Squadron Hacks, Alternate Uses and Personal Aircraft
Squadron Hacks and re-purposed aircraft offer an opportunity to model some esoteric subjects…
Not Just Pretty Nose Art; The Black Widows of Iwo Jima and Ie Shima, March-August 1945
The men of the 348th, 349th and 6th Night Fighter Squadrons were more than the nose art on their P-61’s.
Lt. John “Ray” Johnson’s “Fighting Cocks” P-38L-1 Sep 1944 – Mar 1945
The 13th Air Force did not fight the most glamorous of wars, theirs’ was a war of ground attack, relentlessly destroying Japanese ground forces and infrastructure. They fought, not from centralized bases closely tied together, but from island bases, spread hundreds of miles apart.
Col. James Beckwith’s 15th FG P-51D-25 Mustang “Squirt” at Iwo Jima, March-May 1944
Early on the morning of 7 April the 15th and 21st Groups were poised ready for the signal to start engines. The briefings of the day before and that morning had everyone eager to get the operation underway…
2nd Lt. John A. Weese’s USAAF P-47D-15-RE of 365th F/G, 386th F/S in June, 1944
“A short time later 2nd Lt. Weese reported that his engine was out and that he thought he could put his aircraft down behind friendly lines in the shallow water a little offshore Juno Beach. 1st Lt. Beaudrault reported that nothing more was heard from Wesse.”
