Zeno's Warbird Video Drive-In June Newsletter
3 Videos: B-29s, P51s, P-47s, & A Tail Gunner Plus "Flying the Me 262" @ Zeno's Drive-In
Hello All --
You are invited to drop by Zeno's Warbird Video Drive-In (
http://www.zenoswarbirdvideos.com) and catch ourlatest World War II aviation features for free online video viewing. This month "At the Matinee," we're showing yet another Triple Feature, "Ramrod to Emden,""The Last Bomb," and "The Rear Gunner."
And for you Luftwaffe fans out there, we've just added a new page, "Flying the Me 262," featuring two Luftwaffe pilot's accounts and an Me 262 A-1 Pilot's handbook.
"Ramrod to Emden" The 56th Fighter Group (made up of the 61, 62 & 63 squadrons) was one of the most storied Air Corps units of World War II. Home to aces like David Schilling (22 kills), Frances "Gabby" Gabreski (28), Robert S. Johnson (27), Fred Christensen (21.5), Walker Mahurin (21), and CO Hubert "Hub" Zemke (18), the 56th blazed an early trail across the skies of the ETO in their massive, but deadly P-47 Thunderbolts. "Ramrod to Emden" is the story of the Dec 11, 1943 bomber escort mission (aka "a ramrod") to Emden, Germany. As you'll see in the film, the 56th encountered heavy, determined opposition from Germans, but it proved to be an exceptionally productive day. With Lt. Col. Schilling leading 50 planes of the group, they claimed 17-0-5, with two aircraft lost in a midair collision and no aircraft lost to enemy action. Allied bomber losses were minimal.
"The Last Bomb" vividly documents one of the almost forgotten chapters of World War II: the extreme long range B-29 bombing raids on Japan. Launched from hard won Pacific islands, these missions were over 3,000 miles round trip and could take 12 hours or more to complete. You'll also see the huge B-29 bases that were carved out on Guam, Tinian and Saipan. This rare late war color film, shot by combat camera men, documents all aspects of a XXI Bomber Command long distance daylight strike carried out at just 12,000' (!) on Tokyo in 1945. The mission is covered from initial planning stage by General Curtis LeMay and his staff, through fighter action and "bombs away" over target, to final touch down. As an added bonus, there's plenty of spectacular gun camera footage taken by escorting P-51 Mustangs ranging over southern Japan seeking targets of opportunity in the air and on the deck. These Mustang sorties were some of the longest and riskiest missions undertaken by any fighters during World War II. Just imagine -- flying thousands of miles over trackless ocean in a single engine ship to take on the enemy over their own territory!
Starring Lt. Ronald Reagan and Lt. Burgess Meredith, "The Rear Gunner" follows "PeeWee" Williams through gunnery school and into battle in this vintage WWII information film produced for the Army Air Corps. This is a seldom seen look inside an actual World War II bomber gunnery school featuring a wide variety of methods for increasing shooting accuracy and weapons proficiency.
If you haven't stopped by Zeno's Drive-In before, we also feature 1940-45 vintage WWII Army & Navy films on how to fly the F4U, F6F, P-38, P-39, P-40, P-47, P-51, P-61, TBF/TBM, AT-6/SNJ, B-17, B-24, B-25, A-20, A-26, B-26, B-29, Stearman N2S and a different WWII documentaries every month "At the Matinee." That's over 14 hours of rockin' props for free viewing over the internet.
And We justed added new exerpts from a P-40 pilot's manual to our "More Neat Stuff" section, which includes pilot manual performance charts, systems diagrams & detailed photos for 13 World War II fighters & bombers.
Finally, we've revised, expanded, and updated our "Control Tower" links page, which has the largest collection of World War II Aviation links on the 'net
So drop your flaps & drop in!
That's
http://www.zenoswarbirdvideos.comZeno
