Cyrier had just realized a dream three years in the making, reuniting America's highest ranking, living ace, Col. Clarence Bud” Anderson, with a tribute to the airplane he first dubbed Old Crow.”
Before Anderson went to combat in England with the 357th Fighter Group and scored 16.25 kills in Band D-model P-51 Mustangs wearing his famed Old Crow" livery, he flew another fighter—the Bell P-39 Airacobra.
Shortly after earning his U.S. Army Air Force wings and commission in September, 1942, Anderson received orders to the 328th Fighter Group at Hamilton Field near San Francisco to train in the P-39 at Oakland Municipal Airport. After three months, he was chosen to be among a cadre of officers forming a new group for combat, the 357th Fighter Group.
Initially, the Group trained at Tonopah, Nevada, practicing formation flight, gunnery, dive-bombing, and dogfighting, flying as much as 100 hours per month. New pilots, including Chuck Yeager, joined the unit throughout its time at Tonopah.
Anderson was made a flight leader in the 363rd Fighter Squadron, flying Dand later Q-model Airacobras as the Group made its way from Tonopah to bases in Santa Rosa and Oroville, California then Casper, Wyoming before leaving its P-39s behind and sailing for England in November 1943.
Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
This story is from the January - February 2023 edition of Flight Journal.
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This story is from the January - February 2023 edition of Flight Journal.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
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Scourge of the Allied Fighters
IT HAD TO BE THE MOST HELPLESS FEELING in the world: you're at 25,000 feet over Europe knowing that your primary function is to drop bombs-or flying escort for the bombers while being a slow-moving target for some of the world's finest shooters. However, you have John Browning's marvelous .50 caliber invention to give some degree of protection. Unfortunately, you're absolutely helpless against flak. Piloting and gunnery skills play no role in a game where sheer chance makes life and death decisions. For that reason, the Krupp 88 mm Flak 18/36/37 AA cannon could be considered WW II's ultimate stealth fighter. You never saw it coming.
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