USN Marine Fighting (Night) Squadron VMF(N)-533 'Crystal Gazers'USN Marine Fighting (Night) Squadron VMF(N)-533 'Crystal Gazers'

Grumman F6F-5N Hellcat VMF(N)-533 F(N)12 Little Nance BuNo 72627 Ie Shima May 1945 0A

Grumman F6F-5N Hellcat VMF(N)-533 'Crystal Gazers' coded 'Little Nance' F(N)12 BuNo 72627 Ie Shima May 1945

VMF(N)-533 became one of the most successful Marine Corps squadrons as its pilots downed 35 enemy aircraft in the period from April to August 1945. 'Little Nance' belonged to this squadron and was photographed on Ie Shima island in May 1945.  Lt.Col. Marion Magruder, CO of VMF(N)-533, served in the Royal Air Force for a short period but learned a lot while flying the Bristol Beaufighter at that time. Magruder, nicknamed 'Black Mac', achieved one kill during WWII, shooting down a Betty bomber on June 22, 1945. Another famous pilot within VMF(N)-533 was  Capt. Robert Baird, who is the only nightfighter and Hellcat WWII ace serving with the Marine Corps. He shot down six Japanese aircraft in June and July, 1945. The squadron's combat name was 'Crystal Gazers', and its aircraft carried black codes instead of the common white ones.

VMF(N)-533 se stala jednou z nejúspěšnějších jednotek amerického námořního letectva, když v období od dubna do srpna 1945 sestřelila celkem 35 nepřátelských letadel. "Little Nance" byla jedním z jejích strojů, které používala během svého působení na ostrově Ie Shima. Jednotce velel LtCol. Marion Magruder, veterán se zkušenostmi v Royal Air Force, jenž přispěl k celkovému skóre jednotky jedním sestřeleným bombardérem Betty v noci 22. června 1945. V řadách VMF(N)-533 se zrodilo také jediné noční stíhací eso námořní pěchoty. Stal se jím Capt. Robert Baird se šesti sestřely. VMF(N)-533, nesoucí bojové jméno "Crystal Gazers", používala na rozdíl od ostatních jednotek USMC černé trupové označení letadel.

 Additional Information Eduard plastic models - http://www.eduard.com/

 Iejima, Nishiemae, Ie, Kunigami District, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan Map

IL-2 Sturmovik Cliffs of Dover - COD/CLOD skins - No 3d model at this stage
 
IL2 Sturmovik Forgotten Battles (FB), Ace Expansion Pack (AEP), Pacific Fighters (PF), 1946 skins
 

The Official Chronology of the U.S. Navy in World War II

Chronology of the USN in WWII
  1939   1940   1941   1942   1943   1944   1945

    Bibliography:

  • Barrett Tillman, Hellcat: The F6F in World War II, Naval Institute Press, 1979
  • David McCampbell article from National Aviation Hall of Fame website
  • Edward Sims, Greatest Fighter Missions, Harper and Brothers, 1962 - This sequel includes U.S. Navy and Marine Corps pilots
  • Barrett Tillman, Hellcat Aces of World War 2, Osprey

    Magazine References: +

  • Airfix Magazines (English) - http://www.airfix.com/
  • Avions (French) - http://www.aerostories.org/~aerobiblio/rubrique10.html
  • FlyPast (English) - http://www.flypast.com/
  • Flugzeug Publikations GmbH (German) - http://vdmedien.com/flugzeug-publikations-gmbh-hersteller_verlag-vdm-heinz-nickel-33.html
  • Flugzeug Classic (German) - http://www.flugzeugclassic.de/
  • Klassiker (German) - http://shop.flugrevue.de/abo/klassiker-der-luftfahrt
  • Le Fana de L'Aviation (French) - http://boutique.editions-lariviere.fr/site/abonnement-le-fana-de-l-aviation-626-4-6.html
  • Le Fana de L'Aviation (French) - http://www.pdfmagazines.org/tags/Le+Fana+De+L+Aviation/
  • Osprey (English) - http://www.ospreypublishing.com/
  • Revi Magazines (Czech) - http://www.revi.cz/

      Web References: +

  • History of RAF Organisation: http://www.rafweb.org
  • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F4U Corsair
  • http://warbirdregistry.org/corsairregistry/corsairregistry.html
  • Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/
  • http://www.intrepidmuseum.org/ Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum New York NY
  • http://www.airzoo.org/ Kalamazoo Aviation History Museum Kalamazoo MI
  • http://www.lsfm.org/aircraft/hellcat.htm Lone Star Flight Museum Galveston TX
  • http://www.nasm.si.edu/nasm/aero/aircraft/grumman_f6f.htmNational Air and Space Museum Washington DC
  • http://www.naval-air.org/ National Museum of Naval Aviation AS Pensacola FL
  • http://www.neam.org/ New England Air Museum Windsor Locks CT
  • http://www.planesoffame.org Planes of Fame Air Museum Eden Prairie MN
  • http://users.ids.net/~qam/qam/ Quonset Air Museum North Kingston RI
  • http://www.aerospacemuseum.org/ San Diego Aerospace Museum North Kingston RI
  • http://www.planesoffame.org/ The Air Museum Planes of Fame Chino CA

 

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