Come along for the ride as we review some of the most fascinating stories centered around the unforgiving skies of the greatest generation. Each episode gives you a peek at specific events, people, and/or aircraft during World War 2, and other major conflicts.
The podcast Warbirds – Tales From Above is created by EPM Aero. The podcast and the artwork on this page are embedded on this page using the public podcast feed (RSS).
How long was the longest dogfight? It's debatable, but this one is certainly in the running. Captain Elmer Royce Williams takes on 6 Migs by himself. That, of course, is what the plethora of internet articles will tell you. While Williams is certainly a hero of hero's, he received some great help from some men that are rarely talked about.
TIME STAMPS
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Homeland Magazine - Captain E. Royce Williams - The Forgotten Hero - By CJ Machado
The Wall of Valor Project - John Davidson Middleton
The Wall of Valor Project - David M. Rowlands
Panther vs. Mig - Inside the Cold War Dogfight that Officially Never Happened - By Marc Liebman
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None of these airmen should have survived the war, yet they all lived to tell their story.
TIME STAMPS
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Wordpress.com - RCAF No. 403 Squadron - Pilot Officer's James Elmer Abbott's Miraculous Escape
Vandruff.com - Jean Vandruff Autobiogrophy Excerpt
An Anonymous Czech Prisoner who Saved an American B-17 Bomber in WWII - Outono.net
Militarytimes.com - Michael Arooth
James Howell Howard - CMOHS.org
James H. Howard - Homeofheros.com - By Andrew A. Rooney
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Don't look down. But bring your chute just in case...
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Warhistoryonline.com - James Allen Ward - By Russell Hughes
Victoriacrossonline.co.uk - Norman Cyril Jackson VC
Mail Call - Chesterton Radio - YouTube
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Wrapping up our week at the Reno Air Races, and firing on all cylinders.
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It's the last Reno Air Races. We were there, and received a whole lot of the unexpected.
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Take the worst airplane you can find along with a horrible scenario. Then pair it with three heroic pilots, and see what happens.
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Warfare History Network - Heroic Airacobras of the Cactus Air Force - By Patrick J. Chaisson
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You'll find the greatest men in the most unlikely of places.....
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Take those pictures and cut those birds to fit. Meet the airmen that helped gather the intel so our boys could take back France, and meet one man who helped keep those birds in the air.
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Historyofwar.org - 10th Photo Reconnaissance Group
Patton's Eyes in the Sky - By Tom Ivie
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The second installment of the P2 Neptune and their crew during the Cold War.
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JIM LUND CONTACT INFORMATION
Jim Lund [email protected] 701-388-2564 (text only)
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Sub-hunting over the Med has never been so much fun....
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JIM LUND CONTACT INFORMATION
Jim Lund [email protected] 701-388-2564 (text only)
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Here comes the second half of Movie Reviews, and I even threw a sound byte somewhere in here for a little comedy-relief.
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It's time to analyze some of Hollywoods flicks. But let's be real, some we watch simply for the airplanes, some are the greatest movies of all-time, and others we wish would be burned in a dumpster fire.
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Rudolph Hess makes a twilight solo flight across allied lines and over the North Sea to try and negotiate peace. What are the odds of his success?
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REFERENCES
80 Years on, the Mysterious Flight of Rudolph Hess - By Dr. James Crossland
Will We Ever Know Why Rudolph Hess Flew to Scotland? - By Brian Handwerk
The Rudolph Hess Flight - 10 Conspiracies - The History Press
Boy, it sure would have been nice to hear this man's voice in our aviation headsets. At least we got to hear him on TV for more than 3 decades. Enjoy this weeks early release of LTJG Bob Barker. There's also a surprise celebrity at the end. Spoiler alert, don't click on any references below :)
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Avgeekery.com - The Unexpected Naval Aviator - Bill Walton
Aviation Geek Club - Dario Leone
Join me not only for the return of the show, but for my Grandfathers return to the Reno Air Races after over 41 years. During this episode, we not only experience some great racing, but we were graced with learning about a wonderful man and airmen, Lt. Col. Robert Friend.
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Robert J. Friend, Tuskegee Pilot who led UFO Project, By Sam Roberts
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Thousands of pilots flew The Hump during the war. Robert Lineberger walked it.
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Lincoln-Times News - Pilot Lineberger Flew the Hump in WWII - By Will Kennedy
News and Record - Pilot Survives Crash in Himalayas - By Ned Harrison
Jay Zeamer and crew fly Old 666 on a recon mission in the Pacific, and end up being the most highly-decorated air crew of WW2.
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Pacificwrecks.com - B17-E "Lucy" - 41-2666
Pacificwrecks.com - Captain Jay Zeamer, Jr.
Suicide Run - The Final Flight of Old 666 - History.net - By Bob Drury and Tom Clavin
WW2 Veteran John Murray has 4 engines for his flight tonight. 3 of them catch fire and there's no land in sight.
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Gander Airport Historical Society - Civil Aeronautics Board Accident Report
TigerintheSea.com - Crew and Passengers - By Eric Lindner
Captain John Murray - By Pierre-Andre Reymond
American Heritage - Ditching in the North Atlantic
Tiger in the Sea - A Remarkable True Story - By Mark Shiffer
Pressreader.com - Irish Daily Mail - The Miracle Pilot
Flight Crew - Flying Tiger 923 - Flyingtiger923.com
Flying Tiger 923 and Raging North Atlantic - Pierre-Andre - YouTube
Today we honor the boys that instantly became men when they chose to falsify their birth certificates in order to fight in our stead. In this research I also stumble upon a B-24 event that will hopefully never be forgotten.
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Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund - Dan Bullock
Newyorktimes.com - Marine, 15, Killed in Vietnam - By Thomas A. Johnson
They kept them in the air....
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A P-61 crashed on the side of Mount Cyclops in 1945. 2nd Lt. Southfield gives us a good story about how that happened. 76 years later, the corroded Black Widow is sitting in Pennsylvania. It isn't airworthy..... yet......
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Mid-Atlantic Air Museum - Black Widow Restoration Project
DONATE to the P-61 Black Widow Project
Pacificwrecks.com - P-61B-1-NO Black Widow Serial Number 42-39445
History.net - P-61 Returns From the Jungle - By Dick Smith
The Morning Call - 6 to Embark on Quest for Black Widow - By Dan Pearson
Those tiny white-caps are bigger than your yellow dot on the water.
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Pacificwrecks.com - TBD-1 Devastator, Bureau Number 0335 - Tail 6-T-6
Harold Frederick Dixon - Findagrave.com
Unbroken - A WW2 Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption: By Laura Hillenbrand
This one is not often talked about, especially in the United States. It was never as popular as the Normandy invasion has become, but it proved to be just as important to the success of D-Day. Ground invasion aside, there was quite an air battle raging overhead.
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Government of Canada - In the Skies Above: Dieppe, August 19, 1942 - By Major William March
Airsoc.com - RAF 331 - Norwegian Squadron
Lufwaffe.cz - Battle Over Dieppe
Ed Freeman and Bruce Crandall volunteer to plow into Landing Zone X-ray fourteen times, and under intense enemy fire, all to rescue stranded cavalry.
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Purple Heart Foundation - Vietnam War Hero - The Untold Story of Army Capt. Ed W. Freeman
Snopes - Captain Ed Freeman - Medal of Honor Winner - By David Mikkelson
Business Insider - Jim Morrison's Dad Had a Hand in Starting the Vietnam War - By Ward Carroll
Jimmy Stewart. He failed more times than you can count. But nobody counts the failures.
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Elephant Journal - Why Top Gun Has One of the Best Scenes You'll Ever See - By Kevin Macku
DenofGeek - Jimmy Stewart and the WW2 Mission That Almost Broke Him - By David Crow
This week we talk about a phenomenon during WW2 that nobody could ever seem to explain. Did the entire 415th Night Fighter Group go crazy??? Was what they saw real? I'll let you be the judge.
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Off by roughly 2 TRILLION.... AGAIN!!! - The Way I Heard It - By Mike Rowe
History.com - Mysterious UFO's Seen By WWII Airman Still Unexplained - By Adam Janos
Unlike the sports icons we see today, Nile Kinnick was one of the most humble athletes and one of the most dedicated patriots this country has ever seen. I even track down a few relatives that have some stories of their own. They share their gratitude about how the blood that runs in their veins has ultimately changed their lives for the better.
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The New York Times - June 10th, 1943 - Nile Kinnick Killed - Iowa Hawkeyes
Iowa Magazine - Kinnick's Final Days - By Josh O'Leary
Iowa Digital Library - Nile Kinnick Correspondence - June-August 1942
This is a big one. It took a lot of heavy research to tie all of this together. 4 months-worth, in fact. Little friends were battling over Mayen, Germany during one of the biggest European Theater Operations of the war. And the neat part is, my Uncle was right there in the thick of it.
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Today we focus on a B-17 crew that sure did love their beer. Enough to paint their love for it on the nose of their bird.
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B17FlyingFortress.de - High Life
100thBombGroup.com - Joseph C. Harper
Molsoncoorsblog.com - Here's what we know about the Miller High Life Lady - By Dave Herrewig
It happened whether we want to think about it or not. Today, I share a few stories where sabotage reared it's ugly head during WW2, along with one man that helped to solve a long-standing design flaw with the B-24 that would cause every man on board to instantly perish.
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The Daily Item - The B-24 Had History of Flight Explosions - By Joseph A. Diblin
Time Magazine - The Hidden Risk Faced by Female Pilots During WW2 - By Olivia B. Waxman
This week we remember the men that helped to keep the crew whole so that they could get off the ground. Commonly referred to as "floaters", they would fill-in when a crew member was sick. Some didn't have to.... but they did anyway.
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Denver Post - Frank Lablotier - By Claire Martin
Sun-Telegraph - Historic B-17 roars over Front Range - By Dave Faries
Military.com - Sgt. Maynard H. Smith - By Bethanne Kelly Patrick
Many on social media would have you believe that a B-17 can land without a tail. They would like you to think that a commonly circulated photo of an airborne Fortress with the tail missing succeeded in landing with zero casualties. This is far from the truth, and if we're not careful we will misremember their real story over time. Today, we remember the men that sacrificed their lives in this crippled bird.
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American Air Museum in Britain - 42-37781 - Silver Dollar
Twelve brave souls aboard a PB4Y-2 Privateer perish in the sea outside Singapore on June 1st, 1945. Hear the story of their sacrifice along with one remaining Liberator that was forced crawl home over 1000 miles with zero air-support.
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Beauran O'Kane, History of a Privateer from VPB-106
The Story of One Eleven - By Robert L. Wolpert
Pacific Wrecks - PB4Y-2 Privateer - Bureau Number 59563
Frank Speer is making a strafing run inches above the ground. This one run will make his next several months very challenging.
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The Morning Call - "I Could Feel the Bullets Hitting my Plane"
American Air Museum - Frank E. Speer
Book Review - The Debden Warbirds: The Fourth Fighter Group in World War Two - By Frank E. Speer
Eino Alve and his mighty crew of Shack Rabbits plow through 35 missions. How they did it, of course, is their own unique and nail-biting story.
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One of the best dogfighters we ever saw. Regarding Mustang drivers, some might even say he was THE best.
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Wings God Gave My Soul - By Joseph W. Noah
George Preddy - Top Mustang Ace - By Joseph Noah and Samuel L. Sox, Jr.
O'Henry Magazine - An Ordinary American Boy - By Ross Howell, Jr.
Synopsis of George Preddy - Top Mustang Ace - By Joe Noah
The Hall of Valor Project - George Earl Preddy - Sightline Media Group
The real story of The All American..... without all the embellishments. We don't need it dressed up with comic book characters and unicorns. The real story is heroic enough on its own.
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The Hour Has Come - By Thomas F. Gulley
Warbird Digest - WWII's B-17 "All American", Separating Fact from Fiction - By Anthony Adams
Airscape Magazine - "Down in One Pieces"
B-17 Flying Fortress - All American - 41-24406
B-17 "All American" (414th Squadron, 97BG) - Site maintained by Doug Cook
American Air Museum in Britain - Mellville G Boyd, Jr.
B-17 Flying Fortress - Joan of Arc/Flaming Mayme - 41-24477
American Air Museum in Britain - 42-30051 - "Nevada Wildcat"
Turns out our family has ANOTHER bird out there that escaped the chopping block over 75 years ago. It's hidden. But we found it.
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AAIR - Aviation Archeology - PBY Aircraft Airframe History List - 59763 -
The accident board determined the absolute cause of the crash. But we dig deep on this one, and pose a long-shot theory that there COULD have been another cause.
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Hutchison News - February 17th, 1950 - Loren Grover Obituary
Vapor Trails - Robert Jaques - Naval Aviation News - December 1997
They were the first, and everyone forgot them.....
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The Sad Fate of a Remarkable B-24 - Joseph Connor
American Air Museum in Britain - 4123728
The Forgotten Bomber that Broke the Memphis Belle's Record First - Morgan Deane
Memphis Belle vs. Hot Stuff - Scott Orr
Hell's Angels vs. Memphis Belle
They don't build them like they used to.... and I'm not talking about airplanes.
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The Story of Maloney's Pony - First Fighter Wing Association
Paying Tribute to a Legend - Vic Johnson
Strafing, The Most Perilous Game - Earl Mazo
Ditching Tests of a 1/9 size Model of the Army P-38 - George A. Jarvis and Gibson A. Cederborg
The unselfish act of P-51 pilot, Billie Harris, finally gains recognition 62 years after giving his life in occupied France.
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Joyce Ann Ashley - 354th Fighter Group Tribute - Billie D. Harris
Join me as we go on an English pub crawl with the WW2 Airmen of RAF Biggin Hill.
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Biggin on the Bump - Bob Ogley
Spitfire Crash - Kings Arms - Aviation Safety Network
The Queen's Head - Four Square City Guide
The greatest fighter pilot of all time??
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Colin D. Heaton Anne-Marie Lewis Walter J. Boyne Albert H. Wunsch III
Seven brave Brits fly at twilight to bomb Berlin.... and it's all recorded. Well.... there were two correspondents from BBC on board too. Make that nine brave Brits.
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Wynford Vaughn Thomas - BBC Recording
My Uncle Robby gave his life as a top turret gunner in a B-24 during WW2. My family never knew where he was buried..... until now. Join me as I "accidentally" discover his whereabouts, along with a little bit of heavy metal.
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Point your eyes skyward as we watch Walter Osipoff get yanked around the sky by his ankles from a DC-2 ... on accident, of course.
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En liten tjänst av I'm With Friends. Finns även på engelska.