Picture of the day. (28 Viewers)

[flypaper2222]

Just a gaggle of US aircraft ding airplane stuff

 

[Gnomey]

Nice shots!

 

[SaparotRob]

Good stuff.

 

[drgondog]

P-51B Arrive In The CBI Picture from Flight Journal with photo credit as given.

View attachment 897854

Great image - shows a depot mod fuse tank inst'l for P-51B-5 in CBI. Probably among the first.

 

[Viking1066]

B-24 Liberator after an airstrike on Saint-Malo, France in 1944 the net

 

[Viking1066]

1th Bomb Group, 98th Bomb Squadron Boeing B-17E Flying Fortresses operating from Espiritu Santo, New Hebrides in December 1942 the net

 

[Viking1066]

Post-war markings, this PBY-6 served in the Search And Rescue role with the US Coast Guard the net

 

[Frog]

 

[CATCH 22]

1th Bomb Group, 98th Bomb Squadron Boeing B-17E Flying Fortresses operating from Espiritu Santo, New Hebrides in December 1942 the net
View attachment 898349

Are you sure about the 1st BG.? To my knowledge the 1st Bomb. Group was part of the Chinese-American composite wing in the CBI and used B-25. It consisted of 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th bomb. squadrons.

 

[Viking1066]

Are you sure about the 1st BG.? To my knowledge the 1st Bomb. Group was part of the Chinese-American composite wing in the CBI and used B-25. It consisted of 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th bomb. squadrons.
View attachment 898464

Lost a one. 11th, hence the th, 11th, 98th BS

 

[fannum]

View attachment 898454

Solar was and is a widely diversified company, starting as an all metal aircraft manufacturer in 1927, but with slow markets in the Depression, surviving by becoming a specialty metal fabricator and contractor, especially focused on stainless steel. Come WWII, they were the natural place to turn for high temperature exhaust manifolds. Then when turbines arrived, there was an obvious product for them, and besides components, they started designing and producing their own engines, eventually concentrating on the small end of the market.
Post war, demand was weak, yet they grew producing stainless steel consumer cooking products, auto components, and even a then popular midget race car, a popular sport at the time, utilizing their tough and lightweight stainless steel.

But soon, the demand for auxiliary power units, for aircraft, remote power, cargo trucks, etc. exploded, and that became their priority. As the space program grew, Solar was the go-to provider for thousands of NASA and military rocket components.
Durability being a prime demand for industrial and farm equipment, Solar has been absorbed into International Harvester, Caterpillar, Turbomach and Sunstrand.
On a personal note of pride, my uncle for whom I'm named, RAdm Bob Mills spent 35 years in service from 1938, and having received his PhD in turbine engineering at Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich in the 1950s and becoming the US Navy's expert on shipboard gas turbines, he went into retirement as their Vice President, Chief of Engineering.
Caterpillar is focused on not just industrial equipment, but waste management, alternative energy and recycling, so he also served as advisor to San Diego and other major cities pollution initiatives.
Solar Turbines - Wikipedia