Picture of the day

[Dark Alley Dan]

I was asking about the objects to the right of the bomb bay lol: )

Right side of the bomb bay / left side of the pic? I dunno. Incendiaries of some sort, I should think. Seems about right. Can't imagine they'd be dropping a mixed load of bombs and cigs on the Japanese.

Speaking of that nasty part of the world, if you haven't already read Quartered Safe Out Here by George MacDonald Fraser, you really should. Excellent book, well written by someone who was actually there. Funny, heartbreaking, and very honest.

Jibjedi - Moyland Wood looks like an awful place to spend any time at all. Those tree-burst are pretty terrible to face, and I imagine that part of the world still shows some old, tall stumps. It'd be something to walk around in it now.

Ganderite's concerns re: wingspan vs. fuselage length appear to be very valid. She's wider than she is long:

Oddly graceful and clumsy looking at the same time. Strange looking old bird, that. Kinda the anti-F-104.

 

[RRCo.]

Just finishing up Mark Zuehlke's latest installment in his Canadian Battle Series of books, FORGOTTEN VICTORY -First Canadian Army and the cruel winter of 1944-45.

The Clearing of Moyland Wood, during Operation Veritable, is one location the book goes into detail about. Several Canadian regiments had the joy of rooting out well dug in paratroopers throughout the nightmare of a place.

Chatting with my grandfather once about his time as an infantryman with the Canadian Scottish Regiment, he recalled in particular the Leopold Canal, and this forest as being some of the most terrible times.

Picture of Moyland Wood below gives a strong hint of why he felt that way .....

That looks like a sniper's dream environment. Why they are so close together and some are not wearing helmets I don't know. Probably a staged shot?

 

[CV32]

Right side of the bomb bay / left side of the pic? I dunno. Incendiaries of some sort, I should think. Seems about right. Can't imagine they'd be dropping a mixed load of bombs and cigs on the Japanese.

Correct. A load of Small Bomb Containers (SBCs) containing 4 lb ICI incendiaries.

 

[purple]

That looks like a sniper's dream environment. Why they are so close together and some are not wearing helmets I don't know. Probably a staged shot?

A very tough place to fight and not really a place for long range shots except along firebreaks. The worst of all during WW2 on the western front had to be the fighting in the Huertgen Forest. The Americans threw away all of their advantages in mobility, vehicles, artillery and airpower and went into the bush to fight on the German's terms.

 

[diopter]

Right side of the bomb bay / left side of the pic? I dunno. Incendiaries of some sort, I should think. Seems about right. Can't imagine they'd be dropping a mixed load of bombs and cigs on the Japanese.

Speaking of that nasty part of the world, if you haven't already read Quartered Safe Out Here by George MacDonald Fraser, you really should. Excellent book, well written by someone who was actually there. Funny, heartbreaking, and very honest.

Jibjedi - Moyland Wood looks like an awful place to spend any time at all. Those tree-burst are pretty terrible to face, and I imagine that part of the world still shows some old, tall stumps. It'd be something to walk around in it now.

Ganderite's concerns re: wingspan vs. fuselage length appear to be very valid. She's wider than she is long:

Oddly graceful and clumsy looking at the same time. Strange looking old bird, that. Kinda the anti-F-104.

Motor Gilders

Many more models
https://www.google.ca/search?q=Moto...sAQISA&biw=1344&bih=608#imgrc=y1ReK_0mFbd87M:

 

[Still alive]

^^^^^ Don't forget the Rockwell U-2 spy plane!

 

[diopter]

Too well-known, well-loved, and well-connected. 'Dolf's rule wasn't absolutely absolute, if you know what I mean. He still had to have the support of the German People, and imprisoning/executing/assassinating a much-loved public figure would cause more trouble than it'd fix. That's my theory anyhow.

Wellington as seen from below, Burma, 1942:

Lancaster at Ottawa Canadian Aviation and Space Museum

 

[CV32]

^^^^^ Don't forget the Rockwell U-2 spy plane!

Or the Soviet origin Myasishchev M-55 (NATO Mystic-B).

 

[sail32]

In the Vickers Wellesley Bomber pictures, the bombs, 2,000 lb bomb load, are carried in the two wing panniers.

https://wizzley.com/vickers-wellesley/

On 5th November 1938, 2 of the 3 aircraft that set out flew non-stop for 2 days from Ismailia, Egypt to Darwin, Australia (7,160 miles) to set a world distance record. This epic flight remains the longest by a single engined aircraft.

http://www.tangmere-museum.org.uk/aircraft-month/vickers-wellesley

 

[fat tony]

Weld on hinges being dropped on the enemy - okay, I guess it could have happened.

 

[Dark Alley Dan]

Or the TA-152, as seen only a few pages back.

That recipe of biggish engine, long thin wings seems to be pretty good for high altitudes. Makes an airplane prettier to my eye as well.

 

[donor]

Somewhere on the net there are pictures of Ta-152 in Soviet VVS service. Apparently there was a number of them stationed around Moscow (or Leningrad?) for high altitude air defense until adoption of Mig-9 in 1948 and later Mig-15.

I wish I could find those pictures.

Russians did learn very fast.Attempts to use german aircraft designs "as is" like Me-262 or reverse engineer american designs like B-29/Tu-4 were the norm of the day.

In other news,Russian sense of humor at its best (or worst).

https://sputniknews.com/military/201508121025658654-germany-russia-military-exercises-bombs/

 

[Still alive]

They must have higher end armorers in Russia. The guy's wearing dress shoes!

 

[ipscgraz]

I may have missed the bulk of the discussion, but as far as odd duck looking aircraft:

Amiot 143

 

[johnny rotten]

Plenty of space beneath the flight deck for the dining room and smoking section
I wonder if they have a library onboard as well

 

[diopter]

The Grumman OV-1 Mohawk

 

[purple]

The Mohawk was one fine airplane. I had several hours in the observers seat.They has Side Looking Airborne radar (SLAR) in the pod below the fuselage which was used to detect movement with a downlink relay of data for analysis on the ground. SLAR aircraft patrolled the IGB in Germany for many years watching for Soviet activity. They were also used extensively in Vietnam. Another variant was fitted with in IR detector to pick up hot spots on the ground from vehicles or humans. It was a good lesson in how night and camouflage were no longer much protection.

The Mohawk was a high performance aircraft and was somewhat unusual for a prop plane, having ejection seats for the crew.

 

[Dark Alley Dan]

Hey, flyboy - buy you a drink?

The DH Caribou - one of DeHavilland's unsung success stories.

The Mohawk was rare in being a fixed wing conbat-capable Army asset. Not many of those allowed by the Air Force folks. And I wonder how many US Army personnel were trained in aerial refueling.

 

[CV32]

The Mohawk was one fine airplane. I had several hours in the observers seat.They has Side Looking Airborne radar (SLAR) in the pod below the fuselage which was used to detect movement with a downlink relay of data for analysis on the ground. SLAR aircraft patrolled the IGB in Germany for many years watching for Soviet activity. They were also used extensively in Vietnam. Another variant was fitted with in IR detector to pick up hot spots on the ground from vehicles or humans. It was a good lesson in how night and camouflage were no longer much protection. The Mohawk was a high performance aircraft and was somewhat unusual for a prop plane, having ejection seats for the crew.

Swappable mission pallets for the APS-94F side looking airborne radar (SLAR) or AUS-24 infrared (IR) system, as well as fixed panoramic and frame cameras in several of the OV-1 versions. Another variant, the RV-1C/D, carried versions of the Quick Look I/II electronic intelligence (ELINT) system.

 

[Cottage Hill Bill]

Original specs for the Mohawk called for it to be aircraft carrier capable. I saw some films in the late 60s of some of the carrier tests by the Navy at Pax River. At that time the plane had a conventional single rudder tail.

On a simulated carrier takeoff the pilot apparently flipped the landing gear switch to the up position and relied on the weight-on-wheels switches to keep the gear down. I assume he was trying to get quicker gear retraction on take off. The he stepped on the brakes, ran the engines up to military power and got ready to launch. Unfortunately while running the power up the plane started to bounce a bit. It bounced just enough to take the weight off the switches and retracted the gear at max power and zero airspeed. Probably not a career enhancing day for the pilot.

On a simulated carrier landing the plane hooked the arresting cable. Just before it came to a stop the fuselage ripped apart right at the trailing edge of the wings. The tail and most of the fuselage dropped to the ground, the wings and wheel house rolled on down the runway.

Soon after the Navy dropped the project.