March 2024

Product Spotlight: A Necessary Evil

The Martin B-26 Marauder was one of the most controversial American combat aircraft of the Second World War. It was primarily used in Europe, and was in fact numerically the most important USAAF medium bomber used in that theatre of action. However, on four occasions, investigation boards had met to decide if the development and production of the Marauder should continue. The Marauder survived all attempts to remove it from service, and by 1944, the B-26s of the US 9th Air Force had the lowest loss rate on operational missions of any American aircraft in the European theatre, reaching a point less than one half of one percent.

Despite its high landing speed of 130 mph, which remained essentially unchanged throughout the entire production career of the B-26 in spite of numerous modifications made to reduce it, the Marauder had no really vicious flying characteristics and its single-engine performance was actually fairly good. Although at one time the B-26 was considered so dangerous an aircraft that aircrews tried to avoid getting assigned to Marauder-equipped units and civilian ferry crews actually refused to fly B-26s, it turned out that the Marauder could be safely flown if crews were adequately trained and knew what they were doing. It nevertheless did demand somewhat of a higher standard of training from its crews than did its stablemate, the B-25 Mitchell. However, once mastered, the B-26 offered a level of operational immunity to its crews unmatched by any other aircraft in its class.

A total of 5157 B-26 Marauders were built. Although on paper the B-26 was a more advanced aircraft than its stablemate, the North American B-25 Mitchell, it was built in much fewer numbers because it was more expensive to manufacture and had a higher accident rate.

Martin B-26B-15-MA Marauder 41-31576/AN-Z ‘Dinah Might’, was given the important task of leading an anti-beach fortification raid against Widerstandsnest 5 (which means ‘nest of resistance’, or ‘strongpoint’) overlooking Utah beach. The raid happened only a couple of minutes before the landing craft released their troops on their assigned beaches on D-Day itself, one of the final missions to take place before the landings.

Flown by Major David Dewhurst, the experienced Commander of the 553rd Bomb Squadron, US 8th Air Force, this was one final opportunity to neutralize German defensive fortifications, therefore giving Allied troops a better chance of making it off their assigned landing beach in the terrifying hours to come.

Dewhurst’s aircraft, which was named ‘Dinah Might’ after a Bing Crosby tune of the day, released its bombs at exactly 06.24.30 on D-Day, with navigation and timing critical to the success of the mission and the safety of the men waiting to make their historic seaborne assault.

The details behind this final bombing raid of D-Day clearly illustrate why the Utah Beach D-Day Museum elected to finish their preserved Marauder in this historic scheme and why it forms such a poignant center piece for their impressive museum.

‘Dinah Might’s’ target on that fateful morning in June 1944 was only meters from where this magnificent preserved aircraft is displayed today, even though it’s actually only a representation of that famous wartime aircraft.

“Dinah Might” pays homage to the men and machines that fought to seize a foothold on the European mainland that fateful June, and is expected to take wing later this spring.

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Product Spotlight: When the Valiant Fall

Air Force 1’s 1:72 scale USAAF Boeing B-17G Flying Fortress Heavy Bomber – “Man ‘O War II”, 323rd Bombardment Squadron, 91st Bombardment Group, Bassingbourn, Cambridgeshire, England, November 1944

The 323rd Bombardment squadron was first activated on April 15th, 1942, at Harding Field as the 323rd Bombardment Squadron, one of the three original bombardment squadrons of the 91st Bombardment Group. It was equipped with the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress. It completed First Phase training at MacDill Field under Third Air Force, with Second and Third Phase training at Walla Walla Army Air Field under Second Air Force in Washington. The squadron’s ground echelon left for Fort Dix in early September 1942, then boarded the RMS Queen Mary for transport to England. The air echelon moved to Gowen Field, Idaho on August 24th, 1942, and began receiving new B-17s there. It began flying them from Dow Field, Maine in September, although it was not fully equipped with new aircraft until October.

The ground echelon was established temporarily at RAF Kimbolton by September 13th, 1942. However, the runways at Kimbolton were not up to handling heavy bombers, and the unit moved to what would be its permanent station in the European Theater of Operations, RAF Bassingbourn, on October 14th, 1942. Bassingbourn had been a prewar Royal Air Force station, so the squadron found itself in more comfortable quarters than most of its contemporaries. The squadron primarily engaged in the strategic bombing campaign against Germany, and flew its first mission on November 7th, an attack against submarine pens at Brest, France.

Until the middle of 1943, The squadron concentrated its attacks on naval targets, including submarine pens, dockyards, ship construction facilities and harbors, although it also struck airfields, factories, and communications facilities. On January 27th, 1943, the unit attacked the Kriegsmarine yard at Wilhelmshaven as part of the first penetration by bombers of VIII Bomber Command to a target in Germany. On March 4th, 1943, it attacked marshalling yards at Hamm, Germany despite adverse weather and heavy enemy opposition. For this action, it was awarded its first Distinguished Unit Citation (DUC).

From the middle of 1943 to the end of the war, the squadron concentrated on attacks on German aviation, including attacks on aircraft factories, including ones at Oranienburg and Brussels; airfields at Oldenburg and Villacoublay; the ball bearing plants at Schweinfurt; chemical plants at Leverkusen and Peenemunde; and industrial facilities in Ludwigshafen, Frankfurt am Main and Wilhemshaven. As part of this attack on the German aircraft industry, on January 11th, the squadron penetrated into central Germany, despite bad weather, poor fighter cover, and strong attacks by enemy interceptor aircraft, the unit succeeded in bombing its target, earning a second DUC.

The squadron also performed interdiction and air support missions. It helped prepare for Operation Overlord, the invasion of Normandy, by bombing gun emplacements and troop concentrations near the beachhead area. It aided Operation Cobra, the breakout at Saint Lo, in July 1944 by attacking enemy troop positions. It supported troops on the front lines near Caen in August 1944 and attacked lines of communications near the battlefield during the Battle of the Bulge in December 1944 and January 1945. It attacked airfields, bridges, and railroads to support Operation Lumberjack, the push across the Rhine in Germany, in 1945.

Following V-E Day, the squadron evacuated prisoners of war from German camps. The first B-17 left Bassingbourn for the United States on May 27th, 1945. The ground echelon sailed aboard the RMS Queen Elizabeth on June 24th, 1945. The squadron was reestablished at Drew Field, Florida in early July, with the intention of deploying it to the Pacific, but it was not fully manned or equipped, and inactivated on November 7th, 1945.

With Masters of the Air now having reached its inevitable conclusion, “Man ‘O War II” stands an awesome tribute to the men and machines of the US Army Air Force, the 8th Air Force, and their death-defying daylight bombing campaign over Nazi-occupied Europe during the Second World War.

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Product Spotlight: Golden Sands, Azure Skies

Hobby Master’s 1:72 scale Israeli Defense Force Dassault-Breuget Mirage IIICJ “Shahak” Fighter – Yoram Agmon, 101 Squadron, Hatzor Air Base, Israel, July 1966

The Mirages which landed in Israel in April 1962 inaugurated the Mach-2 era in the IAF. In the hands of Israel’s pilots, the Mirages would achieve fame – and the reputation of the entire French aircraft industry would be greatly enhanced. The Mirages were virtually unassailable in the skies during the Six Day War. The successful interceptor also participated in the War of Attrition and the Yom Kippur War, and scored hundreds of kills.

It was July 14th, 1966, when Cpt. Yoram Agmon gave the French another cause for celebration (besides Bastille Day), by shooting down a MiG-21 – the first MiG-21 ever to be shot down.

The Israeli-Syrian confrontation over Syrian attempts to divert the waters of the Jordan River’s sources had escalated in the period preceding the incident. The IDF decided to put an end to Syria’s project. Brig. Gen. Yoram Agmon, then a young instructor in the IAF Flight School, recalls:

“I was summoned to the Mirage squadron in which I served in times of emergency. I was assigned the Number Four position in the quartet that was about to go up. We were scrambled in the direction of the Golan Heights, where we were to take over for another quartet than had come back from a patrol assignment. All that morning, Mirages had been making sure that the Vautours and Mysteres could carry out their attack assignments unmolested. We carried out a patrol. Smoke was billowing up from the targets that had been attacked by our planes. Suddenly we received instructions from the controller to head westward with the engines at full throttle. It was clear that something was about to happen.

“We turned westward and the leader turned on the afterburner. I decided to conserve fuel and continued flying west without the afterburner. At a certain point the controller told us to turn east. We turned around and headed towards the Golan Heights, with the aim of returning to the original patrol route.

“Then I noticed a shimmering dot at very low altitude, on my left. The dot was advancing in a southeasterly direction, toward the spot where the Syrian Yarmuk River meets the Sea of Galilee. I informed the leader that I had established eye contact with the enemy, I pointed my nose downward and threw off the detachable fuel tanks. I dove down sharply, doing my best to maintain eye contact with the plane. I did everything without taking my eyes off the glistening dot.

“I flew at a low altitude, 500 feet, at high speed, and at a range of about 2,000 meters I identified a pair of MiG-21s. The distance between us narrowed, and they received word of my presence. They swerved left. I had known the MiG-21 was good at sharp turns, but still, I was surprised by the sharp angle at which they turned. I lost sight of the right-hand MiG, and pulled sharply upward, in order to slow down and close in on the left-hand MiG.

“At a range of 350 meters I homed in on him for an attack run. I shot off a short burst, with no result. I immediately executed a second maneuver and narrowed the distance between us to 250 meters. I aimed the second burst carefully, and immediately saw a powerful explosion in the MiG’s right wing. The wing was torn off the plane, which went into a rightward spin. I passed him to his left, and saw the pilot bail out. I went westward and joined my quartet near the Sea of Galilee.

“The other planes were short on fuel, and had to land at Ramat David. Thanks to the fact that I hadn’t turned on the afterburner, I had enough fuel to return to the mother base. I wanted to return home after the victory… home, and nowhere else. I executed a buzz and a roll, and landed. There was a big commotion in the hangar… everyone was overjoyed. It later turned out that that day also marked the end of the Syrian water-diversion project. We had achieved our goal – and then some”.

Agmon’s Mirage, No. 59, would go on to become the IAF’s Ace of Aces, with a whopping 13 kills to its credit.

Look for Agmon’s Mirage to become a stark reality this June.

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Tales of Transparency: Hobby Master MAPs it Out

Earlier this week, Hobby Master elected to alter its MAP guidelines by extending it to nine months. Previously retailers and distributors could lower the price of a Hobby Master product six months after its release. The change was brought on to prevent certain parties from dumping their excess inventory at or below their wholesale costs once the MAP guidelines were lifted. To remain in compliance, we will adjust our own Hobby Master selling policy on our web site along with our marketplace sites to reflect this change in stance.

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Friends, Romans, Countrymen…

Friends, we are starting to run into the same issues we’ve warned you about since our inception — customers placing a single order that combines in stock merchandise with pre-orders. Now, its one thing if the pre-ordered merchandise is due out soon. Generally, it means we will pull the items we do have in stock, set them aside, then simply wait for the pre-ordered merchandise to arrive so we can fill the order completely. This reduces our shipping costs as well as yours.

Unfortunately, there are a number of customers that are not following our ordering guidelines and are instead combining items we have listed as being available with items not due out for several months. I can understand your eagerness to order what is probably a highly coveted item but it creates chaos for us because it ties our hands for an indeterminate period of time. As I’ve indicated previously, we will not hold merchandise/orders for more than a couple of weeks. Its either take delivery of your order or we will cancel it outright.

Please people, look at the dates of availability for each new item before placing an order with us. While I can understand wanting a particular item for whatever reason, do so by placing a separate order for it then place a second order for the items marked as being in stock. Thank you for your cooperation and together we can cut down on the number of problem orders we receive.

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Product Spotlight: “What’s Olds is New Again”

Hobby Master’s 1:72 scale USAF McDonnell F-101C Voodoo Fighter – 56-0001, Robin Olds, 92nd Tactical Fighter Squadron, 81st Tactical Fighter Wing, RAF Bentwaters, England, 1964

Robin Olds was an American fighter pilot and general officer in the United States Air Force (USAF). He was a “triple ace”, with a combined total of 17 victories in World War II and the Vietnam War. He retired in 1973 as a brigadier general, after 30 years of service.

The son of US Army Air Forces Major General Robert Olds, educated at West Point, and the product of an upbringing in the early years of the US Army Air Corps, Olds epitomized the youthful World War II fighter pilot. He remained in the service as it became the United States Air Force, despite often being at odds with its leadership, and was one of its pioneer jet pilots. Rising to the command of two fighter wings, Olds is regarded among aviation historians, and his peers, as the best wing commander of the Vietnam War, for both his air-fighting skills, and his reputation as a combat leader.

Olds was promoted to brigadier general after returning from Vietnam but did not hold another major command. The remainder of his career was spent in non-operational positions, as Commandant of Cadets at the United States Air Force Academy and as an official in the Air Force Inspector General’s Office. His inability to rise higher as a general officer is attributed to both his maverick views and his penchant for drinking.

Olds had a highly publicized career and life, including marriage to Hollywood actress Ella Raines. As a young man he was also recognized for his athletic prowess in both high school and college, being named an All-American as a lineman in college football.

Olds became commander of the 81st Tactical Fighter Wing at RAF Bentwaters, England, a McDonnell F-101 Voodoo fighter-bomber wing, on September 8th, 1963. The 81st TFW was a major combat unit in United States Air Force Europe, having both a tactical nuclear and conventional bombing role supporting NATO. Olds commanded the wing until July 26th, 1965. As his Deputy Commander of Operations Olds brought with him Colonel Daniel “Chappie” James Jr., whom he had met during his Pentagon assignment and who would go on to become the first African-American 4-star Air Force general. James and Olds worked closely together for a year as a command team and developed both a professional and social relationship which was later renewed in combat.

Olds formed a demonstration team for the F-101 using pilots of his wing, without command authorization, and performed at an Air Force open house at Bentwaters. He asserted that his superior at Third Air Force attempted to have him court-martialed, but the commander of USAFE, General Gabriel P. Disosway, instead authorized his removal from command of the 81st TFW, cancellation of a recommended Legion of Merit award, and transfer to the headquarters of the Ninth Air Force at Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina.

In September 1966, Olds was tapped to command an McDonnell Douglas F-4C Phantom wing in Southeast Asia. En route he arranged with the 4453rd Combat Crew Training Wing, David-Montham Air Force Base, Arizona, (where Col. James was now Deputy Commander of Operations) to be checked out in the Phantom, completing the 14-step syllabus in just five days. His instructor was Major William L. Kirk, the 4453rd CCTW’s Standardization and Evaluation officer, who had been one of Olds’ pilots at RAF Bentwaters, and who later commanded the United States Air Forces Europe as a full general. Kirk accompanied Olds for practice firing of AIM-7 Sparrow and AIM-9 Sidewinder missiles on the Point Mugu missile range while Olds was en route to Travis Air Force Base for his charter flight overseas. Olds rewarded Kirk by granting him a transfer to his command in Thailand in March 1967.

Look for Olds’ USAF McDonnell F-101C Voodoo fighter to land both on our doorstep and hopefully yours some time in July.

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