Why do I never learn to leave things alone ? - I feel like the Sorcerer's Apprentice ! - MAYDAY !
I thought I might get one or two "bites", then the thing would die out. I'd made my point, and that would be that. Now we've got 23 Posts and 3000+ hits in 48 hours. There are so many hares running now that I can't keep up. I'll have to put my two cent's worth in in Post order, one at a time, until I catch up. And please remember:
Three years ago I wrote ('Pilot's Brevet', p.128 #2560):
"A great deal of what follows is no more than hearsay from those days. I had no means then, and have no means now, of verifying what I was told".
This was in the days when I hadn't yet realised what a mine of information lay untapped in Google/Wiki.
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First off is:
BBad (#16):
"its "bottle-green" and earth camouflage just looked a bit suss". But it was first-class against a jungle background.
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chevvron (#17): "
Wasn't the Blackburn Skua originally a dive bomber?"
Yes,
"...... was being shelled by U-30 and all three dived to attack the submarine, which quickly dived to safety. Two of the Skuas were damaged by the blasts and had to ditch..." (Wiki). (U-Boat 2 : Skuas 0)
(Do not mock, Vlad's priceless YouTube (to appear later) shows two VV (IAF) in a 45 degree dive in formation ! Hopefully only with practice bombs).
Some people learn the hard way. We soon worked out that 2,000 ft intervals (5 secs) apart was about right (and much safer !) They were out of service by '41, so before our time.
And they:
"......sank the German cruiser Königsberg in Bergen harbour during Operation Weserübung, the German invasion of Norway....." (Wiki).
But with half the power, it was close to a VV in performance (Wiki, VV Mk.I)
"Maximum speed: 275 mph at 11,000 ft
Cruise speed: 235 mph
Range: 1,400 miles "
In your dreams ! (More like 220 max, 160 cruise, 400 mi).
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megan (#19),
Good on 'em for hanging on to those Spitfires ! And what wonderful shots from Dick Simpson ! (seen 'em all before, but never of such quality):
#1 Note gun ports in wing.
#2 What a monstrous great cannon (the 0.50 Browning) How much room was left for the gunner ? Now if that fell off its mounting (as some of the twin 0.303s did in the dive in the early days), and landed on your face (or on the back of your neck, if you were facing forward), it'd make your eyes water a bit.
#3 Note fictitious "bomblets". There seems to have been no standard size white "roundel" (ours were much smaller - perhaps we were short of white paint. Look at the wing - is there an AoI or not (you see how hard it is).
#4 Gun Ports again. Some Mk.IVs had 3x0.50 a side, others only two. All Mks.I-III had two 0.300/303, our 0.303s had flash eliminators on the muzzles. Don't think the US 0.300s had them.
#5 Vlad's (the Impaler ?) famous YouTube again. Chugalug2 found it for me early on (and I've wasted a lot of time trying to trace his Post ['Search' being as much use as a chocolate teapot], and the queue is growing, and I must go on). This must have been taken privately (gross breach of wartime security !) by an IAF student with a home cine-camera, most of it probably at the OTU in Peshawar; it is a montage and there is footage later which
may be operational.
When it first appeared (on "Pilot's Brevet" Thread), there was a lot of discussion about it based on Chugalug's original Post (which would be useful here but I can't find it).
Now I think you asked the question as to whether the size of the gun ports in the wing could indicate the calibre of the weapon.
AFAIK, no. I was told that the 0.300s/303s (well back in the wing) fired down a long alloy "Blast Tube", at a guess 2½ in dia., the gun port was that size. A 0.50 would still have plenty of room, so the tubes and gun ports were all the same size.
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BBad (#23),
"In Australia, the RAAF received 342 Vengeances, all of which were delivered from the US through Lend-Lease, and many of which were diverted by the British Purchasing Commission from RAF contracts":
"99 x A-31 Vengeance Mk.I/IA all Northrop-built and ex RAF contracts – A27-1 to A27-15 V-72 Mk.I (in
AN853 to AN898 block)";
On 110 Sqdn in India/Burma I flew AN862, and on 8 (IAF) Sqdn AN893, so one or two of that batch slipped out to us.
"and A-31-NO A27-16 to A27-99 Mk.IA (EZ800 to EZ999 block)"
On 110 Sqdn I flew EZ834, EZ862, EZ868, and EZ891. On 8 (IAF) Sqdn, I flew EZ811, EZ894, EZ913 and EZ993, so that 'block' lost a few in transit as well!
"122 x A-31 Mk.II and Mk.IIA, A27-200 to A27-321, either Vultee-built (with RAF AN serials up to AN837) or Northrop-built (AF serials)".
On 110 Sqdn I flew mostlty ANs and one or two APs, but no AFs. On 8 Sqdn it was nearly all EZs and one or two ANs.
From mid-'44, the FB and FD series (Mk.IIIs - A-31s) started coming out,
AFAIK none served operationally (nor any of the Mk.IVs - A-35s, for that matter).
It illustrates the almost impossible task of keeping track of every single aircraft in a major war.
Danny.
PS: We were perfectly happy with our green/brown camouflage: it worked fine ! D.
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MPN11 (#24),
There was never any doubt that EZ999 was a Mk.IA - the question was whether what we were looking at
was EZ999, or some impostor pretending to be EZ999 !
Danny.
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Slow Flyer (#25),
Welcome aboard ! (and also into "Gaining an RAF Pilot's Brevet in WWII" Thread - the best-loved Thread on Military Aviation) - we'd be happy to hear from you there - at the moment it's slipped off the radar into Page 2 of Mil.Aviation.
If you are who I guess you are, you are the man who can put us out of our misery ! (but remember, strict Anonymity is the name of the game here - so
Slow Flyer and BBad, suggest you take down the Christian name(s) straight away).
There are so many questions I'd like to ask, and will ask you on "Brevet" Thread in a few days, but not now - we have enough on our plates to be going on with. Remember that I've never even seen a Mk.IV ! - all my time was on Is, IIs and IIIs.
So the Great EZ999 Mystery is solved at last; I can pipe down now and rest on my oars. My thanks to all who have helped me on this three-year old quest. EZ999 lives still in Narellan - long may it remain so, as a standing reproach to an Air Force which commissioned it, bought it, used it in a desperate time and then turned its back on it.
"Put not your hope in princes !"
Cheers, Danny42C.
Nunc dimittis.
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Bbad,
'Fraid so ! Thanks for your help,
Danny.