At Danny42c, these will bring back some memories
 

Hopefully happy ones

https://www.flickr.com/photos/827078...69786717/page1

Great photos, the colour and the operating personnel in the ground shots (and also those maritime!) add real atmosphere. Thanks for posting.

Where are they from - an archive ? was wondering about the copyright..............

But I agree - some wonderful, atmospheric shots in there with very varied content

Arc

They are from a variety of sources - Etieene has a notice about copyright on his home page, he'll take down any that are a problem

"Vengeance is mine ... " ;)

RAAF, Danny42C ??

https://www.flickr.com/photos/827078...7605269786717/

Arclite01 - The caption from one of the above Etienne Du Plessis WW2 photo series ....

"Charles E. Brown, 1896-1982.
The man himself, Charlie Brown, one of the best aircraft photographers of his time..
He is responsible for a vast number of images displayed in this photo-set."

Charles E Brown - Flickr

Ah, Nutloose,

Fame at last. I'm greatly honoured by mention of my callsign on PPRuNe - and I'm not even dead yet ! Seriously, though - what a feast of photographs. Flicked through them, many I recognise, some I faintly recall, some I don't know and would have to look up. Etienne du Plessis deserves a round of applause.

Those were the days ! How young we all were. It is sobering to think that nearly all there are now dead, and the few survivors not far off. End of an era, I suppose.

Nice to pick out two or three pics of the dear old Vultee Vengeance. Almost completely unknown (in UK) at the time and totally forgotten afterwards, it was my mount in India/Burma from '43 - '46.

Thanks a lot, Nutloose, Regards, Danny42C.


MPN11,

Thanks for the link. Seems I have to join Yahoo to get at the meat. Am very loath to join anything I don't understand. What does it involve ?

Cheers, Danny.

What an excellent collection, Nutty. Thanks for that.

Just as an aside, Danny..
I think it was Groucho Marx that said:
"I wouldn't belong to any club that would have me."
I liked that one.

Joining Yahoo is just like joining here Danny, its just another Browser and Email facility similar to Google that you decide a username, something like [email protected] and then set a password for it, Flickr is a Yahoo owned photo posting site, so they ask you to join to use it. No great shakes, I am registered on it for my Photography posting.

Glad you liked the link :)

Curious, Danny42C ... I didn't need to join anything, I just ignored the pop-up window and carried on.

What is it ?
 

Nutloose,

Thanks for the steer. Will have a go.

Meanwhile the Du Plessis pic (Page 4, pic 15) is worth a comment or two. This must have been taken in the US before delivery. The sun is high in the sky, must be in a southern state. The mechs are in US uniforms, and the rear guns are still the US 0.300 Brownings which were the original fit. When we got them, we replaced them with British 0.303s, and ours had prominent, conical flash eliminators on the muzzles (at least, all the ones I ever saw had).

It is a Mk.III, the last of the A-31 type. As far as the naked eye can judge, the zero Angle of Incidence is obvious. Just forward and slightly below the the front cockpit is a strange thing on the fuselage which I cannot identify. It casts a shadow - it is real. Almost like a (very bent) panel hinged at the top (or a canard wing !). But all VV engine panels came straight off. Never saw anything like it. Any ideas ?
...Re the discussion on the Wg Cdr Arthur Gill Thread, and with particular reference to:
Hard to judge, but the back seat does look as though a full harness is piled on top.

Danny.

Danny – your comments got me to look up information on this unusual aircraft. One of the quotes in the article is from a book titled “Jungle Dive Bombers at War” by Peter C. Smith. Do you have knowledge of this book and, if so, is it worth the read? Thanks.

Bob

Bob,

Do not know that particular work, but have Peter C Smith's "Vengeance!", which seems to be the nearest thing to a Bible for the Vultee Vengeance (A-31 and A35). Judging by this book, "Jungle Dive Bombers at War" should be worth a read. Probably recycles a lot of "Vengeance", but I imagine there will be a lot more about other US land based dive bombers (They didn't use the A-31 or A-35 operationally).

Danny.

Thanks Danny. I have just ordered both Vengeance and Jungle Dive Bombers.

Bob

The Good Old Days.
 

Nutloose (your #9 and my #11),

Tried to join Yahoo, got embroiled in the procedure, lost will to live, am happy with what I've got, not to worry.

Still leaves two questions hanging in the air: what was the weird thing on the side of that Vengeance, and what exactly was the "leash" that Gabrielson was hanging on ? Seem to remember that back in the Hawker Audax/Demon days * they had a Vickers "K" gun (?) on a Scarff ring at the back. The gunner had a "monkey strap" to hold him in while giving him maximum freedom. It was so called as it resembled the one worn by the barrel-organ monkies who collected the pennies from the crowd (if any).

Note *: before even my time !

Danny.

Oddly enough you really need the help of one of the last few surviving RAF VV pilots who is now probably the Worlds expert on the RAF VV aircraft and their operations and that is.....ermmm probably you. I will have a look. :)

Nutloose,

I will make a note to speak about it to me the next time we meet !

Danny.

Oh, thank you both. :D