User Panel
super cool
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I learn so much here.
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Thanks, I'm learning too
Hamilton Standard plant assembling their two position variable pitch propellers that briefly dominated the world, 1940 Attached File Attached File Comparing the photos above you'll see that the hydraulic cylinder on top of the hub and counterweights attached to the blades have changed positions, and you might notice the blade pitch has changed a little. Like the first photo, when the propeller is spinning centrifugal force on the disc shaped counterweights force them outwards, which causes the blades to rotate to a coarse pitch. There's a cam between the counterweights and the hydraulic cylinder, which the pilot can pressurize with engine oil. When pressurized the cylinder extends and the cam forces the counterweights back in which rotates the props to fine pitch, like the second photo. Counterweights out, cylinder is relaxed, coarse pitch Attached File Cylinder extended, counterweights forced in, fine pitch Attached File The counterweight variable pitch prop has the advantage of being relatively simple, but it has just the two positions, there was no way to set an intermediate position. That left a lot of efficiency at intermediate pitches unrealized, increasingly so as the difference between min and max aircraft speed increased dramatically. |
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1938 saw the introduction of the next generation of Hamilton Standard propeller, the Hydromatic, which shared basic concepts with its predecessor but was much more complex and expensive to manufacture. Nevertheless performance and safety advantages were compelling and the Hydromatic became the most common propeller of US frontline combat aircraft during the war. Hamilton Standard and its three US licensees (appliance manufacturers Frigidaire and Nash-Kelvinator and typewriter and 1911 manufacturer Remington-Rand) shipped more than 530,000 complete Hydromatic propeller assemblies during the war. Additionally they produced many spare parts and a minimum of 86,000 spare blades, and those are like as not grossly undercounted. De Havilland Propellers, which was established in 1935 as a division of the British aircraft manufacturer when they acquired the license to manufacture then state of the art Hamilton Standard two position variables, also acquired the license to manufacture Hydromatics and equipped much of the RAF with them.
The Hydromatic made the two position variable obsolete in combat by giving the pilot both manual and "constant speed" automatic control over his exact prop pitch, which improved any aircraft's performance remarkably and introduced several revolutionary safety features (this graphic might be based on an early P-47, I'm not sure, regardless you get the general idea) Attached File The Hydromatic hydraulic cylinder is easily identified (here painted red, F4F Wildcat) Attached File Extremely simplified diagram. The cam has greater range of motion than the old variable and is no longer exposed (having actually been moved inside the hydraulic cylinder, not in between as depicted). Engine oil is fed into the hydraulic cylinder as before, but now there's also back pressure from engine oil fed into the other side of the cylinder by a governor mounted on the engine. Balancing the two forces locks the piston which locks the cam which locks the blades at any pitch, while reducing or increasing oil pressure from the governor moves the piston which rotates the cam which rotates the blades Attached File Non-simplified cutaway is remarkably unsimple. The governor, at top left, is a hydraulic pump powered by the engine's reduction gear and also uses that to sense RPM. The governor increases or decreases hydraulic pressure to change the prop pitch as required to maintain steady RPM as set by the pilot. Attached File The base of the blade got more expensive Attached File So did the hub Attached File Attached File If you have to ask what the cam and hydraulic cylinder assembly cost you couldn't afford one Attached File |
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530,000 American made cams plus spares
Attached File Attached File Rough forged spiders Attached File "Electro limit gauge" QC station checking finished spider tolerances. Apparently spring loaded pins close a circuit and illuminate the warning board when over or under tolerance Attached File Assembling a Hydromatic Attached File De Havilland's manufacturing process for the Hydromatic was necessarily similar to Hamilton-Standard's, fortunately I found a short 1940 documentary of DH's Hydromatic factory that captures many of HS's manufacturing steps on film Video from the Past [19] - Airscrew Manufacturing (1940) |
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I work a job where I get to see alot of old family photos. Ill try and start posting some of the various ones we scan in.
Below is a friend of mine who was stationed in Europe after ww2. Attached File Attached File Attached File Attached File Attached File |
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The Hydromatic was the first "feathering" propeller, a major safety improvement. When the propeller stops in flight it stops producing thrust and instead only a lot of drag when left at its usual pitch. Letting the prop "windmill" without power doesn't eliminate all drag and the vibration in the engine could get violent enough to rip the engine off of the aircraft. The Hydromatic range of pitch control meant that for the first time the prop could be turned from broad side on to edge on to the direction of travel, all but eliminating drag. The practical result was that a transport or bomber with one or more engines broken down or shot out that would have crashed in enemy territory or at sea with any other prop now had a good chance to return to base and land intact.
First public demonstration of feathering in 1938, DC-3. The Hydromatic was credited with a significant reduction in the civilian airline accident rate Attached File Attached File B-24 heading home with one smoking (bottom right) and one feathered (top left) Attached File Attached File RAF Lancasters were equipped with 13' DH Hydromatics, here one boldly demonstrates them with a low pass while feathering 3 engines simultaneously Attached File Distinctive prop hub found at an old Lancaster crash site in North Wales Attached File After the war the Hydromatic was taken another step further, with propellers that would rotate blades beyond feathered and into a reversed position to provide braking reverse thrust to reduce stopping distance during landing for multi-engine civilian planes. First unit installed in 1946. |
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Originally Posted By Mal_means_bad: Telescope, M6 https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/172926/37mm_gun_optic_jpg-2624652.JPG https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/172926/37mm_optics_jpg-2624657.JPG Zero magnification, etched reticle. The reticle was illuminated through a tiny porthole by a flashlight lamp which was connected to two batteries in the tool case mounted on the shield https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/172926/37mm_reticle_jpg-2624653.JPG https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/172926/37mm_reticle_3_jpg-2624681.JPG This is what a similar Telescope, M21 75mm tank gun reticle looks like when illuminated https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/172926/IMG_0121_JPG-2053313.JPG Scope mount M19, which angles the scope to keep it parallel to the gun barrel as elevation varies https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/172926/37mm_scope_mount_jpg-2624655.JPG View Quote Thanks. I was unaware of the 37 mm AT gun having an optical sight. |
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#53 says, "Take 22 mg absorbed Vit C per lb plus 1 gram Chaga daily. Don't forget 2000iu Vit D-3 & K-2, 30 mg Zinc and 2 mg Cu."
Unfettered with the formalities of an economics education but well read in monetary history. |
Originally Posted By Riter: Originally Posted By Mal_means_bad: Telescope, M6 https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/172926/37mm_gun_optic_jpg-2624652.JPG https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/172926/37mm_optics_jpg-2624657.JPG Zero magnification, etched reticle. The reticle was illuminated through a tiny porthole by a flashlight lamp which was connected to two batteries in the tool case mounted on the shield https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/172926/37mm_reticle_jpg-2624653.JPG https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/172926/37mm_reticle_3_jpg-2624681.JPG This is what a similar Telescope, M21 75mm tank gun reticle looks like when illuminated https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/172926/IMG_0121_JPG-2053313.JPG Scope mount M19, which angles the scope to keep it parallel to the gun barrel as elevation varies https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/172926/37mm_scope_mount_jpg-2624655.JPG View Quote Thanks. I was unaware of the 37 mm AT gun having an optical sight. View Quote The gun commander was also issued the Binocular M3 type EE to spot and range targets and spot the fall of shot and correct aim, a slight modification of standard pre and early war US M3 field binoculars. Attached File Standard M3 binoculars had a reticle etched with horizontal mils for adjusting crew served weapon fire left or right and vertical ranging tics for providing infantry with artificial aim points for indirect fire, scaled for the ballistics of the 30-06 Springfield and Garand rifles and Browning MG. (I have some Japanese made commercial binoculars from the 1960's or so that are almost identical to these, less the reticle, they seem to have been produced in large numbers under multiple brand names post war) Attached File Attached File Original M3 reticle with 30-06 indirect fire ranging tics Attached File Here's a summary of the indirect fire procedure written better than I can, found here https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/630490-m3-binocular-reticle-explanation/ "The vertical scale on the right is graduated to 2,000 yards, read top to bottom. This was used to determine the proper sight setting for .30-06 caliber weapons. The method is complicated, and the scale is not useful unless intending to utilize indirect rifle or machine gun fire. I will detail it in the last paragraph. The horizontal line on the bottom is marked in 10 mil increments, 1=10, 2=20, etc., to determine adjustment for direct fire from larger weapons such as mortars, rocket launchers, tanks, artillery, etc. The two horizontal lines in the middle above the bottom line are 5 mils apart, and are used as a 'crosshair' or a reference point for placing over the target. The scale on the left is 5 mil increments to adjust indirect fire vertically. Infantry would not have used the binoculars in place of the sights on their rifle, the 2,000 yard scale was used to determine the proper sight setting for infantry weapons to fire on a target that cannot be seen clearly at long ranges. The scale directly coincides with the impact point of a .30-06 bullet accounting for the parabolic arc of the bullets flightpath at a known distance. (There is a separate formula for determining distance/size of target/mils, I will post that separately.) Say you are ahead of your infantry platoon and observing a machine gun nest in WWII. Your platoon is 900yds from the nest, but cannot see it. How can they fire on a target they cannot see? By using the 2,000 yard Eames Scale (that is what it is called). You take the distance your platoon is from the target nest, 900yds, and put that tick mark on the scale directly on top of the target. From there, look up and down the scale and find an object which is visible to the platoon, let's say the base of a tree on the 600yd tick, and have the platoon set their rifles to 600yds and fire at the base of the tree. They are firing at an artificial target. Due to the parabolic arc of the bullet, even though they are aiming at the tree with 600yds set on their rifles, the bullet will hit the target machine gun nest at 900yds." Binocular M3 type EE reticle example, similar but with ranging tics scaled for 37mm ballistics; the gun commander has observed a row of heads of enemy infantry sticking up over the top of a trench 900 yards away, beyond the lip of an intervening ridge. He estimates this is their position relative to the gun, hidden by the ridge, and holds the 900yd tic on the center of their position. He doesn't want to move the gun to the lip of the ridge and expose it to enemy fire in order to aim directly, so he looks up and down the scale to find an artificial aiming point visible to the gunner. He directs the gunner to set his range for 1800 (which is not the actual range) and hold on the bottom fence wire (not the actual target), starting 10 mils right of the bottom of that middle fence post, walk your fire back and forth 20 mils left and right. Attached File The indirect fire ranging tics disappeared from US binoculars during the war, perhaps phased out when experience found it rarely used and training was sharply abbreviated Attached File There was a detailed indirect MG fire thread here recently: https://www.ar15.com/forums/General/The-Lost-Art-of-Machinegunnery-/5-1395935/?page=1 |
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Unlike most Hurricanes, RCAF night fighters (see exhaust flame glare shields just forward of the cockpit) were equipped with Hydromatics
Attached File Attached File Experimental ski Hurricane Attached File Attached File Taxiing accident January 1943 Attached File Attached File |
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In 1940/41 Britain bought 600+ scoped and silenced Winchester Model 74 semi-auto .22's (front row left) as close range sniper rifles for Auxiliary Units, organized by the SOE as stay behind guerrillas in the event of invasion
Attached File Edit: scanned page below is from "OSS Special Weapons and Equipment: Spy Devices of WWII" by Keith Melton, said to be a reproduction of the original SOE manual found in British Archives, text thought to be genuine but illustrations thought to be modern (Thanks Riter) Attached File Edit: Model 74 in the Imperial War Museum https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/30029779 Attached File |
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Originally Posted By dedreckon: https://www.worldwarphotos.info/wp-content/gallery/usa/pacific/guam/Japanese_machine_guns_and_Rifles.jpg Captured Japanese machine guns and Rifles (I see a Garand so not all Japanese. Knee mortar) View Quote Most of that stuff looks to be American. |
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Originally Posted By Dracster: Most of that stuff looks to be American. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Originally Posted By Dracster: Originally Posted By dedreckon: https://www.worldwarphotos.info/wp-content/gallery/usa/pacific/guam/Japanese_machine_guns_and_Rifles.jpg Captured Japanese machine guns and Rifles (I see a Garand so not all Japanese. Knee mortar) Most of that stuff looks to be American. I've been on projects that involved digging up old WWII dumpsites on Guam and Saipan and most had mixed US/Japanese stuff. |
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Don't ever become a pessimist... a pessimist is correct oftener than an optimist, but an optimist has more fun, and neither can stop the march of events.
Robert A. Heinlein |
Originally Posted By Mal_means_bad: In 1940/41 Britain bought 600+ scoped and silenced Winchester Model 74 semi-auto .22's (front row left) as close range sniper rifles for Auxiliary Units, organized by the SOE as stay behind guerrillas in the event of invasion https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/172926/Home_guard_Winchester_Model_74_with_a_Pa-2714686.JPG https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/172926/winchester-mod-74-22-semi-auto-with-park-2714696.JPG View Quote That’s pretty cool. Of course, they probably all ended up locked up from being put on safety after being decocked. |
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RAF Lockheed Venturas from No. 1 Operational Training Unit practice flight with feathered Hydromatic props
Attached File "24's Get Back" Lots of B-24 feathered prop flight and landings, including two feathered on the same side. Includes advice like using crew parachutes to slow the aircraft if the brakes are out, and shooting out your own main gear tire on one side if the enemy has shot out the other side Failed To Load Title Attached File B-29 with bird plug, Hydromatic with rubber "cuffs", which turned the rounded shanks into cooling fans Attached File |
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Douglas Aircraft Company Plant, Long Beach California
Attached File Attached File Miss Annette del Sur publicizing a salvage campaign at Douglas Attached File Attached File |
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Originally Posted By Mal_means_bad: Douglas Aircraft Company Plant, Long Beach California https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/172926/Women_at_work_on_C-47_Douglas_cargo_tran-2718219.JPG https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/172926/c-47_hydromatic_1942_Douglas_plant_jpg-2718215.JPG Miss Annette del Sur publicizing a salvage campaign at Douglas https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/172926/Annette_del_Sur_publicizing_salvage_camp-2718223.JPG https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/172926/Annette_del_Sur_publicizes_a_salvage_cam-2718224.JPG View Quote My Mom looked a lot like that lady when she was that age. |
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z - Deplorable Neanderthal
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Maintainers study intimidating cutaway model. The Hydromatic was much more complex than earlier propellers
Attached File Prop replacement A-frame on an English airbase Attached File B-17 Hydromatic overhaul, primitive airstrip in the New Hebrides Attached File Note the carry handle threaded onto the hydraulic dome Attached File Servicing a De Havilland Hydromatic on a Spitfire, dome off and oil all over the place, 1944 New Guinea Attached File B-17 propeller installation B-17 PROPELLER INSTALLATION WWII U.S. ARMY AIR FORCES TRAINING FILM FLYING FORTRESS 92464 |
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The Hydromatic was considered highly reliable, but they could come apart from battle damage or experience overspeed, a failure of pitch control that causes the prop to turn to fine and rotate at increasing RPM until coming apart, or tearing the engine apart. The propeller would then depart the aircraft violently, sometimes rejoining the aircraft an instant later and tearing into it.
Blown off by flak hit Attached File Attached File Overspeed propeller on takeoff hit the cockpit and pinwheeled over, breaking the pilot's wrist Attached File Propeller severed the pilot's leg Attached File After bombing Tokyo B-29 Holy Joe flew 17 hours back to Saipan with two engines out on the same side. A propeller came apart and slashed the fuselage badly and speed fell to 150 knots. During a crash landing the half severed nose was twisted off of the rest of the aircraft. Remarkably there were only a few minor injuries among the crew, but one man was badly injured on the ground and another killed Attached File Attached File |
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My uncle flew B-17s, said the engines were very reliable. Later he flew DC-3s that used the 1820 engine.
I talked to a B-17 mechanic, he agreed but said the props gave some trouble. |
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this is the most interesting thread ARFCOM has ever had
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Originally Posted By Mal_means_bad: You're welcome. The gun commander was also issued the Binocular M3 type EE to spot and range targets and spot the fall of shot and correct aim, a slight modification of standard pre and early war US M3 field binoculars. https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/172926/Georgia_Guardsmen_man_a_37mm_anti-tank_g-2711834.JPG Standard M3 binoculars had a reticle etched with horizontal mils for adjusting crew served weapon fire left or right and vertical ranging tics for providing infantry with artificial aim points for indirect fire, scaled for the ballistics of the 30-06 Springfield and Garand rifles and Browning MG. (I have some Japanese made commercial binoculars from the 1960's or so that are almost identical to these, less the reticle, they seem to have been produced in large numbers under multiple brand names post war) https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/172926/37mm_binocs_M3_jpg-2711839.JPG https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/172926/binocs_m3_1_jpg-2711795.JPG Original M3 reticle with 30-06 indirect fire ranging tics https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/172926/binocs_reticle_6_jpg-2712310.JPG Here's a summary of the indirect fire procedure written better than I can, found here https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/630490-m3-binocular-reticle-explanation/ "The vertical scale on the right is graduated to 2,000 yards, read top to bottom. This was used to determine the proper sight setting for .30-06 caliber weapons. The method is complicated, and the scale is not useful unless intending to utilize indirect rifle or machine gun fire. I will detail it in the last paragraph. The horizontal line on the bottom is marked in 10 mil increments, 1=10, 2=20, etc., to determine adjustment for direct fire from larger weapons such as mortars, rocket launchers, tanks, artillery, etc. The two horizontal lines in the middle above the bottom line are 5 mils apart, and are used as a 'crosshair' or a reference point for placing over the target. The scale on the left is 5 mil increments to adjust indirect fire vertically. Infantry would not have used the binoculars in place of the sights on their rifle, the 2,000 yard scale was used to determine the proper sight setting for infantry weapons to fire on a target that cannot be seen clearly at long ranges. The scale directly coincides with the impact point of a .30-06 bullet accounting for the parabolic arc of the bullets flightpath at a known distance. (There is a separate formula for determining distance/size of target/mils, I will post that separately.) Say you are ahead of your infantry platoon and observing a machine gun nest in WWII. Your platoon is 900yds from the nest, but cannot see it. How can they fire on a target they cannot see? By using the 2,000 yard Eames Scale (that is what it is called). You take the distance your platoon is from the target nest, 900yds, and put that tick mark on the scale directly on top of the target. From there, look up and down the scale and find an object which is visible to the platoon, let's say the base of a tree on the 600yd tick, and have the platoon set their rifles to 600yds and fire at the base of the tree. They are firing at an artificial target. Due to the parabolic arc of the bullet, even though they are aiming at the tree with 600yds set on their rifles, the bullet will hit the target machine gun nest at 900yds." Binocular M3 type EE reticle example, similar but with ranging tics scaled for 37mm ballistics; the gun commander has observed a row of heads of enemy infantry sticking up over the top of a trench 900 yards away, beyond the lip of an intervening ridge. He estimates this is their position relative to the gun, hidden by the ridge, and holds the 900yd tic on the center of their position. He doesn't want to move the gun to the lip of the ridge and expose it to enemy fire in order to aim directly, so he looks up and down the scale to find an artificial aiming point visible to the gunner. He directs the gunner to set his range for 1800 (which is not the actual range) and hold on the bottom fence wire (not the actual target), starting 10 mils right of the bottom of that middle fence post, walk your fire back and forth 20 mils left and right. https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/172926/binoc_ee_2_jpg-2711815.JPG The indirect fire ranging tics disappeared from US binoculars during the war, perhaps phased out when experience found it rarely used and training was sharply abbreviated https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/172926/binocs_ee_2_jpg-2711854.JPG There was a detailed indirect MG fire thread here recently: https://www.ar15.com/forums/General/The-Lost-Art-of-Machinegunnery-/5-1395935/?page=1 View Quote I have a pair of those that might actually belong to the Army. 😇 |
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More propeller failure damage - of course these are the ones that made it back, surely there were some that went down with pilots killed, or controls severed, or folded in half from catastrophic fuselage structural damage.
"Ray Peters from Monticello IA was the co-pilot on this B-24, The "Fishshack" when it was hit in the no.3 engine. They couldn't feather the prop and it eventually snapped off careening into the fuselage just below Ray's feet. The ground crew had added extra steel plating to the floor of the cockpit a few days before this happened which saved Ray's feet. They landed in Belgium with two engines and no loss of life." Attached File Failed Catalina prop speared the cockpit. Don't know how bad it was for the pilot, but probably pretty bad Attached File B-17F of the 385th BG after 1943 Schweinfurt Raid Attached File B-29 damage similar to what decapitated Holy Joe, Iwo Jima Attached File Attached File Naturally there weren't a lot of single engine survivors of prop failure, but something has gone seriously awry on this P-47 for Republic test pilot Kenneth Jernstedt Attached File |
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Preceding the Variables and Hydromatics were Hamilton Standard's Ground Adjustable propellers, which could be set to fine or coarse pitch to advantage either climbing or cruising by the ground crew with the engine off, but could not be changed in flight. In WWII some US utility aircraft and trainers (notably the N3N Canary naval basic trainer) and the P-26 Peashooter fighter of 1932 vintage used them, so the Ground Adjustable just managed to see combat in WWII when Peashooters at Clark Field in the Philippines shot down several Japanese planes in the opening days of the war
Attached File Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. poses in flight school with an N3N Canary trainer Attached File Float Canary Attached File Marine Corps glider training tow Canary Attached File One of the biplane flying boats, USCG Hall PH-2 or 3 I think Attached File |
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Mal, thanks for posting these photos. I came across the photo of Bill Lee's 1911 with a bullet hole in it and felt like i had to respond with a story about that gun. My understanding is that Bill returned home to Chicago after the war bringing along that pistol as souvenir. At some point it was stolen from his or his family home (I believe from a home in Chicago). By now Bill had joined the NYPD and working to keep the streets of NYC safe. One of his partners of several years at the NYPD was a gentleman by the name of Sid. I met Sid when i was a young boy after he retired from the NYPD and moved in across the street from my family. Later in his career Sid was working at the NYPD armory near City Island when two detectives walked in with a damaged 1911 they taken from a perp and wanted to know if it could be repaired. Sid told me as soon as he saw it he knew exactly where that gun had come from. He removed the slide, gave it to the detectives and told them there was nothing he could do. He gathered up the remaining undamaged parts and sent the pistol to Colt with note explaining the circumstances. Colt rebuilt the gun sent it back to Sid whereupon Sid returned to Plt. Sgt. Lee.
After Bill passed away Sid ended up with some of Bill's things, to include that pistol and the same photo you posted here. He showed me the pistol and photo about 20 years ago. Sid has since passed away. I'm not sure where the pistol is now, but it's out there somewhere. |
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Funny that prop work on a B-17 and a C-130 is not all that different. But then again there was only a few years between them
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Originally Posted By LimeRickey: Mal, thanks for posting these photos. I came across the photo of Bill Lee's 1911 with a bullet hole in it and felt like i had to respond with a story about that gun. My understanding is that Bill returned home to Chicago after the war bringing along that pistol as souvenir. At some point it was stolen from his or his family home (I believe from a home in Chicago). By now Bill had joined the NYPD and working to keep the streets of NYC safe. One of his partners of several years at the NYPD was a gentleman by the name of Sid. I met Sid when i was a young boy after he retired from the NYPD and moved in across the street from my family. Later in his career Sid was working at the NYPD armory near City Island when two detectives walked in with a damaged 1911 they taken from a perp and wanted to know if it could be repaired. Sid told me as soon as he saw it he knew exactly where that gun had come from. He removed the slide, gave it to the detectives and told them there was nothing he could do. He gathered up the remaining undamaged parts and sent the pistol to Colt with note explaining the circumstances. Colt rebuilt the gun sent it back to Sid whereupon Sid returned to Plt. Sgt. Lee. After Bill passed away Sid ended up with some of Bill's things, to include that pistol and the same photo you posted here. He showed me the pistol and photo about 20 years ago. Sid has since passed away. I'm not sure where the pistol is now, but it's out there somewhere. View Quote Thanks for that backstory and welcome to the site. |
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KF7WNX If you want a picture of the future, imagine Clownshoes stomping on a human face—for ever.
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Originally Posted By LimeRickey: Mal, thanks for posting these photos. I came across the photo of Bill Lee's 1911 with a bullet hole in it and felt like i had to respond with a story about that gun. My understanding is that Bill returned home to Chicago after the war bringing along that pistol as souvenir. At some point it was stolen from his or his family home (I believe from a home in Chicago). By now Bill had joined the NYPD and working to keep the streets of NYC safe. One of his partners of several years at the NYPD was a gentleman by the name of Sid. I met Sid when i was a young boy after he retired from the NYPD and moved in across the street from my family. Later in his career Sid was working at the NYPD armory near City Island when two detectives walked in with a damaged 1911 they taken from a perp and wanted to know if it could be repaired. Sid told me as soon as he saw it he knew exactly where that gun had come from. He removed the slide, gave it to the detectives and told them there was nothing he could do. He gathered up the remaining undamaged parts and sent the pistol to Colt with note explaining the circumstances. Colt rebuilt the gun sent it back to Sid whereupon Sid returned to Plt. Sgt. Lee. After Bill passed away Sid ended up with some of Bill's things, to include that pistol and the same photo you posted here. He showed me the pistol and photo about 20 years ago. Sid has since passed away. I'm not sure where the pistol is now, but it's out there somewhere. View Quote @LimeRickey That's awesome! I'm sure that meant a hell of a lot to Lee. Thanks for that. Funny how these things can turn back up unexpectedly. Halifax Wireless Operator, whose chair is visible in the hole, contemplates close shave Attached File I'm not sure that USAAF or USN even bothered very much, with so many spares being produced, but bent forged aluminum propeller blades could be straightened out after an accident or crash and RAF Maintenance Command repaired them throughout the war. Looking over damaged Hydromatics, December 1941 Attached File Disassembly of a Variable Attached File May 1945, blades before and after refurb Attached File I can't find photos or a description of the actual straightening operation, perhaps roughly flattening them with a hydraulic press then careful hand work with various mallets, anvils, and templates? Somebody working at a metal shop would have a fair idea. Propeller blade repairmen take lunch at their workbench Attached File Refurbed Hydromatic parts being polished prior to reassembly in a RAF repair shop Attached File Attached File British state civilian airline BOAC flew into harm's way at times, unarmed, and had their own repair facilities Attached File |
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@Mal_means_bad
Had to take these photos for you during a recent visit to the Palm Springs Air Museum A26 and its props (I believe placard said this bird never fought) Attached File Attached File PBY5 just needs some minor work to start flying again Attached File |
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Originally Posted By Mal_means_bad: @LimeRickey That's awesome! I'm sure that meant a hell of a lot to Lee. Thanks for that. Funny how these things can turn back up unexpectedly. Halifax Wireless Operator, whose chair is visible in the hole, contemplates close shave https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/172926/Halifax_radio_operator_contemplates_prop-2728750.JPG I'm not sure that USAAF or USN even bothered very much, with so many spares being produced, but bent forged aluminum propeller blades could be straightened out after an accident or crash and RAF Maintenance Command repaired them throughout the war. Looking over damaged Hydromatics, December 1941 https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/172926/Men_repairing_damaged_aircraft_propeller-2728742.JPG Disassembly of a Variable https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/172926/Two_men_repairing_a_Royal_Air_Force_prop-2728747.JPG May 1945, blades before and after refurb https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/172926/On_the_left_are_damaged_propellers__and_-2728738.JPG I can't find photos or a description of the actual straightening operation, perhaps roughly flattening them with a hydraulic press then careful hand work with various mallets, anvils, and templates? Somebody working at a metal shop would have a fair idea. Propeller blade repairmen take lunch at their workbench https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/172926/RAF_workmen_eat_WAF_meal_on_break_from_t-2728763.JPG Refurbed Hydromatic parts being polished prior to reassembly in a RAF repair shop https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/172926/repair_shop_workers__polish_propeller_co-2728788.JPG https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/172926/British_prop_polishing_crew_jpg-2728791.JPG British state civilian airline BOAC flew into harm's way at times, unarmed, and had their own repair facilities https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/172926/Two_girl_workers_with_a_typically_war_da-2728803.JPG View Quote Bent props would have almost certainly had to have gone through some amount of heat treating and annealing after straightening, to ensure they wouldn't just shatter once they spun up the first time. When aluminum (and most metals for that matter) are plastically deformed like that there is a lot of compromise in its strength. Fixing that plastic deformation by plastically deforming again (back to the correct shape) further weakens it. To get the strength back you'd have to take the metal back through heat treatment to get the grain structure right again to ensure it has the right strength, and likely a pretty significant magnetic partical inspection to make sure there weren't cracks. My bet was by the time they got that worked out we had enough production capacity to where refurbished blades were probably kept as emergency stock or maybe even just for one time ferry use or something like that. |
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Do kids still play Cops and Robbers, or are they just taught both are equally bad and given a participation ribbon after a rousing game of scoreless Everyone's a Winner Ball? - BehindBlueI's
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Originally Posted By dedreckon: @Mal_means_bad Had to take these photos for you during a recent visit to the Palm Springs Air Museum A26 and its props (I believe placard said this bird never fought) https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/239278/20230217_155653_jpg-2729022.JPG https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/239278/20230217_155500_jpg-2729025.JPG PBY5 just needs some minor work to start flying again https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/239278/20230217_160640_jpg-2729028.JPG View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Originally Posted By dedreckon: @Mal_means_bad Had to take these photos for you during a recent visit to the Palm Springs Air Museum A26 and its props (I believe placard said this bird never fought) https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/239278/20230217_155653_jpg-2729022.JPG https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/239278/20230217_155500_jpg-2729025.JPG PBY5 just needs some minor work to start flying again https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/239278/20230217_160640_jpg-2729028.JPG Originally Posted By Deere_John_16: Bent props would have almost certainly had to have gone through some amount of heat treating and annealing after straightening, to ensure they wouldn't just shatter once they spun up the first time. When aluminum (and most metals for that matter) are plastically deformed like that there is a lot of compromise in its strength. Fixing that plastic deformation by plastically deforming again (back to the correct shape) further weakens it. To get the strength back you'd have to take the metal back through heat treatment to get the grain structure right again to ensure it has the right strength, and likely a pretty significant magnetic partical inspection to make sure there weren't cracks. My bet was by the time they got that worked out we had enough production capacity to where refurbished blades were probably kept as emergency stock or maybe even just for one time ferry use or something like that. You're absolutely right about heat treatment, I checked and they did Wiki "During World War Two, Morris Kestelman served as a full-time air-raid warden and also drew scenes of workers at an aircraft repair factory. One of these drawings was subsequently purchased by the War Artists' Advisory Committee and is now held by the Imperial War Museum." IWM art collection, "Blade Heat-treatment Cage" Attached File |
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Originally Posted By Mal_means_bad: Thanks! Interesting collection. If I were wealthy I would have a Catalina outfitted as a flying yacht - a couple of people did that in the 50's. You're absolutely right about heat treatment, I checked and they did Wiki "During World War Two, Morris Kestelman served as a full-time air-raid warden and also drew scenes of workers at an aircraft repair factory. One of these drawings was subsequently purchased by the War Artists' Advisory Committee and is now held by the Imperial War Museum." IWM art collection, "Blade Heat-treatment Cage" https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/172926/cage_jpg-2729089.JPG View Quote 😎 Somewhere out there my material science professor from 20 something years ago is happy I paid attention! |
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Do kids still play Cops and Robbers, or are they just taught both are equally bad and given a participation ribbon after a rousing game of scoreless Everyone's a Winner Ball? - BehindBlueI's
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Originally Posted By elcope: Thanks for that backstory and welcome to the site. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Originally Posted By elcope: Originally Posted By LimeRickey: Mal, thanks for posting these photos. I came across the photo of Bill Lee's 1911 with a bullet hole in it and felt like i had to respond with a story about that gun. My understanding is that Bill returned home to Chicago after the war bringing along that pistol as souvenir. At some point it was stolen from his or his family home (I believe from a home in Chicago). By now Bill had joined the NYPD and working to keep the streets of NYC safe. One of his partners of several years at the NYPD was a gentleman by the name of Sid. I met Sid when i was a young boy after he retired from the NYPD and moved in across the street from my family. Later in his career Sid was working at the NYPD armory near City Island when two detectives walked in with a damaged 1911 they taken from a perp and wanted to know if it could be repaired. Sid told me as soon as he saw it he knew exactly where that gun had come from. He removed the slide, gave it to the detectives and told them there was nothing he could do. He gathered up the remaining undamaged parts and sent the pistol to Colt with note explaining the circumstances. Colt rebuilt the gun sent it back to Sid whereupon Sid returned to Plt. Sgt. Lee. After Bill passed away Sid ended up with some of Bill's things, to include that pistol and the same photo you posted here. He showed me the pistol and photo about 20 years ago. Sid has since passed away. I'm not sure where the pistol is now, but it's out there somewhere. Thanks for that backstory and welcome to the site. Awesome story. The armory you're referring to is at Rodman's Neck, the NYPD's outdoor range. It's right by City Island and Orchard Beach in the Bronx. Cops from all over the city come to qualify 2X annually there, and ESU and other high speed units train regularly there. The armory building has quite a few interesting firearms, mostly taken off the streets over the years or surrendered by Grandma after Grandpa died. I had the opportunity to handle a bring back StG44 and FG42, among many other interesting things, in a previous life. Welcome to the site. |
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Overflowing RAF propeller warehouse
Attached File Four and Five-bladed Rotol props in stock Attached File Five-bladed props probably for hot late war Griffon powered Spitfires like the XIV - Spitfires were flown in combat in WWII behind two, three, four, and five bladed propellers as engine power leapt forward Attached File A pair of three-bladed contrarotating Rotol props were flight tested on Spitfires in late WWII and equipped Seafires deployed on British carriers from the late 1940's to 1951 Attached File Attached File |
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Austin K6 6x4 lorry
Attached File Transporting replacement propellers locally with vertical racks on "Queen Mary" airplane recovery flatbed trailers Attached File Attached File Attached File |
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Broken wood props removed from hubs at a Rotol factory
Attached File Punjabi craftsman repairing a wooden propeller blade in a workshop in Britain Attached File Woman repairing a damaged Rotol hub Attached File Maintenance Command propellers crated for shipping Attached File Attached File Attached File |
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More fixed pitch wood propeller Hurricanes; one of the first off the production line
Attached File Attached File Attached File Attached File Mechanics' trainer with the spinner nose off displaying the bolt pattern Attached File |
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„From a place you will not see, comes a sound you will not hear.“
Thanks for the membership @ toaster |
Kawasaki Ha40 discovered
A rare Kawasaki Ha40 liquid-cooled inline V engine has been discovered at a construction site in Ryuta-cho, Goko-sho, Higashiomi City, Shiga Prefecture. The engine was used to power the Kawasaki Ki-61, the only mass-produced Japanese fighter during the Second World War that uses such an arrangement View Quote |
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Wasn't that engine a copy of the DB-601?
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To the everlasting glory of the infantry...
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Originally Posted By Cyclic240B: Wasn't that engine a copy of the DB-601? View Quote I've got no idea, though the Japanese definilty copied stuff -- not to say they are like the Chinese, because even back then they came up with original ideas. Thought it was an interesting story and hadn't heard of many liquid cooled aircraft engines back in that day. Mal probably knows all. |
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Got my 45 on so I can rock on.
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I would love to see a Ki61 get restored and back in the air. Its a pretty airplane.
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If God didn't want them sheared, he would not have made them sheep.
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