Recent content by MrSmoothie

I've been thinking about this too, having just finished "Pearl Harbor: From Infamy to Greatness" by Craig Nelson. When you consider what Taylor and Welch accomplished with two P-40C's, which only had their four wing .30's armed (shot down six as I recall), you have to wonder what might have...

I watched TP-40 "American Dream" in 2022 at Sun 'n' Fun and couldn't believe my eyes -- it was exhilarating. There is a better quality video than the one I'm linking, but it's so close up to the plane that you get no sense of the vertical airspace his maneuvers occupied. The vertical was...

Aha, just heard from somebody. It was a speaker -- "landing gear horn". Mystery solved.

Visible in most photos of the P-40E is small circle, starboard side only, just forward of the first vertical strap. The photo of the USAF Museum's example shows it clearly, as well as the cutaway drawing. Most modern "walkaround" photo essays don't show it because the canopy is slid bark. Is...

Yes, I agree. I'm working on a 73" span P-40E which will be finished as one of the Aleutian Tigers. The later tank had a flush filler cap (like you see on wings) and a "seam" around the sides. The tank is 3D printed in two parts, and hollow, which will be glued together and finished. Thanks for...

Very usefull -- that's a full res image of the diagram I had. THANK YOU!

I found this great schematic of the 52 gallon drop tank as used on P-40E's, but I'm guessing at some of the dimensions, which are not quite legible. Does anybody know the actual length and diameter?

I have -- the closest thing I found on the the 250 is this, although the fins are different. Lacking anything better, I'd use those dimensions and go by photos. http://michaelhiske.de/Allierte/USA/OrdnancePamphlets/OP1665/Part01/Chapter04/Figure015.htm This does look like a correct 1000 lb...

I'm working on a 73" span Hawker Typhoon and want to work up a 3D print file for bombs, either the 250 or 500 lb. type used by the Brits. I've found a few schematics, and little dimensional information. I like the type with the perfect cylindrical mid-section (not continuous teardrop) and...

I have just completed a 61" RC scale model of the H1 Racer, and have obsessively immersed myself in any available history of the aircraft for the last five months. I've been surprised that (as far as I can tell) nobody has written a devoted book about the aircraft (by comparison, I have two...

Pretty much the same as the B-17 until 1944. The Lancaster always had 3 powered turrets.

It has seemed to me that the only advantage of the Lanc was its superior lift capability. What would its performance have been like had it hauled the power turrets, .50 cal Brownings, and ammo carried by B-17's or B-24's? What would their reputation have been had they flown daylight precision...

That Aeroplane article (Dec. 2010) may be the best single source on Martin Baker's three fighters, with excellent photos. I referred to it constantly while making an R/C MB5 last year.

I read the Air Classics article with great interest. Aside from the first-person content, I realized it was the same author who wrote a similar article about the Northrop P-61 Black Widow that was in the first issue of Air Classics I ever got my hands on, in 1970, at age 10. Evidently Davidson...

Wow, now that's a great answer -- thanks! Now makes me wonder how long some survived, such as the two to Chanute (unless they too were used as instructional airframes, which, I suppose was most likely). I guess probably none of them ever received updated wartime markings (no red dots nor...