Flight Journal

THERE IS NO DOUBT that aeronautical engineer Alexander Yakovlev’s Russian fighter has taken a back seat to more glamourous fighters like the P-51 Mustang and Spitfire. But high-scoring ace Marcel Albert, who flew and fought under three flags during World War II, was well aware of the combat lethality of the “Yak” fighter that somehow eluded its image over the years. This is most likely due to the fact it was Russian-built and designed to be rugged, manufactured quickly in large numbers, and only use available materials and labor, like the T-34 tank and PPSh-41 machine gun. It was a purely utilitarian tool of war. In our feature story “Tricolor Ace,” modern jet fighter pilot Clive Rowley, MBE RAF (Ret.) tells us the incredible story of Marcel Albert’s unlikely combat tour…

THERE IS NO DOUBT that aeronautical engineer Alexander Yakovlev’s Russian fighter has taken a back seat to more glamourous fighters like the P-51 Mustang and Spitfire. But high-scoring ace Marcel Albert, who flew and fought under three flags during World War II, was well aware of the combat lethality of the “Yak” fighter that somehow eluded its image over the years. This is most likely due to the fact it was Russian-built and designed to be rugged, manufactured quickly in large numbers, and only use available materials and labor, like the T-34 tank and PPSh-41 machine gun. It was a purely utilitarian tool of war. In our feature story “Tricolor Ace,” modern jet fighter pilot Clive Rowley, MBE RAF (Ret.) tells us the incredible story of Marcel Albert’s unlikely combat tour…

FOR CENTURIES, FEBRUARY 14, ST. VALENTINE’S DAY, has been associated with the exchange of love notes by adoring couples. Traditionally, this day was set aside for giving gifts from the heart, but on February 14, 1945, there was not much love for mankind as WW II and the devastation that followed staggered through another year. There was still a lot of “giving,” though, as Allied planes pounded Axis Germany in around-the-clock bombing raids. The “giving” had begun one day earlier as British Lancaster and Mosquito bombers began the fire-bombing of Dresden. American heavy bombers continued the daylight action as the fires of hell engulfed the ravaged German city. Elsewhere in Europe, the German Army reversed course and was in retreat, falling back across the Rhine River into the heart of the…

The original St. Valentine’s Day massacre occurred in 1929 inside a chilly Chicago garage. Five men, all members of Al Capone’s mob, dressed as policemen, entered the building under the guise of an illegal alcohol raid. The seven rival gang members found inside were lined up against a brick wall and gunned down by Capone’s men. Intimidation by force and violence were an everyday occurrence on the streets of Chicago. Approximately 16 years later to the date, force and violence still reigned as a more destructive massacre took place in the skies over Germany. The 344th BG sent out its B-26 Marauders in a maximum-effort mission intent on destroying a bridge over the Rhine River. What followed was catastrophic. A total of five B-26s were blown out of the sky by intense…

FOR CENTURIES, FEBRUARY 14, ST. VALENTINE’S DAY, has been associated with the exchange of love notes by adoring couples. Traditionally, this day was set aside for giving gifts from the heart, but on February 14, 1945, there was not much love for mankind as WW II and the devastation that followed staggered through another year. There was still a lot of “giving,” though, as Allied planes pounded Axis Germany in around-the-clock bombing raids. The “giving” had begun one day earlier as British Lancaster and Mosquito bombers began the fire-bombing of Dresden. American heavy bombers continued the daylight action as the fires of hell engulfed the ravaged German city. Elsewhere in Europe, the German Army reversed course and was in retreat, falling back across the Rhine River into the heart of…

Ask Mark Meredith what maneuver he likes to fly most in his 1951 DeHavilland Super Chipmunk and his answer is immediate: “I love doing Cloverleafs!” The well-known aerobatic figure—a loop with a quarter-roll wherein a pilot pulls up and rolls 90 degrees from the airplane’s original heading as it passes through wings-level inverted—is typical of the flowing acrobatics the modified Chipmunk excels at. A sizeable group of nervous young RAF pilots made their first flights in N7DW between 1951 and 1955… But looking at Chippy now, its origins aren’t obvious. Nicknamed “Chippy” as a nod to its origins, N7DW was built as a T.10 Chipmunk, the British version of the Canadian-designed basic trainer. The stylized, leaping Chipmunk on its rudder is a tribute to the Meredith’s Navy service as a bombardier-navigator in the…