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1962 ... bombers of October!
... with incredible coincidence this 3 part series (scheduled months ahead of time) just happened to coincide with the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. This cover was a fold-out; shown in the wider image.
art by Robert McCall
1949 ... hunting Russky subs!
... "harrumph- quite, well then!" was the response of the Britain's Royal Navy when confronted with the early Cold War's huge numbers of pesky Soviet submarines lurking all about. Still possessing considerable naval air power in the form of several large flat-tops; the Brits set about producing resourceful, and weird, fixed wing aircraft for the Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) role. The ability to 'stay on station' (tread air and look and listen for a sub in a specific area) was highly valued. With it's efficient, and highly temperamental, jet-turbo-prop-counter-rotating-propellers-engine - the Fairey Gannet was just the ticket!
... ship based helicopters would later take over the role (on both sides). Recent technology makes it possible for a submarine to launch an under-surface to air missile at the annoying ASW helicopters droning overhead: wouldn't that be a rude surprise!
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1964 ... B-70 "Valkyrie" cockpit
... one of several examples of US aerospace 'over-reach' in the early 1960's the Mach 3 bomber program produced amazing technological breakthroughs on an aircraft that would be one of the largest and most expensive ever conceived.
... the question has to be asked: was it a 10 or 20 per cent reduction in possibility of funding that resulted from some bird-brain christening the plane with a name very closely associated with the Nazis favorite soundtrack? (oh- and here's little clip for all the Wagner fans)
1953 ... "look- in the sky!"
... despite the fact that the AVRO attempt at a 'flying-saucer' super-duper jet interceptor was such a dismal failure that it could barely get off the ground; it sure stirred up the imaginations of countless young boys and magazine publishers!
- conspiracy theorists would have to wonder; the gap between the promise of the AVRO flying saucer jet-fighter, and the spectacular (and well documented) failure, smells like a cover-up!! Coupled with the soap-opera cancellation of the AVRO Arrow, I am suspecting fleets of 'super-saucers' secretly hangered deep beneath the Canadian Rockies! Hmmm - a couple of blurry photos and some cool cut-a ways and I should be good for at least two or three shows on the Discovery Channel!
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1950 ... more "Duck And Cover"
... more of the sort of basic (air-raid on steroids) instructions for the years immediately following the development of the Soviet A-bomb [1949]. Russia, under the total dictatorship of Stalin, was seen as an aggressive threat bent on world domination. Many feared that after surviving up to 40 million casualties during WWII, and still emerging as a world superpower, Stalin would see a first strike atomic attack against the USA as a viable option. Soviet long-range bomber ability was sorely lacking but the US military and scientific community pointed out that the Russians had developed their A-bomb years before expected; and "where there was a will- there was a way!" Comprehensive radar warning systems and effective fighter planes to detect and intercept bombers, before they were over US cities, were still on the drawing boards.
... B-58 with a bang!
... ironically, here I am a life-long photographer, pushing for the re-emergence of painting style illustration. These examples I have worked up on my computer prove it doesn't have to take gobs of time, money or oil paint to put excitement and creativity back into aerospace illustration.
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... fastest, highest!
... two versions of one of my recent Photo-Illustration projects. Although done on a computer; I am trying to recreate the soul and emotion of illustrative painting. An alternative to the trend of bland and sterile CAD illus. that aerospace industry and agencies are using these days.
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2011 ... say "cheese"!
... groups selfie of the team leaders for the disassembly of the last of the B53 10 megaton hydrogen-bombs in the US stockpile. LINK
... just look in your Yellow Pages!
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