Albatross
A Grumann Albatross landing in Palm Springs today This aircraft entered service in the USAF in 1953 and served during combat in search and rescue in Korea and Vietnam.
It left Palm Springs after fueling and went on to Catalina Island. I really wanted to marshal in to the Palm Springs Air Museum ramp but it would have made a real mess for flight operations.
High Speed Bearcat
A Grumman F8F-2 Bearcat coming down the runway at the Palm Springs Air Museum at somewhere around 275-300 mph. The last Bearcat was delivered in 1949 and is a 2100hp 425 mph beast of an airplane. An interesting fact is the outer 3 ft of wing was designed to break off under high stress saving the aircraft from catastrophic failure. You have to go visit the Palm Springs Air Museum! So very interesting and so very fun!
Photographed with FujiFilm X-Series cameras and lenses.
Just Needs A Quart Of Oil
Just top it off with a quart of oil and good to go! Ok maybe not. Just brought in to the Palm Springs Air Museum yesterday morning. This is a Grumman F9F Panther. The Panther was the U.S. Navy’s first successful carrier based jet aircraft. It was also the aircraft of the Blue Angels from 1949 – 1954. There were 1,382 built and today it is a very rare aircraft. It will go through extensive renovation at the Air Museum and before too will be on display looking like the day it came off the assembly line.
I did some online searching and found what may be a photo (below) of this actual aircraft on board a carrier during the Korean War. It is in the VF-821 Fighter Squadron and may have been on the USS Princeton and the USS Essex. It certainly looks like it was damaged. The photograph below that is an intact Panther on the USS Midway in 1952. I find that photo pretty exciting because I was a photographer onboard the Midway when she was decommissioned and brought into San Diego Harbor where she is today as a Museum.
Bearcat Fast & Low!
From yesterday at the Palm Springs Air Museum, here is that Grumman F8F-2 Bearcat fast and low over the runway at the Palm Springs Airport.
Bearcat Waking Up!
A Grumman F8F-2 Bearcat starting up and taxis out from the Palm Springs Air Museum on March 29, 2014. The Bearcat was developed during World War II but did not see service until the French Indochina War (Vietnam 1946-1954). The Bearcat is flown in air racing. One named the “Rare Bear” set the 3 km World Speed Record for piston-driven aircraft (528.33 mph/850.26 km/h) in 1989, and a new time-to-climb record (3,000 m in 91.9 seconds (6,425.9 fpm), set in 1972. Fast, loud and powerful, watch this thing start up!
SecondFocus Blog 