Recent content by tyrodtom

  1. T

    Pictures of Cold War aircraft.

    The first B-52
  2. T

    Pictures of Cold War aircraft.

    I think it might be a cover to increase range when they're doing long range flights, when no combat is anticipated Covering that big blunt cannon muzzle with something somewhat streamlined would have to help drag wise.
  3. T

    restore 500 lb bomb from WW2

    We had stencil machines that would cut the letters in cardboard . Some shipping companies probably still use them. We used black spray paint to do the job, in the field. If it was one man doing this holding a stiff cardboard stencil with one hand, and spraycan in another, the end result isn't...
  4. T

    Training set for bomb detonator installation?

    That looks to me more like a dummy (inert) artillery shell fuse, something big like a155mm That would be behind the nose cap to set the shell off on ground contact if the timer didn't work for a air burst, used before proximity shells were common. This is just a guess. I was also worked in Army...
  5. T

    Training set for bomb detonator installation?

    Your pictures show a 3 piece set. One shows the biggest part with threads on it's outside perimeter. The others show it as smooth on the outside perimeter. Whatever it is it seems to be the diameter of the booster well in 250-2000 lb low drag bombs, Vietnam era. The 2 holes in the biggest...
  6. T

    Training set for bomb detonator installation?

    With nothing in the picture to scale it's size by, it's hard to say for sure. But the big ring could represent the fuse well in the nose of the bomb, the booster simulator screws into that, then the fuse simulator screws into that. I was a USAF munitions specialist in the late 60's, we did have...
  7. T

    The real combat history of the Ki-43

    I think we tend to give way too much credit, good or bad, to the aircraft, and ignore the human element, the pilot.
  8. T

    The real combat history of the Ki-43

    It seems to give a honest assessment of the Oscar II until you read the last sentence. Perhaps outweighing these technical advantages is the fact that American pilots can think better and quicker than the Japanese. I edited the last word. My dad and two of my uncles fought the Japanese soldier...
  9. T

    Overlord/D-Day and the Me-262

    When the Me-262 was used as a "level " bomber it failed miserably. And taking the fastest aircraft in the sky and expecting it to dive bomb is not realistic. It had no dive flaps, or dive aids of any sort, and very likely the structure wouldn't take the stress of a pull out.
  10. T

    The real combat history of the Ki-43

    On the last page of text in the book, page 88, it states the 24th Sentai on 13 nov. 44 was replaced by the 13th Sentai with 27 brand new Ki-43-IIIs. It's sometimes hard to read the book, unless you read it from front to back, but everything is dated, by month only, to get the year you usually...
  11. T

    Worst liquid-cooled, V12-powered, single-engine, single-seat, monoplane, retractable undercarriage fighters of WW2?

    It seems whenever a aircraft does bad, it always gets most of the blame. Nobody even takes time to consider the JAAF Ki27 pilots had experience from fighting in China. Of course you'd probably not judge the CAF to hardly be a tier 1 opponent, but opposing it you would certainly learn sometime...
  12. T

    Pictures of Cold War aircraft.

    La-15, so much like the Mig-15, if it wasn't for that higher mounted wing, you'd never know. Smaller and lighter than the Mig-15, with a less powerful engine.
  13. T

    Confused, Misread, or Just Plain Stupid

    I was stationed in the Army at Wildflechen Germany, my room mate and one of his friends had been stationed at Sattahip in the late 60's. They operated Army LARC's that offloaded the ships in the harbor, and took it ashore, and then by road to the airbase, evidently the dock facilities were...
  14. T

    Confused, Misread, or Just Plain Stupid

    Actually, I think you're right, it's U Tapao. Maybe. But Sattahip and U Tapao are two different places. Sattahip was the Thai naval base/port where most ,if not all, of U Tapao's supplies came in at. I was never there, but from some friends who were, they gave the impression they were very...
Back