Picture of the day

[grelmar]

Seeing that formation, reminded me of my old skydiving buddy Peter Spencer. Pete was a commando and jumped into France during WWII. He stayed on with the Airborne for a time after the war and later setup the para division of the Alberta Forest Service in Edmonton. He was a colourful and great friend.

You mentioned “a bag of Hawkins”. The guy that invented them Jim Marker was an aviation nut supreme and a really low key and humble man. He built a runway on his farm property beside Belleville and opened it up to locals and the Air Cadet summer flying program all for free. Although he had a nice house in Belleville, many nights would be spent in the back room of the flying clubhouse he built on his farm property. A cot in the back room and a hot plate was all he needed to be totally comfortable. He passed away in 2012 and gave the airport to a friend of mine who kept his airplane there.

https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2012/05/03/cheezies_inventor_dies_in_belleville_ont_at_90.html

Knew Hawkins was a distinctly Canadian thing, and remembered that the inventor passed away a few years ago. It was a news bit that stuck in my brain, because if every other junk food on the planet ceased to exist, and just left the Hawkins, I'd be Ok with that. Sure, I'll tuck into a bag of Old Dutch, or even Doritos if I'm desperate, but Hawkins Cheezies are kind of my kryptonite go-to pick-me-up snack. I can't keep them in the house, because "an open bag is an empty bag."

Didn't know about his association with aviation. Kind of an interesting bit. I knew that it's kind of an odd, old school sort of company, that never wanted to expand south of the border because "why bother, we make enough money," and at the same time never gave in to the temptation of a fat paycheque to sell out to one of the big conglomerates.

It's kind of heartening to hear about businessmen who just wanted to make a good product, keep a few locals employed, and give back to the community. Not many of that breed left in this world.

 

[Dark Alley Dan]

What's up with this B-17?

Apparently, that's a CB-17G, the cargo hauling / VIP transport version of the B-17. The few that were built came to be known as C-108s.

Hoping to convert obsolete bombers into cargo aircraft, the United States Army Air Forces initiated a remanufacturing station at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. The plane was stripped of armament, armor, and other military equipment. Crew locations were shifted, and the nose was modified to provide space for cargo and/or personnel. The cockpit was accessed via the crawlway under it or through the hinged solid nose cone that had replaced the original glazed bombardier station. To increase cargo space, several bulkheads were removed and the bomb bay doors were sealed closed. This allowed much of the fuselage volume to be used to carry cargo or personnel.

37 built, all gone save one - 41-2595 was a pile of scrap in Maine and is in the process of being rebuilt to B17E format as Desert Rat. Here she is back in the day:

 

[RRCo.]

Wasn't much of a bomb load, how was the cargo load?

 

[Dark Alley Dan]

No idea, but once they stripped out the guns, armour, and bombload, it probably had half decent capacity. Faster than a C-47, beter range perhaps as well.

 

[purple]

Took a ride on the Commemorative Air Force's B-17 in Penticton a few yrs ago. Money well spent.

 

[HuskyDude]

Talking pictures...
Make sure to turn on sound!!
Loud!

 

[ipscgraz]

 

[DRA]

Talking pictures...
Make sure to turn on sound!!
Loud!

Nice! Gotta love the PING.

 

[Ganderite]

Ah - you had to bring the Constellation into it, didn't you Ganderite?

That, right there, is one of the three most beautiful objects ever created by the hand of man. No straight lines. All sinuous curves and forward motion. Jesus, what a thing.

### with wings. Add up every Hollywood actress of the 40's and 50's, multiply that by two and you come up with a similar level of "Goddamn"...

Yes, the Connie was the Queen of the flight line. Commercial operators flew the G model. The tips tanks helped them get across the pond.

The US Navy, flew Connies out of Argentia. They were the early warning ones with the big radar on the top.

Another plane I saw in Gander, once or twice a year, was a little Piper, being ferried to Europe by Max Conrad. He would be a guest at the RCAF Officer's Mess. Somewhere I have a picture of his little plane parked on the ramp beside a DC& or Connie.

In those days there was no such thing as ramp security. As a 12 year old I could wander around the ramp, kicking the tires and visiting work parties in the hangers.

I recall getting under some Avengers and Neptunes and inspecting the bomb bays. They were loaded for bear. Fishermen had reported subs in the harbor areas.

 

[AP]

Yes, the Connie was the Queen of the flight line. Commercial operators flew the G model. The tips tanks helped them get across the pond.

The US Navy, flew Connies out of Argentia. They were the early warning ones with the big radar on the top.

Another plane I saw in Gander, once or twice a year, was a little Piper, being ferried to Europe by Max Conrad. He would be a guest at the RCAF Officer's Mess. Somewhere I have a picture of his little plane parked on the ramp beside a DC& or Connie.

In those days there was no such thing as ramp security. As a 12 year old I could wander around the ramp, kicking the tires and visiting work parties in the hangers.

I recall getting under some Avengers and Neptunes and inspecting the bomb bays. They were loaded for bear. Fishermen had reported subs in the harbor areas.

Talked to a guy in the dining room of the 'Lab' Inn in Goosebay/Happy Valley one evening about 25 years ago who was ferrying a small Cessna to Europe. I had no idea that this was a 'thing' as he patiently outlined the route he took up from the States .. and the route he was going to take to the UK .. I guess I never thought about how they got them to Europe ... I was impressed!

 

[4star60]

https://www.google.com/search?q=mus...M&biw=1920&bih=947&dpr=1#imgrc=YYFriF3-EgdE8M

Trans Canada Airlines restored at Museum of Flight - Seattle

They really need to get it covered, if they haven't

 

[Rob]

 

[Tikka223]

I’m assuming those divets are from AP rounds? I can’t even begin to imagine how loud it would be in there with AP or HE impacting it … let along the bursts of MG fire the occupants were likely putting out.

 

[I Dont Care About You]

Ive been to that Maginot Line museum. There is one gun cupola that has an unexploded round stuck in the armour. The nose of the projectile protruded inside the armour. That must have been a horrifying thing to experience.

 

[grelmar]

Ive been to that Maginot Line museum. There is one gun cupola that has an unexploded round stuck in the armour. The nose of the projectile protruded inside the armour. That must have been a horrifying thing to experience.

The spalling splattering around the inside would unlikely have allowed for time to contemplate.

 

[Dark Alley Dan]

Something to be thankful for, I guess.

Meanwhile, on a Finnish tank range, a Comet gradually returns to the earth in a process of "expedited entropy".

 

[RRCo.]

The fact that they took over forty shots at it shows that most of them didn't penetrate and the MG fire from the pillbox continued, which would be why they kept knocking on the door with the Pak36.

 

[CV32]

20 February 1944: SOE commando Knut Haukelid and others sabotage and sink the ferry SF Hydro, which had been carrying the last heavy water produced at Vemork for the Nazi nuclear program.

 

[CV32]

20 February 1959: The Avro CF-105 Arrow is cancelled by the Canadian government.

 

[I Dont Care About You]

The spalling splattering around the inside would unlikely have allowed for time to contemplate.

The next guy up onto that cupola could have contemplated both the nose of the live round stuck through the armour and the sticky red goop spread around the inside.