Warbirds in Gatineau

It was pretty exciting to go see one of two airworthy B-29 Superfortress aircraft at the Gatineau-Ottawa Executive Airport on Sunday, July 29th, 2018.  “FIFI” is operated by the Commemorative Air Force and is on tour this summer with many stops in Canada.

“FIFI” in flight — she had a full three million dollar engine overhaul in 2010. 

The tail gun station.  Unlike the remote control turret guns, the tail gun was manually aimed and fired by the tail gunner.

A close look at the nose.  The Norden bombsight can be clearly seen.  The Norden basically took over control of the aircraft using an analog computer to direct the aircraft in the final few moments to the target.

Here is “FIFI” in glorious flight.  

Here is a video of “FIFI” taking off…

The Boeing B-29 Superfortress only operated in the Pacific Theatre against the Japanese.  Flying from bases in the Mariana Islands, it wreaked devastation on the Japanese home islands.  It was the B-29 “Enola Gay” that dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima and another B-29, “Bock’s Car” that dropped the bomb on Nagasaki that essentially forced the Japanese to finally surrender.  You can read more here.

While “FIFI” was amusing aviation enthusiasts, Mike Potter of Vintage Wings of Canada took his P-51D (or if you prefer, Mark IV) Mustang up for some aerial maneuvers.  Considered by many the finest fighter of WWII, the Mustang was feared by enemies in all theatres of the war.

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Inside the Vintage Wings of Canada Foundation hangar, you can see a Westland Lysander on the right and a Fairey Swordfish on the left.  

The P-40 Kittyhawk/Warhawk/Tomahawk fighter.  Though not as high performing as fighters later in the war, the Warhawk was a tough plane and held its own against the Japanese early in the Pacific War.  This was the plane of the famous “Flying Tigers”, a group of American volunteers led by Gen. Claire Chennault that fought against the Japanese in China prior to Pearl Harbor.  You can see more about about the P-40 here.

An F4U-1 Corsair in Royal Navy colors.  One of the best fighters of the war, the Corsair was made famous largely by the U.S. Marine Corps utilizing it from land bases.  The “Black Sheep” squadron, VMF-214, led by Gregory “Pappy” Boyington racked up record kills in the Solomon Islands in the Corsair.  The Corsair was still in use as a ground support aircraft during the Korean War.

On Monday, August 6th, 2018, we returned to the Ottawa-Gatineau Airport to take a look at “Maid in the Shade”, an airworthy B-25J Mitchell bomber that flew 14 combat missions in Italy during WWII.  We had a great conversation with her mechanic who told us the story of how his father was shot down while flying over Germany in a B-17.  He spent the rest of the war in a German prison camp.  Using a journal sent in his Red Cross package, he wrote a series of poems about his experiences.  

 
The bomb bay of the B-25 showing a 500lb and 250lb bomb.  The bomb bay doors are signed by WWII veterans, including some from the Doolittle Raid, the operation for which the B-25 is best known.   The wheel chocks for “Maid in the Shade” have “CV-8” and “Hornet” printed on them to honor the Raiders.

…and while we were at the Ottawa-Gatineau Airport to see “Maid in the Shade”, an RCAF CC-130 Hercules came in for lunch.  Below you can see a video as it takes off.