World War 2 In Review: Air Power Album #4: United States

A U.S. Navy Curtiss SC-1 Seahawk floatplanes taxiing up to the landing mat streamed alongside the Alaska, to be picked up by the aircraft crane. Photographed on 6 March 1945 during the Iwo Jima operation.

Alaska recovering a Curtiss SC-1 Seahawk floatplane on 6 March 1945, during the Iwo Jima operation. The aircraft is awaiting pickup by the ship’s crane after taxiing onto a landing mat. The pilot was Lieutenant Jess R. Faulconer, Jr., USNR.

Curtiss R4C-1 (9584), USMC. The Curtiss C-30 / R4C-1 was a transport version of the Curtiss Condor II biplane transport aircraft, a rather outdated aircraft when it first appeared in 1933. The R4C-1 was the designation given to two examples of the AT-32E deluxe day transport that were purchased by the US Navy in 1934. The AT-32E was powered by the 710hp SGR-1820-F3 Cyclone engine. The R4C was actually only the second Curtiss transport used by the Navy, but the designations R2C and R3C had already been used by the Navy’s Curtiss racing aircraft. Both aircraft were used by the Marines (with Marine Utility Squadron Seven from 1935), and then went to the US Antarctic Service in 1940. They were abandoned in Antarctica in 1941.

Curtiss YC-30 Condor II US Army Air Corps. Under the s/n 33-320 and 33-321, the USAAC bought two T-32 transport (also known as CW-4) with the designation YC-30, the first was delivered on May 12, 1933. Both YC-30s were initially used as VIP transports and then as regular staff transports. The first, 33-320, was decommissioned on June 3, 1938, while the second was damaged beyond repair in an ground collision at Maxwell Field, Montgomery, Alabama, on September 9, 1938.

Three U.S. Navy Douglas TBD-1 Devastators assigned to the Naval Operational Training Command at Naval Air Station Miami, Florida, in flight over South Florida, 1942/43. NAS Miami and NAS Ft. Lauderdale were home to Operational Training Units for the instruction of U.S. Navy torpedo-bomber pilots. The last TBD was retired in early 1944.

Douglas TBD Devastator torpedo bombers unfold their wings for a takeoff from the USS Enterprise during the Battle of Midway.

Douglas XTBD-1 Devastator, 9720, U.S. Navy.

Combat artist Tom Lea stands in front of a B-25 bomber in Kunming, China, 1943.

Tom Lea's "Fighter Pilot at Work." Tom Lea mainly relied on quick sketches made in the field when making his paintings. But he occasionally used photographs. “I went out to the war as a reporter,” said Lea. “I absolutely was not going to do anything that I didn’t see and know—because I was there to record it, not as I thought it should be or not as an object of art.”

Tom Lea’s “Portrait of Maj. Gen. Claire L. Chennault,” 1943.

Fighter pilot A.C. Emerson defends the USS Hornet. Painting by Tom Lea.

Tom Lea’s depiction of an SBD gunner scanning for enemy warplanes.

"Gunner in the Blister" of a PBY by Tom Lea.

Aviation Cadet Bill Kelly shown here in the cockpit of his basic trainer. Tom Lea noted that Kelly “wouldn’t even smoke or drink coffee, much less take a snort for fear it would disturb his flying.”

Sgt. R.H. Hulse, crew chief by Tom Lea.

Curtiss XP-62.

McDonnell XP-67 "Bat" or "Moonbat" was a prototype for a twin-engine, long-range, single-seat interceptor aircraft for the United States Army Air Forces. Although the design was conceptually advanced, it was beset by numerous problems and never approached its anticipated level of performance. The project was cancelled after the sole completed prototype was destroyed by an engine fire. It is unclear if “Bat” or “Moonbat” was an official USAAF designation; both are used in different sources. It is possible that both are informal nicknames that refer to the aircraft's unique appearance.

McDonnell XP-67.

McDonnell XP-67 (frame still from film footage).

McDonnell XP-67 Moonbat.

McDonnell XP-67.

McDonnell XP-67 cockpit.

McDonnell XP-67.

Platt-LePage XR-1 (41-001). The XR-1 was the first American military helicopter to takeoff and hover with good control.

The Vought XSB3U-1 (BuNo 9834) at the NACA Langley Research Center, Virginia, 1 December 1938. One plane was built, making its first flight in 1936.

Brewster XSBA-1 (BuNo 9726).

Brewster XSBA-1 at the NACA Langley Research Center, Virginia, 17 May 1943. The prototype Brewster XSBA-1 scout plane flew at Langley from 1939 until 1941 and returned a year later with a new wing, one that had increased dihedral. It flew it this form until leaving the NACA in September 1945.

Brewster XSBA-1 at the NACA Langley Research Center, Virginia, 17 May 1943.

Brewster XSBA-1 (BuNo 9726).

Brewster XSBA-1 (BuNo 9726) US Navy. June 2, 1936.

Brewster XSBA-1 (BuNo 9726) US Navy.

Vought XTBU-1.

Interstate XTD3R assault drone prototype in piloted flight, circa 1944. XTD3R-1 was a variant with Wright R-975 radial engines, three prototypes. XTD3R-2 was a variant of the XTD3R-1, one prototype.