Warbird Information Exchange

Color movie footage from an air show at Naval Air Station Grosse Ile, probably in 1948 or possibly 1949. The Navy's Blue Angels are flying F8F Bearcats, and they are still bounced by a yellow SNJ known as "Beetle Bomb", and playing the role of an adversary. A bright red F6F-5K Hellcat drone is set up on jacks to show remote operation of its engine and landing gear. PBY-5A Catalinas fly, and a P2V Neptune demonstrates a JATO takeoff.

Enjoy the music .... unfortuantely

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfB67QvrTWw

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Zero Surprise!!...

Wow, most impressive. That FH Phantom team was considerably better than the Blue Angels. Those rows of delicious Corsairs and Hellcats ... and inevitably a flying farmer J-3 routine! Excellent footage.

August

Again thanks for posting Mark. I particularly liked the string barrel roll by the Blue Angels that ends with them all almost like abreast. Also, what was the Piper Cub doing? Looked kinda reckless. What a great mix of planes for that era. The crowd was so close to the action too. Obviously it was a time before lawsuits and insurance issues. Also, loved the white wall tires on the Navy promo truck. Music is fine if you shut it off LOL.

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Better is the enemy of Good.

LOL, I thought the exact same thing!

Good stuff! Interesting to see a Hellcat drone in the Midwest; I thought that was only a West Coast thing. Was the Navy shooting down drones into Lake Michigan back then?

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All right, Mister Dorfmann, start pullin'!
Pilot: "Flap switch works hard in down position."
Mechanic: "Flap switch checked OK. Pilot needs more P.T." - Flight report, TB-17G 42-102875 (Hobbs AAF)