Unofficial Aviation Buff Thread

Dejan Corovic

As above, so bellow
For years I was wandering where was the bomb bay on XB-70 Valkyrie and low and behold, today I discovered.

It was tiny :) relative to B=52 and occupied a small volume between the air intakes :). Very good video with lots of good details about the possibly one of the greatest designs in aviation history.

 

Dejan Corovic

As above, so bellow
Here is a great video shot inside B-29 bomber.

B-29 was great leap in WW2 bomber tech because it had mechanical computer to do the aiming. Interesting fact is that any gunner in the plane was able to point all the bomber's guns at a single enemy aeroplane. No wander B-29 gunner crews managed to shoot close to 1,000 Japanese interceptors. Russians managed to snatch a few and make about 500 copies.

Here you are:

 

AD1184

Celestial
Here is a great video shot inside B-29 bomber.

B-29 was great leap in WW2 bomber tech because it had mechanical computer to do the aiming. Interesting fact is that any gunner in the plane was able to point all the bomber's guns at a single enemy aeroplane. No wander B-29 gunner crews managed to shoot close to 1,000 Japanese interceptors. Russians managed to snatch a few and make about 500 copies.
The Soviet copy was the Tu-4

Tupolev Tu-4 - Wikipedia

They made 847, according to Wikipedia.
 

Dejan Corovic

As above, so bellow
Well, if space flight counts as aviation, here is a beautiful personal story about private life of an astronaut.

Probably well worth watching, I'm about to start watching it myself :):

 

nivek

As Above So Below
 

nivek

As Above So Below
Screenshot_20220722-172442.jpg

Last surviving Battle of Britain pilot, 103, reunited with WWII fighter plane

The last known surviving Battle of Britain fighter pilot has been reunited with a Hurricane aircraft, the type he flew during the war.

Group Captain (retired) John 'Paddy' Hemmingway, who turned 103 this week, was the guest of honour at the Irish Air Corps' centenary year Veterans Day at Casement Aerodrome in Co Dublin on Friday.

As part of the ceremony, the RAF Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, comprising an Avro Lancaster bomber and a Hawker Hurricane, flew in formation over Dublin before landing at the aerodrome.

Group Captain Hemmingway was brought to the vintage fighter in a wheelchair, and its engines were powered up, so he could once again experience the sight and sound of his WWII "office".

The RAF's Air Marshal Sir Rich Knighton said: "Group Captain Paddy Hemingway, the last of The Few, is a true inspiration and his accomplishments are as relevant today as they were more than 80 years ago.

"As a fighter pilot during the Battle of Britain, he defended the skies over the UK daily, much as our Typhoon pilots do today. He fought bravely to uphold our values and way of life in the face of tyranny, laying the foundation for the way we deliver collective Air Defence through NATO to deter those who would do us harm.

"Paddy deserves our deep gratitude for all he did to preserve the freedoms we now enjoy."

Born in Dublin in 1919, John Hemmingway joined the RAF in 1938 and, following the outbreak of the Second World War, was assigned to 85 Squadron in France.

He was credited with destroying a Heinkel He 111 bomber and a Dornier Do 17.


(More on the link)

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pigfarmer

tall, thin, irritable
Yeah, I think 60% of Britain's WWII aerial victories against Germans were deceived by Hurricanes, not by Spitfires.

I saw several Spitfires at Oshkosh years ago. Man, those things are small. Those guys couldn't have been too big, that cockpit literally fits like a glove
 

pigfarmer

tall, thin, irritable

One of the most amazing stories to come out of WW2. Compass, watch, map and vast stretches of empty ocean.

Put it in understandable terms. A group of P-38s take off from New York's LaGuardia airport. They fly to Atlanta to find two planes carrying some very specific people ..... and do ......

Pretty slick in the days before all the gadgets we have grown accustomed to

A P-38 Pilot Describes the Attack on Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto
 

pigfarmer

tall, thin, irritable
Been enjoying this one. Haven't heard Part 3 yet.

I found a copy of No Guts No Glory and attached it below. May not be the best version but the book's not available in Kindle and may be out of print. If you use Kindle you'll have an email address associated with that account. I just emailed this pdf to that account so next time I open the app on my phone it downloads in that format. I can read it with all the Kindle features that make it easier to use.

Ultimately he had a lot to do with why US fighter pilots went back to maintaining dogfighting skills and why future aircraft incorporate internal cannons.


View: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/maj-gen-frederick-boots-blesse-part-i-the-korean-war/id1350499924?i=1000569120869



View: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/maj-gen-frederick-boots-blesse-part-ii-no-guts-no-glory/id1350499924?i=1000570683025



View: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/maj-gen-frederick-boots-blesse-part-iii-his-heroes/id1350499924?i=1000574980668
 

Attachments

  • NGNG.pdf
    8.1 MB · Views: 0

pigfarmer

tall, thin, irritable
Destroyers and, I think, PT boats of the WW2 era were equipped with smoke generators to lay down screens similar to that.
 
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