A brace of Piper Cubs. The left-hand one is a traditional J-3. The one on the right, I don't know. It has an electrical system, powered by a little wind-driven generator.
A T-Cart L-2. They were primarily used as artillery spotters during WW2, though there. The Germans hated them with a passion, almost as much as they hated the P-47 "Jabos". Or I think it's a L-2. The squared-off bottom of the rudder is throwing me.
A pretty early-model Cessna 140.
A racer of some kind. That's a gyrocopter behind it.
A Cessna 195 in Army paint. The Army flew them as LC-126s.
You mentioned the P-47, so I had to go look it up. Among other things I found that the P-47 had a "pressurized ignition system". I don't know what that means. Also, some of the external fuel tanks were made of paper. That does not sound like a real good idea.
ReplyDeleteCharles, they pressurized the ignition wiring to keep it from arcing at high altitudes. The use of paper to make drop tanks (actually, laminated paper and plastic) was a good idea. Drop tanks were only used once, after all. By making them of laminated paper instead of aluminum, they were not dropping salvageable metal over enemy territory. The tanks probably wouldn't have stood up to extended use, but they weren't required to.
ReplyDeleteI'm trying to imagine the mindset required to take off in an L-2 and fly into a war zone. It would be like walking onto the field of a tank battle in a 55 gallon drum, with leg holes.
ReplyDeleteHenry Fonda's movie, Battle of the Bulge, had a nice L-2 scene. Not nice for the L-2, though. Or its pilot.