Picture of the day
- Thread starter jwhc
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Doesn't matter where it was posed. Look at the light on the subject.
I was a telephone lineman for 12 years in the Signal Corps, in Canada and NW Germany. I have never seen anything resembling like the set up in the last pic.
Most of the utility poles in Europe are made of concrete or steel, wood being a sacred commodity.
I was a telephone lineman for 12 years in the Signal Corps, in Canada and NW Germany. I have never seen anything resembling like the set up in the last pic.
Most of the utility poles in Europe are made of concrete or steel, wood being a sacred commodity.
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ipscgraz
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U.S. infantrymen of the 9th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division, First U.S. Army, crouch in a snow-filled ditch, taking shelter from a German artillery barrage during the Battle of Heartbreak Crossroads in the Krinkelter woods on 14 December 1944. http://bit.ly/2pUR9md
ipscgraz
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This Day in Aviation History
April 2nd, 1957
First flight of the Short SC.1.
The Short SC.1 was the first British fixed-wing vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft. The SC.1 was designed to study the problems with VTOL flight and the transition to and from forward flight.
The SC.1 was designed to meet a Ministry of Supply (MoS) request for tender (ER.143T) for a vertical take-off research aircraft issued in September 1953. The design was accepted by the ministry and a contract was placed for two aircraft (XG900 and XG905) to meet Specification ER.143D dated 15 October 1954.
The SC.1 was a single-seat low wing tailless delta wing aircraft of approximately 8,000 lb all-up weight (max. 7,700 lb for vertical flight). It was powered by four vertically mounted, lightweight Rolls-Royce RB108 lift engines providing a total vertical thrust of 8,600 lb and one RB.108 cruise engine in the rear to provide thrust for forward flight. The lift engines were mounted vertically in side-by-side pairs in a central bay so that their resultant thrust line passed close to the centre of gravity of the aircraft. These pairs of engines could be swivelled about transverse axes; they were therefore able to produce vectored thrust for acceleration/deceleration along the aircraft’s longitudinal axis….
I have read many accounts of WW2 fighter pilots where they had to fly at 50 feet or less, to avoid being shot down. I have done a few "buzz jobs" myself, but only short hops along a beach, etc.
Here is a military pilot flying cross country at what is probably 50 feet or less:
Here is a military pilot flying cross country at what is probably 50 feet or less:
That pilot must have known that particular ground pretty well. I looked to me like he was flying low enough to get hung up on any power lines of guy wires under that bridge. Darn good reflexes combined with skill though
U.S. infantrymen of the 9th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division, First U.S. Army, crouch in a snow-filled ditch, taking shelter from a German artillery barrage during the Battle of Heartbreak Crossroads in the Krinkelter woods on 14 December 1944. http://bit.ly/2pUR9md
They aren't even equipped with winter weather gear.
1944 was a very, very bad (cold) winter in Europe.
Lord Clive in November 1918, during the surrender of the German High Seas Fleet
HMS Lord Clive was the lead ship of the British Lord Clive-class monitors. She was named for Robert Clive, 1st Baron Clive, a British general of the Seven Years' War who won the Battle of Plassey and became Governor of British India. Her main guns were taken from the obsolete pre-dreadnought battleship Majestic. She spent World War I in the English Channel bombarding German positions along the Belgian coast. She was fitted with a single 18-inch (460 mm) gun in 1918, but only fired four rounds from it in combat before the end of the war. She was deemed redundant after the end of the war and was sold for scrap in 1927.
The stern of HMS Lord Clive; showing her BL 18 inch gun on its fixed mounting, November 1918
On board Lord Clive; her BL 18 inch gun is at its full elevation, November 1918
18-inch conversions
Three of the ships, HMS General Wolfe, Lord Clive and Prince Eugene, were to be converted to take the BL 18-inch guns that had originally been allocated to HMS Furious. The guns were mounted aft, permanently arranged to fire over the starboard beam. The mounting consisted of two massive side girders parallel to the barrel, between which the gun was slung. At the forward end was a support about which the gun could train in a limited arc, with a hydraulic cylinder providing ten degrees of traverse each side of the mounting center line. The gun was loaded at the fixed angle of 10 degrees, but firing was only allowed between 22 degrees and 45 degrees of elevation, to distribute the large firing forces evenly between the forward and after supports. The mounting was covered by a large non-traversing half-inch steel plate shield fixed to the deck.[1]
The enormous rounds and charges were transported to the gunhouse on a light railway fixed to the main deck. Work was completed on two of the ships but the end of World War I intervened before Prince Eugene was finished. Both of the converted ships saw action. The original 12-inch turret was left in place on them to maintain stability.
General Wolfe fired on a railway bridge at Snaeskerke, four miles (6 km) south of Ostend, Belgium, on 28 September 1918. The range of 36,000 yards (33 km) made this the greatest range at which a Royal Navy vessel has ever engaged an enemy target using guns.[citation needed] Lord Clive fired a mere four rounds with the replacement gun at enemy targets.
The guns used were as follows:[2]
The gun from the rear turret of Furious was to have been fitted to Prince Eugene;
The gun intended for the forward turret of Furious was fitted to General Wolfe;
The gun fitted to Lord Clive was a spare.
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Must have freaked out the car drivers quite a bit. It reminders me of a case when Leonard Cheshire VC came back to base with some branches snagged on one of the wings of his plane. He was asked why he flew so low and replied he was scared of heights.
Same issue as the Germans suffered from in 1941. Long supply line over poor roads almost all the way from Normandy and LeHave, supplies got prioritized ammo, then fuel, medical then rations, finally snivel gear. French rail was a mess from the summer bombing campaign and the Germans either still held or had destroyed the best ports. This is why Antwerp was so important and was not running until late in the month.
Dark Alley Dan
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Lord Clive in November 1918, during the surrender of the German High Seas Fleet
HMS Lord Clive...
That's very interesting stuff, Diopter. I'd heard about the monitors, but never bothered to hunt down pics. The largely fixed gun is a weird bit of naval engineering. Ditto the shallow draft and perfectly vertical sides.
I guess the whole concept was a ship specifically engineered for coastal bombardment? Wouldn't be the happiest place on earth during a naval battle...
"Enemy approaching on the port side, sir!"
"Bugger - I suppose we're doomed, then..."
Here's a slightly more modern take on the concept - HMS Abercrombie:
At the CFB Churchill Arctic Warfare School we were told that a winter war army is at best 60% efficient as a fighting force due to the drain on it's resources just to stay alive. The number goes down exponentially once you start taking casualties due to cold and/or enemy action. Considering the logistical problems facing the Wehrmacht in Russia and the GIs during the Battle of the Bulge, it's amazing what they accomplished under severely adverse conditions.
Desert warfare has it's downside as well, but after two years in Churchill, I think I'd prefer the heat, sand and flies. Wait a minute, let me rethink that ..... we had flies on the tundra in the summer, and I mean mega-FLIES!
I was driving in northern Ontario on a straight stretch of road. Suddenly a shadow passed over me. It freaked me out because I knew there was nothing around me. Then a Piper Astec buzzed over from behind at about 30 feet. I guess he was bored, too.
I love it when awesome stuff like that happens out of the blue. I wonder if the guys ripping by me see me jumping with my arm pumping and waving in the air, and if they do, do they think I am some old coot yelling at them to slow down, or hollering f yeah! giver!
From "http://www.dambusters.org.uk/the-dam-raids/the-raid-first-wave/" not just fighters ... Lancasters as well:
..."The second flight of three aircraft of the first wave also encountered flak near Dülmen. The last flight of the first wave encountered stronger headwinds and consequently they were slightly late as they crossed the Dutch boarder into Germany. AJ-B piloted by Flight Lieutenant W.Astell were flying as low as they could to avoid the flak and search lights, but hit high tension wires and pylons 4km from Marbech. The aircraft reared up in the air, burst into flames, but then crashed to the ground. Two minutes later the mine exploded and all seven crew were killed. Operation Chastise had claimed its first casualties."
Somewhere I read an account of one of 617 Sqn aircraft returning from an 'OP' and flying 'very low' through a railway yard and the bombardier sarcastically (and somewhat alarmed) mentioning to the pilot that if they went any lower he would have to start throwing the track switches.
(to add: the 'Second Wave' .... "Flying Officer Geoff Rice flying AJ-H misjudged his height and touched the sea. The aircraft was engulfed in water and whilst it managed to remain in the air the impact ripped the Upkeep off the bottom of the aircraft. Somehow Rice managed to keep the aircraft in the air and climb but as he did so the vast amount of water that had run into the fuselage all poured to the rear and ran out of the back almost drowning Sgt Burns, the rear gunner. The aircraft returned safely to Scampton following this trauma.")
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