Picture of the Day - Miscellaneous

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Beriev MBR-3 captured by Finnish troops February 1943 WIKI
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I found some pretty detailed information about this airplane in Zablotsky and Salnikov's book on the MBR-2.
This MBR-2-M-34 (serial number 3136) was captured on February 16, 1942 on the Svir River during a ground (counter-?) offensive. The aircraft was listed in LeLv12 as VV-185. It had no Finnish swastikas painted on it (only red stars were covered with paint), just yellow stripes and flight number NA-2 (only on the starboard side). The Finns flew this plane for less than 9 hours, and it was used for bombing and leafleting. On November 4, 1943 it was sent for repair, but due to lack of spare parts for the engine and heavy wear and tear it was decommissioned on November 30, 1943.
 
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Junkers Ju 87B Picchiatelli RA 97 Gruppo 239Sa Lonate Pozzolo Lombardy prior to the Albania campaign 1940 ASBIZ
Junkers Ju 87B Picchiatelli RA 97 Gruppo 239Sa Lonate Pozzolo Lombardy prior to the Albania ca...png
 
Ground crew appears to be checking if pilots undies need changing before the trip to the O Club.
Yeah, that's what I thought, too. Of course with any aircraft the first priority of a pilot when he gets on the ground is taking a piss.

Back in the 70's a friend of mine, a NASA employee, worked a deal with a couple of airline pilots to buy a T-6 from the Haitian Air Force. The airline pilots would pay for it and he would go pick it up. And after a week or so of working on the airplane down in Haiti he was ready to head home. All went well, and he penetrated the Air Defense Identification Zone with no problem and made proper contact with ATC. But when he landed at Opa Locka Airport he realized that his worst fears about the dessicated old tailwheel tire had been realized and it had disintegrated. He told the tower he was going to have to pull off onto the grass down near the end of the runway, to keep the tailwheel from being ground down to nothing.

He got out, stood on the wing trailing edge and immediately unzipped his pants and let fly. At that moment multiple vehicles loaded with what appeared to be Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles enthusiasts pulled up next to the airplane, began brandishing automatic weapons and barking orders. "Hanzup! Don't Move! Who are you? Shaddup! Let's see your ID! Don't move!" This all while my friend was trying to take a leak. He asked if he could put things away and get zipped up first. Eventually he was allowed to produce his passport, which, because he was a NASA employee, had a red cover of a Federal Government passport.

At that point the Ninja Turtles put 2 and 2 together and got the obvious answer, 22:

1. Unmarked Military Airplane
2. Federal Government Passport..
22. YIKES! We just jumped the CIA! Let's get outa here!

Leaving him there with no way to get to a place where he could buy a new tailwheel tire.
 

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