Odds and Ends

[InvisibleDefender]

last one for today! (that last one is one my all time favorites)

 

[Johnbr]

 

[Steve Pace]

A few more... -SP

 

[InvisibleDefender]

I like that one of Denny. He gave me a bunch of those LM pics that I put up. I wasn't able to make it to his retirement a couple weeks back. Assuming that you were there?

 

[Steve Pace]

I like that one of Denny. He gave me a bunch of those LM pics that I put up. I wasn't able to make it to his retirement a couple weeks back. Assuming that you were there?

No, I couldn't make either. He's a very nice man who helped me produce seven of my of my 27 books! -SP

 

[InvisibleDefender]

Yes indeed - very nice!

He's the man who made me begin liking guacamole! I never cared for it until he took me to this place for lunch out by his office that made a killer tableside guac - I make it at least a couple times a month now

 

[shockonlip]

Thanks for these GREAT pix !!

 

[Stargazer]

A C-124 Globemaster II being loaded with a huge engine (R-3350? R-4360? thanks for helping on this, I'm no expert!).

 

[Steve Pace]

A C-124 Globemaster II being loaded with a huge engine (R-3350? R-4360? thanks for helping on this, I'm no expert!).

I'm afraid I cannot say for sure. It's not a nacelle from a B-29 (R-3350) though. -SP

 

[Steve Pace]

A C-124 Globemaster II being loaded with a huge engine (R-3350? R-4360? thanks for helping on this, I'm no expert!).

It looks like it could be a spare for the C-124 about to carry it. Or for another Globemaster II. -SP

 

[Steve Pace]

More...

Note gunner hanging out of blister on AMERICAN MAID.

 

[Johnbr]

 

[Steve Pace]

Right on! -SP

 

[Steve Pace]

A few more from Plane-a-Day; I've never seen a color image of the P-75 before. The first P-51D is noteworthy. -SP

 

[Tailspin Turtle]

It shouldn't be too hard to identify what this is so the true test is to correctly guess what it's for...

 

[Archibald]

That P-75 is a beauty !

 

[Stargazer]

It shouldn't be too hard to identify what this is so the true test is to correctly guess what it's for...

Looks like a De Havilland Vampire, although I can't see the air intakes.
Perhaps used as a school plane for students to "disect" it?
Another option is perhaps as a demonstrator sent abroad for reverse engineering?

 

[Tailspin Turtle]

It shouldn't be too hard to identify what this is so the true test is to correctly guess what it's for...

Looks like a De Havilland Vampire, although I can't see the air intakes.
Perhaps used as a school plane for students to "disect" it?
Another option is perhaps as a demonstrator sent abroad for reverse engineering?

It does resemble the Vampire, even more so the Swallow, but it is neither nor are the uses correct.

 

[Arjen]

Vought F7U-1 Cutlass? Don't know about the occasion, but it might be aboard a carrier, as there are a lot of people standing very close by and the structure might be some kind of deckhouse.

 

[Tailspin Turtle]

Vought F7U-1 Cutlass? Don't know about the occasion, but it might be aboard a carrier, as there are a lot of people standing very close by and the structure might be some kind of deckhouse.

Yes - it is an F7U-1 fuselage and wing with the vertical fins removed and what is probably an F9F Panther nose gear substituted for the F7U's to reduce the deck angle. It looks like there is a wing-like "plug" between the fuselage and the F7U-1 wing roots because 1) the intersection of the wing leading edge and the fuselage is well forward of the correct position (and hiding the engine inlet as Stargazer observed) and 2) the main landing gear appears to be farther outboard.

But that's the easy part. It's not on an aircraft carrier per se...

 

[Retrofit]

Strange those wooden blocks left on the wing and fuselage. Seems that this "aircraft" is made of the same material... A full size "mock-up" of something looking like a "Cutlass"...

 

[Steve Pace]

It's nose gear seems way too short to be a Cutlass...

 

[Arjen]

...too short...

I agree, but you can fit a shorter nose gear. The fuselage matches the F7U-1. Wild guess: was this picture taken when the prototype was transported on a barge from Stratford to NAS Patuxent?

 

[Retrofit]

...too short...

I agree, but you can fit a shorter nose gear. The fuselage matches the F7U-1. Wild guess: was this picture taken when the prototype was transported on a barge from Stratford to NAS Patuxent?

The Cutlass prototype nose seems little longer.
The wing leading edge of this "aircraft" is far forward (reaching the canopy level) than on the XF7, and no leading edge crank is noticeable.

1st photo source: Coll. AAHS/Jerry Edward

 

[Stargazer]

Supposing this is really an F7U-1 Cutlass (which Tailspin Turtle seems to be certain of), could it be for a movie?

 

[Retrofit]

A "Blue Angels" promotion artefact? ;D

 

[fightingirish]

Maybe just a test frame for the catapults?

 

[Tailspin Turtle]

...too short...

I agree, but you can fit a shorter nose gear. The fuselage matches the F7U-1. Wild guess: was this picture taken when the prototype was transported on a barge from Stratford to NAS Patuxent?

Nope - it looked like a Cutlass then.

 

[Tailspin Turtle]

Maybe just a test frame for the catapults?

Close enough and there's been one too many snide remarks. The Naval Air Material Center was responsible for developing catapults and arresting gear, including barriers and the barricade. The latter resulted in a high incidence of damage to the test article, so NAMC was always on the outlook for test specimens. One source was obsolete or obsolescent airplanes and another was failed programs. In this case, they took possession of at least one F7U-1 and reconfigured as shown in the picture. To repeat for those who raised specific questions about the identification, the long nose gear was replaced by what looks like an F9F Panther nose gear and a wing plug was inserted at the root, which is why the leading edge extends so much farther forward and the main landing gear appears to be farther outboard than an F7U's should be.

I can assure all but the most skeptical that it is in fact an F7U-1, in part because I'm probably looking at a somewhat better picture than you have on your screen and also because I'm writing a monograph on the F7U-1, so I'm very familiar with the configuration. The nose may appear to be a bit short but it also seems to be bashed in a bit. The main landing gear strut and wheel is clearly that of an F7U-1 and I can discern what's left of the fin fairing aft of the strut and the natural metal aft fuselage. Also the ejection seat bulkhead and the gun ports are in the right relationship and there is a cartridge chute that is evident behind the gun port which is normally covered by a fairing, not present, that funnels the cartridges aft of the intake.

I don't know what airplane it was supposed to represent but I suspect that it was the new F9F Cougar and was intended to be a barricade test article. For an example of the unsuccessful use of surrogates to qualify the S2F for Davis barrier engagements, see http://thanlont.blogspot.com/2010/12/davis-barrier-one-more-time.html

 

[Arjen]

...writing a monograph on the F7U-1...

Good.

 

[Johnbr]

:-\

 

[Steve Pace]

Way cool! -SP

 

[Johnbr]

 

[Johnbr]

 

[Steve Pace]

Cool! Here's a nice shot of a NASA-tested F-100 leaping off the runway at Edwards AFB. -SP

 

[Stargazer]

Splendid in-flight shot of the Grumman F11F-1F Tiger.
Photo carries the indication #585102, for what that's worth.

 

[Steve Pace]

Splendid in-flight shot of the Grumman F11F-11F Tiger.
Photo carries the indication #585102, for what that's worth.

Beautiful! -SP

 

[Stargazer]

Found on the web tonight... A Loening OA-1A, the military version of the Air Yacht.
And if you think there is something reminiscent here of early Grumman types, well... that's because Grumman worked at Loening before he left to found his own company...

 

[Steve Pace]

Marvelous! Can you send a high res to me? Thanks - SP

 

[Retrofit]

A Loening OA-1A, the military version of the Air Yacht.

Photo of the Loening 2C2 "Air Yacht" named "Leiv Eiriksson" (LN-BAH) on show at the Norsk Technisk Museum, Oslo.