The Thread

[rtrapasso]

ORIGINAL: Nikademus

they look like Swordfish

iirc, they were some sort of bomber type aircraft (and i think they were standard USN), not fighters. i don't recall which kind off hand. i'll check quickly to see if i can find it ...

[rtrapasso]

Ah - this might give a clue...[:'(][:D]

[Mynok]

Ah yes, the famous WindSOC's..........

[rtrapasso]

ORIGINAL: Mynok


Ah yes, the famous WindSOC's..........

As for me calling them bomber types - well, *sometimes* they carried bombs...[8|][:'(]

[Mynok]

Yeah, like birds carry bombs. [8|]

[niceguy2005]

windsoc vaguely rings a bell. what were they? Looks to be two-seat fixed gear planes.

[Mynok]

[:D] A bad pun.....

[niceguy2005]

well, yes and that would be windsocK.

[rtrapasso]

ORIGINAL: niceguy2005

windsoc vaguely rings a bell. what were they? Looks to be two-seat fixed gear planes.

Curtis SOC-3 scout aircraft. Windsocks (besides the nice one above) hang out at control towers at airports to indicate wind direction (and to some extent, speed).

IIRC, the SOC actually was used in a combat role in the invasion of North Africa. They armed them with depth charges and dropped them with impact fuzes onto gun emplacements.[X(]

[Mynok]

They are equally useful. They both can only go in the direction the wind is blowing. [:D]

[Oliver Heindorf]

ORIGINAL: Mynok


[:D] A bad pun.....

yupp, really bad !

[:D]

[rtrapasso]

Here is the more typical airport type windsock.

i guess besides the nice play on words, these old birds were kind of prone to get blown around ...

[rtrapasso]

This on the wonderful SOC by one of her former pilots:

"The Curtiss SOC Scout-Observation biplane was first ordered by the US Navy in 1933. It was flown a year later, and 135 production versions entered service with the Navy in late 1935. Initially, it was designed as an amphibian, but was produced as an aircraft that could be fitted with floats for a seaplane or wheels for a landplane.

The Curtiss SOC was a two-seater, used as a seaplane on battleships and cruisers, to spot for the big guns and to scout beyond the horizon. The armament comprised two .30 calibre machine-guns. One of these guns was fixed and fired forward. The second was situated on a flexible mounting in the after cockpit. The SOC could also carry two small bombs under the lower wings. The maximum speed of the SOC was 162 miles per hour at sea level.

In 1941, when the US Navy began to adopt popular names for its aircraft to supplement its alpha-numeric aircraft designations, the graceful SOC seaplane was very fittingly given the name "Seagull".

In early 1942, a planned replacement for the SOC was produced by Curtiss. It was called the SO3C-1. I had the opportunity to fly it on two occasions, and I, as well as other pilots, considered it greatly underpowered. We then recommended that it not be brought into the Fleet as a replacement for the SOC. Production of it was then stopped. SOC-1, 2 and 3 models were used until late in 1945. A bona fide replacement, the SC, for Scout-Curtiss, did finally replace the SOC in late 1945, after the war was over."

The SOC could probably give a Sopwith Camel a good fight!![:D]

[niceguy2005]

Thanks Robert. I thought they might be search craft, but didn't make the connection to the Seagull.

And yes, I do know what a windsock is. [8|]

[Speedysteve]

LOL guys.

Almost bedtime for me. Night all[8D]

[niceguy2005]

ORIGINAL: rtrapasso

"The Curtiss SOC Scout-Observation biplane was first ordered by the US Navy in 1933. It was flown a year later, and 135 production versions entered service with the Navy in late 1935. Initially, it was designed as an amphibian, but was produced as an aircraft that could be fitted with floats for a seaplane or wheels for a landplane.

Interesting isn't it, how planes were designed, saw service and were retired from service with a matter of just a few years. Byt the 70's we were designing and construction AC to last decades. Of course, it now takes almost a decade to design and construct any sizeable number of planes.

[RUPD3658]

Most B-52s are old enough to have been flow by the grand-fathers of today's pilots. With the exception of the C-47, some of which are still flying today, it is hard to imagine a design being so long lived.

[RUPD3658]

Forgot to mention the Ma Duece .50 cal MG. More than 60 years old and still in service. [&o]

Nice to see that the tax payers get their money's worth some times.

[Admiral DadMan]

I surrender to The Thread. I cannot stay away...

[rtrapasso]

OK - at last! Your prize for the NAKED ANIMAL contest!

Sorry this took so long, but Photoshop Elements really doesn't like lettering very much...