Hello! My name is Olie (She/Her) and I am the aviation-obsessed person running this blog.
main blog/ao3: @waitingforsols
band of brothers: @magnoliasforyourmedic
BACKGROUND: I have a mechanical engineering degree with an aerospace minor and I work in the aviation industry.
WHAT DO I LIKE?
Masters of the Air (esp Harry Crosby)
Top Gun (esp Tom āIcemanā Kazansky)
EAA AirVenture
Research & History
Everything Aviation
QUICK MOTA REFERENCE POST LINKS
Base Hospital / Intercom & Radio System / Bomber Crew Clothing / Group Headquarters / Mess Halls & Clubs / Flight Bags / First Aid Kits / PX Shop / Pathfinders / Radio Callsigns / 8th AF Casualty Stats/ 100th BG Crew Stats /
MY FANFICTION (MORE ON AO3)
let it wash over me
masters of the air, crosie explicit one-shot
main themes: the great āgator coup w/ leafy hill, croz feels insecure because of leafy hill and Rosie reassures him
if I said you were all that I had to live for
masters of the air crosie one shot
main themes: the getting together fic
got my heart in your hands
masters of the air pre-crosie one-shot
main themes: all fluff and pining
in your arms i hide away
masters of the air, crosie whump one-shot
main theme: croz has a minor crash out after finding out he was promoted on what was supposed to be his last mission, minor protective rosie
something to hold on to
masters of the air, crosie hurt/comfort, one-shot
main theme: rosie is in the hospital after crashing on September 10, 1944 and receives some visitors (and bad news), established crosie, theyāre so soft for each other, rosie & everyone
out of the fog, youāre calling my name
masters of the air, crosie whump, one-shot
main theme: crosby gets a mysterious phone call, set one month after Rosie was shot down (March 1, 1945 to be exact), theyāre in love your honor
a lesson in international relations
masters of the air, Croz whump, one-shot
main themes: croz and bubbles get jumped by the Riff RAF, hurt croz, croz & everyone, smart croz!!!
the war is over and we are beginning
masters of the air, Croz/Rosie, one-shot
main themes: buckās rosebush, croz/rosie, rosie with a rose, fluff, theyāre both so soft for each other
and maybe if i hold you now
masters of the air, croz x bubbles one-shot (like 4k words)
main themes: Crosby x Bubbles, post-reunion in episode 5, misunderstandings, mutual pining, fluff and angst and smut (in that order), Harry Crosby is insecure AF, explicit sexual content (see Ao3 for specific tags), sharing a bed, Harry Crosby definitely experimented in college, Harry Crosby is the dumbest smart person, these boys deserve to be happy
we rest amidst the tumult of war
completed masters of the air croz x rosie multi-chapter fic (8k words)
main themes: crosby/rosie but can be read as platonic, part 6 rewrite, flak house, horseback riding (like actually), fluff and hurt/comfort but mostly comfort, basically 10k words of flirting, these boys deserve to be happy, ft. Rosieās Riveters, lots of good-natured teasing and jokes, short jokes, insecurities, everyone needs a hug
QUICK F-14 REFERENCE LINKS
F-14 Tomcat Accidents & Issues
F-14 Tomcat Variants
Flight of the Tomcat
What Did F-14 Tomcat Pilots Wear?
FREQUENT UNIQUE TAGS
# mota musings
same as #justalittlethingiwrote but for Masters of the Air and Harry Crosby
# just a little thing I wrote
where youāll find my Top Gun h/cās, writings, musings, rants, prompts, analysis, etc.
#FFFOTD or #F-14 Fun Fact of the Day
want to learn something new about the F-14 tomcat?
#research or #information or # reference
basically what it says
#top gun or #masters of the air
makes sense
#f-14 tomcat
kind of a given, but will likely include primarily technical posts
#f14 tomcat has āØissuesāØ
if youāre looking for ways to hurt your favorite top gun characters without it being pilot error, check out this tag
Harry Crosby: It was just terribly exhausting, and I'd come homeāor back to baseāand I'd be absolutely and completely dehydrated. I was one of the people who didn't take his ration of whiskey, and always gave it to somebody or traded it to somebody for something. But I would just absolutely drink every liquid that I couldāwater and milk and so onājust because I was so dehydrated from just this tension of this sometimes ten hour flight.
To all those wondering, the answer is to ask either of the goblins the following question:
āWhat road does the other goblin think I should take?ā
And then you will take the opposite road of whatever they say, no matter what.
It doesnāt matter who you ask because youāll get the same answer from both. If you ask the goblin who always lies, then he would lie and tell you the opposite road of what the truthful goblin would say (aka the road to damnation). If you ask the goblin who tells the truth, then he would be honest and tell you exactly what road the lying goblin wants you to take (aka the road to damnation).
Both goblins will answer the question with the road that happens to lead to damnation, which is why you will want to take the opposite road.
āOn September 27 and October 2, I felt for the first time that I might finish my tour. We bombed harbor installations at Emden, and our fighter escort went with us all the way. We saw them out there, those sleek, fast Mustangs with auxiliary gas tanks fixed to their wings. When our Little Friends dropped their wing tanks, we knew they saw bogeys.ā
Every mission had a unique phrase that would be used over VHF (very high frequency radio) to recall the formation when a mission was called off, usually due to poor weather conditions or maybe some other factor. They were coded phrases because they didnāt want the Germans, who could easily overhear the message over VHF radio, to figure out where they were and send the Luftwaffe after them.
In his book, John Clark included scanned images of his notes taken during each of his pre-mission briefs. Here are just some of phrases chosen for his missions:
a new instillation of my ādeep in the delphinium dazeā series aka the nsfw series ft. Crosby sleeping around :)
words: ~4.5k
rating: explicit (nsfw)
pairing: Croz/Bucky
summary:
Itās the job of the squadron commander to check out new pilots in their squadron, which usually entails taking them on a flight to ensure theyāre competent. If youāre in the 418th, that means buying Bucky a drink at the officers club.
After the successful mission to Trondheim, Bucky decides has something else in mind for his squadronās new lead navigator.
May 8, 1945 marked the end of war in Europe and celebrations broke out across the entire world. But while people flooded the streets, the men of Thorpe Abbott remained on lockdown, unable to join in on the celebration with the locals.
Lt Col Robert āRosieā Rosenthal was one of the few men lucky enough to be on leave in London on VE Day.
Rosie recalled how heād ābe walking through a throng of people with a pretty girl on my arm and all of a sudden she was gone, replaced by another one. It was a madhouse, a beautiful, beautiful madhouse.ā
I just posted the first part of a new fic for my ānavigate me through the nightshadeā series! This will make the most sense if read after āout of the fog, youāre calling my nameā but could in theory be read separately.
chapters: 1/2
words: 8.5k
summary:
Rosieās coming home and Crosby struggles to find the courage to tell everyone. Still, rumors spread until inevitably the truth comes out, just in time for Rosieās long-awaited return.
Me after realizing the first chapter of my Croz shifter AU is 15k meanwhile the rest are shaping up to each maybe have half as many
Iām probably just going to leave it as is with the first chapter being massive because I planned it where each chapter is a day and also I love it too much to split it up
āAt Dummer Lake, where the 100th had been hit so disastrously two days before, John Bennett felt comfortable as he saw what he thought was a cover of Mustangs off to the right.
It was a ruse. On that day the Germans imitated American fighters by seeming to fly escort. Suddenly the "escort" peeled off and hit the Forty-fifth Wing head-on. More than 150 E.A. in one wave.
The Forty-fifth Wing lead went down. The deputy lead went down. More planes went down.
Attack after attack, and soon little was left of the Forty-fifth.
Its planes fell back and fitted onto the 100th, leading the second wing.
Now, with John Bennett in command, the 100th was leading the whole formation to Berlin.ā
Main Theme: aka a friends to lovers, pain-sharing Soulmate AU fanfic ft. Harry Crosby/Robert āRosieā Rosenthal
Summary:
Rosie and the Pathfinder crew go down somewhere over France on their way back from Nuremberg. It isnāt a coincidence that Crosby collapses around the same time Rosie was reportedly last seen with the formation, afflicted with pain that doesnāt quite feel like his own.
In episode three of Masters of the Air, we see that Crosby, Douglass, and Blakely are just as surprised to see theyāre going to Africa as all of the other flyboys. In reality, the officers of Just-a-Snappinā were well aware of their destination.
In early August, two lead crews were chosen from each group and brought to 3rd Air Division Headquarters where they were briefed by Curtis LeMay on what would later be called the ādouble-strike mission.ā They, along with their commanding officer, would be given details so that the lead crews could train and prepare themselves ahead of time.
LeMay: "It's a hard target. Bombardiers and navigators will come [to Elveden Hall] every other day and be briefed for the route and target. It's a dangeous mission, especially for you lead crews. Tomorrow two new planes will arrive at your base, and you get them. No one but your line crews is even to touch them. Certainly no one is to fly them. ā¦ This is top secret. Nine people in each group know about it, and no one else. We're redundant on this. We're training two crews for the lead. We will select the one to go on the day of the mission. Pilots will go up every day to simulate as much of the mission as we can. When you aren't here for training, you will all be in the air. When we call the mission, we want you to be ready."
It was Jack Kidd who was picked by higher bomber command to lead the 100th BG on the inevitable mission instead of their commanding officer. Unlike the CO of every other group involved, Colonel Harding was kept in the dark, which Crosby believed was due to him (and the 100th) falling into disfavor due to poor results and their negative reputation.
āNo one else knew about our forays and only Jack Kidd and Swartout's crew knew why we weren't flying missions. Major Egan, our Squadron C.O., was told he was not to question us, and Flying Control was told they were to clear any flight plan we requested. Everyone was told to stay away from our plane. We could tell that Egan was steaming, but he never said anything.ā
Hello, I was wondering if you had any info to share about who featured in MOTA survived to the end of the war? I know casualty rates were very high for the 100th and I have a hard time keeping all the different men straight so any info would be appreciated! Thank you!
I was able to quick throw together a chart with some of the most popular 100th BG people that we see in MotA that should hopefully help you! I also included more info in case you wanted to look up someone I donāt have mentioned, Iām sure I missed a few people :)
ā¦
The all-time best place to get information on the boys will be on their "personnel" pages of the 100th BG website.
100thbg.com
Using the search bar on their website, you can search their name and find their personnel pages.
Their personnel pages will have all of the information the foundation has on the individual, and for the men represented in the show, there's a ton. All of them will have the same standard information at the top of the page which includes their name, rank, unit, position, status (what you're looking for), and more. Thereās also pages for tons of the ground crew personnel like Smokey and Ken Lemmons, but some of them wonāt have nearly as much information as the flyboys do.
Here's John Brady's for example. Based on his personnel page, we can see that he became a Prisoner of War after being shot down on the 10 OCT 1943 mission to Munster.
Alternatively, there's this page which has all of the original 100th crews and their fates.
Original 100th
Note, on this page you won't find the names of men like Rosie and Nash since they weren't one of the original 31 crews in the 100th bomb group. Also, Bucky isnāt on here since he flew overseas ahead of the 100th.
There's a table of the acronyms at the top, and there's also this codes and abbreviations page if you need it.
I'll use John Brady's crew as an example. You'll see that Crosby and Saul Levitt completed their tours, while the rest of the crew were KIA or became POW.
We know Crosby was transferred to Blakely's crew a few months prior and that's why he wasn't shot down with them, but these charts show the crews as they originally grouped when they first came overseas.
For part of the time that the 100th Bomb Group was overseas, Jean Crosby lived in an apartment in Chicago with Gerry Hamilton and Margaret Ann Blakely. But they had originally met under what Crosby described in his book as ātrying circumstances in Wendoverā when Crosby and Hamilton crashed into the mountains on a practice mission.
On Christmas Eve of 1942, the crew of John Brady, took off on a six-hour practice mission just after midnight. When 0600 rolled around, they were no where to be found. And it wouldnāt be until hours later that they finally received word that the crew was alive, though they had crashed-landed into the mountains of Evanston, Wyoming.
Jean Crosby and Gerry Hamilton had moved to Wendover to be with their husbands while they were stationed there. Even if they didnāt know at the time that that their husbands were technically MIA, they certainly would have been informed of their crash fairly soon after word reached base considering the crew wouldnāt be allowed to leave Evanston until two days later on the 26th of December. And though Margaret Ann Blakelyās husband wasnāt on their crew nor did her husband crash, she likely provided moral support to the them as they processed everything.
You can read more about the crash in this post I made or check out the accident report, which consists of Bradyās account of what happened along with all of the other documents from the investigation.
