Picture of the day
- Thread starter jwhc
- Start date
They were used in several nations but that is the first pic I've seen of German's using them. Mind you most of the wrecked equipment in those photos is Russian. Maybe they're Soviet dogs?? Still they look terrified.
The dogs of Flanders were used quite extensively by the Belgiques. We stayed in a B&B in northern France this spring where the proprietress had a couple of humongous, pack mule, sized dogs. Maybe they were descendants of those Army veterans.
The most bizarre military use of dogs has to have been the Soviet anti-tank dogs. The dogs were starved and trained to find food under a tank. They were fitted with an explosive charge and a contact fuze and then released to look for food under a German tank. I don't know how effective this was, but it was certainly tough on the dogs.
The most bizarre military use of dogs has to have been the Soviet anti-tank dogs. The dogs were starved and trained to find food under a tank. They were fitted with an explosive charge and a contact fuze and then released to look for food under a German tank. I don't know how effective this was, but it was certainly tough on the dogs.
The dogs of Flanders were used quite extensively by the Belgiques. We stayed in a B&B in northern France this spring where the proprietress had a couple of humongous, pack mule, sized dogs. Maybe they were descendants of those Army veterans.
The most bizarre military use of dogs has to have been the Soviet anti-tank dogs. The dogs were starved and trained to find food under a tank. They were fitted with an explosive charge and a contact fuze and then released to look for food under a German tank. I don't know how effective this was, but it was certainly tough on the dogs.
AND, some times they go under Russian tanks and KABOOM! LOL
Given that this sub survived the war it is probably not the periscope tower but the schnorkel. This was a device which allowed the submarine to run submerged on diesel engines with only the top of the tower out of the water. The first attempt at a truly underwater submarine
It's not a German U-Boat, it's the USS Ling, sitting essentially abandoned and stuck in the mud of the Hackensack River, NJ. Unfortunately, unless a benefactor with deep pockets is found quickly, it will be scrapped.
Brookwood
Dark Alley Dan
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Darkest Edmonton
Strange bedfellows.
Two survive, one at RAF Cosford (not the one in the pic above) and one more at the Smithsonian awaiting restoration.
Some interesting detail on the barbette installation:
Two survive, one at RAF Cosford (not the one in the pic above) and one more at the Smithsonian awaiting restoration.
Some interesting detail on the barbette installation:
Last edited:
Strange bedfellows.
Two survive, one at RAF Cosford (not the one in the pic above) and one more at the Smithsonian awaiting restoration.
From the engine cowling shape I'm guessing those were RR Kestrel engines. The same as powered the Westland Whirlwind, a plane with no vices, faster than a Hurricane or a Spitfire, 4x20mm cannons in the nose, no competition and most importantly, no friends among the senior officers of the RAF.
Either it was a bloody-minded insistence that fighters had to be single engine or Westland Aircraft Co. couldn't dispense the favours that Supermarine, Hawker and the others could.
Just to make sure they didn't do too well during the Battle of Britain they were sent up to Scotland for the duration.
And by 1943 they were withdrawn from front line service to make sure they were good and forgotten, almost.
Last edited:
The Westland Whirlwind used the Rolls-Royce Peregrine, the ultimate development of the company's Kestrel engine.
Scroll down for the operational history, it matches what I have seen in other sources.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rolls-Royce_Peregrine
https://ww2aircraft.net/forum/threads/westland-whirlwind-alternative-engines.32194/
Scroll down for the operational history, it matches what I have seen in other sources.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rolls-Royce_Peregrine
https://ww2aircraft.net/forum/threads/westland-whirlwind-alternative-engines.32194/
Dark Alley Dan
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Darkest Edmonton
The Whirlwind had what I believe to be the most streamlined engine nacelles of any aircraft ever flown. They're just stunning, almost organic looking. Beautiful sheet metal work on those.
But the Mosquito's formation buddy in the topmost pic is an ME 410. Not as nice a piece of kit as the Whirlwind, but still a neat bit of design...
But the Mosquito's formation buddy in the topmost pic is an ME 410. Not as nice a piece of kit as the Whirlwind, but still a neat bit of design...
Except for the very slippery DeH Hornet !
Me410 vs Mosquito was a not infrequent encounter during the time of the 2nd Battle of Britain and the Baedekker raids. Nearly always resulted in the downing of the Me.
The Whirlwind was obsolete nearly as soon as it came on strength. Unfortunate because it did look good. May have been interesting if used in the bomber destroyer role similarly as the Me110 was used.
Last edited:
I was always partial to the J series P-38.
The Lightning got a terrible rap early in the war over Europe, due to the ones being sent over being essentially "production prototypes" with a host of problems they already had fixes for, just hadn't been implemented yet in the frontline aircraft.
In the Pacific they became a force to be reckoned with, scoring more air victories than any other USAAF aircraft.
The Lightning got a terrible rap early in the war over Europe, due to the ones being sent over being essentially "production prototypes" with a host of problems they already had fixes for, just hadn't been implemented yet in the frontline aircraft.
In the Pacific they became a force to be reckoned with, scoring more air victories than any other USAAF aircraft.
One of the beauties of the nose mounted cannon was the ease of aiming and the consistency of aim at all ranges, unlike the inwards angled guns of the single seat fighters which had to be set to cross at a certain range and therefore required the pilot to always be at that range to get the heaviest weight of fire on the target.
"Lightening" was the name the RAF gave it, Lockheed was going to call it the "Atalanta"!
"Lightening" was the name the RAF gave it, Lockheed was going to call it the "Atalanta"!
Last edited:
Dark Alley Dan
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Darkest Edmonton
Can't recall the exact designation, but it's an indigenous Romanian bird, no?
The Romanians flew a wildly mixed bag of aircraft, including the Ju-88. There's a very nicely preserved one still extant:
Quite an attractive pain scheme, to my eye anyhow:
The USS Ling is a Balao Class fleet boat, US manufactured, launched in 1943, but not commissioned until June 1945. By the time she finished sea trials, she had missed any fighting in WW2. It had a test depth of 120m (400 feet), which was typical of WW2 era US boats, but today would be laughable.
We operated one of these in the RCN, the HMCS Grilse (SS 71), from 1961 until 1969. It had been upgraded continuously by the USN and when sold to Canada was still pretty decent kit. The Pacific fleet operated a pair of ex-USN submarines (Grilse and Rainbow) in this timeframe, while the East Coast was bringing Oberon submarines online.
The large structures someone thought were snorkels (in real naval terms, the "snorkel" system is referred to as an induction system, the submariner community calls it a "snort mast" in jargon) are not actually a snorkel rig. The Balao class had a short sail (or Fin, as the brits would call it) and the added structure is fairing for the attack and search persicopes.
Hope that helps
It had a ferocious amount of firepower concentrated at the nose, and later versions included mount points under the wings for rockets or up to 4K Lbs worth of bombs - which allowed it to be used in a wide variety of roles. Bomber interceptor, air superiority fighter, fighter bomber, dive bomber... It did all those things, and was much loved in the Pacific. Having a spare engine when you're covering endless miles of open ocean was also greatly appreciated by the Pacific pilots.
The 8th in Europe had mostly G variants. The single biggest improvement in the J's was to move the intercooler from the leading edge of the wings to underneath the engine. A seemingly simple change, but this greatly simplified the intercooler design and made it more reliable, which vastly improved both reliability and engine performance, both in terms of speed and ability to perform at altitude. Unfortunately, the 8th had given up on it by the point the J's were in full production.
Can't recall the exact designation, but it's an indigenous Romanian bird, no?
The Romanians flew a wildly mixed bag of aircraft, including the Ju-88. There's a very nicely preserved one still extant:
Quite an attractive pain scheme, to my eye anyhow:
The single engine is the IAR-80, locally designed and produced in Romania, and by all accounts an effective and well regarded craft.
Interesting to think of a time when a minor power could produce a fighter that could keep up with "the big boys." Nowadays, fighters have become such expensive, complex beasts, that only the major powers can develop them single handed.
