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@jimleeke.bsky.socialSep 25, 2026, 1:53 PM

A 2022 article from the Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch about my book The Turtle and the Dreamboat. A fascinating aviation story to research and write.— #avgeeks

How a flying 'Turtle' brought worldwide attention in 1946. So to speak Joe Blundo Columbus Dispatch USA TODAY NETWORK The airplane was called the "Truculent Turtle," it had a kangaroo on board and its unplanned landing after a record-setting flight briefly made Columbus the focus of international attention in 1946. Local author Jim Leeke tells the story in "The Turtle and the Dreamboat: The Cold War Flights That Forever Changed the Course of Global Aviation" (Potomac, 248 pages, $29.95). The Turtle, a twin-engine P2V Neptune built by Lockheed as a land-based patrol bomber for the Navy, lumbered off a runway in Perth, Australia, on Sept. 29, 1946. It was piloted by Commander Thomas Davies, a Cleveland native. Overloaded with more than 8,000 gallons of fuel, a four-man crew and the kangaroo (included largely as a publicity stunt), there were fears it wouldn't even get off the ground, let alone establish a nonstop record by flying 11,236 miles to Ohio. "They were aiming for Washington D.C., and didn't have quite enough gas," Leeke said in an interview. "The Turtle pilot said he stopped (in Columbus) because he didn't want to land in a pasture in West Virginia." ...Although not officially a competition, the Turtle was in a kind of contest with the Army's "Pacusan Dreamboat," a Boeing B-29 Superfortress bomber of the type that dropped the atomic bombs on Japan. The Turtle and the Dreamboat were both seeking to establish new frontiers in long-distance flight, not to mention impress government brass who were in the midst of planning to create the U.S. Air Force as a separate branch of the military. The Army and Navy "were trying to prove their capabilities," Leeke explained. The Dreamboat, piloted by Col. Clarence Irvine, took off from Honolulu on Oct. 4, 1946, flew over the North Pole - a rare and much riskier undertaking in those days - and landed in Cairo on Oct. 7, after a 39-hour flight that covered about 9,500 miles. The crew included navigator James T. Brothers of Dayton. The media followed the progress of both flights intensely, which meant all eyes were on Columbus when the Turtle landed here after 55 hours in the air. "The fliers were surprised by the size of the crowd," Leeke writes. "Uniformed Navy shore patrolmen struggled to hold back a surge of spectators..." Columbus Mayor James A. Rhodes, a future governor of Ohio, greeted the crew and proposed that the kangaroo be given to the Columbus Zoo. (It went instead to the National Zoo in Washington.) Leeke, 72, an Ohio State University graduate who served in the Navy and has worked as a journalist and written several books, said despite the Turtle's distance record (which stood until 1962), the Dreamboat's flight over the pole probably had the greater impact on aviation. "Those (polar) air routes are still in use today." Both planes flew for a few more years before being decommissioned. The Dreamboat was scrapped; The Turtle is in the National Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola, Florida. Joe Blundo is a Dispatch columnist.Photo of aircraft on tarmac. Caption: "The "Truculent Turtle," a Navy Lockheed P2V Neptune twin-engine patrol bomber at Port Columbus airport after a flight from Australia. FILE PHOTO"
@scramble.nlSep 25, 2026, 1:04 PM

Final T-5 Brave Eagles delivered to RoCAF

Please read more on our website by clicking the link below.

www.scramble.nl/military-new...

Credit photo: Tsungfang Tsai

#avgeek #avgeeks #militaryaviation #ICYMI #RoCAF #TaiwanAirForce #AIDC #T5 #BraveEagle

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@scramble.nlSep 25, 2026, 12:38 PM

Paraguay receives Ce408

Please read more on our website by clicking the link below.

www.scramble.nl/military-new...

Credit image: FAP

#avgeek #avgeeks #militaryaviation #ICYMI #FuerzaAéreaParaguaya #FAP #Cessna #Ce408 #SkyCourier

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@airplane-pictures.netSep 25, 2026, 11:06 AM

#Douglas #DC-2, #Aviodrome (NC39165) by Klaas Sluijs (#Lelystad) #Airliners #aviation #photography #avgeeks

@airplane-pictures.netSep 25, 2026, 11:05 AM

#Douglas #DC-2, #Private owner (N1934D) by SkyDave (#Oshkosh - Wittman Regional) #Airliners #aviation #photography #avgeeks

@aeronewsjournal.bsky.socialSep 25, 2026, 9:09 AM

#AviationNews #Defense Marine F-35B Reach Spans 4000 Pacific Miles on KC-130J Logistics. Details: t.ly/SLarT
#Airforce #AeroNewsJournal #NATO #aviation #aviationlovers #AviationAffaires #aviationweather #AvGeek #Avgeeks #aviationgeek #military #militarymen #news #defence #airdefense #UnitedStates

@aeronewsjournal.bsky.socialSep 25, 2026, 8:18 AM

#AviationNews #Defense French Rafale Gains Ground in Portugal Fighter Selection. Details: t.ly/-7fBo
#Airforce #AeroNewsJournal #NATO #aviation #aviationlovers #AviationAffaires #aviationweather #AvGeek #Avgeeks #aviationgeek #military #militarymen #news #defence #airdefense #Europe

@airplane-pictures.netSep 25, 2026, 5:30 AM

From our #eyecatcher archive: #McDonnell Douglas #MD-11F, #Martinair Cargo (PH-MCP) photographed by Dennis Janssen (#Amsterdam - Schiphol) #Cargo #aviation #photography #avgeeks #planespotting

@aeronewsjournal.bsky.socialSep 25, 2026, 3:19 AM

#AviationNews #Defense Hellenic Patriot Crews Halt Missile and Drone Threat Over Yanbu Oil Facilities. Details: t.ly/bClEH
#Airforce #AeroNewsJournal #NATO #aviation #aviationlovers #AviationAffaires #aviationweather #AvGeek #Avgeeks #aviationgeek #military #militarymen #news #Europe #MiddleEast

@aeronewsjournal.bsky.socialSep 25, 2026, 2:30 AM

#AviationNews #Airbus Contains A321neo Fuselage Coating Flaw Across 500 Jets Without Disrupting Service. Details: t.ly/cQrE5
#aviation #AeroNewsJournal #aviationlovers #AvGeek #Avgeeks #Airlines #Airline #Boeing737 #Boeing777X #FLIGHT #flights #Airports #Europe

@airplane-pictures.netSep 24, 2026, 9:29 PM

#Douglas #DC-6 (all variants), #Everts Air Cargo (N747CE) by Akira Uekawa (#Anchorage - Ted Stevens Intl / Kulis Air National Guard Base) #Cargo #aviation #photography #avgeeks

@airplane-pictures.netSep 24, 2026, 8:21 PM

#Boeing #777-300ER, #Etihad Airways (A6-ETP) by Owen Fleming (#Manchester) #Airliners #aviation #photography #avgeeks

@scramble.nlSep 24, 2026, 6:42 PM

Australian Army bids farewell to Tiger ARH

Please read more on our website by clicking the link below.

www.scramble.nl/military-new...

Credit photo: Australian Army

#avgeek #avgeeks #militaryaviation #ICYMI #AustralianArmy #TigerARH #1stAVN #161sq #162sq #RobertsonBarracks

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@airplane-pictures.netSep 24, 2026, 6:28 PM

#Boeing #F/A-18 (all variants), #USA - Navy (170340) by AD_AviationCN (#Oceana NAS) #Military #aviation #photography #avgeeks

@airplane-pictures.netSep 24, 2026, 6:23 PM

#Eurofighter #Typhoon S, #Italy - Air Force (MM7317) by Petr Pospisil (#Ostrava Mošnov) #Military #aviation #photography #avgeeks

@avgeeks.bsky.socialSep 24, 2026, 5:10 PM

AV Geeks 16mm Lunch 9-24-2026
It's that time that we've set aside for watching 16mm films. #16mmfilms #avgeeks
www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFhu...

@airplane-pictures.netSep 24, 2026, 4:39 PM

#Westland #Whirlwind HAR.10, #Private owner (G-BVGE) by Joe Ruscoe (#Welshpool) #General Aviation #aviation #photography #avgeeks

@airplane-pictures.netSep 24, 2026, 3:14 PM

#Grumman #TBM-3 Avenger, #Private owner (N3967A) by Eleu Tabares (#Kingman) #Warbirds (after WW2) #aviation #photography #avgeeks

@scramble.nlSep 24, 2026, 1:52 PM

Denmark seeks three additional MH-60Rs

Please read more on our website by clicking the link below.

www.scramble.nl/military-new...

Credit photo: Frank Noort (Scramble Archive)

#avgeek #avgeeks #militaryaviation #ICYMI #RDAF #Esk723 #MH60R #Seahawk #FMS

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