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October 1942. Experimental staff at the North American Aviation plant in Ingle- wood, Calif., observing wind tunnel tests on a model of the B-25 ("Billy Mitchell") bomber. View full size. 4x5 Kodachrome transparency by Alfred Palmer.
the B-25 may have been named for Gen Billy Mitchell, but I've never seen it referred to as the 'Billy Mitchell'.
This had to be a publicity shot, right? The lighting, not to mention the clothes, are way too perfect for this to be a day-to-day candid photo.
[Alfred Palmer often used an auxiliary light, which can be seen in the corner of some of his photographs. Here and here, for example. None of these were "publicity shots." Used as studies for government poster art, they were taken for the Office of War Information and are in the Library of Congress archives. After funding for the OWI/FSA photography program was cut in 1943, many of these pictures never saw the light of day. Until now. - Dave]
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