I’m currently doing a report at school on the use and development of aircraft during WWII as part of my world history class, and I need a good picture for the title page of the report (and some more for inside). For the title page, I’m looking for something that really defines WWII aviation and its development. I seem to be short on pictures, so if anyone has one that they can think of, and can post it or a link to it here, I would greatly appreciate it. I’m thinking of posting the report here, just kind of as an FYI for those who don’t know as much about the subject as they might like to.
So, basically, I’m looking for GOOD aircraft pictures of any nationality, theater, make, or model, as well as any information any of you might be able to provide ( I will give credit in the repot to anyone who helps) on the subject.
For American stuff, I’d recommend looking to the military’s own websites… they’ve got a lot of high resolution pictures available.
If you want a recent color B-17, you can look on their front page (though a bit of cropping will be required to make it more historically accurate): http://www.defenselink.mil/multimedia/
The Air Force has lots of photos available… start here (bar on right to 1940’s), and also look around here
Finally, if it’s development you’re looking for, you may want to consider a factory shot… some are available on the web, but I haven’t found any high resolution shots yet.
Hope you find what you’re looking for.
EDIT - on second thought, the lack of specifics in the request make me think that you haven’t started yet… not that there’s anything wrong with that, I used to (and still probably could) procrastinate with the best of them, and while I could get away with it in high school, it really put a dent in my GPA in college.
Anyway, I’ll start you off with some info from the Naval Historical Center. I would also suggest flipping through the Squadron “In Action” books for applicable aircraft, as they have decent histories of a planes original development and evolution, which may be enough for your purposes.
Your request is a bit vague. There are lots of aircraft from WW II which were very important, but nothing is the epitomy of development in general. The B-29 was the ultimate strategic bomber, while arguments could be made for a number of fighters being the ultimate development. The Me-262 had a lot of potential, but it was never really realized. The P-51 realized the most of its potential. The quality of pilot training also played an important role in how effectively aircraft were used. German and Japanese pilot quality was in staedy decline from the beginning of the war while British and American quality improved.
There are other aircraft in other categories that would qualify them as great for one reason or another: the Zero, the Spitfire, B-25, Ju-88, the list goes on. Since this is going to be presented to someone who is probably not into aircraft as much as you are, I would suggest using an American aircraft, or at minimum a British one. There is a lot of political stuff around Nazis and the use of the Swastika. You might catch some flak if you used a German aircraft, or even one of the other Axis aircraft.
What I would do in your situation would be to use Google. Google has an image search function. Plug in some search terms and see what turns up. The web is full of aircraft pictures both WW II vintage and modern pictures of restored aircraft. You should be able to come up with something suitable within a fairly short time.
BTW, I know where Quilcene is. I’ve even been through there a few times on my way to Port Townsend and Sekiu. I used to live in the Seattle area. I’m near Portland now.
I’ve got heaps of shots of classic aircraft of WWII from Duxford (UK) airshows that I’m quite happy to email to you.
The shots are of different types of planes from that era and because development was so rapid at the time (biplanes to jets in five years), I think they cover what you’re looking for.
hey josh try some of the color shots of aircraft from the blitzkrieg (i.e. stukas or heinkels) or do a search of the pearl harbor pics these two events shaped aviation development of aircraft dramaticly during the war also a lot of these pics are available from the national arcives hope this helps! dave
That’s cool!, thought it’s just about the most boring town in existence right now…, since the rest of the members of my band are all in Sequim: 35-40 minute commute per practice[:(!]. I guess it does have its good points though…