Happy 4th of July

[Gone in 60]

While we're talking about American history, radial engines and World War 2, last night at our community barbecue I had a nagging question answered.

In another thread, I  posted a picture of this T-6 Texan WW2-era trainer with German markings. It's parked at Van Nuys airport, and is near four or five T-6 planes that comprise a commemorative squadron that flies around the Southern California area. I park near them on my breaks from blood deliveries to a research lab just around the corner. Yesterday for the 4th of July, this group of T-6s got a workout, as I saw them fly over several areas in a diamond formation. 

It clearly looks like the plane in German livery is being cannibalized to service the operational planes. My friend is a walking encyclopedia of vintage aircraft in our area, so I showed him a picture of it at the barbecue and asked him if he knew anything about it. He laughed and said "You have seen that plane in the air." He said "Come on, think hard, you have seen that plane flying." I was three-deep into the "Colonial Cocktail" that Mrs. G mixed up for the party, so needless to say, I was... foggy.

Then, it came to me in an instant. The S.S. Lane Victory is one of the surviving Victory class cargo ships built by Kaiser Steel during WW2. It's docked in L.A. Harbor, and is a floating museum about the history of the American Merchant Marine service during WW2. https://lanevictory.org/

These days, the ship is stationary, but up until a few years ago its boiler was still operational and it would take cruises out to Catalina Island and back, while volunteer docents showed guests around and talked about life aboard a cargo ship traversing the Atlantic Ocean during the war. Mrs. and I, along with my friend and his wife took one of the cruises. My friend and I immediately made our way down to the engine room and hung out with the guys running the steam boiler and turbines, who were baffled as to why we wanted to spend the cruise in a hot, sweaty, deafening nightmare instead of enjoying the view on deck. 

After they kicked us back up topside, the announcer narrating the cruise talked about the dangers of German bombers swooping down on the cargo ships, and just then, a T-6 in German markings flew past, making a "bombing run" on our ship! After a few passes, another T-6 in American markings arrived, they staged a mock dog fight, and the German plane flew away, trailing smoke. It had to be this airplane. And now, with the Lane Victory out of running condition, the plane serves no better purpose than to offer up its parts to keep the other planes flying. 

I feel like one of life's great mysteries has been revealed, and I can rest easier.