Doolittle Raiders Gathering, 18 April 2010

ryanapem wrote in post #10039978
Great shots! Looks to me like the slow shutter risk paid off well

I agree! Frozen props in these images would have been a shame.

FLphotoguy wrote in post #10041294
I agree! Frozen props in these images would have been a shame.

I concur, hence why I panned with everything that wasn't sitting on the Ramp's.

Here is a slightly different perspective:

"Shooter""aka Jim Wilson" doing what he does best......

Excellent captures James, Pacific Prowler is one of my favorites its so pretty and shiny .

Great panning shots, especially considering the speed they were moving and your slow shutter speed. Kudos!

Outstanding shots and technique!!

Are any of the original raiders still living to be present at the gathering?

Great to see the old birds still flying. Nice shots.

Great shots
Were these recovered from China?
If memory serves they left from the carrier and had to run for China after the raid?

Desertraptor wrote in post #10049526
Great shots
Were these recovered from China?
If memory serves they left from the carrier and had to run for China after the raid?

Pretty sure the original plan called for a relatively benign recovery in the USSR, but the early launch due to possible blown OpSec when they encountered the Japanese fishing boat meant fuel reserves would be stretched to the max. I think they all knew it had become a "do the best to get to wherever you can" deal.

The "reunion" aspect has to do with the men and not the actual aircraft. I believe they were expecting eight surviving crewmen but only four were actually able to attend.

AFAIK, none of the 17 B-25s that were in Dayton were actual Doolittle Raid aircraft. Don't think there are any B-model B-25s still flying.

Fantastic shots.

FlyingPhotog wrote in post #10049582
Pretty sure the original plan called for a relatively benign recovery in the USSR, but the early launch due to possible blown OpSec when they encountered the Japanese fishing boat meant fuel reserves would be stretched to the max. I think they all knew it had become a "do the best to get to wherever you can" deal....

I think the plan was always to land in China, just way deeper in unoccupied China and as it turned out, like you say, they barely made the coast. The whole plan was quite an undertaking.

As a bombing raid, it did little to damage the Japaness war machine at the time. But what that raid did for moral state side was HUGE! We struck back at Japan after they destroyed Pearl Harbor and a big part of the Pacific fleet and that was a really big deal. These men need to be honored at every opportunity, before it's too late.

A few years back I got the very big honor of getting to sit down with Col. Paul Tibits during a video taping for a show that aired on the History Channel. He talked for 2 hours about how he and Robert Openhiemer developed a plan to deliver "The Bomb" and then all about the flight and delivery of the package to Japan. That was one of my best moments in my TV career. An amazing moment of history told by someone that was actually there and made the thing happen. And I got paid to do it!

Great images BTW! You seem to have that panning technique down. Nicely done.

Wow! Beautiful shots. I wish my panning shots wre that good!

Great pics. I've got a shot of the Yellow Rose in Hondo, TX from 1985 when she didn't wear a bikini! Times have changed.......

Everyone that has replied. Thank you for the feedback. It was an Awesome experience, for which if I hadn't had Thunder Over Louisville as a scheduling conflict, I would have been there all 4 days. Alas, I was only able to make Sunday, but it was a gorgeous day for flying. All my images, that I have posted are hand-held. I took my mono-pod, but never took it out of the car.

andrewhuxman wrote in post #10046019
Excellent captures James, Pacific Prowler is one of my favorites its so pretty and shiny .

Thank you Andrew.

Praemunitus wrote in post #10047864
Great panning shots, especially considering the speed they were moving and your slow shutter speed. Kudos!

Thank you for the feedback. I'm still working on getting better with panning. (Seeing how Slow I can go, without using support )

mebailey wrote in post #10048141
Outstanding shots and technique!!

Are any of the original raiders still living to be present at the gathering?

Thank you. I'll post some more, once I've worked through them. As Jay stated, 8 are living, however, only 4 were able to attend the gathering.

silvrr wrote in post #10048256
Great to see the old birds still flying. Nice shots.

It is great to see the old girls still flying. I wish there lots more, but there isn't.

Desertraptor wrote in post #10049526
Great shots
Were these recovered from China?
If memory serves they left from the carrier and had to run for China after the raid?

Negative on recovery. Most of these served in other Theaters', and have since been restored to flying condition, most with their original squadron's colors/ insignia. Some have been customized

FlyingPhotog wrote in post #10049582
The "reunion" aspect has to do with the men and not the actual aircraft. I believe they were expecting eight surviving crewmen but only four were actually able to attend.

AFAIK, none of the 17 B-25s that were in Dayton were actual Doolittle Raid aircraft. Don't think there are any B-model B-25s still flying.

Jay, hit the nail on the head.

DisrupTer911 wrote in post #10050647
Fantastic shots.

Thank you.

gjl711 wrote in post #10050771
I think the plan was always to land in China, just way deeper in unoccupied China and as it turned out, like you say, they barely made the coast. The whole plan was quite an undertaking.

You sir, are correct. Those crews that made it to land, landed in occupied China, instead of further into Allied China, where the original LZ was located.

Very impressive! Wish I could have been there to see this!