This Month’s Desktop Pictures

These photos were taken by Chris Lawson at the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) AirVenture 2005 event held in Oshkosh, WI. He used a Canon Digital Rebel XT and Canon 100-300mm zoom lens. A couple of the nose art photos may have been taken with a Canon 18-55mm lens.

• A-1 Skyraider: single-seat attack bomber of the 1950s–1970s that saw a great deal of service in Korea and Vietnam.
• Aeroshell Diamond Climb: the Aeroshell Aerobatic Team does a climb in the classic “diamond” formation pioneered by the Blue Angels in 1946.
• Aeroshell Diamond Dive: the Aeroshell team dives through on the back side of a loop. In the background are the four smoke trails from the climbing portion of the loop.
• Aeroshell Diamond Fly-By: the Aeroshell team makes a high-speed pass across the show line.
• Aeroshell Loop: the Aeroshell team finishes the top of the loop as the flight lead starts his descent.
• Aluminum Overcast: the Experimental Aircraft Association’s B-17, “Aluminum Overcast,” shows off her nose art.
• AT-11Kansan Front: frontal shot of an AT-11Kansan, a military version of the classic Beech 18 twin-radial transport that was used for training thousands of bombardiers and navigators in World War II.
• AT-11 Left Engine: this is a close-up of the gorgeous Pratt and Whitney R-985 radial engine and Hamilton Standard propeller. Also visible is the bombsight in the nose.
• AT-11 Left Rear: the AT-11 faces west, overlooking the outskirts of the Warbirds display area at Oshkosh.
• Beech 18: the civilian transport version of the AT-11, the Beechcraft Model 18. Note the seaplane taking off in the background (just over the cockpit of the 18).
• Campbell Pitts S-1S: Scott Campbell’s Pitts S-1S aerobatic biplane.
• DC-3 Nose: looking up at the nose of another classic, the Douglas DC-3. If you haven’t seen one of these in person, or if you’ve seen one next to a modern airliner, you don’t really have any concept of how big the DC-3 is. They’re quite large, and the nose sits a good 12–15 feet above the ground.
• Devil Dog: the Commemorative Air Force’s B-25 “Devil Dog” nose art.
• Diamond Lil (B-24) Nose Art: one of only a very few (two?) B-24 Liberators still flying, “Diamond Lil” is another Commemorative Air Force ’bird. Nice nose art!
• Douglas DC-3: a wider view of the aforementioned Douglas DC-3.
• F-16: a USAF F-16 Fighting Falcon landing after the Heritage Flight.
• F-4 Phantom: a retired USAF F-4 Phantom II landing after the Heritage Flight.
• F-4 Taxiing: the above aircraft taxis past show center after the Heritage Flight.
• F4U Corsair: a US Marines Corsair (probably a Chance Vought F4U) on static display. The F4U was the first US single-engine production aircraft capable of 400 MPH in level flight.
• F8F Bearcat 2: the Grumman F8F Bearcat was the United States’ carrier-based answer to the FW-190, but didn’t enter military service until after World War II ended. It was the last piston-powered fighter that Grumman built.
• F8F Bearcat: another shot of a Bearcat in slightly different paint.
• Fairchild PT-23 Front: the Fairchild PT-23 was one of several very similar aircraft (the major differences among them being the engine) used as primary trainers by both the Army Air Corps and RAF during World War II.
• Fairchild PT-23 Profile: the same PT-23 as above, viewed from the side.

Previous Months’ Desktop Pictures

Pictures from previous months are listed in the desktop pictures archives.

Downloading All the Pictures at Once

iCab and Interarchy can download an entire set of desktop pictures at once. Use the “Web ‣ Download Entire Site” command in the File menu, giving it the URL to the pictures page above. In iCab, use the Download command to download “Get all files in same path.”

Contributing Your Own Desktop Pictures

If you have a picture, whether a small series or just one fabulous or funny shot, feel free to send it to editor@atpm.com and we’ll consider publishing it in next month’s issue. Have a regular print but no scanner? Don’t worry. E-mail us, and we tell you where to send it so we can scan it for you. Note that we cannot return the original print, so send us a copy.

Placing Desktop Pictures