Flatheads & B-25 Bomber

Pat/Ohio

Pat/Ohio

Well-known member
Hi All,

I wanted to share a couple of pictures that were taken yesterday at Grimes Field in Urbana, OH. The occassion was a Fly In of antiques planes (M.E.R.F.I.). We were asked to bring a few Ford Flatheads for the crowd to enjoy along with the vintage planes on display. The plane behind the Fords is a B-25 bomber. They took people rides later on this plane and other vintage planes. It was a very enjoyable time..to say the least!

The V-8 Fords included in the pictures are my '32 Ford Standard V-8 Cpe, a '49 Mercury belonging to George Elbel, a '37 Ford Club Cabriolet belonging to Tom Penty, and a '34 Ford Deluxe Tudor belonging to Lynn Ewing...all of the Ohio Region #141 of the Early Ford V-8 Club. Pat

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Flatheads in the air: At least some Flathead Fords fought in the air during WWII, in English B-24s!
German submarines had to run out to sea from their French ports past England, running on the surface at night through the Channel into the bay of Biscay area.
By the middle of the war, British anti submarine bombers could detect them with airborn radar sets but could not attack or search effectively because the subs would crash dive as the plane came down to hunt for the radar blip it had found.
The answer was a huge searchlight...the planes would dive toward where the blip was indicated, turn on the light, and frequently could spot the sub fast enough to kill it before it was fully submerged. This was one of the key tactics that ended the importance of the subs in the Atlantic.
The searchlights were powered by a Ford V-8 running a generator inside the plane... I would guess that the engines would have been either English built model 77/78 engines or Canadian Mercs.
No word on whether the British B-24's were Ford built too...
 
Wow, that vintage Mitchell sure is a great prop to go with those vintage Fords & Merc! Only thing missing are the Andrews Sisters!
 
During the war, my dad once buzzed his hometown in northern Iowa in a B-25. With those short exhaust stacks, it made quite a racket. For years afterwards, old timers would swear that he was so low that he flew between the buildings along main street. One of his many flying stories that I miss hearing him tell.
 
Lawrie, No I'm not big into flying! I did take a ride a couple of years ago on a Ford Tri-Motor in Columbus, OH. That was quite a thrill.

Bonesy & all...I'm glad the B-25 has brought back found memories of loved ones. It was quite impressive.

Warm Regards,
Pat
 
The same B25 was at the Kent State airport on Sat. Here is a pic with my 38.
 

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Thanks for the pictures, and Bruce's flathead knowledge never ceases to amaze me. One of my uncles was a waist gunner on a B-24 that went down in a hail of AAA shells.
 
Pat/Ohio, great photo's .Bruce Lancaster ,thanks for the great story, I love those ww2 stories. Harold, central coast Ca.
 
Great pics!

This is the best I could do with the Collings Foundation B-24 with my coupe and a friend's '31.

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There was a B-17 and a B-24 and P-51 at the Oxford, Ct airport this past weekend. I saw them fly over work on Monday going to Rhode Island. What a sound!! Nothing sounds like those Pratt & Whitney engines If you had enough $$, (1700 ) you could go up for a 1/2 hr and actually get a turn at the stick!

BaRRY

50 f-1
 
Since we are on the subject of old planes here is a shot of my 32 and a friend's at a show at Falcon Field last year.

Frenchy
 

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