Richard Bong with his P-38.

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Size comparison of a B-17 Flying Fortress and a B-29 Superfortress

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Why did the US develop the P-61?

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Richard Bong with his P-38.

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P-51 Mustang. Came across this pic, looks like some sort of gun test, but I never seen it like this, nor what those tubes are made of or filled with to stand 0,50 shots. Anyone knows?

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Newly built F4U Corsair and F6F Hellcats being prepared to be shipped to the Pacific theatre, USA, 1944. On October 1, 1940, the XF4U was the first single-engine US fighter to exceed 400 mph. Not only was she fast in a straight line but also in a dive too, attaining speeds of up to 550 mph.

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Anyone seen this photo before?

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The chin turret of a Boeing B-17G bomber with the cowling removed, revealing its six .50 caliber machine guns, June 17, 1944.

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B-17 gunner tries to maintain his footing amidst a growing pile of spent cartridges [1157X1500]

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Has anyone got a time machine by chance?

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One of my favorite photos... taken from the pilot's seat of a B-24. You can almost feel the intense cold.

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Lt. Edward Butch O'Hares Wildcat fighter, May 1942 and now.

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Factory fresh P-47 in a parade in Evansville Indiana.

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US Navy pilots walking toward their Grumman F6F-3 Hellcats aboard the carrier USS Saratoga, 1943 [1500X1529]

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Partly completed Heinkel He-162 Volksjager jet fighters in a salt mine at Tarthun (now Bordeaue), Germany, April 1945.

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What is this German plane? I can't remember ever seeing this plane with a rather peculiar looking nose.

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Two of the most beautiful aircraft to fly in the war... the Mustang and the Constellation.

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Boeing B-29 Superfortress 44-70060 experimentally fitted with a pair of T-14 Grand Slam 22,000 lb earthquake bombs on external racks

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Tail gunner in a USAAF B-17 Flying Fortress, 1943.

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Close-up view of Lockheed P-38 Lightning fighter aircraft cockpit, December 23, 1942.

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The U.S. escort carrier USS Thetis Bay in 1944. The planes on deck are Consolidated PBY Catalina, Grumman F6F Hellcat, and a Grumman J2F biplane [1341X1500]

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Range comparison of Allied aircraft

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Somebody give me a good explanation here

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I know it's not much, but could anyone tell me what plane this is?

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Black smoke is all that remains of an RAF Lancaster after its payload detonated during a raid over Essen

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The size difference between the Spitfire and the Thunderbolt is just amazing.

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80 years ago today (December 20) the German ace Franz Stigler chose to escort a B-17F called Ye Olde Pub and it's crew back to English Channel after it had being damaged on a bombing raid over Bremen. This painting is called In the Presence of My Enemy by John D. Shaw.

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One of seven former USAAF B-17F bombers interned in Sweden during WWII and converted to airliners by SAAB

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Preserved Kawasaki Ki-61 Hien. Only mass used Japanese fighter with an inline engine. Hiens served for most of the war, found superior to the US P-40 and with self-sealing tanks as opposed to other Japanese types although still relatively lightly armed. Ki-61s scrambled to intercept Doolittle's raid

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In memory of the six crew members lost a year ago today

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A sight not seen since the 1950s - A Hawker Tempest flies once again!

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B-17 Flying fortress Of The 339th Bombardment Squadron, 96th Bomb Group, Flying Over Germany In The Summer Of 1944 [1500X1309]

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19 year old Lt. Edwin Lucky Wright of Champaign, Ill, shows an 8” hole in the propeller of his P-47 Thunderbolt which was made by flak while on his 39th mission over Munster, Germany. This was the 6th time Lucky Wright was hit by flak. (1944) [1831x1920]

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Spitfire, Famous WWII fighter plane, behind the dog.

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Devastators and Dauntlesses on the hangar deck of USS Lexington... 1941.

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USN F-4F Wildcat ace celebrating another victory, ca 1944.

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Lancaster from inside a B-25 Mitchell. Hell of a view!

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PBY-5A 418 with 20mm cannons. 1944

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The chin turret of a Boeing B-17G bomber with the cowling removed, revealing its six .50 caliber machine guns, June 17, 1944

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Approximate mission ranges from bases in England. Interesting to see the distance the P-51 had, and why it was a fantastic escort fighter.

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WWII Raids Over Japan. P-51 Mustang Next To Mount Fuji, 1945 [1500X1208]

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B-25 with rocket launcher in nose at Wright Field

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WWII aircraft that not many people appreciate that you like/love?

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In-flight restroom facility on a Dornier Do 24 K

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P-61 Black Widow aircraft in flight, viewed from above, Aug 1943-Aug 1945

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A de Havilland Mosquito night fighter variant equipped with an experimental air brake.

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Ditched Avenger after engine failure on takeoff... the crew of three were all rescued by the following destroyer.

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Looking into aerial ops for Operation Torch I have found that all allied aircraft received an American livery regardless of their country of origin. Oversimplifying, French were in bad terms with the British and it was thought they would hold fire against an American aircraft.

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1942 diagram illustrating the amount of firepower a formation of four B-17 Flying Fortresses could bring to bear on intercepting fighters from various angles

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A Model 187 Baltimore light bomber of Royal Air Force 223 Squadron flying from Celone, Italy drops bombs on the railway junction at Sulmona, a strategic point on the east-west route across Italy, in February of 1944

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PBY's Are here, the B18 era is over

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North American F-82Es Twin Mustang With External Tanks [1500X1135]

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The waist gunner of a B-29 Superfortress watches a trio of North American P-51 Mustang escorts flying close-in during a bombing mission over Japan, 1945

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Big boy.

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B-29 Pride of the Yankees. Took flak damage yet still returned.

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My son, standing under the waist gun of a B-17 at the Air Force museum in Dayton Ohio. That’s the position my grandfather was in in World War II.

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Examining an abandoned Me-262...1945.

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Bendix Upper Gun Turret Type A9B sell sheet.

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B-17 “Memphis Belle”

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I was finally able to see a B-17 fly in person.

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Avro Lancasters at the assembly plant in Cheshire, 1943.

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I knew the P-47 was big but these comparisons really make it stand out

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Kenneth Daniel Williams and his Murder Inc flight jacket

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Testing the guns on a North American B-25 Mitchell

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Finnish Air Force pilot Heimo Olavi Lampi and a unit of Brewster B-239 fighter aircraft (USA-made). Russia, September 1942 [1453X1500]

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Captured Japanese Ki-84 fighter being evaluated by the Allied Technical Air Intelligence Unit based at Eagle Farm Airbase, Brisbane, Australia, 1945. Note the exaggerated USAAF markings, using the rudder stripes that had been eliminated 3 years earlier.

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Air to air view of the fourth of only six Dornier Do 26 flying boats built

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A formation of B-17 Flying Fortresses of the 457th Bomb Group entering dense flak during a mission to Schweinfurt, Germany, 1944

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Comparison of the sizes of the Yak-9 fighter and the Junkers 88 bomber.

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North American P-51D Mustang takes off from USS Shangri-La (CV-38) during a test flight on 15 November 1944.

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B-17E outfitted for the RAF... note the radar aerials under each wing, most likely for anti-submarine patrols.

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Reno Air Races 2023

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P-47s lashed on the forward end of the flight deck of USS Block Island (CVE-21), 13 July 1943.

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A captured B6N2 torpedo bomber with US markings, post-WW2,

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Thankful Lancaster crew after making it back from a mission over Germany.

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Inside the cockpit of a Mitsubishi A6M5 Reisen “Zero” (Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum)

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The industrial might of the USA- F4U Corsair assembly line at the Vought-Sikorsky plant in Stratford, CT, ca 1944.

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Fw-190 being fished out of a lake.

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Abandoned outdoor assembly line of Messerschmitt Me 262

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Triple Ace Hero Robin Olds in the cockpit of his P-51 Mustang during WWII, 1944 [1667X1000]

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Victory Markings

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Repair depot at Townsville Australia... 1943.

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Cockpit of Martin B-26 Marauder “Flak-Bait”

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Douglas SBD Dauntless piloted by American Lt. George Glacken with his gunner Leo Boulange. New Guinea, April, 1944 [1500X1056]

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Westland Whirlwind in flight, circa late 1930s

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Willow Run... by November 1943 they were rolling out a new B-24 every hour.

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Grumman F4F Wildcat fuselages at the Grumman plant in Long Island, New York

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XB-19 photo found in thrift store. Need help identifying location

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South Dakota battleship boarding a Vought OS2U Kingfisher seaplane. April 1943 [12540X1500]

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B-26 C-45-MA Marauder, serial number 42-107566 hit by flak during an attack on a railway bridge near Marzabotto Italy, 10th July 1944. All 6 crewmen were killed. It was their second sortie of the day. [2920x3830]

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Hundreds of B-17 Flying Fortresses awaiting the scrap heap, 1946.

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German BV 138 flying boat rendezvous with a Kriegsmarine submarine, 1943

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B-25 on the Hornet

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Lieutenant Jack Taylor next to his damaged P-51A Mustang fighter in 1944 [1500X1179]

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P-40 Warhawk.

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Seldom seen ventral gun position on a Grumman TBF Avenger.

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US Coast Guard Hall PH-3 flying boat firing a M1919 Browning machine gun in 1943 [1615X1000]

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P-51 Mustang variants

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USS Washington (BB-56) and USS Enterprise (CV-6) pass through the Panama Canal on October 9, 1945.

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The Battle Of Britain, London suburbs, Sept. 1940. Crashed German aircraft. Can you recognize it? [1500x1024]

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Painting of a Brit B17 depth charging a Nazi U-Boat. And sending it to Davey Jones locker.

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Messerschmitt Bf 109 E-3 in flight over Germany during trials in early 1940

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20 mm cannon installed in the nose of B-17F 42-5897 Roundtrip Jack, 385th Bomb Group, August 1943

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Swiss BF-109 showing-its-tiger-teeth

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Waist gunner positions of a B-17 Flying Fortress

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Seized Renzan

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Has anyone ever seen a B-25 Mitchell with what appears to be a forward ball turret on the bottom?

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Boulton Paul Defiant of No. 264 Squadron RAF based at Kirton-in-Lindsey, Lincolnshire, July 1940 [1500X1166]

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“A 20mm cannon shell entered the top turret, hit the armor plate on back of my seat and exploded, knocking out the left side window and puncturing my eardrum- Only me and the laundress know how close this one came” -Lt. Bill Jewett, flight eng/top turret gunner on a B-17 Flying Fortress

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Boeing P-26 Peashooter from the 3rd Pursuit Squadron at Nichols Field, Philippines, April 1938. They would still be in service and face the Japanese invasion in December 1941. Mostly overwhelmed they still claim at least 4 victories, 3 Zeros and a G3M Nell.

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Loire-Nieuport 10 prototype long-range maritime reconnaissance/torpedo-bomber, 1939. The French Navy ultimately decided in favor of land base aircraft. The only prototype was destroyed in 1940 to prevent it from falling in German hands.

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North American F-82B Twin Mustang taxiing in the snow [1592X1000]

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B17 tail gunner.

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Not a formation you'd expect to see very often.

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B-17F Flying Fortress bombers bombing Bremen, Germany through clouds with the aid of radar, 13 Nov 1943.

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Combat Veteran PBY-5A S/N 9767, N9767, at the Wings over Washington 2023 Airshow after a flight display.

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Bf-109 dessert camo.

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A RAF fighter (possibly a Supermarine Spitfire) going down during the Battle of Britain, 1940.

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A rare one. North American P-51D Mustang in service with the Swedish Air Force in February 1953.

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Closing an era, starting a new one. USN pilots inspect their newly delivered McDonnell FH-1 Phantom jet fighters with their old Vought F4U Corsairs parked in the background. Phantom prototypes were ordered in Aug 1943 flying for the 1st time in January 1945, receiving an initial order of 100 units.

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P-38H-5 Lightning night fighter with one engine feathered; many said this plane would be un-flyable with one engine lost; 1943

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P-47D Thunderbolt flown by Lt. Col. Francis Stanley Gabby Gabreski with his ground crew, 1944 [1500X1230]

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Replacement Boeing B-17G Flying Fortresses lined up on an airfield in England to replace squadron losses for the US Eighth Air Force - 1943/44 (Original Color Photograph Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum)

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On board the aircraft carrier Lexington, Lt. j.g. Alexander Vraciu holds up six fingers to signify his kills during the Great Marianas Turkey Shoot on 19 June 1944 [1500X1250]

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American Consolidated B-24J Liberator Princess Konocti emergency landing at the civilian airfield in Halmstad, Sweden, on June 20, 1944. Original color photography by Gunnar Lundh.

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Marauder 41-35000 “Swamp Chicken” with engine blown off April 1944

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A B-17 of the US Fifteenth Air Force breaks up in flames after being hit by flak over a railyard at Nis, Yugoslavia,15th April 1944.

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Consolidated Vultee PB4Y-2 Privateer, Bu. No. 59602, in flight. The aft dorsal turret is aiming directly at the camera. (United States Navy)

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Messerschmitt Me 262 cockpit

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James H. Howard achieved ace status with the Flying Tigers; then joined the USAAC and scored another 6 kills, making him an ace in 2 theaters. His valiant flying while defending B-17s during a bombing run resulted in him becoming the only fighter pilot in Europe to be awarded the Medal of Honor.

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Short suderland under attack

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Newly built F4U Corsair and F6F Hellcats being prepared to be shipped to the Pacific theatre, USA, 1944

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Who's gonna win?

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Captured P-47 Thunderbolt in Germany

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B-25s from the 501st Bomb Squadron Air Apaches escorted Mitsubishi Betty surrender aircraft en route to Ie Shima in August 1945. (Photo by AAF)

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A colorized photo of a Spitfire Vc serving operated by the American 307th FS.

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Captured Ju-52 serving with the 20th Transportation Squadron, 6th AF. Designated as a C-79 it was completely refitted with US engines and instruments.

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B-26 Marauder flying [2000x1333]

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Professor Ernst Heinkel showing his youngest son a model of a He 111 bomber. May 22nd, 1941.

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German Bf 109 over Paris, France (1940)

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Workers at the North American Aviation Kansas City plant preparing to test one of the B-25’s .50 caliber Browning twin machine guns.

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Battle of Midway, June 1942 USS Yorktown CV-5 lists heavily after she was abandoned during the afternoon of 4 June 1942. Note that two F4F-4 Wildcat fighters are still parked on her flight deck, aft of the island. Official U.S. Navy Photograph

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Captured Messerschmitt Bf 109E-4 force-landed at East Langdon in Kent while escorting an attack in August 1940 [1500X1065]

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Allied crews inspect a captured Focke-Wulf 200 Condor shortly after war's end, Brunswick-Waggum Airfield, Germany. Note the radar antennae on the nose.

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Formations of Hurricanes climb through the clouds to intercept an enemy formation reported heading for London, September 1940.

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The wing of a JG 3 Messerschmitt Bf 109 F-4/Trop shot down over Malta in April 1942 rediscovered this week in a dump found during excavation work at e St Vincent de Paul residential home

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