Picture of the day

Gibbs505 said:
Not sure what happened here!
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Looks like the Weapons Officer opted for a hasty departure.
 
Today I learned the Italians experimented with radio controlled flying bombs during WW2. This is the Ambrosini A.R.

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Not many pics, and all apparently small and grainy. Here's a model to give you an overall idea:

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The A.R. (Assalto Radioguidato) flying bomb was also conceived by Sergio Stefanutti, this time in cooperation with engineers Ermenegildo Preti and Stelio Frati. The Italian air arm had previously gained the distinction of being the first in the world to employ a radio-controlled flying bomb operationally, when, on August 13, 1942, it sent a much-modified SM.79 against a part of the British Fleet lying off the Algerian coast. Although unsuccessful, the attempt encouraged General Ferdinando Raffaelli, designer of the radio-control system, to urge the development of a cheap, expendable machine to fulfill the purpose more effectively.

The result was the A.R., a simple wooden mid-wing monoplane powered by a 1000 h.p. FIAT A.80 radial engine. The fuselage was of oval construction with plywood skin, and was to have contained two sealed-in 2200-lb. bombs. Wings and tail surfaces were angular and untapered. No flaps were required as landings were not anticipated. After experiments with take-off trolleys, a simple fixed undercarriage was employed which could be dropped after the bomb was airborne.

Flight tests began in June, 1943. Unlike the reaction-powered German V-weapons, the A.R. required a pilot for take-off. After radio control took over the guidance in flight, he bailed out. With a bomb load of 4400 lb. and a total weight of 13,200 lb., the A.R. was expected to have a maximum speed of 225 m.p.h. with undercarriage jettisoned. Five of the flying bombs were built at the Venegono plant in 1943 but none were ever used. The last four were destroyed .before being tested. Wingspan was 55 ft. 9112 in., length 49 ft. 21/2 in., and wing area 409 sq. ft. The empty weight was 7936 lb.
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Gibbs505 said:
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A KB-50 Superfortress simultaneously refuels an F-101 Voodoo, B-66 Destroyer, and an F-100 Super Sabre.
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I wonder if that F-101 Voodoo was originally a CF-101. Our complete fleet had IFR probes from new and most of the US ones had a radar in that area. In the 70's they took ours back for the inflight refuelling capability and gave us some of theirs in return.
 
I always thought the VooDoo was one of the prettier aircraft of the time. I was a kid at Comox when they had the VooDoos, I clearly remember seeing them in the ready hangars close to the front gate. My Dad was an armourer, and years later he talked about the procedures they had to go through when dealing with nuclear bombs. We even had a bunch of "ban the bomb" protesters at the front gate.
Anyway, slightly off topic but it reminded me of this patch, which I remember having sewn onto my jean jacket for 5th or 6th grade:

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There were other VooDoo morale patches as well.
 
stevebc said:
I always thought the VooDoo was one of the prettier aircraft of the time. I was a kid at Comox when they had the VooDoos, I clearly remember seeing them in the ready hangars close to the front gate. My Dad was an armourer, and years later he talked about the procedures they had to go through when dealing with nuclear bombs. We even had a bunch of "ban the bomb" protesters at the front gate.
Anyway, slightly off topic but it reminded me of this patch, which I remember having sewn onto my jean jacket for 5th or 6th grade:

DSCN1476_zpshixuknuh.jpg


There were other VooDoo morale patches as well.
Click to expand...

I was an armament officer at Comox in the early 60's. Not many remember that the Voodoo carried a nuclear anti-aircraft missile. It was unguided, once launched, so not subject to jamming. If used, I think it would have been 100% effective.

Our Neptune anti-sub planes did not have the nuclear depth charges carried by the US NAvy Neptunes. That, too, would have been 100% effective.
 
Ganderite said:
I was an armament officer at Comox in the early 60's. Not many remember that the Voodoo carried a nuclear anti-aircraft missile. It was unguided, once launched, so not subject to jamming. If used, I think it would have been 100% effective.
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The lack of guidance meant the AIR-2A Genie was more correctly described as a rocket rather than a missile, and hence the 'AIR' designation.
 
RRCo. said:
....

The remains of the only Ruston steam crawler are sitting out in BC on the north end of Vancouver Island. It was brought out to haul coal in the Yukon and then brought down to work hauling logs, but never did. The grand-daddy of all tanks left rotting out in the bush!

http://www.rdmw.bc.ca/media/Hornsby%20Crawler%20SOS%20FINAL.pdf
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That was worth the 3 minutes I spent. Glad to see some serious effort has been invested in this peculiar artifact.
 
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Dark Alley Dan said:
"Klein, have you been making tea mit der radiatorwasser again? Zis tastes funny."
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Rommel's driver should be mentioned as he has quite the story himself, grew up in the desert in Namibia, eventually earned a Knight's Cross and 10 years in Siberia.
On last count he was still alive and living back in the Namib Desert.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hellmut_von_Leipzig

I read an interview with a German magazine a while back and he had quite some stories.
 
Ganderite said:
I was an armament officer at Comox in the early 60's. Not many remember that the Voodoo carried a nuclear anti-aircraft missile. It was unguided, once launched, so not subject to jamming. If used, I think it would have been 100% effective.

Our Neptune anti-sub planes did not have the nuclear depth charges carried by the US NAvy Neptunes. That, too, would have been 100% effective.
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A vid of a Genie being tested:

https:// www.youtube.com/watch?v=1VZ7FQHTaR4
 
stevebc said:
I always thought the VooDoo was one of the prettier aircraft of the time. I was a kid at Comox when they had the VooDoos, I clearly remember seeing them in the ready hangars close to the front gate. My Dad was an armourer, and years later he talked about the procedures they had to go through when dealing with nuclear bombs. We even had a bunch of "ban the bomb" protesters at the front gate.
Anyway, slightly off topic but it reminded me of this patch, which I remember having sewn onto my jean jacket for 5th or 6th grade:

DSCN1476_zpshixuknuh.jpg


There were other VooDoo morale patches as well.
Click to expand...
I still have the Medicine Man patch as I was an AE Tech on the Voodoo in the late 60's. The pilots had "One O Wonder" and the weapons officer / navigator had "Scope Wizard" on their patch. The backseater was commonly called a GIB which was slang for guy in back. The stick in the back seat controlled the radar and missile aiming and not the aircraft.
 
I bet none of the people in the open when the nuclear anti-aircraft went off are alive to day.

Canadian troops were sprayed with Agent Orange at Gagetown in a Vietnam War period test.
 
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