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ORIGINAL: wdolson

quote:

ORIGINAL: Cap Mandrake

Wow...look at the runway. It looks like they just piled 18 inch of crushed coral on top of the soil. [:)]

Can you imagine all the solvents and tire dust and petroleum products that run right into the ocean every time in rains. I wonder how long it took to get the EIR through. [;)]

Also, how did they get a prop blade pointing exactly vertical on all 4 engines? Does that happen as a result of some mechanical mechanism or luck or did some ground crewman turn the props manually or electrically when the engines were stopped??

Radial engines collect oil in the lower cylinders and the engine starts better if the prop is turned a few times by hand before starting the engine. This pumps some of the oil up to the upper cylinders. B-29s had the largest engines deployed up to that point and the engines were marginal enough already, so hand cranking the props were a fairly standard procedure for the ground crew. They probably left the props in one, known position so it was obvious that the props had been turned.

Bill

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ORIGINAL: tocaff

My father's B-29 crew that flew out of Tinian's North Field.

[image]local://upfiles/22538/FB3D1CFC1B414A8AAB548513D8C1D4F0.jpg[/image]
The rows are inverted as the front is really the back, etc.

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ORIGINAL: ravincravin

Perhaps some of the naval historians in the forum can identify the carriers in this picture. The caption is faded and I can only make out "four carriers in Saipan Harbor". My best guess for the time frame is the 2nd half of '44 to the 1st qtr. of '45.

To me they both appear to be in the carrier escort class but don't match any in the game. I'm more of an aircraft enthusiest and defer this one to the navy guys.



[image]local://upfiles/31898/754EECE076A94CF9A506D9CE6334E5E0.jpg[/image]

quote:

ORIGINAL: TOMLABEL

quote:

ORIGINAL: wdolson

quote:

ORIGINAL: Cap Mandrake

Wow...look at the runway. It looks like they just piled 18 inch of crushed coral on top of the soil. [:)]

Can you imagine all the solvents and tire dust and petroleum products that run right into the ocean every time in rains. I wonder how long it took to get the EIR through. [;)]

Also, how did they get a prop blade pointing exactly vertical on all 4 engines? Does that happen as a result of some mechanical mechanism or luck or did some ground crewman turn the props manually or electrically when the engines were stopped??

Radial engines collect oil in the lower cylinders and the engine starts better if the prop is turned a few times by hand before starting the engine. This pumps some of the oil up to the upper cylinders. B-29s had the largest engines deployed up to that point and the engines were marginal enough already, so hand cranking the props were a fairly standard procedure for the ground crew. They probably left the props in one, known position so it was obvious that the props had been turned.

Bill

Dang, Bill! [:D]

Attention all hands... Bill is the human encyclopedia of all things not commonly known about US aircraft! [&o]

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I'm not sure what memorial day is, is it the Victims of the Atomic Bomb we remember or the ones who dropped it ?

quote:

ORIGINAL: ravincravin

Correction to the Peashooter's designation. It's P-26 not P-31. I don't know what I was thinking of when I posted that.

Good looking crew Tocaff. I understand it was an all day flight to and from Japan from Tinian. One observation, the B-17 used a 10 member crew but I see the B-29 takes 11 members. Does that mean there was an additional machine gun station on the B-29?

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heard the B-29 was the first bomber with a pressurized cabin which made it necessary for remotely operated machine guns but I didn't know they were tied into a computer and were that effective.

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ORIGINAL: wdolson

I believe RN would be Reserve Navigator.  CFC might mean Commander, Fire Control.  There was one gunner who could designate which gunner had control of which turret.

Bill

quote:

ORIGINAL: ravincravin

Excerpt from Meet the Marianas, a War Dept. publication.

“Don’t blame Japanese beer if you see flying foxes hanging from trees like tiny Tarzans. They are really fruit bats. Thay are small and smelly but the islanders consider them a tasty dish. … if you like to eat small smelly bats.

But you really had too much to drink when you see snakes. The only snake in the Marianas has a name bigger than its size—Typhlops braminus. It looks like a somewhat seedy earthworm, hardly longer then your finger. Harmless, too.

You can carry a gecko around in your pocket if you want to. … His cousin, the monitor lizard, wouldn’t fit into your pocket. He’s hour feet long. He’s got sharp teeth and claws. Give him a chance to run away from you. He likes you less than you like him.

Wasps and ants are pretty mean here. They sting. So do scorpions. Centipedes don’t sting. They bite. It feels the same either way: hurts like hell.”

End of except.

Of course, the best way to handle pain is to not feel it at all. You can always get plastered at your neighborhood officers club in Tinian (photo below). The caption of this photo is “This is our officer’s club we built. It gives you an idea of it anyhow.”


[image]local://upfiles/31898/8151CAF3A6954ECD982D129D3346F680.jpg[/image]

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ORIGINAL: ravincravin

It's sad how one small act could screw up the ecology of the Marianas in such a short time. Bummer!