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Aviation History

10th Anniversary

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I wholeheartedly agree with Carroll Glines’ congratulatory editorial (in the September issue) on your 10th anniversary. I have subscribed for about two years and am continually impressed by the breadth and depth of your articles, features, reviews, etc.

I especially enjoy reading about the early years of aviation (1900-1930). I’ve written a few articles in local history journals about that period and always find it fascinating. You have managed the difficult feat of illuminating that period as well as the entire history of aviation with the bright light of quality. You play a very important role in our understanding of aviation’s past. I commend you and wish you well in the future.

George Kirchmann
via e-mail

Modeling Kudos

I was delighted to see the inclusion of a modeling column in the September issue. Dick Smith is off to a great start!

At 66, I have been an avid aircraft modeler for more than 50 years. The changes that have been wrought in that length of time are staggering. I cut my teeth on the old wooden kits (StromBecker and Maircraft come to mind) and tried my hand at flying models, free flight, etc. When I saw my first plastic kit, I was hooked for good.

My interests are mostly World War II aircraft, with some Vietnam-era McDonnell F-4 Phantoms thrown in for good measure. From time to time I build aircraft on commission.

I love your magazine for the incredible quality and historical accuracy you represent. There just isn’t anyone better than Walter J. Boyne at what he does.

Welcome aboard, Dick Smith! Can’t wait to see what will be next.

S.W. “Bill” Mitchell
Dublin, Ga.

South African Spy Plane

In a situation remarkably like the one in which Sidney Cotton took aerial photographs with a German official riding along (see “People and Planes” in the July issue), the twin-engine Beechcraft mentioned at the end of the article frequently carried South African VIPs while carrying out reconnaissance on nuclear facilities and other targets of interest.

The aircraft was a Beech C-12, the military equivalent of the King Air 200. While it carried the ambassador at times, its primary assignment was in support of the U.S. Defense Attaché Office. The airplane and her crew were thrown out of the country when the South African government needed to deflect interest from an internal scandal. The “American spy plane” proved to be a perfect scapegoat.

R.R. Powell
Virginia Beach, Va.

Finger Four Formation

As a WWII pilot, I am always interested in articles such as Paul B. Cora’s piece on Colonel Thomas Christian, Jr. (in the July issue). I would like to point out, however, that the references made to the photograph on page 35 and the painting by Robert Watts on page 37 as being a “finger four” formation are misleading. These two illustrations actually show right echelon down and left echelon up formations.

A finger four formation places the aircraft in the same positions as the four fingers of the hand when held flat. The leader is the middle (longest) finger, with one wingman to one side and two on the other.

Don Armand
Alexandria, La.

Paul Cora’s article “Yellowjacket Leader Over Europe” in the July issue was interesting, but the picture Aviation History used for illustration is not the photograph taken on July 26, 1944. In recent years the only shot of “the Bottisham Four” that has been published is of the echelon formation with the No. 4 Mustang obscured. In the attached photo (above), which was widely published during the war, P-51B Suzy G is visible, and there are three types of Mustangs. The leader and Sky Bouncer are early P-51Ds, while Easy Two Sugar, flown by Ben Drew, has the additional fin section on the tail. (The first bubble canopy P-51s suffered from lateral instability at high speed, a problem that was alleviated by the fin.)

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