Lockheed P-38F Crash Photos, Republic RC-2 Rainbow, Eastern Aircraft XF2M-1 Construction Photos

The October 2020 document release from patreon.com/retromechanix features 103 pages of material with 91 images; the following subjects are covered:
Lockheed P-38F Accident Photos 1942 - This USAAF memo, dated November 11, 1942, covers the engine failure of a Lockheed P-38F Lightning, serial no. 41-2293. The aircraft suffered moderate damage and the accompanying 14 photos provide great coverage of the colors and markings, engine nacelles, and cockpit of this iconic fighter.

Republic RC-2 Rainbow Data Book - This 49 page document covers an unbuilt civilian variant of the Republic XF-12 Rainbow, the highly streamlined, four-engine reconnaissance aircraft which first flew in 1946 but never entered production. The attached PDF was scanned from photocopies sent to me by reader Frank Simons some time ago; the quality of some of the drawings is not ideal, but overall this document provides excellent coverage of this intriguing project.

Eastern Aircraft XF2M-1 Construction Photos - While searching through material to round out this month's document release, I came across a forgotten CD-R with 34 photos of the actual XF2M-1 under construction. As you will recall from last month's release of mock-up photos, this aircraft was a heavily redesigned derivative of the Grumman F4F Wildcat built by the Eastern Aircraft Division of General Motors. This month's photos, dating from January-February 1945, provide conclusive evidence that the fighter reached an advanced state of construction before cancellation later that year.

Sources: NARA Archives II, RG 72 & 342, and Frank Simons Collection

Retromechanix is scanning, restoring and publishing rare aerospace photos, illustrations and documents covering lesser known American aircraft from the first half of the 20th century, such as forgotten prototypes and secret projects which remained on the drawing board. These documents originate from various US government repositories, such as The National Archives, The Naval History and Heritage Command, The Air Force Historical Research Agency, and other institutions. We believe that the bulk of the collection has not been published before.

Every month, we are uploading at least 100 pages of material in PDF format. Previews of these documents can be viewed here on our Youtube channel. Patreon subscribers may choose to download the documents with photos and drawings reproduced at 150 dpi or 300 dpi, depending upon your subscription tier. By the end of the project, we estimate that subscribers will have access to an archive of over 20,000 pages of primary documents shedding light on secret aircraft projects, prototypes, and lesser known aspects of US aerospace history.

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