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No.268 Sqn RAF Founded : August 1918
Adjidaumo - Tail in the air
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No.268 Sqn RAF
Aircraft for : No.268 Sqn RAF | |||
A list of all aircraft known to have been flown by No.268 Sqn RAF. A profile page including a list of all art prints for the aircraft is available by clicking the aircraft name. | |||
Squadron | Info | ||
| Lysander Full profile not yet available. | ||
Manufacturer : North American | Mustang The ubiquitous North American P-51 Mustang, which many consider to be the best all-around fighter of WW II, owes its origins to the British Air Ministry. Following Britains entry into WW II in 1939, the RAF was interested in purchasing additional fighter aircraft from American sources, particularly the Curtiss P-40. Curtiss, which was busy, was unable to guarantee timely delivery so the British approached North American Aviation as a possible second source for the P-40. North American chose to propose its own fighter design which would use the same Allison engine as the P-40. Utilizing new laminar flow wings, the North American fighter was expected to have performance better than the P-40. Developed in record time the new aircraft was designated as a Mustang I by the Brits, whereas the USAAF ordered two for evaluation which were designated XP-51 Apaches. Intrigued with the possibility of using this aircraft also as a dive bomber, North American proposed this to the USAAF which decided to order 500 of the P-51 aircraft to be modified for dive bombing use. Designated as the A-36 Invader, this version of the Mustang utilized dive flaps, and bomb racks under each wing. Some reinforcing of the structural members was also required because of the G-forces to be encountered in dive bombing. A-36s entered combat service with the USAAF prior to any P-51s. In early 1943 the 86th and 27th Fighter Bomber Groups of the 12th Air Force began flying A-36s out of Northern Africa. Despite some early problems with instability caused by the dive flaps, the A-36 was effective in light bombing and strafing roles. It was not, however, capable of dog fighting with German fighters, especially at higher altitudes. Despite these drawbacks one USAAF pilot, Captain Michael T. Russo, who served with the 16th Bomb Squadron of the 27th Fighter Bomber Group, was credited with five confirmed aerial victories in the A-36, thereby becoming the first mustang ace. | ||
Manufacturer : Curtiss Number Built : 16802 | Tomahawk A total of sixteen Royal Air Force squadrons used the Tomahawk from British bases, and five more squadrons in the Middle East, as well as South African and Australian units. The Curtiss Tomahawk equipped the legendary Flying Tigers of the American Volunteer Group in China, in 1941, before the United States was officialy at war with Japan. In all, 16,802 Curtiss Tomahawks in a succession of improved models, were mainly built for the US Air Force. |
Signatures for : No.268 Sqn RAF | |||
A list of all signatures from our database who are associated with this squadron. A profile page is available by clicking their name. | |||
Name | Info | ||
Wing Commander Ken Wallis Click the name above to see prints signed by Wing Commander Ken Wallis
| Wing Commander Ken Wallis Kenneth Horatio Wallis was born on April 26 1916 at Ely, Cambridgeshire, where his father ran a cycle and motorcycle shop, and was educated at The Kings School. Kenneth had limited vision in his right eye and as a child wore an eye patch and in 1936 this defect led to his rejection by the RAF. Undeterred, he paid £14 to obtain a private flying licence which required only a certificate signed by his GP, obtaining the licence after just 12 hours flying a Gypsy Moth. Having failed another test for the RAF in 1938, when he tried again after the outbreak of war Wallis decided to cheat. While the doctors back was turned, he sneaked a look with his good eye at the bottom line of letters on the test chart and passed. After flying Westland Lysander patrols with No 268 Squadron, in 1941 Wallis transferred to Bomber Command, flying Wellingtons with No 103 Squadron, based at RAF Elsham Wolds in north Lincolnshire, attacking heavily defended targets in the Ruhr. Though he survived 28 missions over cities in Germany he gained something of a reputation for being accident prone, earning the nickname Crasher. Returning from Frankfurt in September 1941, Wallis found his airfield blanketed by fog. He made a number of abortive attempts to land but, with his fuel tanks almost dry, he climbed to allow his crew to bail out. After they had done so, his parachute snagged on his seat â€" he finally got clear at very low level, and his parachute opened only seconds before he hit the ground. After a tour as a bombing instructor, Wallis left for Italy and flew bombing operations with No 37 Squadron. Having survived another crash when his aircraft was struck by lightning, he applied to fly Mosquito bombers at night â€" a mistake, as it meant that his night vision was tested. All hell let loose â€" You have been flying with a bomber crew and you cant see properly!’ he recalled being told. But the RAF ophthalmologist was more positive. He said, Wallis, I would rather have a man with a bit of fire in his belly who wants to fly than some of the perfect specimens I get here who do not. Wallis remained in the post-war RAF and specialised as an armament officer, among other things solving the problems of loading bombs efficiently on to the RAFs first jet bomber, the Canberra, and testing the Mach 2 â€" later known as the Lightning. During a two-year posting to the USAFs Strategic Air Command armament and electronics division in the 1950s, he flew B-36s laden with nuclear bombs over the North Pole and participated in powerboat races in vessels that he made from redundant parts, winning the 56-mile Missouri Marathon. He also set about building his first autogyro. He returned to Britain to be the Command Armament Officer at Fighter Command. Wallis demonstrated his autogyros at numerous RAF air shows before leaving the RAF in 1964 in the rank of wing commander. He moved to Norfolk, hoping that he would be able to put them into commercial production for reconnaissance, research and development, surveillance and military purposes. But it never happened. Instead, during the 1970s, he worked with a company that pioneered a type of multi-spectral aerial photography that could detect where bodies were buried, as a result of which he was called in to help in several high-profile missing-person searches. He also flew an autogyro at 18,976ft without oxygen; became the oldest pilot to set a world record when, aged 81, he accidentally achieved the fastest climb to 3,000ft, in seven minutes 20 seconds; and he set a world speed record for an autogyro of 129.1mph at the age of 89. kenneth Wallis never found a commercial manufacturer for his autogyros, although he was delighted when the James Bond film producer Cubby Broccoli recognised its dramatic potential: Wallis and his autogyro, Little Nellie, were duly dispatched to the set of You Only Live Twice, where Wallis stood in for Sean Connery in a famous sequence in which Bond, in a rocket-firing autogyro, fights baddies in orthodox helicopters, zipping around an active volcano â€" Wallis received many national and international awards, was appointed MBE in 1996. Wing Commander Kenneth Wallis, born April 26 1916, died September 1 2013. |
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