Bluegrass Field 1946 Lexington Airport Air Show ...

[Mark Allen M]

A nice color film to help take your minds off of things.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vlkiby3qLY8

[k5083]

Very nice. Waco CG-4A aerobatics! And I like those color schemes on the F-47s, F-51s and B-25s with the prewar style rudder stripes.

August

[bipe215]

That was great. Thanks for posting. Loved the Luscombe!

[JohnB]

Seeing the Ercoupe and Luscombe..and the colorful Taylorcraft at the end, you can almost hear the Vancouver's proclamation that the era of "An airplane in every garage" and the "family car of the air" is upon us.

Hard to tell on my small tablet, but it looks like the B-25 was lacking its top turret. So, a TB or CB-25J perhaps?
Seeing the similar colors to the P-51 and P-47s, a unit hack?

As far as doing a loop in a CG-4, I'll give that a pass.
Reminds me too much of the wing shedding incident in St. Louis which killed several VIPs.

Still, it would have been interesting to ask late uncle who flew them on the Normandy, Southern France and Market Garden invasions if he would have tried something like that.

Last edited by JohnB on Thu Nov 17, 2022 1:30 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[Warbird Kid]

AMAZING FOOTAGE! I'm wondering if (with those vibrant markings) that the B-25s, P-51s, and P-47s were a demonstration squadron to visit as many airshows in the post war era as they could.

[p51]

Check out the AAF marked trailer (probably a mobile recruiting station) in the foreground at 2:14. Looks like a M425 as the prime mover, and notice to the left behind it, a matching painted ambulance or signal corps truck (which has a very similar profile).
I really wish there were good photos of each of those!

[junkman9096]

AMAZING FOOTAGE! I'm wondering if (with those vibrant markings) that the B-25s, P-51s, and P-47s were a demonstration squadron to visit as many airshows in the post war era as they could.

I think what you'll find is that both the P-51's and P-47's were assigned to the 56th Fighter Group at Selfridge Field, MI and what you see are the normal squadron markings.

[marine air]

My glider instructor back in the 1980's was a WW II pilot. He was an MIA/ Evadee the last six months of the war and upon being repatriated with the US Army he came back to Nashville. The Guard unit pre-war had been activated and sent to the Pacific to fly B-25H's. So, the unit was basically an all new squadron with pilots returning home. They had P-47's T-6s, and a couple of C-45s and C-47's. They were still a pursuit squadron. He said everything was "loose as a goose" and disorganized before 1947. All of the aircraft were bare aluminum with red on the nose and tails. They just went out and flew around, practiced aerial combat etc. It was routine to fly aerobatics upon returning to the airport.
He had flown the P-51D in combat and was quite skilled. He was goofing around in the P-47 and almost hit the ground at (KBNA). While performing a loop he came within about ten feet and had contrails coming off the wingtips. To make it look like he meant to be that low he followed it up with a roll upon which a fuel tank ran dry and had to switch tanks. That was the end of his goofing off. He said "there weren't any rules in those days." During that time they lost an F-47D, a couple of F-51D's and one Temco TF-51D.
My dad once owned a PT-17 Stearman that had been converted in 1946 to do airshows. It had an R-985 adapted to it and was white, trimmed out in an unknown color. It was owned by Paul Mantz and flown on the west coast by Frank Tallman doing aerial displays. Apparently they owned several Stearmans. My point is that there's a small possibility this is Tallman flying the routine in the Stearman in this video. Whoever it is they are quite skilled at low level aerobatics.
I sure do miss that generation of pilots' men and women.

[Mark Allen M]

I posted several ANG T-bolts & Mustangs in the link below.

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=51172

And a modeler's rendition of the Selfridge F-47's.

https://imodeler.com/2020/05/p-47-n-mass-air-guard/

[Mark Allen M]

More interesting ANG T-bolt schemes.

http://www.piccianiaircraftphotos.com/p-47_thunderbolt

[marine air]

Mark, thanks for reposting. Those are quite interesting. It would be neat to see an F-47 or F-51 paint scheme on an aircraft but there is just so much WW II history to be honored. The Tennessee ANG F-47D's were some of the very last Thunderbolts in USAF inventory. They were used in the movie "Fighter Squadron" by Warner Bros. Filmed in November 1948 in Michigan. May have to watch it this weekend.