Posted on 08/27/2013 11:34:57 AM PDT by donmeaker
This idea was brought to my attention the other day and thought it a great choice for a thread. Most of us who are US Navy fans can certainly recall the Navy's efforts to train their pilots on the Great Lakes (Lake Michigan) in the early 40's during the war. This thread may give you a nice idea of what that exersize was all about. Many interesting images to study here and quite possibly of interest to those who are involved with the restoration of aircraft that have been recovered from the Lakes. I have also included a page from my dad's logbook showing his 1st thru 8th carrier landings on the USS Wolverine in July 1944. Sources are the NMNA archives, Library of Congress photo archives, LIFE image archives.
(Excerpt) Read more at warbirdinformationexchange.org ...
As sexy as the sheet metal is, I've always loved the sound that big ass propeller makes as it chops through the air...
The gull wing gave clearance to the efficient large diameter prop while permitting light short landing gear. It was interesting in that the short landing gear gave it initial problems with the damping as it bounced onto ships, so they gave it to Marines based on land bases where the ‘oleo’ damping was not so critical.
Eventually that was fixed, and it was fielded off carriers, where it was still a darned fine fighter.
During the Korean War they asked communist prisoners which of our weapons were most feared.
High scores were nearly always given to “The Blue Airplanes”.
No problem. The Manitowoc Shipbuilding Company in Maniotowoc, Wisconsin built 25 Fleet Submarines for the U.S. Navy in WW II. the U505 was towed from the Atlantic to Chicago in 1954.
Of course, one of the reasons that the Navy built submarines in Wisconsin was that there was no threat, the same reason that they built training aircraft carriers. Just a running joke with my friends in the Canadian forces.
Fascinating. Never heard of this before either.
Thanks for posting.
And this is why it always bothers me to hear a soldier/sailor/airman/marine ridicule another for not having been "In combat", or measuring their combat experience against another's based on how bad historians, etc. said it was, etc., etc.
Being in the military can be dangerous. Being around fuel, live ammunition and standing watch in adverse conditions can be deadly. Unlike civilians, you are under orders and cannot say no and walk away because it's dangerous or deadly.
I think the National Guard used to have slogan that said, "He serves, who also stands and waits."
Great post!
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