Picture of the day. (2 Viewers)

[nuuumannn]

That is a very nice installation and obviously depends on aerodynamics to keep the ski at the correct angle of attack which means a LOT of time was spent on those aerodynamics.

Compare that with the Canadian version with a complex mickey motion hydraulic trim system to achieve the same results or even the DC-3/C47 with its wing that was a pure bitch to set up and the cables to limit the angles that the ski could move when the gear was extended. And if you think that is a lot of stray cables then you are correct but all are needed.

The upside is that the Dakota skis could be retracted in flight to reduce drag and also had a raise/lower mechanism so that you could operate off both snow and gravel/tarmac/concrete on the same flight. When you land on snow you MUST lift the ski off the snow when you park (to the position shown on the near side in the photo) or the hot ski can melt the ice - and that is when your problems really start if the ice freezes again. Note the far side ski has drooped and would probably stick on ice/snow. Often the oil cooler is moved up the side of the cowling on the inboard side and and I never saw one with that box thing attached. Each Dak ski weighed over 200kg from memory and installing them was not fun. Removal was easy though.
View attachment 810032
View attachment 810034
View attachment 810035

Nice detail. I saw skis fitted to an Argentine C-47 in the museum over there, which was locally modified with a jet engine (!) to increase thrust on t/o.

TA-05 13

TA-05 14

The little jet engine, a Turbomeca Marbore.

TA-05 9

The orifice, note the extra strengthening on the hori stab.

TA-05 4

Speaking of complex skis, I used to work on these Air National Guard Hercs and the structures bay does a continuous job of overhauling these because they are so susceptible to corrosion.

_DSC9731

 

[MiTasol]

I like that jet assist. The area is naturally strong but in the wrong direction - it was capable of towing gliders but those loads are the reverse of the Mabour.

In the Canadian NWT there was virtually no corrosion on the skis so the C-130 ones must be a corrosion prone alloy like 7075 or something else must be acting as a catalyst.

 

[Greg Boeser]

I'd have thought the giant U.S. ARMY under the wings would have been painted over in early '42 though

A-20A #40-139. Assigned to 8th BS, 3rd BG(L) 8/21/1942. First combat mission 9/3/1942. Transferred to 89th BS, 3rd BG(L) 12/10/1942. Continued to fly combat missions until October 1943. Transferred to Air Depot Group for refit 10/24/1943. Later assigned to 22 Squadron RAAF as A28-38.
It was not unusual for units in forward areas to not be up to date with the latest marking schemes.