Sunday, June 9, 2019

The Grumman A-9

It has been a life time ago.   Two aircraft companies fighting to stay life.   Both companies fighting to build an attack fighter.  In the end both of them would disappear as manufactures.   One brought us the famed P-47. The other the F-5 freedom.    The A-9 lost out by the slimmest margin.   Let not forget it.














Friday, June 7, 2019

First P47's on french soil after d-day.

 One has realize how fast TAC support started in Normandy.  These P-47 where the first close support fighter unit. It was a knew idea the took effect right after the day landings. 




P-47 s of the 377th squadron on the field a-6 built between beuzeville to the plain and Ste-mother church

377th FS




P-47 of the 378th squadron on the field a-6 built between beuzeville to the plain and Ste-mother church


Thursday, June 6, 2019

Spitfire Mk14/18 rudder shape. By John of Aero club.

There is some confusion with the rudders fitted to the Mk.14 and 18 Spitfires. I find that the Morgan/Shacklady "bible" is often less than helpful and sometimes irritating. As Edgar mentioned in a previous post (on contra props) the 14/18 fin/rudders areas are given as the same. This is not so and this "red herring"is the cause of some confusion. The 14 fin went through a considerable change in area and the only real reference given in the"bible" is a sketch showing an interim straight leading edge modification and it omits to mention that the height at the rudder post was increased by almost 3". The standard rudder post height of all the earlier Spits was 58".
The extra 2.75" fin height increase was achieved by fitting a "block false tip". The Mk.18 had a broader chord rudder and a deeper horn balance. This rudder was also fitted to other Mk.14 based airframes,( by the simple expedient of "removing the block") such as FR14e, 19, and the Mk.21 when fitted with a contra prop.
This illustration I have cobbled up might help. It is the tail of an FR.14e and I have superimposed the outlines of the Mk.14 and Mk.18 rudders on to it, the white area is the "block" . The blue outline is the 14 and the red 18.
The join line (lower edge of the block) seldom shows up on photos and is often shown as a panel line in drawings but too low down, a mistake repeated on my own Mk.21 conversion as this was made originally to the Cook drawings.
John




Monday, June 3, 2019

F-84 photos.

Posting a bunch of F-84 photos.   Great reference pictures for modelers.  Enjoy.

















Thursday, May 30, 2019

Just what your HE-111 needs

1 November 1940 – WW2 – Residents pose with an unexploded German parachute mine in their back garden – Liverpool, UK

During the Second World War, the Luftwaffe used a number of different kinds of parachute mine. The Luftmine A (LMA) and Luftmine B (LMB) weighed 500 kg (1,100 lb) and 1,000 kg (2,200 lb) respectively. The LMA was 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) in length and the LMB 8 ft 8 in (2.64 m).