Picture of the day.

Dash119 · Mar 11, 2021

yosimitesam said:
These are actually A-36 dive bombers, the first incarnation of the P-51. They had Allision V1710 engines. With a few modifications and the insertion of a Merlin engine, you have the P-51A.

The A-36 had 6 .50 Cal machine guns, two of which were located in the cowling under the engine. These have no nose guns and appear to have four 20mm Cannon in the wings. I believe these were ordered by the British as Mustang Mk IA and were then held back by the USAAF after Pearl Harbor. The designation would be the rare P-51 or P-51-1. It was the later P-51A, which was the first fighter version ordered directly by the USAAF, that was re-engined with the Merlin to become the P-51B.

Greg Boeser · Mar 11, 2021

yosimitesam said:
Th

These are actually A-36 dive bombers, the first incarnation of the P-51. They had Allision V1710 engines. With a few modifications and the insertion of a Merlin engine, you have the P-51A.

The first incarnation of the North American NA-73 was the Mustang Mk I, built for the RAF.
P-51A still had the Allison engine.
Production Merlin Mustangs started with the P-51B.

yosimitesam · Mar 11, 2021

N4521U said:
What was the sighting distance?
Was ther more than a single bullseye?

It's was more complicated than simply bore-sighting on a single 'bullseye'. There was a whole scheme called 'harmonization' where the projectile paths converged and then diverged, beyond a certain distance. The chart below is a gun harmonization chart for a P-47 and should give you an idea of what was required.

N4521U · Mar 11, 2021

yosimitesam said:
It's was more complicated than simply bore-sighting on a single 'bullseye'. There was a whole scheme called 'harmonization' where the projectile paths converged and then diverged, beyond a certain distance. The chart below is a gun harmonization chart for a P-47 and should give you an idea of what was required.

View attachment 615807

Wow, that w a s 7 years ago. No wonder I didn't remember!

InterestING tho, thanks.

yosimitesam · Mar 11, 2021

Flightpath said:
This would be me or maybe one of you guys if we were WW2 GIs

View attachment 443270

Although I'd really be in a hangar somewhere picking up Revi gunsights and control stick tops!

Souvenir broker for his division. Known to deal only in the real stuff.

yosimitesam · Mar 11, 2021

fubar57 said:
Thinking something is up with that tractor driver David. Kinda looks mannequiny.

Geo

Glad you posted this. Whew! I thought I might have to quit drinking. Now I can have another snort. Thank you.

yosimitesam · Mar 11, 2021

nuuumannn said:
Amazing images as always. Going a few posts back, the tank in Berlin is no longer there - sadly. The Soviets had little memorials to different things all round the city and most are gone, although the Soviet War Memorial at Treptower Park still exists, with its pillars of Carrara marble robbed from the ruins of Hitlers Chancellery. If the tank is the same as the one I'm thinking of, after re-unification, a graffiti artist painted it and used it in an art installation and then I think, it was scrapped. There is a T-34 and a few other things at Karlshorst, where the 'official' surrender of the German army took place on 8 May 1945. The building is now a museum and has artefacts from the Soviet occupation in it. The T-34 is mounted on a plinth with Russian writing - it might be the same one, but I'm not sure; I'll have to dig out my Berlin photos to have a look.

I wonder who the chap is behind him? Is it Lindemann?

Looks like Halifax, to me. Was he still in the cabinet then?

yosimitesam · Mar 11, 2021

Airframes said:
That's Prof. R.V. Jones.

Jones was quite a character. You should read his 'Most Secret War', if you haven't already. One of the things about him (from the book) that makes me chuckle is that he was a very early pioneer in the use of the 'crank phone call' for personal entertainment. The book is worth reading for this hilarity alone.

yosimitesam · Mar 11, 2021

N4521U said:
Wow, that w a s 7 years ago. No wonder I didn't remember!

InterestING tho, thanks.

My New Year's Resolution was to go through the 900 pages of these photos and posts on this thread. Bored today, so some will hear voices through a time machine. I'm amazed at what I've found here. One of the most interesting 'threads' I've ever encountered on any type of forum. Addictive.