US Navy and USMC Between The Wars in 1/100

[Don Boose]

Les -

You have raised a mystery that I have to look into. Since there were three aircraft in a section, Aircraft Number 8 would be the second aircraft in the third section. But you are absolutely correct. The section colors are 1 - red, 2- white, 3 - blue, 4 - black, 5 green, and 6 - yellow.

I'm not sure what was going on in my mind that I didn't pick up this disconnect. As of now, I don't have an explanation. It may be that, as you say, the cowl color hadn't been applied at the time the photographs were taken and I mistook the light gray cowl for white.

It's always great to get feedback and to know someone is actually reading the write ups. It's especially important when someone catches an error or a contradiction. I hope I can figure out an explanation.

Don

[Vinalssergio155]

Another impressive job. As much your impeccable construction as always Garry and the also impressive information provided by Don. Wonderful work gentlemen!

[Rata]

Les and Don, I think the misinterpretation here is that pitot tube on the wing in the first photo at first glance seems to be the thin black demarcation line normally seen on partial section colour cowls. The black and white photo is a bit vague here regards the pale shade of whatever on the upper side of cowl. The cowl could have been an as-yet-to-painted replacement so I'm guessing silver. Having said that on studying the second photo the wing stripes are certainly something other than white! Ah, the pitfalls of scale modelling! Never mind. I still liked how this little bugger turned out and Don, the detailed history of 1398 you managed to give us still stands regardless of whatever colour inaccuracies come to light on the model.

Garry G.

[MichaelS]

A beautiful job as always Mr. Rata.

[Rata]

Thanks MS!

[Rata]

Next one is another Bruno: his Loening OL-8A of the 1929 Alaska Survey Expedition.
Grover's little girl wouldn't win any beauty contest's but was a reliable, practical and functional type.
Don will now give us what I think is one of the most fascinating accounts in this thread to date of this particular 'Flying Shoehorn'.

[Don Boose]

This paper model by Garry Gillard is of Loening OL-8A, Bureau of Aeronautics Number (BuNo) A-8076, as it appeared when assigned to the 1929 U.S. Navy Alaskan Aerial Survey Detachment as Aircraft Number 4, “Sitka.”

Aeronautical engineer Grover Loening designed and built the angular M-8-series fighter/observation monoplanes for the Army and Navy after World War I, as well as three ultralight shipboard aircraft for submarines or battleships. In 1923, the Loening Aeronautical Engineering Company began producing biplane amphibians for the two services. The distinctive aircraft had a single float faired into the fuselage and extending forward of the engine like a shoehorn with wheels that could be manually cranked up and out of the way for operation on the water. The first 43 built for the Navy (designated OL-1, OL-2, OL-3, OL-4, OL-6, and XOL-7) were powered by Liberty or Packard in-line engines. They proved to be exceptionally capable and reliable, and the Navy acquired five OL-2s for use in an Arctic survey mission in 1925. The Navy also used Loening OLs for survey work in the Caribbean and during a 1926 photographic survey expedition in Alaska that had to be terminated because of bad weather that summer.

Beginning in 1928, Loening began producing the OL-8 version with a 450-horsepower Pratt & Whitney R-1340 Wasp radial engine. The Navy bought 20 OL-8s and 20 OL-8As, which were identical except for the addition of arresting gear for carrier operations. The final version was the outwardly similar OL-9, of which the Navy bought 26. By that time, Loening had merged with the Keystone Aircraft Corporation, later to be acquired by Curtiss-Wright.

On 22 February 1929, the Navy announced that it would resume the Alaska aerial photographic survey. The Departments of Agriculture and Interior contributed to the funding of the expedition, which would photograph and map areas of Alaska hitherto un-surveyed. Seaplane tender Gannet (AVP-8) and covered barge YF-88, both used by the 1926 expedition, were once again used to support the operation. The Alaskan Aerial Survey Detachment was commissioned on 15 April 1929 under the command of Lieutenant Commander Arthur W. Radford (future Commander in Chief, U.S. Pacific Fleet and Chief of Naval Operations) as a detachment of Aircraft Battle Fleet and using personnel and resources of Utility Squadron 1 (VJ-1B). Four factory-new Loening OL-8As were provided to the detachment and given numbers and names: BuNo A-8072, Aircraft No. 1, Juneau; A-8078, No. 2, Ketchikan; A-8079, No. 3, Petersburg; and A-8076 (Garry’s airplane), No. 4, Sitka. The detachment adopted an image of a winged seal in front of a volcano and midnight sun as its emblem.

Gannet, towing YF-88, arrived at Ketchikan, the initial base, on 24 May 1929. The four aircraft had flown from Seattle, landing on the waters of Tongass Narrows near Ketchikan two days earlier. The detachment conducted its first photographic survey operations from Petersburg, beginning on 30 May, later relocating to Juneau and operating from other temporary locations throughout the summer. Gannet could winch one of the aircraft aboard for servicing, while YF-88 provided a photographic laboratory, motor overhaul shop, dispensary, and living and messing accommodations for the men of the detachment, which consisted of seven Navy officers; Mr. R.H. Sargent, the U.S. Geological Survey Topographical Engineer; seven petty officers; and 31 Sailors. The detachment’s equipment included one Chevrolet truck carried on the deck of Gannet.

During the mapping flights, the aircraft flew with a three-man crew: Pilot, navigator, and photographer. Flights followed a precise straight-line course based on lines previously drawn on a chart. The pilot focused entirely on keeping the aircraft on course and altitude. The navigator concentrated on directing the pilot (by means of ropes tied to the pilot’s arms and pulled like a horse’s reins) to precisely follow the intended track as marked on the chart and adjusting for variations in ground speed. The photographer operated a T-2 four-lens camera through an open hatch in the bottom of the airplane. The photographers also took motion-picture images for historical purposes and used K3-A mapping cameras to take oblique photographs of certain areas at the request of various government agencies. While the crews varied from time to time, the usual crew of A-8076 consisted of Lieutenant C.F. Greber with Lieutenant E.F. Burkett as navigating officer and Photographer First Class B.L. Houser to operate the cameras.

The survey was wrapped up on 6 September, with Gannet and YF-88 departing Ketchikan for Seattle on 7 September and the aircraft flying south on 20 September. On 31 October 1929, the detachment decommissioned, and the crews and aircraft reverted to Utility Squadron One.

Images:

1. Side view of Loening OL-8A BuNo A-8076, Alaskan Air Survey Detachment Aircraft Number 4, “Sitka,” by Peter Freeman. This image also shows the winged seal, volcano, and midnight sun emblem of the Survey. Source: Freeman, page 20.

2. Loening OL-8A BuNo A-8076 being lifted aboard seaplane tender USS Gannet, AVP-8, on 15 June 1929 at Petersburg, Alaska. The Survey’s Chevrolet truck is also visible. Source: Stevens, page 591.

3. Loening OL-8A BuNo A-8076 with the other aircraft of the Alaskan Aerial Survey Detachment on the Lighthouse Service Dock in Ketchikan, Alaska, 26 August 1929. Source: Stevens page 602.

4. Aircraft of the Alaskan Aerial Survey Detachment in flight. Left to right: Aircraft Number 1, Juneau, BuNo A-8072; Number 2, Ketchikan, BuNo A-8078; Number 4, Sitka, A-8076. Photographed from Number 3, Petersburg, BuNo A-8079 by Navy Chief Photographer J.F.M. (“Bunny”) Haase, the senior photographer of the expedition. Source: J.M.F. (Joseph Malta F.) Haase collection, San Diego Aero Space Museum, available at https://www.flickr.com/photos/sdasmarchives/8539560023.

5. The Alaskan Aerial Survey Detachment with barge YF-88, seaplane tender USS Gannet (AVP-8), the Loening OA-8As, and the Chevrolet truck (foreground) photographed at the Government Dock, Juneau, Alaska, 21 June 1929. The Gastineau Channel and Douglas Island are in the background. Source: Stevens, page 593.

6. Officer, Topological Engineer, and senior non-commissioned officers of the Alaskan Aerial Survey Detachment in front of Loening OA-8A BuNo A-8072 (Aircraft Number 1, Juneau) on the Government Dock, Juneau, Alaska, 10 August 1929. Seated in front, left to right: Lieutenant E.F. Carr (Paymaster), Lieutenant Commander A.C. Smith (Medical Officer), Lieutenant Commander A.W. Radford (Detachment Commander and pilot), Mr. R.H. Sargent (Department of the Interior Topographical Engineer), Lieutenant Thomas Macklin. Standing: Boatswain F.E. Dowd, Chief Boatswain J.D. Glick. Pilots: Lieutenant J.G. L.P. Pawlikowski, Lieutenant C.F. Greber (the regular pilot of A-8076, Sitka), Lieutenant R.F. Whitehead (also Photographic Officer), and Lieutenant E.F. Burkett. Machinist J.O. Hacy. Source: Stevens, page 600.

7. Alaskan Aerial Survey Detachment photographers in front of one of the Detachment’s OL-8As. Rear, left to right: Chief Photographer J.M.F. Haase (in charge) with T-2 camera, Photographers First Class K.J. Nevose (with motion picture camera) and P.L. Hansen with a T-2. Front: P1C C. Blattman with Newman K-3A. The man at the lower right holding a Fairchild K-3 is unidentified, but is probably P1C B.L. Houser, who normally flew in A-8076 with Lieutenant Greber. Source: Stevens page 584.

Sources:

Alaska Digital Archives, Alaska Aerial Survey Expedition 1929, Alaska State University Archives, available at https://vilda.alaska.edu/digital/search/searchterm/Alaska%20Aerial%20Survey%20Expedition%201929

Joe Baugher, “US Navy and US Marine Corps BuNos, First Series (A6002 to 9999),” available at http://www.joebaugher.com/navy_serials/firstseries2.html

Douglas E Campbell, Flight, Camera, Action! the History of U.S. Naval Aviation Photography and Photo-Reconnaissance, Morrisville, NC: Lulu Publishing, 2014.

Thomas E. Doll, Berkley R. Jackson, and William A. Riley, Navy Air Colors: United States Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard Camouflage and Markings, Vol. 1 1911-1945, Carrollton, TX: Squadron/Signal, 1983.

John M. Elliott, The Official Monogram US Navy & Marine Corps Aircraft Color Guide, Vol. 1, 1911-1939, Boylston, MA: Monogram Aviation Publications, 1987.

Peter Freeman, Wings of the Fleet: US Navy & Marine Corps Aviation 1919-1941, On Target Special, Ardington, Oxfordshire, UK: The Aviation Workshop Publications Ltd., 2010.

J.M.F. (Joseph Malta F.) Haase photographic collection, San Diego Aero Space Museum, available at https://www.flickr.com/photos/sdasmarchives/albums/72157624464921877

E.R. Johnson, United States Naval Aviation 1919-1941: Aircraft, Airships and Ships Between the Wars, Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, 2011.

William T. Larkins, U.S. Navy Aircraft 1921-1941, Concord, CA: Aviation History Publications, 1961.

Robert W. Stevens, Alaskan Aviation History, Vol. 2, 1929-1930, Des Moines, WA: Polynyas Press, 1990.

Gordon Swanborough and Peter M Bowers, United States Navy Aircraft Since 1911, New York: Funk & Wagnalls, 1968.

[Rata]

Thank you again Don. Your research efforts have made this thread shine.

[CMDRTED]

Of less than good humor note. when I used to build plastic kits in the 70's I'd cruise some of the larger more equipped hobby shops. it would take me hours scouring the shelves to decide what I'd spend that precious buck or 2 on. the less than helpful often snotty annoyed clerks would ask if they could help me find something. I'd reply yes, I'm looking for a loaning ol-8 kit, well knowing that no one made that then. Kinda like sending a plebe to look for 10 feet of chow line!

[Butelczynski]

I think very few working aircraft were designed with beauty in mind before 1930 so no worries there.

Beautiful model of a real workhorse with wings.

I was wondering if this was an inspiration for Grumman Duck-turns out Leroy Grumman was stationed by US Navy at Loening Aeronautical as the project engineer to supervise the firm's construction of 52 Loening M-8 monoplane.Later on he became test pilot for Loening then factory manager and general manager until 1929.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leroy_Grumman