My cousin John stumped me with this German bomber being restored at the Steven Udvar-Hazy museum in Washington DC. I'll definitely have to visit this place and add some more photos, but in the meantime, here's some cool photos he sent me. (Feb 2016)
Update Jan2017 OK, it took almost a year but I made it to this museum and was not disappointed. I came out of this place gorged on planes like a fatman at the Mandarin -only more satisfied. Pictures below. |
He 219A very rare plane indeed..
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Waiting for installationHe 219 engines
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In 1946, many recently captured and evaluated German aircraft were put on display at Dayton's Wright Field, and many of those were subsequently delivered to the Smithsonian for future display including this jet bomber behind Erik on photo at right. A photo of the same plane in 1946 on display at Wright Field above as well as ME-262 FE-111 (FE stands for "Flight Evaluation" which was the number assigned to that aircraft by the US military.
Cool link to video of the Wright 1946 airshow: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=irk7ouOLzYk |
Check out this funny SR71 youtube story... https://www.facebook.com/golfcharlie232/videos/1464039830354910/?hc_ref=ARTnwFa76NhEsH-_CyT9dMN93vMXWR-xoeKoxfcFsva_ILpdFnNjw4xbFJHOIEN52G0
This Dornier Do335 aircraft (left) was the fastest piston engine fighter ever produced and was unique because of it's twin inline engines, one a pusher and the other a puller. It is the only survivor of it's type, captured by the American forces at the Dornier factory on April 22 1945. It was tested extensively in the US after the war and returned to Dornier in 1974 for a restoration. It has been at the Smithsonian since 1991. Eric Winkle recounts in "Wings On My Sleeves" how early versions had crashed with pilots being found with their arms ripped off- it took awhile to discover that the cockpit hood jettison mechanism required the pilot to hold two levers which fired so quickly, it pulled their arms out of their sockets.
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This J1N1 was a Japanese escort and night fighter plane, many of which also flew as Kamikaze aircraft. Of almost 500 built during the war, the Allies scrapped most of the remaining models and this "Irving" is the only survivor. Over 17,000 hours were spent restoring it.
Son Erik (9) poses in front of an advanced F-35 fighter jet.