Jimmy Stewart Bomber Pilot

[Wyandot Jim]

Pretty good war time history of Jimmy Stewart. He did quite a bit more than I realized.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yoY8Cj1larg

Makes you wonder how we ever did this kind of stuff. No way can it be done today. The building of the B-24 by Ford at Willow Run. Note 6 months before Perl Harbor.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKlt6rNciTo

 

[Bull Barrel]

It can be done today. No one has the will to do it. Too much politics involved.
H is an example of what was done...
Chrysler got a contract to build the engines for B-29s.
They built the factory and then tripled the time before overhaul and cut the cost by over half. All while making thousands of engineering and design changes. At the end of the contract Chrysler refunded money to the govt due to the cost savings.

 

[don44]

A good man!

 

[Bob Wright]

Speaking of Chrysler Corp. WW II contribution, it was Chrysler that perfected the steel cased .45 cartridges.

Chrysler operated the Evansville (Ind.) Ordnance Plant and began producing steel cased .45 ACP ammunition. Their output exceeded their ability to produce cases, so they enlisted the Sunbeam Plant to make cases for the .45s.

These steel cases bear the headstamps of "EC" + the date, and "ECS" + the date.

There was an article in some magazine, the name of which I forget now, entitled "Bullets by the Billions".

Bob Wright

 

[Wyandot Jim]

Yep,
I have a few boxes E C 3 (43), E C S 3 (43), and T W 5 (45)

 

[FastEd]

Pretty good war time history of Jimmy Stewart. He did quite a bit more than I realized.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yoY8Cj1larg

Makes you wonder how we ever did this kind of stuff. No way can it be done today. The building of the B-24 by Ford at Willow Run. Note 6 months before Perl Harbor.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKlt6rNciTo

There is a nice Jimmy Stewart display in the A/F Museum with his flight jacket and other stuff.
Right next to the Glenn Miller display.

 

[prairieviper]

Wikipedia has an interesting read about Jimmy Stewart. He enlisted as a private but retired as a major general. Quite an accomplishment. The link is below.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Stewart

 

[Wyandot Jim]

Yep not to bad for a Hollywierd. To bad there are not more like him :wink: Having to separate careers and to be able to stay current as a USAF Pilot Outstanding. From Privet to Col. in 4 years. He damn sure paid his dues.

On July 23, 1959, Stewart was promoted to Brigadier General. During his active duty periods, he remained current as a pilot of Convair B-36 Peacemaker, Boeing B-47 Stratojet and B-52 Stratofortress intercontinental bombers of the Strategic Air Command. On February 20, 1966, Brigadier General Stewart flew as a non-duty observer in a B-52 on an Arc Light bombing mission during the Vietnam War. At the time of his B-52 flight, he refused the release of any publicity regarding his participation, as he did not want it treated as a stunt, but as part of his job as an officer in the Air Force Reserve. After 27 years of service, Stewart retired from the Air Force on May 31, 1968. He was promoted to major general on the retired list by President Ronald Reagan.

 

[Wyandot Jim]

I just watched this. He was a guest on Johnny Carson show. Pretty good.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTpCbSat1-0

This is a report on how Gen. Stewart's Marine Lt. Stepson was killed in Viet Nam. A good read.

http://www.historynet.com/jimmy-stewarts-stepson-ambushed-in-dmz.htm