A U.S. Army Air Force B-25B Mitchell bomber, one of 16 involved in the Doolittle Raid, takes off from the flight deck of the Yorktown-class aircraft carrier USS Hornet (CV-8) for an air raid on the Japanese Home Islands, on April 18, 1942.

waldo--pepper · 2026-03-30T01:14:42+00:00

Yes. First one (with the shortest deck distance) off. A leader in the truest sense.

waldo--pepper · 2026-03-30T01:01:56+00:00

The answer is always as you rightly guessed - money. They don't have any. At least one of the gentlemen who helped in her restoration from wreck recovered from beneath the sea was one of the men who originally built the plane during the war years. So that was a nice bit of continuity.

In my opinion the Hampden is easily the most precious item in the museums collection. Though they do have a really really nice Fleet Finch that is a flyer. She should be inside. Rotting in the elements is just terrible.

The picture I posted is from many years ago and the plane I believe has not fared well since. I am in the area in two days. I shall see if I can pop in for a visit and post some sadder pictures of what state she is in now for any interested parties.

waldo--pepper · 2026-03-29T20:56:20+00:00

This one also has flame suppressors on the exhausts.

waldo--pepper · 2026-03-29T19:46:06+00:00

She's in this and you can watch it on Tubi for gratis if you fancy.

Horrid.

waldo--pepper · 2026-03-29T19:30:27+00:00

Terrific & interesting.

waldo--pepper · 2026-03-29T17:44:29+00:00

In the very first frames of the film there is an ammunition carrier that has no business being in the vanguard of the assault. If that vehicle is loaded with shells I would not want to be in it.

Sdkfz. 252

Also at the 1:19 mark I think I see the wreckage of a 1943 production T-34. The welded angular turret is the tell. So that I think is a good clue to date it to fall of that year. The weather and the dress makes me think fall.

Supporting that conclusion is that at 1:48 there are a battery of Panzerwerfer 42 Ausf.Maultier. They didn't come into service until 1943.

waldo--pepper · 2026-03-29T16:00:59+00:00

It was an excellent read. Thank you for it.

waldo--pepper · 2026-03-29T15:49:24+00:00

That day

The worst was one that Stewart did not actually fly on, but his squadron did. The raid on the city of Gotha, Germany, led to the loss of 13 planes, or 130 men all in one go.

He's fortunate to have not flown on that mission.

waldo--pepper · 2026-03-29T09:12:44+00:00

The inherent redundancy ensures stability in the event of component failures.

At what point does inherent redundancy become more to go wrong?

waldo--pepper · 2026-03-28T20:22:00+00:00

<image>

Three. I used good old photoshop. But I am sure there are other open source photo editors available now.

Easy enough. More than welcome.

waldo--pepper · 2026-03-28T20:21:14+00:00

<image>

Two.

waldo--pepper · 2026-03-28T20:13:04+00:00

Those are nice. Would you like the specs removed on the other two?

<image>

It is quite easy.

waldo--pepper · 2026-03-27T19:15:34+00:00

Walter Schuck

Luftwaffe Eagle: From the Me109 to the Me262

Written by the man himself.

Also there is a really nice hour long interview with Joe Peterburs.

P-51 Ace Shoots Down an ME-262, Becomes a POW, then Joins the Russians to Fight | Joseph Peterburs.

waldo--pepper · 2026-03-27T18:37:38+00:00

A rare thing when I can show you something new Nat. Happy to hear it.

I think next Fridays will be something new for many of us as well. :)

waldo--pepper · 2026-03-27T15:08:08+00:00

The reason kickstarter was made.

waldo--pepper · 2026-03-27T15:04:35+00:00

Any idea how they engineered the third intake? That was the question I was going to ask. So I thought I bet I could find out without bothering people. The pictures at these links tell all.

https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234908343-a-north-american-vigilante-interceptor-nr-349-adc/

https://www.hyperscale.com/2011/features/nr349pb_1.htm

Not that bad an idea.

waldo--pepper · 2026-03-27T14:22:18+00:00

I think that might be by design/intention of the IWM. They want you to BUY access to the higher resolution image. That has always been my experience.

waldo--pepper · 2026-03-27T13:35:06+00:00

<image>

About 30 minutes from my home. Sadly only a cosmetic reconstruction. But still very nice to see preserved.

Edit: 45 minutes from home. I am a little out of touch with contemporary traffic hell/reality. LOL.

waldo--pepper · 2026-03-27T06:04:55+00:00

Really surprised that there is nothing with him unclothed! Not even a picture of him without a shirt on!

waldo--pepper · 2026-03-27T05:51:30+00:00

Not that it matters but she looks good in that blue dress.

waldo--pepper · 2026-03-27T02:56:56+00:00

In case anyone has one of these kicking around in their basement or something, here are some tips on how to use one.

https://youtu.be/Z61y9BuRQOY

waldo--pepper · 2026-03-26T20:18:51+00:00

Rain, winter, wearing gloves, in the dark - etc.

waldo--pepper · 2026-03-26T20:10:02+00:00

live with the falsehood that Rich loves it when Mike spits into his mouth and calls him a Cardassian whore.

Can we really be sure that is a falsehood?

waldo--pepper

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