Randolph Heights Elementary School, St. Paul, MN, 28 March 1931.
My father, 8 years old, in his flying helmet. Lindbergh had flown the Atlantic four years before and had a considerable influence on the fashion choices of young boys.
Flight school at St. Olaf College in Northfield, MN. May 7, 1943. The purpose of the airplane on the hill was to be guarded all night as a hazing exercise.
Close-up of my father in the panoramic flight school photograph. May 7, 1943.
Robert G. Johnson, Ensign, US Navy.
Stock photo of a PB2Y Coronado taking off.
Stock photo of a PB2Y-5 taking off with JATO rocket assist.
Stock video footage of PB2Ys.
Logbook entries recording the flights from Hawaii (Kaneohe) to Saipan. My father was part of Patrol Squadron VP-15.
My father’s experience in WWII as recorded in his logbook. Training in light, single-engine planes in Norman, Oklahoma. Transition from light planes to seaplanes in Corpus Christi. More seaplane work in Jacksonville. Transition to the PB2Y-5 Coronado in San Diego. More training at Kaneohe, Hawaii, then off to Saipan. Fifteen-hour patrol flights abruptly ended with the victory over Japan. The atomic bombs flew out of the island of Tinian, a short way from Saipan. By November, he was in Pearl Harbor, where the war began, for a few short training flights out of Ford Island. Shortly thereafter he was back in the states, flying in the Naval reserves.
Path from San Diego to Saipan and to one emergency landing at Kerama-Retto, near Okinawa.
Satellite view of Saipan to the north and Tinian to the south. The atomic bombs were flown out of Tinian. Seaplanes were stationed in Tanapag harbor on the northwest side of Saipan. Credit: Google Earth.
The seaplane ramps in Tanapag harbor as seen today. Credit: Google Earth.
My father (left) and Henry Caruso, future founder of Dollar Rent A Car (center) on Saipan. PB2Y-5s on beaching gear in the background, apparently on the seaplane ramps.
PB2Y-5s on the seaplane ramp in Saipan. The plane in the foreground appears to have a JATO bottle affixed to the side.
The National Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola, FL has the last remaining PB2Y. This link allows you to take a virtual tour of the cockpit and other areas internal to the aircraft:
