quote:

ORIGINAL: Luft-Gangster

cfircav8r
Right on the money.  C-130 with JATO assist as we called it back in the 70's.  Hercules or Herky Bird as those of us who served in the USAF refered to her as.
Multi Purpose:
   Cargo ( palatized or rolling ) - carry airborne troops - Gun Ship (Black Bird or Puff the Magic Dragon) - and don't forger bomber. (many instant Drop Zones were created by strapping a bomb to a standard 88''x108'' pallet, arming and dropping it out the back cargo door and instant DZ with no enemy.
During the Easter Offensive of 1972 the flight engineer and loadmaster had the privelege of hanging through criss crossed tie-down strapes in the side jump doors and shooting flares accross the front of the path of SAM's fired at the aircraft.

Well cfircav8r, I guess your up. Congratulations.

quote:

ORIGINAL: Luft-Gangster

cfircav8r
Right on the money.  C-130 with JATO assist as we called it back in the 70's.  Hercules or Herky Bird as those of us who served in the USAF refered to her as.
Multi Purpose:
   Cargo ( palatized or rolling ) - carry airborne troops - Gun Ship (Black Bird or Puff the Magic Dragon) - and don't forger bomber. (many instant Drop Zones were created by strapping a bomb to a standard 88''x108'' pallet, arming and dropping it out the back cargo door and instant DZ with no enemy.
During the Easter Offensive of 1972 the flight engineer and loadmaster had the privelege of hanging through criss crossed tie-down strapes in the side jump doors and shooting flares accross the front of the path of SAM's fired at the aircraft.

Well cfircav8r, I guess your up. Congratulations.

quote:

ORIGINAL: jessiej

quote:

ORIGINAL: Luft-Gangster

cfircav8r
Right on the money.  C-130 with JATO assist as we called it back in the 70's.  Hercules or Herky Bird as those of us who served in the USAF refered to her as.
Multi Purpose:
   Cargo ( palatized or rolling ) - carry airborne troops - Gun Ship (Black Bird or Puff the Magic Dragon) - and don't forger bomber. (many instant Drop Zones were created by strapping a bomb to a standard 88''x108'' pallet, arming and dropping it out the back cargo door and instant DZ with no enemy.
During the Easter Offensive of 1972 the flight engineer and loadmaster had the privelege of hanging through criss crossed tie-down strapes in the side jump doors and shooting flares accross the front of the path of SAM's fired at the aircraft.

Well cfircav8r, I guess your up. Congratulations.

Luft-Gangster, I don't really have anything to add except as noted by a previuos poster thanks for the detail.

I missed benefiting from the use of the C-130 as a gunship, my only gunship experience being three instances when the C-47 versions were used. I recall being very happy that the gunship was there when needed, but less than happy at being at a place it was needed.

jess

quote:

ORIGINAL: JohnnyS

And we have a winner!!!!!

See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vought_F6U_Pirate

You're up, lbrande!!

The Vought F6U Pirate was the company's first jet fighter, designed for US Navy during the mid-1940s. Although pioneering the use of turbojet power as the first naval fighter with an afterburner and composite material construction, the aircraft proved to be underpowered and was judged unsuitable for combat. None were ever issued to operational squadrons and they were relegated to development, training and test roles before they were withdrawn from service in 1950.

A specification was issued by the US Navy's Bureau of Aeronautics (BuAer) for a single-seat, carrier-based fighter powered by a Westinghouse24C (later J34) axial turbojet on 5 September 1944. Chance Vought was awarded a contract for three V-340 (company designation) prototypes on 29 December 1944.[1]

The XF6U was a small aircraft with tricycle landing gear and with straight wings and tail surfaces. The wings were short enough that they did not need to fold. In order to fit more aircraft into crowded hangars, the nose gear could be retracted and the aircraft's weight would rest on a small wheel attached by the ground crew. This raised the tail up so that it could overlap the nose of the aircraft behind it. The jet engine was mounted in the rear of the fuselage and was fed by ducts in each wing root.[2]

The most unusual feature of the aircraft was its use of ''Metalite'' for its skin. This was made of balsa that was sandwiched between two thin sheets of aluminum. ''Fabrilite'' was also used for the surfaces of the vertical stabilizer and rudder; this was similar to Metalite, but used fiberglass instead of aluminum. Two fuel tanks were fitted in the center of the fuselage. The forward tank, ahead of the wing, contained 220 US gallons (830 l; 180 imp gal) and the rear tank, 150 US gallons (570 l; 120 imp gal). These were supplemented by two jettisonable 140-US-gallon (530 l; 120 imp gal) tip tanks. The cockpit was well forward and was provided with a bubble canopy which gave the pilot good visibility. He was provided with a Mk 6 lead-computing gyro gunsight. Underneath the cockpit were four 20 mm (0.79 in) M3 autocannon. Their 600 rounds of ammunition were carried behind the pilot. The empty casings of the two upper guns were retained in the aircraft, while those from the two lower guns were ejected overboard.[3]

After a company-wide contest to name the aircraft, the initial prototype, named the Pirate, made its first flight on 2 October 1946. Flight testing revealed severe aerodynamic problems, mostly caused by the airfoil section and thickness of the wing. The vertical stabilizer also had to be redesigned to smooth out the airflow at the intersection of the horizontal and vertical stabilizers. Other changes included the addition of dive brakes on the sides of the fuselage and the replacement of the Metalite panels near the engine's exhaust with stainless steel ones.[4]

The first XF6U-1 prototype was powered by a Westinghouse J34-WE-22 turbojet with 3,000 lbf (13.34 kN) thrust, one third of the weight of the aircraft. To help improve the underpowered aircraft's performance, the third prototype, which first flew on 10 November 1947, was lengthened by 8 feet (2.4 m) to use a Westinghouse J34-WE-30[5] afterburning engine of 4,224 lbf (18.78 kN) thrust, the first United States Navy fighter to have such a powerplant.[6]

quote:

ORIGINAL: cfircav8r


P-39's that were sent to the USAAF in the south pacific were designated the P-400, and its poor high altitude performance and air to air vulerabilities earned it the title of a P40 with a Zero on its tail.

Robert.