Forever Friends
by Alex Esguerra
Title
Forever Friends
Artist
Alex Esguerra
Medium
Photograph - Color, Composite
Description
When the US started daylight precision bombing operations in WW2, there was a feeling that heavy bombers could go it alone. Packed in massed formations, it was assumed that the combined firepower of a few hundred bombers, each sporting a dozen 50 cal machine guns, could fend for themselves. Operational losses proved otherwise - at times, more than a quarter of Forts sent in against a target were shot down, mainly by enemy fighters.
So it was a great relief to bomber command that the Merlin-equipped Mustang came along. Possessing the range needed to take the heavies all the way to the target and more than a match for the Luftwaffe fighters, the P-51 became indispensable for carrying out strategic bombing. Quickly taking on the general nickname of "Little Friends" that all fighter escorts were called, the plane bult by North American Aviation was a heavenly sight for bomber crews.
In a recent fly-in, I took photos of a B-17G and a TP-51C that departed within a minute of each other, and then composited the fighter into the one of the bomber. What I saw was a sight that pretty much summed up how inedliably linked those two planes were in history. The Mustang and the Flying Fortress will be considered forever friends.
Forever Friends is also available in B&W at http://fineartamerica.com/featured/forever-friends-bnw-touch-n-go.html
Uploaded
May 28th, 2013
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