SNJ6_AngelsBeetleBomb_RJaeger_SBD5, first released on Veterans' Day 2008.

The 'Readme':

This skin was made to compliment any F-6-F versions of the original 1946 'Blue Angels'.

It will fit equally well on the stock SBD-5, or on the SNJ 'stand-in' mod.

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A Little 'Blue Angels' History:

After World War II, Admiral Chester Nimitz (then Chief of Naval Operations) ordered the formation of an official U.S. Navy flight demonstration team to maintain the public's interest in naval aviation. The job of actually forming the team was given to Lt. Commander Roy 'Butch' Voris, a decorated fighter ace with seven victories to his credit, who had flown off the carriers USS Enterprise and USS Hornet during the war. Of the available Navy aircraft to choose from, the  FM-2 (a General Motors built F4F Wildcat), F4U Corsair, F6F Hellcat and F7F Tigercat;  Voris chose the plane he flew in the war, the F6F-5 Hellcat. But because of the on-going 'draw down' of forces during that early post-war period, he was forced to use refurbished Grummans that had already been through their operational cycle.  Voris however had them modified to reduce their excess weight by removing such non-essentials as guns, armor and ammo boxes.  Because blue and gold are the Navys colors, Voris chose a Deep Sea Blue/Yellow Gold color scheme for the planes, and used actual gold leaf for the US (no periods) Navy written on the fuselage sides and the lower half of their wings, as well as for the individual team and bureau numbers on the tail. Each plane was then highly polished and waxed to an impressive shine. The first public appearance of the new Navy Flight Exhibition Team was on June 15th, 1946, at the Southeastern Air Show, Craig Field, Jacksonville, Florida. A contest was held shortly after to select a name for the team, and the story goes that because none of the submissions was to the liking of the Navy Chief of Staff at the time, he instructed Voris to name the new team the "Blue Lancers." But when a team member saw an ad in New Yorker Magazine for a nightclub called the 'Blue Angel', all the team members agreed that this was a better name. On July 21-22, 1946, at a flight exhibition in Omaha, Nebraska, the team introduced themselves as the Blue Angels to the public for the first time. 

The original team consisted of:

Lt. Cmdr. Roy M. "Butch" Voris - Lead
Lt. Cmdr. Lloyd G. Barnard - Left Wing
Lt. Maurice N. Wickendoll - Right Wing
Lt. J.G. Melvin W. Cassidy - Spare

NOTE: Lieutenant Commander Barnard transferred sometime prior to the Blue Angels' first public performance. Lieutenant Alfred 'Al' Taddeo replaced Lt. Cmdr. Barnard, and Lt. j.g. Cassidy moved to the Left Wing position. Four Grumman F6F-5 Hellcats and an SNJ, which was painted and configured to simulate a Japanese Zero, were assigned to the team. The "Zero" routine was developed to demonstrate fighter attack. Show routine was 17 minutes total, and the basic element was three aircraft operating about a series of "V" and echelon formations.

The last airshow with the F6F Hellcats was flown on August 14, 1946, at Grumman Aircraft, Bethpage, New York;

After flying their refurbished F6Fs for six months, the Angels' pilots would trade them in for brand new F8Fs. They flew directly to Grummans Bethpage factory, did their last Hellcat show for the workers, and flew off with their freshly painted Bearcats. These aircraft were painted in the now familiar Blue Angels Blue (FS15050), with a unique yellow-gold paint (13538) replacing the gold leaf previously used for their insignia  which now had periods after the 'U' and the 'S' that preceded the 'Navy' emblazoned on their fuselages and on the undersides of their wings. August 24, 1946, would mark the first public performance with the F8F-1 Bearcat, at the Denver International Air Show and Air Exposition, Stapleton Field, Denver, Colorado. Unfortunately, only a month later the Blue Angels suffered their first fatal crash. On September 29, 1946, at an air show at their home field in Jacksonville Florida, a wing tip snapped off while F8F, bureau #94986, was performing a 'Cuban 8 with a double roll' causing it to crash and kill its pilot, Lieutenant Robby Robinson. On May 30, 1947, Lieutenant Commander R.A. Clarke would take over for Lt. Cmdr. Voris as the Blue Angels Officer-in-Charge/Flight Leader. The 1947 airshow season introduced new maneuvers, including the 4-plane Diamond Loop and Diamond Roll. The original SNJ would also eventually be replaced by the F8F Bearcat, bureau #95187, affectionately known as 'Beetle Bomb'; which being a 'single seater', carried it's parachuting-dummy in a centerline pod.
 
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According to SNJ-6 crewmember, AMM3 Robert N. Boudreaux:

"In the early days of 1946, I was assigned to the Flight Exhibition Team as part of the crew that flew an SNJ. It was painted bright yellow with red meatballs on it to simulate a Jap Zero. These were located on top and bottom of the wings and on each side of the fuselage. We installed a rack underneath the belly of the fuselage to hold four smoke bombs, and had a dummy attached to a parachute in the rear compartment. A 30 caliber machine gun in the right wing fired blanks.

We would enter the field and fire these blanks at the spectators and at various buildings. Our announcer, Lt. Barnitz, would then call for the fighters to come in and shoot us down. I would set off the smoke bombs, simulating that we were hit and then drop the dummy over the side. We practiced and practiced until it became routine.

Our very first show was a Craig Field in Jacksonville, Florida. It was a success, and we received our first trophy. Our next show was in Pensacola, for the Admiral. The show was going smoothly until it came time for me to dump the dummy over the side. It was at this point that things got scary. One of the chute shroud lines caught on the horizontal stabilizer, caused by the static line knotting up, leaving the line short. I grabbed the mike and told Lt. Stouse to "kick in hard, left rudder," which released the shroud line. I can tell you that it was definitely crunch time when our air speed started dropping. After that, the show continued without further problems. It was upon landing that we were told that parts of the smoke bomb casings landed near the Admiral's feet! Because of that mishap, flight patterns were changed for future shows and all went great with no further incidents".
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During June 1949, the "Blue Angels" underwent jet training in San Diego and soon were given their first jet-powered aircraft, the Grumman F9F Panther. Thus ending the golden age of their prop driven exhibitions, with one exception; the F8F 'Beetle Bomb' would remain with the Blue Angels until it went into a slow roll on takeoff at NAAS Whiting Field, Florida, on Apr 24, 1950, killing the pilot. The Blue Angels would fly a total of 51 shows in 1949: 33 in the F8F-1 Bearcat and the remaining 18 in the F9F-2 Panther. 


Of note; the F8F Bearcat holds the piston-powered world record for it's time to climb. That record is 91 seconds from brake release at sea level to 10,000 feet. It is said to have held this record for almost three decades.

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TERMS OF USE:

PLEASE; You have downloaded this skin "free of charge" with my compliments. I only ask, that if you wish to alter it in any way, that it remain solely for your own use. I have no objections to the FREE (as in NOT payware) distribution of campaigns which include this skin, that's why I make them..but please do not rename the file without consulting me, or upload it to any other site; this work is exclusive to 'Axis & Allies Paintworks'. If you wish to credit my work, that would be nice, although my signature is on the skin. If any questions, please contact me via pm at Axis & Allies Paintworks.  

Good Hunting! ~ Rudi.