Photo of the week
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This weekends photo.
Open house visitors admire aircraft static displays April 6, 1946, at Hill Field, Utah.including B-29A from the 40Th BS 44-69847 "Battlin' Betty "
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This midweeks photo.
And a nice air to air of Blackburn Roc Mk I L3118 which served with 776 Sq at Speke from December 41 to May 42.
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This weekends photo.
Taken stateside of Republic Thunderbolt II HD267.
30 Sqn History Flat Out: Flt Lt E Holmgren, whose aircraft hit a treetop when he set up on a 20 foot boat N of Rathedaung. He was fortunate to return safely to base. Appendix: Caught fire while starting up at Arakonam. -
This weekends extra.
Hawker Hurricane IV Trop RAF 6Sqn at Araxos Greece, note the asymmetrical loading of four rockets and a drop tank.
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This midweeks photo.
Mitsubishi A6M3 Model 32 Zero (Hybrid) Tail Code XJ00 / EB-201.
This aircraft was a hybrid assembled by Allied personnel from the wreckage of at least three Zeros captured at Buna Airfield during late December 1942 to early January 1943. The captured Zeros were loaded aboard a barge and shipped to Brisbane then transported to Eagle Farm Field.
At Eagle Farm Airfield, this A6M3 Zero Model 32 was reconstructed as a hybrid built from the parts of at least three Zeros recovered from Buna Airfield including: the engine from A6M3 Zero 3028, the main fuselage and wings from A6M3 Zero 3030 and the rear fuselage and other components from A6M3 Zero 3032. Additional parts were used from other Zero wreckage captured at Buna Airfield. At least one external drop tank was repaired and available for testing purposes.
Later, this aircraft was disassembled and shipped to the United States for further testing by the U.S. Army Air Force (USAAF) at Wright Field and later Eglin Field. In the United States tail code EB-201 was painted on black on both sides of the tail.
The ultimate fate of this Zero is unknown. Likely scrapped or otherwise disappeared at the end of the war or after testing was completed. -
This weekends photo.
A nice study of B-17E prototype 41-9055
Note the power-operated belly turret, This turret was remotely-controlled by a system of mirror periscopic sights from a Plexiglas bubble below the waist hatches.
The periscope sight for the remotely-controlled dorsal turret proved difficult to use in practice, and starting with the 113th B-17E, the remotely-controlled turret was replaced by a Sperry ball turret, inside of which a gunner sat all curled up in the foetal position, swiveling the entire turret as he aimed the two guns. With his left eye peering through a sight, he controlled the movement of the guns by hand and foot pedals. There was precious little space inside the turret--ball turret gunners had to be very small men.
