John Eacott (#8627),
...Best guess? Camera mount. There are a few images around with varying nose mods...
Looks like Dumbo after a trunkotomy !
Now congratulations on a beautiful album of photographs ! To quote a Poster long ago: "That is one horny aeroplane !"
.....................................
topgas (#8633),
Two nice and very interesting pictures - thank you !
...A Vultee Vengeance dive-bombs targets near a railway bridge in Burma...
This is intriguing in several respects. He seems to be near vertical (though photographs can be deceptive) with dive brakes out. If he's come down from high, with 300 on the clock, then he's going to die in about 2-3 seconds, for he's far too low for pull-out.
As we have a photograph, he must have started fairly low (and slow !). His aim is clearly well off to (his) right of the bridge, so what does he intend doing ? Swing wide round left on pull-out after his leader (?), who is having a go at the bridge from what I judge to be the East. His shadow (?) on the river bank shows about 45°. Most targets round there would be about
20° N, so in midwinter at noon that would be about right.
In the link you give, the picture is captioned "A Vultee Vengeance dive-bombs targets near a railway bridge in Burma". Near a bridge ? Why not the bridge itself (it appears intact) ? One reason might be we hoped to occupy the ground quite soon, and wanted to keep the use of the bridge (it would be a forlorn hope, the Jap engineers would surely blow it).
No bombs have gone down yet - no white puffs in sight.
............................................
Fareastdriver (#8634),
...Those dive brakes are pretty impressive...
Always worked fine - provided you had hydraulic fluid ! They could be hand-pumped in or out, so if the pressure failed, you could pump closed. No fluid - you were up creek without paddle. Might be able to maintain level flight at full bore with them out (never tried it !), but landing would be hairy (and you'd have no undercarriage either). Best abandon ship.
Subsidiary use: back rests/grab handles for ground crew taking rides on wing between dispersals.
.............................................
(Back to
topgas)
Second picture:
No recollection of this (can't have been around at the time) What was the gift ? and what is the significance of "No.6" ? (Any idea of place or date?)
Faces vaguely familiar, but - so many faces, so long ago ! None of them is "Red" McInnis, and I don't see Reg Duncan there, either.
Cheers, all,
Danny.