The Legacy of Flight

Images from the archives of the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum.

  • By David Romanowski and Melissa Keiser
  • AirSpaceMag.com, September 14, 2010
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What the Huey was to the ground war in Vietnam, the McDonnell F-4 Phantom II was to the air war. Although the Phantom was designed to be the Navy’s first Mach 2-capable carrier-based fighter, most F-4s were flown by the Air Force. This Navy Phantom belonged to squadron VF-31 and flew off the USS Saratoga.


| 14 of 16 |



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Comments (4)

Can some knowledgeable person comment upon why the
canopy of the distant (of the four) F-51 seems
different from the others. EDITORS' REPLY: According to Melissa Keiser and David Romanowski’s book, “The top three airplanes are P-51Ds, the first model with the distinctive bubble canopy, which improved the pilot’s view toward the rear. Suzy-C, by contrast, is a P51B with the earlier canopy design.”

The caption of photo 9 is not phrased well.
The thousands of men who serviced and flew the B-24 Liberator also deserve some acknowledgment as the "might" of the Mighty Eigth Air Force's daylight campaign.

Note the second P-51 aircraft has a revised tail.

Let me just make an inocuous comment; as an ex-86D driver, your stuff is the first I note each AM.

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