Recent content by MIflyer

Indeed it does. And USAAF pilots reported that the Jug was the best rolling airplane they had ever flown. I wonder how roll rates for the P-47 and F6F compared. 25,000 ft and above the P-47 could handle the FW-190 with relative ease. The FW-190 was a hit and run airplane, not a dogfighter.

The Weather Guessers annoyed me. Forecast for today was fog in the morning followed by sunny skis and temps in the low 90's and no mention of rain. "Okay," thought I, "A fine day to wash and dry laundry." So I did so. Forecast was changed this morning to a 10% chance of rain. I hung the...

I think everyone would agree that it would have made a damn sight better fighter bomber for Overlord than any Spit or for that matter, the Typhoon. Not as good as battling BF-109's at 30,000 ft, but the primary need for Normandy was at lower altitudes. And I think that P-47/FW-190 combat...

Some time back I pointed out that the USAAF did a dogfight between a captured FW-190A and a P-47D. The Jug out turned and generally outmaneuvered the FW-190. And a US Navy pilot who had flown both F6F in combat flew a captured FW-190A and summed up his evaluation: "It's not a dogfighter."

Well, sure enough, here is the N6 gun camera with the rectangular right angle lens.

Boeing 314 Pan Am Clipper Flight Deck. Do you suppose one of those guys is Gene Roddenberry?

By the way, the other piece of equipment in the photo I posted, the item with the red caps, is an oxygen mask regulator originally used in a Canadian Sabre. That particular design was used in numerous USAAF WW2 and postwar aircraft and was copied directly from captured German Luftwaffe units...

One version of the gun camera similar to the picture I posted had the lens go through a 90 degree turn and I believe that one used a square lens. This would have changed the mounting in the airplane, possibly to aid in getting the film cartridge out.

You can download a copy of the Spit 21 pilot's notes here: http://aviationarchives.blogspot.com/

The gun camera looked similar to this one.

And the BF-108.

Here are some scans from the book Tigers Over China showing details of the Flying Tiger's Hawk 81A gunsights that I had not seen before. I've never seen gunsights like these before. I assumed they only had the ring-and-bead type.

I got a letter from my home insurance company. They are not renewing my policy. Well, good! I will just go without. Cost had tripled over the past few years. House was paid off decades ago. Liability lawsuits can be handled with the proper application of lead and brass. Screw'em!