OT: Dixie's BBMF stuff

[Symon]

ORIGINAL: Dixie
In the meantime, I've got a bonus quiz. What's this a picture of? And which aeroplane?

It's a picture of a hydraulic actuator. It's on one of Dixie's rebuilds.

[Dixie]

ORIGINAL: wdolson


It looks like a landing gear bay, though they are usually painted and I don't have a clue which aircraft.

Bill

It's a landing gear bay, not the Chipmunk. [;)]

By the by, our landing gear bays are painted. We try to keep the amount of bare metal to a minimum to reduce the effects/risks of corrosion. MK356 (Mk IX) is painted silver for that reason, but the aeroplane it represents was bare metal.

[rjopel]

Saw the Lancaster fly over my house just south of Peterborough this afternoon. Nice low pass, wish I wasn't driving and had my camera on me. Good looking plane.

[Dixie]

She's lovely. I'm trying to persuade the bosses that her next paint scheme needs to be a 50 sqn kite. I'm scheduled for another flight on her this week doen to Bournemouth for the air festival there.

[JeffroK]

Should get then to paint her in Commonwealth colours for a year, chase the RAAF & RCAF to pay for it!!

[Dixie]

Today's flying by BBMF didn't involve me, because I was busy looking after a visitor! [:)]

[Dixie]

This one is actually on topic as well, the RNLAF historic flight's B-25 painted to represent an aeroplane of 18 Sqn based in the Northern territories of Australia during the war.

[Dixie]

The markers represent bombing missions and recce missions as well as a confirmed kill (a duck at Duxford circa 2006)

[Dixie]

The cockpit, much smaller than the Lanc (for obvious reasons). It's accessed through a hatch in the floor and then a surprisingly long climb up to reach the seats. Access through to the bomb aimers position is through a small (in width/height) tunnel that runs under the pilot's seat. It's not the greatest for access but once you're in the nose it's roomy.

[Dixie]

Me! On the family friendly side of the bomber so I can show my Grandmother what I did [:D]

[Dixie]

I believe this is an original feature of the aeroplane. Interesting to note that North American were some 75 years ahead of their competitors when it came to crew comforts...

[Dixie]

A view rearwards from the co-pilot's seat. The aircraft is fitted with a 'ferry floor' which sits over the bomb bay and would have been used for mounting the auxiliary fuel tanks for long range transit.

[Dixie]

The rear guns, the gunner sits on (what looks and feels like) a bicycle seat. Lots of room back there though, it feels far roomier than the Lancaster's rear turret but the range of movement for the guns is a bit more limited.

[Dixie]

Access to the rear guns, another long tunnel. Certainly a different experience to the Lanc, there's more room in the gunner's positions but getting to them is awkward and getting out can't have been easy in an emergency.

[Dixie]

All in all, it's a different beast to the Lancaster and it's easy to tell it was designed for a different role and in another country. Whereas the British aeroplanes are built around the concept of putting wings onto the bomb-bay, the actual bombs on most US types almost feel like an afterthought and they've just fitted the bomb-bay in wherever there happened to be space [:D]

Definitely a good day today, it's always good to get a look around a 'new' warbird.

[Chickenboy]

Hey, Dixie-you didn't show any insignia or surface with a visible insignia. Erm...an "official national" insignia, I meant. Was this a USAAF or a RAAF plane with the Oz markings?

[Dixie]

ORIGINAL: Chickenboy

Hey, Dixie-you didn't show any insignia or surface with a visible insignia. Erm...an "official national" insignia, I meant. Was this a USAAF or a RAAF plane with the Oz markings?

She's wearing the later war Dutch flag insignia. IIRC 18 Sqn were Dutch manned and operated under RAAF control/administration.

[Dixie]

Here you go, don't say I'm not good to you.

[t001001001]

Beautiful aircrafts.

[lesley]

we have the BoBMF buzzing my hometown this week, looking forward to it.