Picture of the day

Dixie Kiefer was quite the guy. I'm very glad such people walk the earth.

Talking carriers got me thinking about stuff many of us won't have seen. Like the Hawker Sea Hurricane.

Sea_Hurricanes_885_NAS_on_HMS_Victorious_%28R38%29_1942.jpg


Aboard HMS Victorious, 1942. They look pretty tired.

You're a young FAA pilot assigned to HMS Ravager, and you've had a bit of a prang.

sea_hurri%20901%20-%20HMS-Ravager-Sea-Hurricane-KI-F-NF728-after-being-struck-by-Hurricane-NF722-03.jpg


The lads in the deck crew get you down and dusted off. You're given a cup of tea and a shot of rum. You have a moment to think. "Could've been worse."

October_4th_1944_Sea_Hurricane_NF722_NF728_K1.jpg


...aaaand it's worse.

HMS-Ravager-Sea-Hurricane-KI-F-NF728-after-being-struck-by-Hurricane-NF722-01.jpg
 
Aboard HMS Victorious, 1942. They look pretty tired.

You're a young FAA pilot assigned to HMS Ravager, and you've had a bit of a prang.

The lads in the deck crew get you down and dusted off. You're given a cup of tea and a shot of rum. You have a moment to think. "Could've been worse."




Looks like the arrestor hook was attached to metal part of the airframe and not on the fabric covered part.
 
Dixie Kiefer was quite the guy. I'm very glad such people walk the earth.

Talking carriers got me thinking about stuff many of us won't have seen. Like the Hawker Sea Hurricane.

Sea_Hurricanes_885_NAS_on_HMS_Victorious_%28R38%29_1942.jpg


Aboard HMS Victorious, 1942. They look pretty tired.

You're a young FAA pilot assigned to HMS Ravager, and you've had a bit of a prang.

sea_hurri%20901%20-%20HMS-Ravager-Sea-Hurricane-KI-F-NF728-after-being-struck-by-Hurricane-NF722-03.jpg


The lads in the deck crew get you down and dusted off. You're given a cup of tea and a shot of rum. You have a moment to think. "Could've been worse."

October_4th_1944_Sea_Hurricane_NF722_NF728_K1.jpg


...aaaand it's worse.

HMS-Ravager-Sea-Hurricane-KI-F-NF728-after-being-struck-by-Hurricane-NF722-01.jpg

I think the pictures are out of sequence.

The first picture should be the two of them. The second is the single plane, after the first was taken away.

Judging by the tail damage. The front plane was down and parked and the second plane missed the cable, or the cable broke and it ran into the one in front.
 
Actually from what i have read , the Sea Hurricane was a pretty good carrier aircraft, due to it wide track landing gear, much better than the Seafire, whose narrow undercarriage was fragile, and tricky to land, the main drawback to the Hurricane was its short range
 
Actually from what i have read , the Sea Hurricane was a pretty good carrier aircraft, due to it wide track landing gear, much better than the Seafire, whose narrow undercarriage was fragile, and tricky to land, the main drawback to the Hurricane was its short range

I recall a pilot talking about flying over to Germany at night in a Hurricane and orbiting around airfields so he could pounce on a plane landing or taking off. He had a drop tank to give him useful time on station.

A Merlin on full power burns a gallon a minute, so a 100 gallon tank does not last long.

But I don't recall these tanks being used for other missions. Seems strange for a plane that only carried a couple hours of fuel.
 
I recall a pilot talking about flying over to Germany at night in a Hurricane and orbiting around airfields so he could pounce on a plane landing or taking off. He had a drop tank to give him useful time on station. A Merlin on full power burns a gallon a minute, so a 100 gallon tank does not last long. But I don't recall these tanks being used for other missions. Seems strange for a plane that only carried a couple hours of fuel.

IIRC, the drop tanks began to see most use from Spring 1941 aboard the Hurricane IIB, in which case the options were typically a pair of 45 Imperial gallon wing tanks or a 90 ImpG ferry tank. Only the former would have regularly seen use in the combat mission role, and were usually dropped before actually going into combat.
 
Great read on the fuels. That such progress and innovation the field of gasoline manufacturing occurred in such a short time is simply amazing. Also, it shows how the resources and of North America were an important factor in ultimate victory.
 
Speaking of octane, ever notice that lil' triangular marking on German aircraft? On an ME-109, it's just behind the cockpit...

109E4N_20Sept1940b_DFC.jpg


Bundesarchiv_Bild_101I-487-3066-04%2C_Flugzeug_Messerschmitt_Me_109.jpg


abdf3e7777826b4db493a184d495597f.jpg


mess109-2.jpg


On the FW190, it's in a couple of places on the fuselage...

de9cbb81ed3f38b95a6b74ce37dc32d5.jpg


DSC01709.jpg


Ditto the JU87.

Bundesarchiv_Bild_101I-642-4711-17A%2C_Produktion_von_Junkers_Ju_87.jpg


Junkers_Ju_87_494083_%28wing_off%29.jpg


Posted next to fueling points. There's a number there indicating appropriate octane for that aircraft.

This enormously trivial bit of information brought to you by Dark Alley Dan. :)
 
Back
Top Bottom