The Shiden or 'George' was unusually developed from a floatplane fighter, the N1K Kyofu or 'Rex'. It was a formidable dogfighting aircraft, despite technical issues that were solved in the N1K2-J Shiden Kai with low-set wing. This is assumed to be c/n 5511, Imperial Japanese Navy tail code 201-53, which was captured in the Philippines in January 1945 and given identification number S7 by TAIU-SWPA at Clark Field. It only flew once as such as the undercarriage collapsed on landing. Note that US insignia are a bit off, with old-fashioned rudder striping serving as a warning to Allied pilots. Photo from: US Navy - National Naval Aviation Museum

MATS was originally a joint US Air Force and Navy affair. In December 1956 the USAF was put in control and in 1958, the US Navy had to transfer 32 of its 50 R7V Constellations to the USAF. Perhaps the struggle for these aircraft began earlier since they were allocated 1954 serials, in this case 54-4051. Photo from: US Navy - National Naval Aviation Museum

First flown in August 1940, the Ki-44 Shoki interceptor fighter was named for a Taoist deity who fights ghosts and evil beings. Powered by Nakajima's bulky Ha-41 radial engine, it had good climb speed, but was not outstanding. 1223 airframes were built for the Japanese army and given the reporting name 'Tojo' by the Allies. This one is described as a 'Ki-43-Ia', but by its July 1944 manufacture date and c/n 2068 it should be a Ki-44-IIc. It was captured at Clark Field in Mach 1945 and flown by TAIU-SWPA, a joint USAAF/USN/RAAF intelligence unit, until a crash in June. Photo from: US Navy - National Naval Aviation Museum

The first Canberra built in the United States, flying near the Chesapeake Bay Bridge which was opened in 1952. Photo from: US Air Force

The aircraft dump on an unknown airstrip on what is believed to be Bougainville. Another photo of this wreck says it is in the Solomon Islands at an unnamed location . However. a more detailed source says B-24 42-40533 in the background was written off landing on an unnamed fighter strip on Bougainville in January 1944. As this was drawn from US military records, this photo has been located in Papua New Guinea. Bougainville is part of the same archipelago as the Solomons .Photo from: Air Force Museum of New Zealand

'In McClelland Barclay experimental camouflage design No 5.' Artist McClelland Barclay joined the Naval Reserve in 1938 and designed several 'dazzle' camouflage schemes. They were found to be ineffective. The source is sure that this is BuNo 1352 of squadron VB-2. In the background is SB2U-2 BuNo 0748 of the same unit. Photo from: Naval History and Heritage Command

Boss bird of VS-2 at NAS Quonset Point, which is still under construction. The OS2U was designed to be embarked on warships but, as the 'Neutrality Patrol Star' fuselage roundel indicates, VS-2 was tasked with coastal patrols with its complement of six aircraft, perhaps not all Kingfishers. Photo from: US Navy

Photo taken well before the 12 July 1941 dedication of NAS Quonset Point. The new Building 2 was known as the Neutrality Patrol Hangar. The Kingfisher was used for 'inner patrol', up to 50 miles offshore. US military aircraft did not traditionally wear fuselage roundels. The 'Neutrality Patrol Star' was added from March 1940 on naval aircraft patrolling the USA's Atlantic and Caribbean coastlines. Though the OS2U-2 aircraft are new, the roundel's placement looks like an improvisation. The biplane is a Grumman JF Duck with inter-aileron struts. Photo from: Library of Congress

Flugzeugführerschule B at Fürstenfeldbruck had no less than 122 T-Birds according to Wikipedia. Photo by: James Whitmore / Life

The French navy received 40 V-156F dive-bombers in 1939. They suffered heavy losses during operations against the German army in May 1940. One squadron saw action against the Italians in June. Following the fall of France a follow-on order for 50 aircraft was taken over by Britain. Modified to V-156B-1 Chesapeake I standard, they were judged underpowered and used for second-line duties. It is reported that AL936 was written off while serving with No 811 Sqn which only operated the 'Cheesecake' for a few months in 1941. A Douglas Boston is also seen. Photo from: Flight

This aircraft flew tens of thousands of miles in Africa. It was painted pale blue with a red nose and trim and a white top. The stages of its 1931 flight to Cape Town are painted on. In 1933 it was modified to an F.199, c/n 7269/5. Photo from: Bibliothèque nationale de France - Gallica

Taxiing past the Pinwheel helicopter (see photo 678360) at Van Nuys. This airport was used by the USAF until 1990. The old Mitchell was one of a 1000-aircraft batch from fiscal year 1944. The tail number system requires the first digit of the full serial to be omitted. When in 1954 someone observed that 1940s and 1950s planes with the same tail numbers were in active service, this was curiously addressed not by simply adding the 'decade digit', but by introducing a 0 (not O) prefix for older aircraft. See the article in our AirHistory Magazine section. Photo by: Ralph Crane / Life

The photographer framed the Pinwheel helicopter (see photo 678360) with this S-51 of the US Forest Service. Other shots show the reg clearly as N155Z but it's not listed by the FAA or anywhere else. From 1960 N155Z was worn by a C-46 Commando that the FAA has also forgotten about. Photo by: Ralph Crane / Life

Half man, half helicopter. This 'strap-on helicopter' was powered by rocket motors mounted at the rotor tips. The tail rotor was for steering. Tested by the US Navy against the Hiller ROE and Gyrodyne RON but the RH-1 does not seem to be a naval designation and nor is a serial known. Photo by: Ralph Crane / Life

The first prototype of the huge H-16 Transporter, first flown on 23 October 1953 on the power of two 1650-hp R-2180 Twin Wasp engines. It looks like the picture was taken at the Piasecki factory in Morton, towards Woodland Avenue. Photo by: Yale Joel / Life

A new and deadly strain of flu emerges in China, and a pandemic spreads... in 1957. A vaccine was developed in the United States by the summer, and here the first doses are being rushed to LGA airport by helicopter from the Lederle Labs in Pearl River. Photo by: Walter Sanders / Life

Stunning shot of a Shooting Star of the 94th Fighter Squadron, 1st Fighter Group, based at March Field. The squadron colour of the 94th FS was blue. Photo by: Charles Steinheimer / Life

P-80s of the 1st Fighter Group lined up at March Field in 1946. 44-85364, 44-85349, and 44-85350 are listed with the Group's 71st Fighter Squadron in 1946-47. Photo by: Charles Steinheimer / Life

In this image from the 'Helicopter Mapping of Alaska' series, US Army choppers are being assembled. Other photos show no less than eight H-23Bs, and a sign saying 'Tripod Airlines, non-scheduled'. Photo by: George Silk / Life

It's a bear! From a photo series entitled 'Helicopter Mapping of Alaska.' Helicopters made the mapping of Alaska a lot easier, dropping surveyors off on the peaks. US Army H-23Bs were involved, although details about this are hard to find. Photo by: George Silk / Life