Picture of the day. (4 Viewers)

[special ed]

SOC Seagull flies over Wotje Atoll during the attack on the Japanese airfield February 1942 REDD
View attachment 844726

Note the SOC has red center insignia and red/ white tail stripes.

 

[Viking1066]

Hispano HA-1112-M1L Buchon "C.4K-64" Spanish AF January 1968 AIRH

 

[syscom3]

Ground crew prepare an XP-55 for a test flight, 10 July 1943

 

[syscom3]

Members of the Home Guard and local workers examine the wreckage of a Messerschmitt Bf 109 of the German Luftwaffe,
which was shot down in flames over the south-east of England, during the Battle of Britain, 29th August 1940. The pilot
bailed out by parachute.

 

[syscom3]

Whitley bomber crews attend a briefing before a raid over Germany, 29 August 1940.

 

[MIflyer]

Wheeler Field, HI May 1941

 

[MIflyer]

Whitley bomber crews attend a briefing before a raid over Germany, 29 August 1940.

I can never get over the fact that RAF crews at that time flew on combat missions while wearing ties. One RAF fighter pilot said that the tie was essential to ensure you were strangled if you had to bail out. I had to wear a tie during the winter months while I was at the Pentagon, and hated it.

 

[Lancero99]

A combat air patrol Mitsubishi A6M5 Model 52 Zero fighter belonging to the carrier Jun'yō's air group takes off during the Battle of Philippine of Sea, June 1944.

 

[Lancero99]

Another rare pic of the carrier Jun'yō's Mitsubishi A6M5 Model 52 Zero fighters having their engines run as they prepare to launch

 

[Viking1066]

A group of E13A1s with 250 kg bombs from the "special attack" unit, "Kotohira Suishin-tai", created on the basis of the former "Takuma" Kokutai, before a combat sortie ALTH

 

[Viking1066]

Crew of the 81st Sentai pose in front of a Ki-46-III type 100 model REDD

 

[Viking1066]

A Ki-27 of Rikugun Koku Shikan Gakko at Toyooka in Saitama prefecture 1940 'Ruri' KEGO

 

[Viking1066]

Aichi E13A1 in French Indochina ALTH

 

[MiTasol]

Crew of the 81st Sentai pose in front of a Ki-46-III type 100 model REDD
View attachment 844849

That photo clearly shows the glass smooth finish on the nose. Unlike the sole remaining example.

 

[Lancero99]

A pair of Imperial Japanese Navy Kawanishi H8K2 Model 12 "Emily" Type 2 Flying boats of the 851st Kōkūtai flying in formation over the Andaman Islands, early 1944.

 

[Viking1066]

Kawanishi E7K1 Navy Type 94 Reconnaissance Seaplane Model 1 belonging to the cruiser Ashigara 1938 The plane wears a Houkoku-go donation with the number 213 WWJA

 

[Zippythehog]

Kawanishi E7K1 Navy Type 94 Reconnaissance Seaplane Model 1 belonging to the cruiser Ashigara 1938 The plane wears a Houkoku-go donation with the number 213 WWJA
View attachment 844901

At first glance, I thought it was in flight and that the crew member on the wing was engaged in some crazy semaphore exercise.
Lol!

 

[cammerjeff]

Kawanishi E7K1 Navy Type 94 Reconnaissance Seaplane Model 1 belonging to the cruiser Ashigara 1938 The plane wears a Houkoku-go donation with the number 213 WWJA
View attachment 844901

I don't know why but I have a strange fascination with W-12 engines, and throw in 3 exhaust manifolds that exit forward, and I just can't help but like it!

 

[Zippythehog]

I don't know why but I have a strange fascination with W-12 engines, and throw in 3 exhaust manifolds that exit forward, and I just can't help but like it!

'Taint natural

 

[MiTasol]

Those early W engines were popular as the technology had not evolved enough to make crankshafts and crank cases that did not fail on "high" powered V12s.