Continue reading]]>

Stinson AT-19 Reliant NC50249 in 2012 (Photo Jack Snell (CC BY-ND 2.0))

Two people were killed and one was injured in the crash of Stinson AT-19 Reliant NC50249 near the Auburn Municipal Airport in California on 24 January 2020. Police sources indicate that the two fatalities are 80 year-old Anthony Lawrence Wright Sr., the owner of the aircraft, and his 55 year-old son Anthony Lawrence Wright Jr. The third occupant was not named and is reported as being in critical condition.

The cause of the accident is not yet known. The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board are both investigating the accident.

Our thoughts and prayers go to the family and friends of the victims of this tragic accident.

Sources:

• 23 ABC | Father, son killed in Northern California plane crash
• The Union | Two die in Auburn plane crash: Rancho Cordova reserve police officer among dead
• The Sacramento Bee | Rancho Cordova PD reserve officer among 2 killed in Auburn plane crash, authorities say

Continue reading]]>

Daniel Koblet at the controls of the Morane-Saulnier D-3801 (MS.406) HB-RCF at Duxford in 2015 (Photo Alan Wilson (CC BY-SA 2.0))

Swiss pilot and  mechanic Daniel Koblet passed away on 14 January, aged only 60 after a short battle against illness. Koblet was well-known by classic aircraft and warbirds enthusiasts as a pilot and mechanic. He flew the sole surviving Morane-Saulnier MS.406 (actually a Swiss license-built D-3801) at airshows and participated in many aviation-related movies.

Our thoughts and prayers go to the family and friends of Daniel Koblet.

Sources, photos and biographies (in French)  :

• Daniel Koblet on J-1197.ch
• Hommage à Daniel Koblet on Héritage Avions Morane-Saulnier
• Le dernier envol de Daniel Koblet on Passion pour l’Aviation

Continue reading]]>

Maurice Mounsdon at the controls of his Hurricane (Photo Crown Copyright)

Flight Lieutenant Maurice Mounsdon, one of the last surviving pilots to have fought during the Battle of Britain, passed away on December 6 at the age of 101.

Born on 11 February 1918, Maurice “Mark” Mounsdon began his training on 24 August 1939 and was assigned to No 56 Squadron of the Royal Air Force on 3 June 1940 as the Battle of Britain was raging. Flying a Hurricane, he shared the destruction of a Dornier Do 17 on 3 July, and three weeks later probably destroyed a Junkers Ju 87 Stuka. In August, he scored two victories against Messerschmitt fighters, as well as a probable victory. He destroyed or damaged about seven German aircraft before being shot down himself over Colchester on 31 August 1940.

He was able to bail out from his stricken aircraft but was seriously burned in the process and spent nine months recovering in hospital before returning to serve with the RAF Headquarters and later as a flight instructor and flight commander. Returning to civilian life in 1946, he resumed his engineering career with the General Electric Company.

The Battle of Britain Memorial Flight’s Hawker Hurricane Mk IIc LF363 in July 2000, adorning the colours of Mounsdon’s Hurricane during the battle. (Photo Andrew Thomas (CC BY-SA 2.0))

Mounsdon moved to Spain in the 1970s with his wife Mary, who passed away in 1993. For his hundredth birthday in 2018, the RAF’s Red Arrows team made a flyby next to his house in Melorca.

With Maurice Mounsdon’s passing, there are only three surviving British pilots of the Battle of Britain: F/L William Clark, W/C Paul Farnes and F/O John Hemingway.

Sources:

• BBC – Battle of Britain pilot Maurice Mounsdon dies aged 101

Continue reading]]>

The Grumman OV-1D Mohawk N10VD in 2012 (Photo Chad Horwdel (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0))

A man was killed yesterday in the crash of Grumman OV-1D Mohawk N10VD at the Witham Field airport in Stuart, Florida. The pilot was alone on board and was rehearsing for the Stuart airshow, which was to begin that evening and continue the next day.

The causes of the accident are unknown and the National Transportation Safety Board has sent investigators to the scene. The accident was filmed by a witness.

Our thoughts and prayers go to the family and friends of the pilot.

Sources:

• CBS12
• Kathryn’s Report
• Local10.com

Continue reading]]>

Henry Buttelman (Photo USAF)

Lieutenant-Colonel Henry Buttelmann, the youngest ace of the Korean War, passed away on September 16, 2019.

Henry Buttelmann was born in Corona, New York on 26 June 1929. Entering the Air Force pilot training program in 1952, he graduated and went through advanced gunnery training before being sent to Korea in December of that year to serve with the 25th Fighter Interceptor Squadron, 51st Fighter Interceptor Wing, equipped with the F-86 Sabre.

On June 19th, 1953, on his 55th mission scored his first aerial victory by downing a MiG-15. Eleven days later, he became the youngest ace in the Korean War when he shot down his fifth aircraft. By the time the Korean War ended on July 27, he had flown 65 combat missions and shot down a total of 7 enemy aircraft.

He was to see combat again during the Vietnam War, flying 46 combat missions in the F-105 with the 562nd Tactical Fighter Squadron in 1965. In 1969, he served for another 12 months in Vietnam, flying the F-100 Super Sabre with the Misty Forward Air Controllers and the 308th Tactical Fighter Squadron.

He retired from the Air Force in 1979 with the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel and was a resident of Las Vegas for over thirty years.

Our thoughts and prayers extend to the family and relatives of Henry Buttlemann.

Sources:

• Las Vegas Review Journal
• 2016 interview of Henry Buttelmann
• NASM Wall of Honor

Continue reading]]>

Squadron Leader John Hart DFC, one of the last four surviving Battle of Britain veterans according to Metro News, passed away on 18 June 2019. Born in 1916, Hart was a Canadian pilot in the Royal Air Force (RAF) from 1938 to 1946. He flew Lysanders in the RAF Army Cooperation Command, Spitfires in the Battle of Britain, Hurricanes in Burma and Mustangs in Italy.

Source:

• Metro.co.uk | Battle of Britain hero, Squadron Leader John Hart, dies aged 102

Continue reading]]>

Iouri Maksaïev (Source : Russia Beyond)

Iouri Maksaïev, one of the last Normandie-Niémen veterans, passed away on August 3, 2019. Born in 1926, he trained as a mechanic and served in the famous franco-soviet fighter regiment equipped with Yakolev Yak-3 fighters and deployed on the Eastern Front.

After the war, he remained in the armed forces until 1951 and then worked in the civilian aviation industry. He was an enthusiastic proponent of Franco-Russian friendship and traveled to France in 2015 to inaugurate the Normandie-Niémen exhibition at the Musée de l’Air et de l’Espace and also in 2017 for the 75th anniversary of the Normandie-Niémen.

Source: Russia Beyond

Continue reading]]>

One of Connie Edwards’ Buchóns in 2018. (Photo Alan Wilson (CC BY-SA 2.0))

Wilson Connell “Connie” Edwards passed away on May 3, 2019 in Texas. Born on 25 April 1934, he served in the US Air National Guard from 1951 to 1960.

In 1968 and 1969, he was chief pilot for the movie “The Battle of Britain”, flying Hispano Buchóns (Bf 109 built under license in Spain), Spitfires, Hurricanes, Junkers Ju 52s, CASA 2.111s (He 111 built under license in Spain) and a B-25 Mitchell photo plane.

He also participated in the shooting of several other warbird-related movies and helped create the Confederate Air Force (now the Commemorative Air Force) and has always been a leading figure of the warbird scene in the US and the world.

Our thoughts and prayers go to “Connie” Edwards’ family and friends.

Sources:

• Legacy.com : Wilson Connell “Connie” Edwards
• AOPA.org: Connie Edwards remembered 

Continue reading]]>

The Planes of Fame’s Northrop N-9M. (Photo CindyN (CC BY-SA 4.0))

The 1944 Northrop N-9M restored and flown by the Planes of Fame museum crashed in a prison courtyard in Norco, California on 22 April 2019. The pilot did not survive the crash and the aircraft appears to have been totally destroyed by the crash and subsequent fire.

The aircraft was the fourth and last N-9M built, and the only surviving example of its type. It was restored to flying condition by the Planes of Fame museum, which had been displaying it at airshows and events since the mid-1990s.

Our thoughts and prayers go to the family and friends of the pilot.

Sources:

• Foxtrot Alpha: WWII-Era Flying Wing Plane Has Fatally Crashed On State Prison Grounds
• AvWeb: Last Northrup N9M Crashes Near Chino
  
• Planes of Fame museum: N9MB

Continue reading]]>

Lt. Col. Richard E. Cole (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Vernon Young Jr.)

Lieutenant Colonel Richard “Dick” E. Cole, Jimmy Doolittle’s copilot and last surviving member of the Doolittle raid on Tokyo on 18 April 1942, passed away on 9 April 2019.

Born in 1915, he enlisted as aviation cadet in 1940. He was one of the 80 crew members selected to take part in the famous raid against Tokyo and mainland Japan, led by the famous James “Jimmy” Doolittle. Taking off from the USS Hornet in their B-25 Mitchells, a medium bomber designed to operate from land, the raiders bombed Tokyo and other targets in the Japanese mainland. Running out of fuel after their mission, they parachuted or crash-landed in China. Five raiders were captured and executed by the Japanese, with another three becoming prisoners of war (one of whom died of malnutrition during his captivity).

Richard Cole remained in the China-Burma-India theater of operations after the raid. He served in the US Air Force until 1966, retiring with over 5,000 flying hours.

Our thoughts and prayers go to Lt Col Cole’s family and friends.

Read more about Richard Cole’s life and career on the US Air Force’s website.