And what country can preserve its liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as to facts, pardon and pacify them. What signify a few lives lost in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.
Monday, May 19, 2025
"U.S. Navy ordnance men prepare to load bombs on a Consolidated PBY-5A Catalina patrol plane at Adak, Aleutian Islands, Alaska." Date: spring 1943
favorite airframe? I'm the kid in the candy store with but a nickel to spend. At least a half-dozen come to immediate mind. Artistic beauty puts the F-86 in first place.
There are two cradles empty under the wing, look under the #2 engine and the left landing light. Bombs that would explode on impact with the water were used against surfaced subs while "depth bombs" were used against subs that had dived so maybe USN aircraft carried a mix of the two, I have read that RAF Sunderlands did so. In this pic the depth bombs have the long tails and that circle on the side is the hydrostatic fuze for setting the depth at which it explodes. The long pole under the wing is the dipole for the radar. Al_in_Ottawa
One of my favorite airframes of all time, it just has a very nice ascetic. The P-38 is my other favorite.
ReplyDeleteExile1981
agreed.
Deletewhat is the addition at the nose?
favorite airframe? I'm the kid in the candy store with but a nickel to spend. At least a half-dozen come to immediate mind. Artistic beauty puts the F-86 in first place.
DeleteAnon 2:28, Not sure but my guess would be where the bombadier sat.
Delete-lg
P-51 C Mustang
DeleteKinda think with the propellors spinning those bombs are not going to be loaded on that plane.
ReplyDeleteAgreed. It's already got it’s load.
DeleteMy brother, who still lives in Alaska, spent some time there while in the Air Force. He said they had a log tied to a chain for a windsock...
ReplyDeleteADAK the birthplace of the wind's
DeleteInteresting. Never seen white bombs before.
ReplyDeleteMiddle pair are US, but the ones on the right? Russian? British?
They look more like air-delivered depth charges.
DeletePBYs were ASW and SAR, mostly, not "bombers".
Helpful. Thanks.
Deletethere are bombs already on the wing racks. Aesop is correct, the ones on the right are depth charges.
ReplyDeletewasn't a day at the beach up there.
ReplyDeleteso where did they get those depth charges? From the Salvation Army? They look used....LOL
ReplyDeleteYou've never seen what salt air does to metal since ever, right?
DeleteThere are two cradles empty under the wing, look under the #2 engine and the left landing light. Bombs that would explode on impact with the water were used against surfaced subs while "depth bombs" were used against subs that had dived so maybe USN aircraft carried a mix of the two, I have read that RAF Sunderlands did so. In this pic the depth bombs have the long tails and that circle on the side is the hydrostatic fuze for setting the depth at which it explodes. The long pole under the wing is the dipole for the radar.
ReplyDeleteAl_in_Ottawa
Spent the winter of 1977-78 in Adak with the USN. Worst weather ever and I've been to Misawa & Keflavik.
ReplyDelete