Photo of the week
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(Sorry to quote a photo, but the page flipped, and my response has to do with it's peculiar feature.)
Duggy
One this week I post it 12 hours ahead of schedule, just in case ??? LOL
No date ?? on this.
And what's the white vertical mark in front of the # 2 under the cockpit ????
That's a good question Duggy. If it's an object, I don't recall seeing anything like that, and I just came up empty with a lengthy web search.
Perhaps it's a similar rendition of the narrow white guideline stencil that extends upward toward the cockpit from the first footstep recess. Although in your photo it appears to be casting a shadow on the numeral '2', as if it were a protruding object of some sort. And if it is a shadow, it's consistant with the others; btw, looks like the photo was snapped around high noon.
If it's a stencil, then it's quite a coincidence that the white paint from the numeral '2' is missing in the area where a shadow might be cast from an object.
If it's an object, then I'm puzzled at what it might be. Some ideas are:
1. A handrail? ..not aerodynamically sound, but we know the Bunker Hill took a few hits during it's service, and perhaps the pilot was injured. Not seriously enough to go home or be grounded; but enough to cause difficulty climbing up into the cockpit. Could be the product of some inventive crew chief, to keep his pilot flying. But then, why not mount it horizontally, so it could also serve as a footstep? ..something to do with finding a sturdy mounting-point on the underlying framework perhaps?
2. A radio antenna? ..I doubt this, simply based on the time period, and it's location. Also a hazard for the pilot's clothing to get snagged on.
3. A pitot tube of some sort? ..don't think so; already has one on the port wing. Besides, how many pitot's would a pilot need? (there's a good joke in there somewhere).
4. Something the pilot is lowering by a string, for one of the deck crew? And what is the pilot looking at? ..something on the end of a string, or the launch officer? At the proper angle, it could be a carton of cigarretes I suppose; but then, I have a hard time believing that a pilot is going to either carry gifts out to the flight deck, or stash cartons of smokes in the cockpit. And good luck keeping them dry if they have to ditch.
What's more puzzling, especially if it's a stencil, is that it does not appear to be contoured with the curvature of the fuselage. (hence the radio antenna theory, previously mentioned).
And a final thought; I don't have my pixel-stick handy, but the item in question appears to be very near centered in the photo. Could it be some sort of catalogue-marking, a numeral '1' perhaps, that was applied during the photo's development process?
Although if I had to make a choice, I'd go with the stencil theory. Simply because of the location on the fuselage. Quite an illusion though. -
I'm inclined to agree with the stencil theory, simply because of the placement. What's more interesting to me is the exhaust over the wing root- this must be one of the early -4's that made it out to the pacific before the war ended!
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It is s stencil for the footsteps. When looking down from the cockpit, the curvature of the fuselage makes it impossible to see where the lower footstep is located. The white line shows the pilot exactly where to put his toes.
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Yes it is the stencil, thanks guys.
Anyway two this week taken prewar.
Nakajima (A4N1) Type 95
Here's a link, just go's too prove that profiles are so often wrong, as the artist did not have the bottom photo.
http://surfcity.kund.dalnet.se/a4n1.htm
Regards Duggy
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First - My apologies the photo of the F4U-4 is not on CV-17, but its a VBF-82 bird, preparing to take off from the deck of USS Randolph (CV-15) for the drill grounds,the pilot was Bud Geer.
So this weeks photo.
F4U-1 Corsair, BuNo 02172, parked at the Vought plant in Stratford, CT in 1942.
Regards Duggy
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Yes it is and unfortunately this one 'V' seems the only known depicted of a 274th Sqn Hurri with the flash-roundel type C. I have never seen pics of this unit's other hurris dated between summer 1942 and april 1943.
ATB
Armin -
Good shot. Looks to be rather a new arrival to the front this Hurri; the paint still fresh and glossy.
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