So a few posts in the “I would love to see your layout” thread inspired me to ask this question. I have seen many pics of aircraft and spacecraft hung above folks’ trains. What do you have there?
This is a 1/48 scale model of the Douglas (NOT the Martin) B-26 that my dad was crew chief/flight engineer on in the postwar years (after he decided that flying in planes was a little safer than jumping out of them). The pilot/aircraft commander was (at the time) Col. George Carpenter, who had flown a B-25 (Boots) during the war. Carpenter later was promoted to General and commanded the air base at Lambert Field in St. Louis when my dad was Chief of Flightline Maintenance. On the nose, you can make out the insignia of the 131st Light Bombardment Squadron, which highlights their mascot Missouri Mule. The tail number–485436–is correct for the aircraft. During Dad’s Active Duty tenure there ('47 - '80), the MoAng unit deployed to France, Turkey, and (in part) Vietnam.
Boots II was armed with 14 .50 caliber machine guns (8 in the nose, 4 in pods in either side of the fuselage, and 2 in the upper turret) and could also carry up to 12 100 lb or 6 500 lb bombs in the bomb bay.
There are mire aircraft flying over my pike, which I will show later. What do you have?
I dug up a photo of the mascot, Banjo A. Burro, being led (reluctantly) by a Sgt I believe is my dad (I can’t tell for sure, but it looks like he did back then). The photo is from their 1961 deployment to France in support of NATO during the Second Berlin Crisis.
I remember a description of a model railway in Europe which featured airliners taxiing to a departure runway and then actually seeming to take off (they raised up parallel to a back wall, and were then redirected around to a hidden entry point). I thought at the time this was extraordinarily fun, and it might be adaptable to different aircraft types.
I also remember a piece in MR about using smaller-scale aircraft in forced perspective to give the impression of ‘flying’ further away.
That’s a great reminder, I should get some airplanes over the layout. Maybe the Graf Zeppelin? I’ve had “Zeppelin Fever” for years! It never goes away!
I’m probably not telling you anything you don’t know but for everyone else’s edification the Douglas A-26 (Later reclassified B-26) was one of the last century’s great combat airplanes, they lasted in service from WW2 to Vietnam.
The Martin B-26 was never loved by the Air Force. Tricky to fly and expensive to maintain they disappeared quickly after WW2.
By this I mean a plane in a smaller scale – with props spinning, lights working, etc. – that looks like it’s farther away toward the ‘horizon’ as suspended or tracked. I don’t remember the specific type of plane mentioned in MR, but I think it was a small general-aviation type rather than an airliner – the sort of thing you’d expect to see circling over treetops in the distance.
Above one of the towns on my layout is a DeHavilland Tiger Moth. Not easy to find in N scale, its 3D printed but I just had to have a biplane! I love 'em!
There was a U.K. one that was similar. Airliners taking off. Circle the layout and land. I cannot remember the name of the layout, but it involved a number of gimmicks. Trams, automobiles, trains etc. Basically a model of a small town with a lot of action.
There is another that is similar, but built in Lego bricks.
Well, I don’t disagree, but I’d need to find a bunch of clear circles of Hamilton Standard diameter for all my planes. And, technically, I’d have to cut off all the blades and rotate them to feather the props
The DC-3/ C-47, the greatest airplane of all time. For excellence of design, longevity, and the ability to do any job given to it that airplane can’t be beat.
When the last one’s grounded the title will pass to another, but it’s not happening any time soon!
Thanks Flintlock- I was kind of locked out of the old forum for reasons I couldn’t figure out. I today tried to make an entry in this one, and here I am. I sure agree with you about the DC-3/C-47/ R4D and Dakota!
The C-47 was another airplane Dad praised. After jumping out of them so often, he rode in them for transport for years.
When the 131st TFW retired their last Gooney Bird, the USAF museum took it over, and then the museum lent it to the National Museum of Transport in St. Louis. (BTW, this is a museum to see if you like trains, cars, or any mode of transportation and are in St. Louis.)
The problem was, the museum is land-locked in (at that time) semi-suburban South St. Louis County. How to get it there? The commanding general at the time turned to Dad and said, “Allen, get it there.” Dad had his crew remove the wings and loaded them on a flatbed semi-trailer. He had the general arrange for a CH-54 Tarhe Skycrane Helicopter, and his crew slung the fuselage under the chopper to tote it to the museum. I have photos taken by the chase bird of the operation.
When all the parts had arrived, he took his crew there to reassemble the C-47 in the middle of what was then a field next to the parking lot. I don’t remember–and Dad is long gone, alas!–how they lifted the wings and fuselage to mate them, but the work wasn’t easy.
The bird is still there to this day, sitting impressively near the old front gate, and it gets lots of scrutiny by visitors.
Yeah, there were a LOT of us locked out when Kalmbach attempted to rectify website issues. When Firecrown obtained the Kalmbach stable of publications they corrected a lot of faults in the system.
The new Forum takes a little getting used to BUT the upside is you can post photos directly now, no more third parties involved! It’s opened up a whole new world for everyone!
