Fantasy of Flight Symposium, 10-11 June, The Pacific War: Power and Pursuit

 

The Fantasy of Flight Museum has been hosting monthly symposiums to discuss various aspects of Airpower. This weekend, the symposium is featuring a P-38 pilot that was part of group of pilots tasked with shooting down Yamamato during the WW2, Lt Col Doug Canning. For more details, visit their website.

Restoration photos of SBD-5 at National Naval Aviation Museum

105 by Florida Warbirds
105, a photo by Florida Warbirds on Flickr.

JohnK from the WIX forums has been kind enough to share with us three different sets of photos of restorations currently happening at the National Naval Aviation Museum. The first set is of the restoration of a Dauntless SBD-5 36291, which was crashed during carrier qualification flights in November 1944 on Lake Michigan.

It is estimated that it will take 2-3 years to make the restoration complete so that it can be displayed at the museum. For more information about this aircraft, visit the National Naval Aviation Museum website.

More pictures can be found here.

Florida WWII ace passes away

Maj. Gen. John R. Alison, a highly decorated World War II combat ace, Korean War veteran, and lifetime airpower advocate, died Monday at his home in Washington, D.C. He was 98. “General Alison was a superb airman and an Air Force legend,” said Air Force Secretary Michael Donley. “The incredible life he led remains a source of tremendous inspiration, and we are grateful for his enduring legacy of leadership, service, and patriotism.” A native of Micanopy, Fla., Alison entered the Army Air Corps after graduating college in 1936. He served on active duty and later in the Air Force Reserve until his retirement in 1972. During World War II, he achieved six official aerial victories while flying with, and commanding, the 75th Fighter Squadron, part of the famed “Flying Tigers,” in the China-Burma-India theater. He later became co-commander of the newly formed 1st Air Commando Group that fought behind Japanese lines in Burma. He became known as the father of Air Force special operations. He returned to service during the Korean War. Alison served as AFA’s President from 1954 to 1955 and as AFA’s Chairman of the Board from 1955 to 1956. He remained engaged in AFA and in mentoring air commandos throughout his later years. Alison was inducted into the Air Commando Hall of Fame, National Aviation Hall of Fame, and last year became the first inductee into US Special Operations Command’s Commando Hall of Honor. He was a founding Member of the Air Force Memorial Foundation. (SAF/PA release) (AFA release) (See also our initial coverage.) (For more on Alison, see Valor: They Said It Couldn’t Be Done and The All-American Airman from Air Force Magazine’s archives.)

taken from AFA Daily Report