Vought Aircraft - VE-7 & Regulus I 4-15-08

[Jerry O'Neill]

BTW;
That compass rose under the last Sea Wolf pic, (and seen in many other Vought pics), was still in place and visible in Stratford until just a couple of years ago, when the tarmac there was "painted" over with green to keep pilots from taxing on the old asphalt.

You can just make it out to the right of center in the attached link taken in 1991:

http://terraserver-usa.com/image.aspx?T ... rd%7cct%7c

Jerry

[Dan K]

And these are for Dan K...

Hey, thanks a bunch.

The two pics posted are a neat look at the evolution of the only XTBU-1 constructed, BuNo 2542. A few things to note in the first pic would be the early-style turret and the tail hook mounted between the ventral gun position and the tail gear. Also, if you look carefully at the starboard wing you can see a thin, black line running from the fuselage out to the wing tip. Yeah, it's a wing-walk line--no walking aft of the line as most of the construction there was fabric.

The second pic shows the later tail hook location--aft of the tail gear--which would carry on through the TBY-2 version produced by Consolidated-Vultee. The tail gear itself has also been modified.

[Dan K]

Doh! I almost forgot the oddest little bit of trivia with the XTBU-1/TBY-2:

In the second pic, on the cowling lip just above the painted "2542", one can see a small gun port. The XTBU-1 mounted a single .50 cal machine gun over the engine. That gun was phased out during TBY-2 production, yet every Sea Wolf produced still had the cowling installed with that off-center gun port included.

Amaze and astound your friends with your knowledge of WWII aircraft trivia!

[Dan K]

(Well, I guess I'll just keep going...)

BuNo 2542's story isn't quite done yet. When her test flying as a torpedo plane was over, Vought decided to convert her into the V-326 (and later V-326A) high-altitude research aircraft.

Can you still spot a Sea Wolf behind that R-4360 and four-blade prop?

[Mark Nankivil]

Wow Dan, I never put two and two together to see that conversion. Thanks! Any chance you can give us the short version of the Seawolf's history and how it compared to the Avenger?

I have a few more photos from Tom Doll scanned but I'll start with one I found in one of my Father-in-Law's photo albums which he inherited from his Mother. Know one in the family knows why it was there but it's an impressive photo nonetheless. This is a Vought VE-7H off of the USS Oklahoma which was in the Pacific (normally assigned to the Atlantic Fleet at that time) for war games. This particular aircraft was lost in an accident late in October, 1923, not long after this photo was taken.



Now on to Tom Doll's photos:

Another VE-7 launching off CV-1 USS Langley:






not the best color but rare nonetheless - onboard USS Ranger CV-4 1940


an interesting shot showing the side elevator on the USS Wasp


This particular Vindicator was featured in the movie "Dive Bomber"


The next three are Kingfishers assigned to the USS Arizona. I look at them and wonder if they were at Pearl Harbor 12/7/41....






and a Kingfisher from the USS North Carolina BB-55




photographed at the 1936 National Air Races held in Los Angeles


Looks like this photo might have been shot at the 1935 National Air Races held in Cleveland


From the heavy cruiser USS Astoria CA-34





from the heavy cruiser USS Salt Lake City CA-25


and from the USS Idaho BB-24, operating out of San Pedro on the West Coast for training and fleet readiness exercises






A slight twist as this is a Curtiss SOC-1 assigned to the heavy cruiser USS Indianapolis CA-35. This is the flagplane of Commander of Cruisers, Scouting Force. Top wing is orange yellow, fuselage is "admiral blue" with white lettering and the tail is aluminum with black lettering.

Back to F4U Corsairs next time...

Enjoy the Day! Mark

[IRONHORSE]

When did Vought move to Dallas?
CHUCK

[Jerry O'Neill]

Vought moved in 1948.
Jerry

[IRONHORSE]

JERRY
Thanks.
CHUCK

[Mark Nankivil]

Greetings All -

Back to Corsairs - how about some production line photos starring birdcage Corsairs to start off with....









and the test Corsair with the camera fairing/blister on the right aft side of the fuselage















some more birdcage Corsairs....












Enjoy the Day! Mark

[merlin101]

great production line photo's, fair few Corsairs there!
Dave

[ltdann]

Mark,

Is Dick Atkins still active at the archives down there? Can you contact me at Ltdann61@yahoo.com?

Rich

[ltdann]

Mark,

Is Dick Atkins still active at the archives down there? Can you contact me at Ltdann61@yahoo.com?

Rich

[Warbird Kid]

Ok Wow!

Been away from the boards pretty recently. Have been busy with the regular life, but i hope to stop lurking again, and regain the ranks!

But what a thread to come back on into! Wow Mark, these pics are fantastic! Thanks for sharing them! Never have scene many of those shots before.

[lestweforget]

Thankyou for posting these pics. They are truly an imortant piece of history. Especially like the early Corsair ones. It is a mean looking beast from any angle. Hope to see more soon. Thanks again.

[mikoyan29]

Those are some pretty cool pictures...

Do you have any A-7's?