A-3 Lifeboat on display at the NMUSAF

[Pat Carry]

An A-3 Korean War era lifeboat is ow on display at the NMUSAF. This type of lifeboat was dropped by SB-29's to crews downed in the sea during the conflict on the Korean penninsula. http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/news/s ... =123204037

[mustangdriver]

They did an aweosme job, even more so if you saw what all they had. Two incomplete boats in really rough shape.

[Second Air Force]

I've posted these somewhere else on the forum, but they fit here nicely......

This is the first prototype installation of a B-17 style lifeboat to the B-29, done by Bell Aircraft and Bechtel-McCone upon request of the AAF and tested in May of '45. Incidentally, the airplane is B-29B, sans APQ-7 and APG-15 radars, that was used for testing by Bell. The captions describe it better than I can.









Scott

Last edited by Second Air Force on Sat May 15, 2010 1:07 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[mustangdriver]

Very cool man thanks!

[davidbray]

Wait a minute! You mean that awful Discovery Channel show Smash Lab didn't come up with something new and innovative when they "invented" an air dropped life raft?

Besides being a horrible show, they couldn't even do enough research to see that the Air Force did what they failed to do, and did it good too. If anyone ever wants a good laugh, look it up! Especially if you are an engineer, have any type of brain or are breathing and want to yell at someone for being stupid.

Anyways derail over, great pics, and I really need to get back to Dayton.