-
A few Xmas Ornaments ...
... or should I say ordnance. :)
http://i1068.photobucket.com/albums/...psxwvcox6v.jpg
Vought F4U-1C Corsair (Bureau # 57569) At the Naval Air Test Center, Patuxent River, Maryland, 31 January 1945.
This plane has eight 5-inch High-Velocity Aircraft Rockets (HVAR) under its wings and two 11.75-inch (Tiny Tim) rockets mounted below its midsection.
http://i1068.photobucket.com/albums/...pswnnr7xzz.jpg
Grumman F6F-5 Hellcat with six 5-inch High-Velocity Aircraft Rockets (HVAR) under its wings and two 11.75-inch (Tiny Tim) rockets mounted below its midsection.
Zack say a big "hello" and "Happy Holidays" to Chris for me :)
BTW what's the interest over here? Anything specific the members like to see? ...
-
-
A test P-47 Thunderbolt (serial nuimber 44-88335) with 'Zero Rail' rocket installation fitted to the wings
http://i1068.photobucket.com/albums/...psug7e04v8.jpg
http://i1068.photobucket.com/albums/...psjkqqk1zc.jpg
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
A P-51 with V-1 rocket motors slung underneath? What is the story behind that one?
-
The pictures of the rockets remind me of one of my more memorable flights as a test pilot in the Strike Ordnance branch at Patuxent River. One day the Ordnance Chief said he needed a favor from me. He had a bunch of 2.75" rockets that were reaching the end of their shelf life. If he did not expend them in the next week he would need to do a lot of extra paperwork to return them to the depot for destruction. So he asked: "Please, Lt. Eide, would you mind if we loaded up a a few rockets on an A-7 and asked you to expend them for us?" Needles to say I grudgingly agreed - no attack pilot ever turns down the chance to fire rockets.
At the preflight the next day I noted that his "few rockets" was four 19-shot pods for a total of 76 rockets. This was more than I had fired in the previous 3 years. So I launched over the Chesapeake Bay and spend the next hour firing rockets into an abandoned ship near Crisfield, MD which was our live ordnance target. I got lots of good hits; Hannibal target had dozens of more holes in it when I was done.
I had a great time. And all the fishing boats around Hannibal target seemed to enjoy the impromptu firepower demonstration.
Mike
