working with such, there's an ever-present temptation to add excessive "weathering" details like chipped paint because of the difficulty in showing contour and texture.

I'll refrain, however, for the simple reason that Navy planes typically didn't experience the visual wear & tear more common to ground-bound Marine and Army Air Force aircraft.  I think artists and modelers tend to get a little too romantic with the hard-wear, but that's another topic. Thune's Hellcat will show a wee bit of sun-bleaching, maybe a chip or two, but for the most part, it'll represent the typical look of a hard working Navy fighter.

However, the Pratt&Whitney R2800 engine did throw a bit of greasy exhaust and my next challenge will be managing the engine's 2000hp belches of smoke and oil.

Stay tuned. :)

Profile 44 - Grumman F6F-? as flown by Lt. Harold Thune

While waiting on some information on exactly which of Harold Thune's F6F to do, I decided to do the quick pencil study above to get into the Hellcat vibe.   This one is a "-5" model - my notes are to contrast it with the -3 variant.

Anyway, the sketch above took me, maybe, at most...three minutes.  Just look - nothing to it!  No complex curves, just straight lines and the flat face of a warehouse boxer.  But, it also occurred to me that the features that made the Hellcat easy to sketch hinted at why the airplane was a brilliant business decision for Grumman and the U.S. Navy back in 1942.

If you're an airplane geek, the Hellcat legend is fairly well known.  It had the highest victory:loss ratio of any Naval fighter plane - 19:1.  According to pilots, the F6F was gentle to fly, well armored, powerfully armed and almost as nimble as its main adversary, the lithe Mitsubishi A6M "Zero." I sat in one and was impressed with the roominess of the cockpit and good visibility in spite of the high-back fuselage.

Back to those easy-to-draw points - in mass production, straight lines mean easier assembly, less complicated jig systems and rapidity of construction.  To that point, I read that of the 12,000+ Hellcats built, 11,000 were built in the last two years of production.  Grumman must have been pumping Hellcats out like water.   By the time the assembly line shut down, the Hellcat was just under $40,000 a piece, making it the cheapest of the major American fighters in WW2.

Today, Hellcats are scarce with only a handful or so flying.  The last I heard, one of those are worth about $2-3 million dollars.

The next post should show progress on Thune's specific airplane.

Profile 44 - Harold Thune's F6F

Last month, I announced to my wife, "No more airplanes for a long while." Funny how things work because the ears of Fate must have remembered a comment I made to Steve Heffernan, a historian at the Naval Air Museum in Pensacola, FL.

Steve's a native South Dakotan and rightfully proud of his home-state's representation in Washington D.C., Senator John Thune.  He and I were standing in the Naval Air Museum's expansive, Indiana-Jones like warehouse when he pointed to a city-block long rack of cardboard boxes filled with WW2 flight records and announced, "Have you done Thune's dad's Hellcat? His flight records are up there somewhere..."

I replied, "No.  Should I?"  Steve gave me a "Duh!" look and commanded, "Yes, you should!"  Unfortunately, in the blur of the moment (I WAS in one of the Nirvana's of aviation archeology, so things were rather distracting), I forgot my promise shortly afterwards.

11 months later, a newspaper called to get some insight into the 69th Anniversary of Pearl Harbor (why they asked ME, I have no freaking idea) and the reporter asked, "Have you met Senator John Thune's dad, Harold?"

Blink!  I remembered my promise and admitted such to the reporter who promptly got me in touch with Thune's office.  One week later, I'm meeting with the Senator's aides, discussing how to get the elder's records to accurately reproduce Harold's Cat.

And so, I've begun the project of capturing the F6F flown by Lt. Harold Thune of VF-18 (Intrepid). The scan above is my pencil sketch study I made this weekend while snowbound during a camping trip. The Senator's office and I are researching the airplane that Harold flew during a fateful mission in Fall of 1944 where Harold downed 4 Japanese airplanes.

Watch this space - it promises to be a cool story, with lots of interesting details that you wouldn't normally get to see.

I guess I spoke too soon about "laying off the airplanes."

Profile 43 - "315" as flown by Lt. David Carey

Though it needs a few more highlights (to knock down the gray), this is a reasonable-enough rendering of Lt. David Carey's A-4E Skyhawk.  The one he was flying when shot down over North Vietnam, August 31, 1967.

Growing up as a little kid, I had these impressions of the Vietnam War - Charles Manson, Hippies sitting in parks, Walter Cronkite, jungles, helicopters and Richard Nixon.  Don't analyze the package - it was just my tiny brain processing the news.

And all the talk.  Vietnam bad, Vietnam good.

And this pin that my mom wore.  It read, "POWs never have a nice day" the words ringing a frowning face.  To me, at age 5, I wondered what that meant.  No Christmas?  Oatmeal all the time?  Did they sleep on rocks?  Were they beat up?

So, fast forwarding to a day when a friend of mine said that he knew a Naval Aviator who'd been shot down and survived as a POW, I wondered what his "never a nice day" experience was like.  Armed with his phone number, I called Dave, told him I drew airplanes and casually promised to draw his some day.  In answer to my question, he sent me his book, "The Ways We Choose."

That was about seven years ago.  Though I don't quite think he was pining for me to finish, Dave did wait too long for me to fulfill a promise.

I won't - I can't - summarize the book here.  It's more than a blow-by-blow recollection of the infamous Hanoi Hilton.  On top of the facts of nearly 6 years of imprisonment, Dave writes about the psychology of change and positive adaptation to negative circumstances.  Today, he counsels businesses and organizations on how to endure and grow despite their arena.

Though I remain, for now, fixated on the era of propellor-driven aircraft, this A-4E was a welcome challenge and an honor to someone who truly turned a "...never nice day" into success for himself and many, many others.

Fantastic!

So looking forward...

Readers:  work on Dave's A4 will resume shortly!  And believe it or not, the first print is spoken for (crazy to trust in the final outcome at this stage, but that's the passion people have for this airplane for ya).

Profile 43 - "315" as flown by Lt. David Carey

Well, there it is.  The fuselage.  Sort of.

The stencils were added early to help me get a grip around the Skyhawk's subtle curves.  So too were the interior cockpit highlights.

My references - so far - are a "walk around" book on the A-4 series, a drawing done by an unknown artist and a 1/48 scale model.  And each one is frustratingly different.  Frankly, I don't know what panel line to trust.

Oh well - the tail/rudder will come next, along with masking in the wing, elevator and tailpipe assembly.

I'm still 30 days from completion...

Profile 43 - 315 as flown by Lt. David Carey

Update -

Well, so far, I've "Thrown out and started over" 3 times.  I'm barely hanging onto this version.

In case you're curious, see that tail?  It "makes" the A-4's lines.  In the pencil studies, I continually draw it too small and swept-back, like a Grumman F-11 Tiger.   The real-deal's tail is tall and wide, visually 'too-big' for the compact, stunt-plane like lines.

However, when (sometimes it seems like 'if') this one gets finished, I'm sure the point of contention will not be the airplane itself but those stencils painted all over the airplane.

So far, there are at six different ways to write "RESCUE" or "DANGER" or "WARNING" in a 1960's vintage NAVY fighter.  Some have broken letters, some don't.  Some arrows have a notch, some don't.  Some are outlined in solid black, others a broken black line.

I'm hoping Dave has a miracle photo laying around showing exactly what the intake and cockpit stencils looked like.  In the meantime, stay tuned...

Profile 43 - #315 as flown by Lt. David Carey

Up until now, I haven't had the time to really focus on Dave Carey's A-4E.  So, I'm sketching myself back into the groove, getting the feel for the airplane's fantastic lines.  Here's my latest study.  I'm not quite "there" yet.

Anyway, this is the airplane Carey was flying when he was hit by a Surface-to-Air Missile (SAM) over North Vietnam, in 1967.  He ejected and began a 5 and a half year life as a Prisoner of War. 

Ironically, I spent part of yesterday with former Senator George McGovern.  Most remember him as a front-stage "anti-war" politico of the era.  Far fewer know him as a combat pilot himself, flying B-24s over Europe in WW2.

It's too bad I couldn't have talked to them both over the same table - they're both students of leadership, of history and are patriots.  Maybe some day.

But in the meantime, I look at Carey's Skyhawk with a different eye, knowing he served his nation with so much controversy back home and endured captivity under a rabid enemy.

Though #315 is a few weeks from being finished, I look forward to learning more about what makes Carey tick and representing his machine as well as I can.  As a student of history, I'm grateful for the front seat.

Profile 43 - A-4E Skyhawk BuNo. 152058 AH 315

Well, the airplane above is a departure.

Believe me, I have plenty of WW2 airplanes "to do."  However, this Vietnam-era A4 Skyhawk is compelling.

Her pilot, Dave Carey, was shot down over North Vietnam on August 31, 1967.

You'll like this story - it's one of adaptation and temperance.  Stay tuned.

Profile 42 - "02344" as flown by Jimmy Doolittle and Richard Cole

Of all the airplanes I've ever done, the one above is the most...awesome.  Not 'awesome' in the way Sean Penn in "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" said it.  Certainly not awesome in that the art is brilliant - it's ok but not awesome.

The B-25B above is awesome because of the act of her crew.

You can do your own search for "Doolittle Raid," but here's the gist - on April 18, 1942, the United States military conducted the first assertive act against the Japanese by bombing that nation's mainland.  16 bombers with 5 crew apiece, took off from the carrier Hornet on a mission that, at its heart, was a public relations stunt to rile Japanese military leaders and give American press something heroic to write about.

On paper, the odds of real strategic success were ridiculous.  16 bombers were laughably puny, especially since the targets were spread out over the country.  Enemy interception by fighters and flak were to be counted upon. Lastly, landing strips in China were primitive and would have to be found in the dark.  And, much of coastal China was occupied by the Japanese.

In reality, the mission was - to use an oft-used word - suicidal. 

Jimmy Doolittle, the mission's leader, was a famous pilot who'd honed his expertise in the 30's flying racers.   If you know anything about pre-WW2 aviation, you'll understand why he would be called today, "an adrenalin junkie." Plus he was a scientific genius.  Jimmy seemed to enjoy risk like most people enjoy breakfast.

But later, Doolittle published his biography, "I Could Never Be So Lucky Again," a title largely driven by his survival of his -as the movie stated - 30 seconds over Tokyo.

All of the B-25s crashed en-route to their landing zones, save for one that managed to land in Russia.  Miraculously, "only" 5 crewmen died.  Three were executed by the Japanese, one died bailing out and one died in a prison camp.  A remaining three managed to make it to war-end and were liberated in August of 1945.  The rest of the Raiders trickled back to Allied lines, aided at great risk by Chinese peasants, militia and soldiers.

With loss of all of the aircraft (Russia didn't give the B-25 back), ten percent casualties and pin-prick damage to the Japanese, Doolittle believed he lead a failure - with is rather surprising consider any 30's air racer knew the value of Hype because in that regard, the Doolittle Raid was HUGE.

The Japanese military leaders were incensed beyond fury and demonstrated their character through an enraged search for the crewmen, killing possibly more than two hundred thousand* Chinese in the process. On the homefront, the pay-back for Pearl Harbor was invigoratingly sweet, helping to fuel a national unity that expressed itself in a herculean materiel machine.

See why this drab bomber is so Awesome?

And I get to meet her Co-pilot, Richard Cole, in a few weeks.

I will be in awe, no doubt.

UPDATE:  a history-geek's moment of awesomeness—A "selfie" as I drive  Doolittle Raider Dick Cole and 352nd FG ace Alden Rigby around town.  The wonderful woman in between is Dick's daughter, Cindy.  In case you're wondering why I'm sitting cross-wise, it's because I was listening in as the three talked politics.

*Anyone resting in the sophistication and civility of the 21st Century is urged to read up on the Japanese occupation of China during WW2.  Two things should become clear.  One, Japan has made light-year strides as a nation in its effort to distance herself from the insanity of its WW2 leadership.  Two, it's going to take continual effort to ensure that kind of evil won't happen again, anywhere.

Profile 42 - "02344" as flown by Jimmy Doolittle and Richard Cole

Insomnia is my friend.  Not.  Maybe.  I don't know.

Anyway, I made progress last night on Dick Cole's B-25B.  At least this far!  On my next sleepless night, this part will be 'masked off' and work begun on the fuselage.

The trick of this airplane is to catch the weathering accurately.  A beat-up, paint chipped bomber looks cool but may not be as the airplane really was.  The facts surrounding the B-25s that flew on the Doolittle Raid are such that the airplanes probably weren't all that trashed.  And when an aircraft was assigned to a Crew Chief, 9/10 were notoriously retentive about the care & feeding of their planes.

However, the 'Raider's' B-25s were used.  The 16 crews that flew on that extreme mission trained with their assigned aircraft from the beginning.  From factory to Squadron delivery, these B-25s experienced perhaps 6 months of wear & tear.  I'm working at capturing the right amount of oil stains, fading and chipping of paint...and of course the passionate service of the aircraft's ground crew.

Then again, I could just do a crumpled olive drab mangle of aluminum - every one of the Doolittle bombers were destroyed on that mission.

Stay tuned!

UPDATE:  Whoops.  Forgot the landing light and the words "ARMY" under the wing.  Bah.

Profile 42 - "02344" as flown by Jimmy Doolittle and Richard Cole

Well, I'm certainly excited about the subject of this preliminary sketch - it's the B-25B flown by Jimmy Doolittle during the April 1942 bombing raid on Japan.  The sketch itself is almost laughable - at least to people who know what a B-25 looks like.

This summer, I get to meet this airplane's co-pilot, Richard Cole and need to get the bird done & printed by then.  Being that I'm not too good at bombers, the work is being started early to ensure time for many re-dos.

It's late, I'm tired...and will post more about the "Doolittle Raid" and Lt. Cole as I post updates on the art.  But in the event that you're reading this and not quite sure about the historic scope of this bomber, please stay tuned for a story that is over-the-top exciting.

Profile 41: "OLD CROW" as flown by Bud Anderson

The relationship between pilot and crew is oft-told.  You can't read an aviator's biography or watch a History Channel presentation without the pilot saying something honorable about his crew.   Not to be crass or anything, but it's so common, the sentiments seem pat and cliched any more.

But - those sentiments are real.

I remember Bud getting choked up talking about the service of his Crew Chief, Sgt. Heino and Armorer Sgt. Zimmerman.  It was a little uncomfortable for me, because up to that point, I'd had this impression that these guys lived compartmentalized, clenched jaw lives.  Like John Wayne.  To hear devotion and unashamed reliance...that was new.

Since then, I haven't met a pilot who didn't express a substantial measure of gratitude and humility towards their support people.   Don Bryan, an ace with the 352nd, recalls thinking of his Crew, in combat, while firing his guns and blessing them for somehow imbuing "Little One III" with a magical engine.  Mac McWhorter described the way his Hellcat always seemed so perfect that he would hate to even get it dirty...honestly, I could go on and on.

Anyway, I hope when you look at my rendering of OLD CROW you see - not just the 10 victory markings on the side of the plane - but also the airplane itself, a representation of a herculean effort.  And though this may, on my part, sound cliched, I also hope your Crew (we all have one) comes to mind with the same spirit of gratitude.

PROFILE 41: "OLD CROW" update

If it weren't for insomnia, I wouldn't make any progress'tall.

More than a few eyes are on this project, so I thought to post this newest update.  I'll mask in a new wing later this week and make whatever changes/suggestions that Bud says need to be done.

But, I did get some input from my friend Jim, an armorer who worked on B model Mustangs in England during WW2.   Unfortunately, his comments had nothing to do with the art, but with the structure of the actual airplane.  Specifically, the gun mounts in the wing.

The P-51 series featured a wing design strategy that created "Laminar Flow."   Without getting too geeky, on a traditional wing, turbulence between the surface and air flow creates drag at the bulky leading edge.  Laminar Flow philosophy moves the thickest part of the wing back towards the middle, creating a smoother surface for air to flow across, reducing drag and maintaining efficient lift at various speeds.

With me?  Yeah, I'm lost too.  Just nod your head.

Anyway, this wing design made it a challenge to effectively mount the 4 .50cal Brownings within the limited space created by utilizing Laminar design theory.  So, the engineers tilted the guns, lowering the height needed but also forcing the ammo belt to make a little "up and over" into the gun breeches.

These guns would fire at about 750 rounds/minute.  Some more, some less.  But you can imagine the the importance of having an uninterrupted, even flow of bullets.  The barrels truly were 'garden hoses that sprayed lead.'  Wings level, in warm air, the guns chattered just fine.  But, in twisty, high-g combat at altitude, the ammo feeds would get fouled and stoppages would occur that couldn't be fixed until the pilot made it back home.

Jim explains how various Groups tried to solve this problem in the field.  One took the motorized feed units from B-17 waist guns and put them into the wings (at a substantial weight penalty).  But he remembers replacing feed springs, cams and actuators with items of higher tolerance.  This work resulted in a feed mechanism that was less likely to deform during high-G stresses or react to the profound cold of 20,000 ft + altitude temps.

On a personal level, this info is so much more than anecdotal.  Understand, the P-51B was a major weapon of war with a serious flaw solved by the acumen and ingenuity of individuals.  When I hear - from the source - of a man's work, in the moment, on the spot, I get inspired that my own issues can be solved with the same application.

Cool, huh?

I'll be finished with this one in about 2-4 days.  Stay tuned...