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Thursday
August 7, 2014:
Mark and Paula went to
Fagen Fighters near Granite Falls, Minnesota.
You might recall that Mark stopped there a year ago.
Details.
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One building showed a briefing
room in England where pilots were told where their next mission
would be in Europe during the war.
Most likely over Germany that day.
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Mark was in the control tower
directing air traffic using 1940s vintage equipment.
He wore an army greet shirt from the
American
Wings Air Museum in Minneapolis.
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A pilot in Ruff Stuff was
getting ready to take off. As you can see,
Ruff Stuff was credited with four Japanese planes shot down.
Named the "fork-tailed devil" by Germans, she is a
Lockheed P-38 Lightning.
This aircraft type served very successfully in the European and
Pacific theatres during the war.
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A
P-39 Bell Airacobra. First flown in 1938, about 5000 were
built and used in World War II.
The unique feature of this
aircraft is that the engine is behind the pilot and there is a 37 mm
canon sticking through the center of the propeller.
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They
flew over in formation to thrill the crowd. Not bad at all.
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The license plate on
the left was spotted on a military truck in the museum.
The one on the right was on a sports car parked outside the museum.
You will note it is covered with dead bugs.
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There is a sign there
reminding people in the World War II era to grow their own food to
help the war effort.
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The museum is an impressive place. Mark
