WWII War Birds - pics and video

Oh, crap. Now I have to go to Ohio.

That AF museum has prototypes, one-of-a-kinds, and sole survivors. I kinda feel like I have to go. Even to see one-offs like the Fisher P-75 Eagle:

Then:

p75a-7a.jpg


Now:

fisher-xp75-eagle.jpg


Ghastly, but the only one. It'd be like going to a zoo to see the last carrier pigeon. If it was really homely.
 
kind of digging that P75, at least from the leading edges forward. I see P39 influence in it. Engine mounted behind the cockpit and the styling cues forward of the cockpit as well.

Contra rotating props indicate it has huge power.
 
Dark Alley Dan said:
Oh, crap. Now I have to go to Ohio. That AF museum has prototypes, one-of-a-kinds, and sole survivors. I kinda feel like I have to go. Even to see one-offs like the Fisher P-75 Eagle
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Eisenhower's VC-121E Constellation, Columbine III, will apparently be moved there. The first Air Force One, VC-121A-LO Columbine II, was recently restored and will be touring the USA.

 
CV32 said:
The National Museum of the US Air Force will be opening a new building in June, if you're in the area.

Museum expansion
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It was cool to see that the C141, Hanoi Taxi, is being preserved at the USAF Museum. It was the first aircraft into Hanoi to evacuate US POWs after the end of the Vietnam war. I had a flight in this same aircraft from Macdill AFB, Tampa to Twentynine Palms, CA in 1977. It was flown by a BGen and we landed on the pre-fab USMC airfield at Twentynine Palms. The General didn't do a particularly elegant job of putting it down. Hint; its always better to fly with a Captain or Major who fly more regularly.

The C141 was an excellent aircraft and was a real workhorse. We had a chance to buy some as the contract was winding down. Too bad we didn't.

I'd recommend a visit to the USAF Museum in Dayton. I was in Dayton for a conference and built in an extra day just to visit the Museum.
 
wbaad said:
Looks like belly landing a Catalina (version with no land gear).

Was fairly common to belly them on grass but not on gravel.
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It looks like a PBY5A
She's probably sitting a little high to be wheels up. Undercarriage recess can be seen close to the stbd. strut/fuselage junction. And likely the wing tip floats would be down to catch when lift was lost.
 
Dark Alley Dan said:
MANY PBY/PBV's of various types in the air still. Thank God for water bombers.

Here's a lovely example in Australia:

8673921311_be385e613c_b.jpg
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Beautiful aircraft
Dad was on them for a short while out of Trincomalee harbour in Ceylon(now Sri Lanka). He used to say if you couldn't see it from the side blisters on a 'Cat' it wasn't there !
 
The cat is the only large aircraft I know of that lacks flaps. Flys like a pig. Needs a lot of rudder in the turns. But has excellent endurance and was good for what it was designed for.

Spent 10 hours on once on a seal spotting expedition.
 
Early in my firefighting career with Ont MNR the Canso was our standard heavy water bomber. I worked dozens of fires where Cansos were used either for Initial Attack or to support ground crews. The Canso was surprising quiet on approach at low level. These A/C were not owned by the Province but either leased for the summer or on short term contract during "fire flaps" Georgian Bay airways operated an A/C that had sunk a U-Boat in WWII. If I remember correctly The Canadian Warplane Heritage wanted to buy this veteran but couldn't raise the funds. I believe the A/C was sold off to South America. The Canso now operated by CWH is an ex Province of Quebec fire bomber.

I did one flight in the old P-boat. Ferry flight from Timmins to Geralton. Couple things I remember well is the flight crew putting a 5 gal pail of oil in each of the big radials before departing Timmins. The other was the "hard" landing in Graralton. Best way to describe it would be landing a loaded dump truck. It hit hard and stayed stuck with absolutely no bounce. My only Canso landing so I have no idea whether they were all like that.

Spent a lot of time in and around radial engined A/C early in my career. Beavers, Otters, DC-3's, CL-215's Norseman, BE-18's ,a couple S-58 helicopters. Ont also operated 6 Trackers for a few summers in mid 70's. Still love the sound of a radial firing up. Still hate the smell of kerosene.
 
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Old Ranger said:
Early in my firefighting career with Ont MNR the Canso was our standard heavy water bomber. I worked dozens of fires where Cansos were used either for Initial Attack or to support ground crews. The Canso was surprising quiet on approach at low level. These A/C were not owned by the Province but either leased for the summer or on short term contract during "fire flaps" Georgian Bay airways operated an A/C that had sunk a U-Boat in WWII. If I remember correctly The Canadian Warplane Heritage wanted to buy this veteran but couldn't raise the funds. I believe the A/C was sold off to South America. The Canso now operated by CWH is an ex Province of Quebec fire bomber.

I did one flight in the old P-boat. Ferry flight from Timmins to Geralton. Couple things I remember well is the flight crew putting a 5 gal pail of oil in each of the big radials before departing Timmins. The other was the "hard" landing in Graralton. Best way to describe it would be landing a loaded dump truck. It hit hard and stayed stuck with absolutely no bounce. My only Canso landing so I have no idea whether they were all like that.

Spent a lot of time in and around radial engined A/C early in my career. Beavers, Otters, DC-3's, CL-215's Norseman, BE-18's ,a couple S-58 helicopters. Ont also operated 6 Trackers for a few summers in mid 70's. Still love the sound of a radial firing up. Still hate the smell of kerosene.
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It can be greased on.
 
Dornier made pretty aircraft, and a lot of "Fliegerboot". The DO 26 is quite lovely:

dornier-do-26_1.jpg


BTW, Seeadler and P5+AH are the same aircraft.

Dornier_Do-26-12.jpg


An awful lot of attention paid to streamlining. Check out those retractable outrigger floats.

Shame about that turret. Like a huge zit on a supermodel's shnozz.

Do26-90af-s.jpg


Dornier_Do_26.jpg


Sadly, not much survives.

The wrecks of V1 Seeadler and V3 Seemöwe were located in Norwegian waters off Narvik after the war. Seemöwe has been removed but the fuselage and wings of Seeadler remain in situ (and are an attraction for divers). Some components from Seeadler, including the cockpit instrument panel and a propeller, are on display at the Narvik War Museum; another propeller can be seen at the flying club in Bodø, Norway.
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Here's Seeadler / P5+AH today:

[youtube]ggXMpl-1g18[/youtube]
 
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