Warplane, M.I.A for 60 years comes home

[aussiewannabe]

My Dad sent me this link:

http://link.brightcove.com/services/pla ... 7804472001

[Steve M]

Quite interesting, amazing how every thing was so well preserved.     

[Flying Trucker]

Wonderful...simply wonderful....

Cheers...Happy Landings...Doug

[Fozzer]

What a wonderful find!

Linking lots of Folk together over the years!

Paul.... ...!

[patchz]

[color=#000000]Excellent find. I especially liked the part about it being back in the original building it was constructed in for refurbishing and the Rosie signatures.

[beaky]

It's funny... the tradition of these young ladies on the assembly line signing their names and addresses on parts of the planes has often been construed as mere social networking, but I'd never thought that it must have meant a lot to them to hear from a pilot who was simply thankful that they did their job well and the plane was holding together and performing as it should.
I'd imagine many of them were worried that their efforts were good enough... good engineering is not enough; every little thing that went into the construction of these aircraft was critical to the survival of the pilots, let alone victory in the air. Most of them were just looking for work, and they found themselves holding a tremendous responsibility.

I'm sure these signatures were like magic talismans to the boys who flew these machines into combat- a reminder that someone back home, who was also just caught up in the madness of war, cared about the work they were doing, and wished them well.

[Hagar]

It's funny... the tradition of these young ladies on the assembly line signing their names and addresses on parts of the planes has often been construed as mere social networking, but I'd never thought that it must have meant a lot to them to hear from a pilot who was simply thankful that they did their job well and the plane was holding together and performing as it should.

Amazing how those signatures have survived. I've heard about this tradition first-hand from women I knew. Unfortunately most of them have since passed on. I always understood that they left little messages on parts of the aircraft that would not be visible during normal service like the wing spars & other internal structures. The messages wouldn't be seen until the aircraft went in for major repair where the most likely people to see them would be aircraft workers like them. Perhaps it was different in the US factories.

I'd imagine many of them were worried that their efforts were good enough... good engineering is not enough; every little thing that went into the construction of these aircraft was critical to the survival of the pilots, let alone victory in the air. Most of them were just looking for work, and they found themselves holding a tremendous responsibility.

I can't speak for American women but in this country the female workers were often doing mundane repetitive jobs which were sometime very dangerous. From 1941 all young single women between the age of 20 to 30 were conscripted into war service. They had the choice of the women's services, the Land Army (working on farms) or factory work. Most of them looked on this in much the same way as their male counterparts. They were "doing their bit" for their country & their menfolk. Attitudes were rather different in those days.

[olderndirt]

It's funny... the tradition of these young ladies on the assembly line signing their names and addresses on parts of the planes has often been construed as mere social networking, but I'd never thought that it must have meant a lot to them to hear from a pilot who was simply thankful that they did their job well and the plane was holding together and performing as it should.
I'd imagine many of them were worried that their efforts were good enough... good engineering is not enough; every little thing that went into the construction of these aircraft was critical to the survival of the pilots, let alone victory in the air. Most of them were just looking for work, and they found themselves holding a tremendous responsibility.

I'm sure these signatures were like magic talismans to the boys who flew these machines into combat- a reminder that someone back home, who was also just caught up in the madness of war, cared about the work they were doing, and wished them well.

Well said.

[skoker]

She is coming to my home!