Picture of the day

sail32 said:
Martin Mars water bombers are based at Sproat Lake near Port Alberni.
These are probably the biggest flying boats left in operation.

http://www.martinmars.com/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rEeNmSOEgQY
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I saw a show on the Martin Mars water bombers, but for the life of me I can't remember what the name of it was, or whether it was on Discovery or the History Channel (I suspect Discovery but I could be in error).

Neat aircraft, and one hell of a water bomber. The pilots have some big brass ones to be flying a 70+ year old aircraft over huge forest fires.
 
It's been driving me batty.
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It is a McDonnell XP67. It was designed in 1941. .Power was provided by two Continental XI-1430-1 engines with GE turbo-superchargers. It had 6 X .50 Cal and four 20mm. It later had 6 37mm canons. The first one assembled without arms was in Dec 1 1943. Fires started in both engines on Dec 8. It flew for the first time on Jan 6 1944. The flight lasted 6 minutes due to problems with the new engines. With a bunch of mods including insulating the turbo it flew three more times before on Feb they overspeeded the engines and burnt out the bearings. Flight test were resumed on March 23. It was tested by USAAF pilots who were somewhat unhappy about its tendency to "Dutch Roll". Some modifications were made including on the dorsal fin and tailplane. On the 6th of September 1944, the prototype succumbed to irreparable fire damage. The contract to build another prototype was cancelled. Your picture appears on page 129 of FIGHTERS Volume 4 printed in July 1962!
 
hnachaj said:
It is a McDonnell XP67. It was designed in 1941. .Power was provided by two Continental XI-1430-1 engines with GE turbo-superchargers. It had 6 X .50 Cal and four 20mm. It later had 6 37mm canons. The first one assembled without arms was in Dec 1 1943. Fires started in both engines on Dec 8. It flew for the first time on Jan 6 1944. The flight lasted 6 minutes due to problems with the new engines. With a bunch of mods including insulating the turbo it flew three more times before on Feb they overspeeded the engines and burnt out the bearings. Flight test were resumed on March 23. It was tested by USAAF pilots who were somewhat unhappy about its tendency to "Dutch Roll". Some modifications were made including on the dorsal fin and tailplane. On the 6th of September 1944, the prototype succumbed to irreparable fire damage. The contract to build another prototype was cancelled. Your picture appears on page 129 of FIGHTERS Volume 4 printed in July 1962!
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Too far ahead of it's time.

Interesting how, from directly above, it looks vaguely like a prop-powered CF100 Canuck...

avro_canada_cf_100_canuck-27857.jpg


Swap jets for props, cram the nacelles a little closer in, add about a zillion pounds...
 
maple_leaf_eh said:
Just to throw a whammy into the story, the Mars bombers have been sold to a museum in Florida. They will not be flying in Canada this summer. If they haven't already left, they will be gone soon. Saw the story today.
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It probably cost too much to maintain them, and parts supplies are most likely nonexistent.

Too bad, really, they're nice aircraft to look at.
 
maple_leaf_eh said:
Just to throw a whammy into the story, the Mars bombers have been sold to a museum in Florida. They will not be flying in Canada this summer. If they haven't already left, they will be gone soon. Saw the story today.
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I'd heard Hawaii Mars was sold in 2007, but can find no references to the sale of Philippine Mars. I don't doubt you saw the story, I'm just curious to see it myself. This is sad stuff, but I suppose it's hard to expect 70 year old airplanes to keep working like feckin' coolies every summer. And high-octane avgas has to be getting pretty pricy.

Feeding an old mama like that would be a spendy experience.

Anyhow, new pic:

Brazilian Stuarts then...

PhotoBrazilM3LightTanks


Brazilian Stuarts now...

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For sale - low miles, bodyman's special...
 
Had a good look at a running Stuart last summer. All those things are is a way to prevent you from seeing who is about to shoot you to death. I bet .50 cal would go right through the front armor, and .30 would likely pass through the sides. Made my skin crawl thinking about having to be inside one.
 
The Brazillean M3s were sold in Europe because as US aid, they could not be imported into the US without forfeit to the government. I sort of remember an initial list price of about $200k for a rusty starter example. Toss in $100k for the parts and labour, and you have a small rubber tracked collectable vehicle that sucks high priced gasoline by the gallon and wants to break down where ever it feels like it. Oh, and hard for today's sized people to fit in comfortably if at all.
 
Anybody remember DC Comics, (GI Combat) "The Haunted Tank"? That was one kick ass Stuart!! I had no idea that a 37mm cannon could be so destructive!!! :rolleyes:
 
MAISIES


Support Company of Le Régiment de Maisonneuve in position near Nijmegen, Netherlands, 8 February 1945

OMG look at that. They have their Longbranches just laying on the gound like that. What blasphemy!:stirthepot2:
 
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