Combat Rescue by Philip West
Once downed by enemy fire in North Vietnam, surviving US pilots were
largely dependent on brave Skyraider FAC and HH-53 Super Jolly helicopter
crews to save them. On this occasion the crewman on the ground has just
broken cover and is about to be winched to safety by the Super Jolly
helicopter crew under the protective cover of the Douglas A-1 Skyraiders.
Attack on the Yalu Bridges by Philip West
F-4U Corsair during the Korean War attacking Yalu bridges.
Habu 972 at Mach 3.0 by Philip West
Richard Graham and RSO Don Emmons cruising their SR-71 in after-burner,
gathering intelligence over the Soviet nuclear facility at Kamchatka,
December 15, 1976. At 80,000ft Rich Graham's SR-71 Blackbird is all but invisible to the
three MiG fighters seen contrailing at 45,000 ft below. Under radar
control, the MiGs make a futile attempt to intercept, but with the SR-71
travelling at three times the speed of sound along the edge of the
stratosphere, there is nothing they can do. At this great height the crew
of Habu 972 can clearly see the pronounced curvature of the earth and, in
broad daylight above them, the brightest stars shining in the heavens. The
SR-71 Habu 972, now resides in the National Air & Space Museum,
Washington DC.
Lone Star Lady by Philip West Led by the Lone Star Lady, B52 Stratofortresses based at Anderson Air
Force Base on the island of Guam, head for Hanoi, North Vietnam, during
the Strategic Air Command's Operation Linebacker II during the winter of
1972. By the end of December 1972, after 729 operational sorties during
eleven days of continual air strikes on Hanoi and Haiphong, the B52
bombers of Strategic Air Command finally brought North Vietnam to its
knees. They had fired off well over 1200 surface to air missiles,
virtually exhausting their ground defenses, and it became clear that any
renewal of air strikes would devastate the country. The North Vietnamese
were at last ready for peace.
Final Encounter by Philip West Returning from a raid over
Lorient, France on the 17th
May 1943 the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress "Memphis Belle" came
under close attack from Fw190s and Me109s. Fortunately no aircraft were
lost and very little damage sustained to the 91st Bomb Group aircraft
during this mission - the 25th and final one of the "Memphis
Belle" for Captain Robert Morgan. Named after Capt. Morgan's wartime
sweetheart, Miss Margaret Polk, the "Memphis Belle" was based at
Bassingbourn, England and was the first B-17 to complete 25 combat
missions and keep her entire crew alive - this at a time when eight out of
ten aircraft were being shot down over Europe.
The Untouchable by Philip West The SR-71 Blackbird is the world's fastest and highest flying jet
aircraft. For over 23 years, the SR-71s gathered highly classified
intelligence around the world for the President of the United States, the
Central Intelligence Agency, the National Security Agency, the Pentagon
and other governmental agencies, allowing them to make crucil political
and military decisions during the Cold War. At Mach 3 + cruising
speed, the SR-71's leading edges heat up to over 600 degrees F, where the
outside air temperature is already at -60 degrees F. In September
1975 the SR-71 set a world speed record from New York City to London in
one hour, 55 minutes. When the SR-71 was delivered to the National
Air & Space Museum in 1990, it set a coast-to-coast record, flying
from Los Angeles, California to Washington, D.C., in 64 minutes, 20
seconds.
