An airman who is likely a mechanic talks with the pilot of the 71st Fighter Squadron as he sits in the cockpit of his F-86 Sabre jet at Larson Air Force Base in the summer of 1950. Grant County International Airport Director Rich Mueller said the photo, like many in the collection, was likely staged.
January 31, 2023
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Jet jockeys
Mystery photos show Larson AFB in 1950
MOSES LAKE — The photo shows a trio of Air Force pilots walking from fighter jets with the kind of swagger expected from men who fly very expensive, very fast machines through the air, frequently with guns blazing. Almost nothing is known about the photo, though. Not the names of the pilots, not the photographer, not even when or why the photo was taken, though it was likely sometime in the summer of 1950. All that’s known – from the unit patch on sleeves and flight suits and painted on the sides of F-86 Sabre fighter jets – is that they were of the 71st Fighter Squadron, showed some kind of special event and were taken at Larson Air Force Base. And that they were found in Southern California last year.