Posted on 07/08/2023 3:15:12 PM PDT by fugazi
A-36, I believe Bob Hoover bombed various and sundry in Italy with one.
That’s an A-36, which was a divebomber variant of the Mustang. Built because the AAF had no funding for a fighter version of North American’s brainchild, but did have funding for an attack version. They saw service in Italy. Allison engined, supercharging design left the breathless over 20,000 feet or so.
Very cool. There was a variant called the F3H-G that had two engines and even stronger resemblance to the F4. I think it’s interesting to see the “thought process” as the designers refine their ideas.
Possibly, the concentration of production resources toward the P-51 with Merlin engine.
And, the USN Curtis SB2C “Helldiver” variant for the USAAF: A-25 “Shrike” [1943] . . . that was found to be less than stellar for combat.
The Sikorsky CH-37 Mojave looks familiar as I believe it is the one an Army aviator, standing beside one, said was under powered. He said they landed a few in the desert and due to the extreme heat they could not get enough lift for them to take flight. Had to wait until evening when it was cooler.
My dad was a test pilot at McDonnell and flew Demons, Voodoos and Phantoms. He was killed in the first F4 in 1959. Can’t help and wonder if they met.
Probably did. Dad worked on the planes after final assembly and before delivery. He use to talk about working through the test pilots “squawk sheet”.
This thread is half-useless without pictures!
Well that explains that.
Remember in Goldeneye when James Bond shot and killed the pilot of an airplane that was on takeoff roll, then rode his motorcycle off the cliff at the end of the runway, "skydived" into the plane, got in the pilot's seat and saved it from crashing (and himself from dying)?
That was a Pilatus Porter, a plane it's almost impossible to pull the wings off of.
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