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Go to post #13, fourth photo down.I haven't figured' out how zoom the picture. Can you close in on the stern?
Looks rather like an SNJ with outer wing panels removed.It looks a great deal like a North American BT-14 - and the one in front of it (due left in photo) looks odd as well.
You on a PC or a mobile (phone/iPad)?Thanks GrauGeist. Still hard for me to see. I'm starting to all the planes mentioned whether they are there or not.
Anyway, hope this helps.
Agree on the SNJ to the left, but look at the cowl-ring on the aircraft to the right - that has me baffled. That's why I thought it might be a BT-9/early BT-14 or something similar.Good spotting, looks like an SNJ as Wes pointed out, with that pointed fin/rudder and bulges in the wing leading edge where it meets the fuselage.
The Director of Maintenance who hired me for the commuter airline job, and his brother, the Airport Manager had a Vultee "Vibrator" whose cowling was hinged at the top, latched at the bottom and secured with a couple dzus fasteners on each side. For quick engine access you would pop the dzuses, unlatch the lower clasp, open it like a clamshell, and lift it up and back, perching it on the forward fuselage just aft of the engine. It then looked rather like an old fashioned "speed ring" cowling slid backward. You suppose that's our mystery bird on the portside fantail?Yup, definitely something odd going on. I think it is an SBD, the tail and wing surfaces are the same as the other aircraft (bar the SNJ) but the cowl is some trickery - perhaps the cowls are open? It does appear overly large compared to the aircraft further forward...
You suppose that's our mystery bird on the portside fantail?
Take another look. Use your magnifying glass. The wing aligns with the upper/lower fuselage camouflage color line: ergo mid wing, not low wing. There appears to be a landing gear well in the lower fuselage below and just forward of the wing leading edge. The aft fuselage is stubby with pronounced taper, making the stabilizers look oversized for the aircraft, and the engine cowling appears about right size for a nine cylinder radial layout, not sharply tapered forward for the seven cylinder frontal format of the F4F. My money is on the FM2 with the two stage Wright 1820. Rivet counters of the world, arise! You have nothing to lose but the fog on your lenses!Looking closely at the second and third enlargement Wojtek posted, I think the aircraft with the darkened Star and Bars is a F6F. It's not an Avenger because it's not as big and it's not an F4F because the undercarriage is in the wing stub and the hori stab is too big. Dunno why the stars were a dark shade on the other aircraft tho.
My money is still on the F6F, Wes. The undercarriage leg is on the stub wing, you can see the leg starting at the point of the wing fold, also, look at the hori stab, it's too big to be an FM-2, there's an F4F for comparison nearby, so get out that lens cleaner, my man.My money is on the FM2 with the two stage Wright 1820. Rivet counters of the world, arise! You have nothing to lose but the fog on your lenses!
Perhaps a trick of lighting/shadow and the cowl is reflecting daylight?Agree on the SNJ to the left, but look at the cowl-ring on the aircraft to the right - that has me baffled. That's why I thought it might be a BT-9/early BT-14 or something similar.
Gawd, shoe leather tastes awful! We were talking about different planes. I was talking about the one you labeled F4F just now, as I thought that was the one you had earlier accused of being a Hellcat. The folded wing F6F I had already passed over as just another Avenger. I'm still voting for the Wilcat as an FM2, as that cowling still looks too fat for a Pratt 1830.My money is still on the F6F, Wes. The undercarriage leg is on the stub wing, you can see the leg starting at the point of the wing fold, also, look at the hori stab, it's too big to be an FM-2, there's an F4F for comparison nearby, so get out that lens cleaner, my man.
I'm still voting for the Wilcat as an FM2, as that cowling still looks too fat for a Pratt 1830.
Okay, F4F. That fat cowling must be an optical or perspective illusion.You mean I did all that work for nothing?! Dunno, looking at the fin shape, it's too squat to be an FM-2.
F4F.
FM-2, although captioned F4F, it is an FM-2.
Okay, F4F. That fat cowling must be an optical or perspective illusion.