(Update) LIFE's look @ Early & Later Carrier Ops

[Mark Allen M]

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Last edited by Mark Allen M on Fri Aug 31, 2012 11:38 am, edited 3 times in total.

[Mark Allen M]

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Last edited by Mark Allen M on Fri Aug 31, 2012 11:39 am, edited 2 times in total.

[The Inspector]

Since all the aircraft are in cammo and all the photos are 'jiggled' I would suspect that the contact prints were 'nudged' a bit in the solution so no one could get a clear image of indivual BUARNO's (all veddy hush-hush dontchaknow) or pilots faces in the Ready Room probably at the beheist of a navy censor.
Anyone care to speculate on what the purpose was for what looks like an Inclineometer on the wing of that SBD towards the end of this installment?

[Sasquatch]

Those are excellent photos Mark; thanks for posting them. I love the photos of the Kingfishers landing at the end of the series. Slack water at the bottom of the photo, from the cruiser or battleship that's receiving the planes having just done a hard turn to starboard to provide a slack area for the birds to land in...you can see the rough seas at the top of the photos. And someone has tossed out a smoke bomb to give pilot a sense of the wind strength and direction. Very cool!

As to the inclinometer...never seen that before. Maybe so the pilot can look out and see dive angle...perhaps a temporary addition for training? Or maybe a dive flap angle indicator? Not sure.

--Tom

[The Inspector]

I recall an incident told in the late Scott Crossfields autobiography about instructing in SBD's during the war and one particular backseater who insisted on calling out altitude during dive bombing using the installed altimeter in the back. Crossfield purposely really hauled back on a dive recovery, only to hear this guy groggily calling out altitude as they climbed out

[Mark Allen M]

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Last edited by Mark Allen M on Fri Aug 31, 2012 11:37 am, edited 1 time in total.

[lmritger]

These B/W shots were taken by Peter Stackpole around September/October 1941, and are an absolute treasure trove of historical information... us modelers have been drooling over these since we bumped into them back in Dec 2008 when Google first put LIFE's archives online.

The well-known color set of Air Wing Six was shot by Carl Mydans in August 1940. You can find an awful lot of good stuff by searching for the photographer's name... for instance, "frank scherschel source:life" brings up this gorgeous pic, part of a series shot by Frank aboard BB-55 North Carolina in early 1942 on an Atlantic convoy patrol.




Happy hunting, folks!

Lynn

[lmritger]

I can't leave you guys hangin'... I have to show you this one, easily one of my favorite shots in the whole LIFE archive. The timing on this shot is fantastic, considering the equipment he was working with.

[Pathfinder]

Kingfisher 4-0-8 in the third b/w pic prior to the color set is named to USS MARYLAND...BB 46.

[hang the expense]

Kingfisher 4-0-8 in the third b/w pic prior to the color set is named to USS MARYLAND...BB 46.

Thats a good eye Pathfinder.

[Steve S]

Excellent thread and thanks for posting many pics I had never seen before.

THIS is why I keep coming back and what makes WIX worthwile

[Mark Allen M]

My pleasure to help contribute a small part around here

[AG pilot]

If the ship is making good steam, that would be quite a crosswind to launch into from behind the "calm" of the ship! I never thought about that until I saw these outstanding images.

[Forgotten Field]

I spoke with an observer who flew in an SOC-3 Seagull (I would love to do a rebuild/replica of a Curtiss Seagull!). The catapult was launched with a 5 inch shell specifically configured to launch the trolley with the aircraft at full take-off power. I don't think cross wind was a component in the take-off.

Chop on landing was a component. For recovery, the ship which the aircraft was assigned to did a maneuver (if possible due to war conditions) which basically was full right or left rudder pushing the stern into the wind. The move made a 'slick' which was free of waves for a few minutes so the aircraft could land easier. One of the Kingfisher photos shows this.

BTW, thanks so much for posting these.

[Mark Allen M]

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Last edited by Mark Allen M on Fri Aug 31, 2012 11:41 am, edited 1 time in total.