The Yak-9DD provided fighter escort for portions of these missions deep into Eastern European airspace
and landed at Soviet bases in Ukraine rather than returning to their starting point
In the years following World War II
making it one of the most versatile and operationally valuable assets in the carrier air wing during the Vietnam War
and the program ultimately did not lead to a production turbine-powered Bird Dog — but it represents a fascinating and little-known chapter in Army aviation's postwar push to explore new technologies
Boeing (Vega) B-17G 44-85774 The Yak-9DD provided fighter escortThese are 1 72 scale decals for Boeing (Vega) B 17G 44 85774, serving postwar with the 4136th Base Unit, Tinker Field, Oklahoma City, United States Air Force. By the late 1940s, surviving B 17Gs had transitioned from frontline combat bombers to a variety of support, training, and administrative roles under the newly independent USAF. Tinker Field now Tinker Air Force Base was a major Air Materiel Command depot, and B 17s assigned to base units there