No more after these three - I promise.
This is one of the 4 Pratt & Whitney 14-cylinder radial engines - 1200 BHP @ 2700 rpm - mechanical supercharger supplemented with an exhaust turbo. I can remember my father telling me that when you went through the gate on the throttle assembly to the Boost position, the fuel system threw a pint of petrol into each engine in one lump.
R-1830-65 Wasp by John Liddle, on Flickr
The view from the mid section towards the tail gunner's position. The horizontal rail-like structures on the LHS are the ammunition feed guides for the rear turret guns. If you look carefully, you can see the steel cables which run right through the aircraft to the control surfaces - the original fly-by-wire! We were warned not to grab any of those, because if we did, WE would be flying the aircraft and this might not be a good idea. The yellow cylinders are the oxygen tanks and the black bucket is the loo.
Towards the tail by John Liddle, on Flickr
Here you can see the walkway through the bomb bay. SWMBO has just managed to get through (ample-sized Americans might have some difficulty). The ropes you see at waist height are to steady you as you pass through. We were warned not to fall off the walkway onto the bomb doors, since these will only withstand 100 lbs weight (so you can jettison the bombs through them if they won't open) and if you did fall, you would be back on the ground before everyone else.
Through the bomb bay by John Liddle, on Flickr
How people managed to fly 18-hour missions in these planes is beyond me.
This is one of the 4 Pratt & Whitney 14-cylinder radial engines - 1200 BHP @ 2700 rpm - mechanical supercharger supplemented with an exhaust turbo. I can remember my father telling me that when you went through the gate on the throttle assembly to the Boost position, the fuel system threw a pint of petrol into each engine in one lump.
R-1830-65 Wasp by John Liddle, on Flickr
The view from the mid section towards the tail gunner's position. The horizontal rail-like structures on the LHS are the ammunition feed guides for the rear turret guns. If you look carefully, you can see the steel cables which run right through the aircraft to the control surfaces - the original fly-by-wire! We were warned not to grab any of those, because if we did, WE would be flying the aircraft and this might not be a good idea. The yellow cylinders are the oxygen tanks and the black bucket is the loo.
Towards the tail by John Liddle, on Flickr
Here you can see the walkway through the bomb bay. SWMBO has just managed to get through (ample-sized Americans might have some difficulty). The ropes you see at waist height are to steady you as you pass through. We were warned not to fall off the walkway onto the bomb doors, since these will only withstand 100 lbs weight (so you can jettison the bombs through them if they won't open) and if you did fall, you would be back on the ground before everyone else.
Through the bomb bay by John Liddle, on Flickr
How people managed to fly 18-hour missions in these planes is beyond me.
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