Some cool prototype parts made in china pictures:
Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center: Vought F4U-1D Corsair, with P-40 Warhawk in background
Image by Chris Devers
Quoting Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum | Vought F4U-1D Corsair :
By V-J Day, September 2, 1945, Corsair pilots had amassed an 11:1 kill ratio against enemy aircraft. The aircraft’s distinctive inverted gull-wing style allowed ground clearance for the large, three-bladed Hamilton Common Hydromatic propeller, which spanned far more than 4 meters (13 feet). The Pratt and Whitney R-2800 radial engine and Hydromatic propeller was the biggest and a single of the most effective engine-propeller combinations ever flown on a fighter aircraft.
Charles Lindbergh flew bombing missions in a Corsair with Marine Air Group 31 against Japanese strongholds in the Pacific in 1944. This airplane is painted in the colors and markings of the Corsair Sun Setter, a Marine close-support fighter assigned to the USS Essex in July 1944.
Transferred from the United States Navy.
Manufacturer:
Vought Aircraft Firm
Date:
1940
Country of Origin:
United States of America
Dimensions:
All round: 460 x 1020cm, 4037kg, 1250cm (15ft 1 1/8in. x 33ft 5 9/16in., 8900lb., 41ft 1/8in.)
Supplies:
All metal with fabric-covered wings behind the primary spar.
Physical Description:
R-2800 radial air-cooled engine with 1,850 horsepower, turned a 3-blade Hamilton Regular Hydromatic propeller with strong aluminum blades spanning 13 feet 1 inch wing bent gull-shaped on each sides of the fuselage.
• • • • •
Quoting Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum | Curtiss P-40E Warhawk (Kittyhawk IA):
Regardless of whether known as the Warhawk, Tomahawk, or Kittyhawk, the Curtiss P-40 proved to be a effective, versatile fighter throughout the initial half of Planet War II. The shark-mouthed Tomahawks that Gen. Claire Chennault’s "Flying Tigers" flew in China against the Japanese stay amongst the most popular airplanes of the war. P-40E pilot Lt. Boyd D. Wagner became the first American ace of Planet War II when he shot down six Japanese aircraft in the Philippines in mid-December 1941.
Curtiss-Wright constructed this airplane as Model 87-A3 and delivered it to Canada as a Kittyhawk I in 1941. It served until 1946 in No. 111 Squadron, Royal Canadian Air Force. U.S. Air Force personnel at Andrews Air Force Base restored it in 1975 to represent an aircraft of the 75th Fighter Squadron, 23rd Fighter Group, 14th Air Force.
Donated by the Exchange Club in Memory of Kellis Forbes.
Manufacturer:
Curtiss Aircraft Organization
Date:
1939
Country of Origin:
United States of America
Dimensions:
Overall: 330 x 970cm, 2686kg, 1140cm (10ft 9 15/16in. x 31ft 9 7/8in., 5921.6lb., 37ft four 13/16in.)
Materials:
All-metal, semi-monocoque
Physical Description:
Single engine, single seat, fighter aircraft.
Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center: Northrop P-61C Black Widow
Image by Chris Devers
Examine & contrast:
Northrop P-61C Black widow:
* Front view
* Above view
Star Wars ARC-170 Fighter:
* Official page
* Wikia
* Wikipedia
* Toy assessment
I put it to you that they are the Identical Factor.
* twin engines
* double-cockpit in front
* gunner’s cockpit in back
* broad wing coming out from the middle
• • • • •
See more images of this, and the Wikipedia report.
Particulars, quoting from Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum: Steven F. Udvar-Hazy | Northrop P-61C Black Widow:
The P-61 Black Widow was the 1st U.S. aircraft made to locate and destroy enemy aircraft at evening and in negative climate, a feat produced feasible by the use of on-board radar. The prototype initial flew in 1942. P-61 combat operations began just after D-Day, June six, 1944, when Black Widows flew deep into German airspace, bombing and strafing trains and road traffic. Operations in the Pacific started at about the same time. By the end of Planet War II, Black Widows had seen combat in each theater and had destroyed 127 enemy aircraft and 18 German V-1 buzz bombs.
The Museum’s Black Widow, a P-61C-1-NO, was delivered to the Army Air Forces in July 1945. It participated in cold-weather tests, higher-altitude drop tests, and in the National Thunderstorm Project, for which the best turret was removed to make room for thunderstorm monitoring equipment.
Transferred from the United States Air Force.
Manufacturer:
Northrop Aircraft Inc.
Date:
1943
Nation of Origin:
United States of America
Dimensions:
Overall: 450 x 1500cm, 10637kg, 2000cm (14ft 9 three/16in. x 49ft 2 9/16in., 23450.3lb., 65ft 7 3/8in.)
Lengthy Description:
The P-61 Black Widow was the first United States aircraft developed from the start to find and destroy other aircraft at night and in bad weather. It served in combat for only the final year of Planet War II but flew in the European, Mediterranean, Pacific, and China-Burma-India theaters. Black Widow crews destroyed 127 enemy aircraft and 18 robot V-1 buzz bombs.
Jack Northrop’s large fighter was born throughout the dark days of the Battle of Britain and the London Blitz in 1940. British successes against German daylight bombers forced the Luftwaffe (German Air Force) to shift to night bombing. By the time Royal Air Force (RAF) Spitfires could launch, climb out, and then try to intercept these raids, the bombers crews had generally dropped their loads and turned for residence. An aircraft was required to patrol the skies more than England for up to seven hours during the night, and then stick to radar vectors to attack German aircraft before they reached their target. U.S. Army Air Corps officers noted this requirement and decided that America have to have a evening fighter if and when it entered the war.
The Army awarded a contract to Northrop on January 30, 1941. The resulting design and style featured twin tail booms and rudders for stability when the aircraft closed in behind an intruder. It was a big aircraft with a large fuel load and two powerful engines. Armament evolved into four 20 mm cannons mounted in the belly firing forward and a powered, remote-controlled turret on best of the center fuselage equipped with four .50 cal. machine guns. The three-man crew consisted of the pilot, a gunner seated behind him, and a radar observer/gunner at the rear behind the gun turret. Only the pilot could fire the cannons but any of the 3 could operate the machine guns.
Simultaneously, work was proceeding, at a laboratory run by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, to create the airborne radar set. The Army tested an early design in a Douglas B-18 in 1941. The considerably-improved SCR-520 set was prepared by early 1942. Meanwhile, Army enthusiasm for the XP-61 created one more contract on March 10, 1941, for 13 service-test YP-61s. Even prior to these airplanes flew, Northrop received orders for 410 production machines! Northrop test pilot Vance Breeze flew the aircraft on Might 26, 1942. Despite the fact that the Black Widow was almost as huge as a medium bomber, it was a accurate fighter. The only prohibited flight maneuvers have been outside loops, sustained inverted flight, and deliberate spins.
As Northrop advanced the design toward production, supply troubles arose and modifications became essential. The 4-gun leading turret was the very same variety fitted to the best forward position on the Boeing B-29 Superfortress (see NASM collection) and that bomber had production priority more than the P-61. As a result, a number of hundred P-61s did not have this turret. Those that did experienced buffeting when the turret was traversed from side to side and a fix took time. By October 1943, the very first P-61s have been coming off the line. Coaching started quickly, and the very first evening fighters arrived in the European Theater by March 1944. Combat operations began just soon after D-Day (June six) and the Black Widows speedily departed from their original role as defensive interceptors and became aggressors. They flew deep into German airspace, bombing and strafing trains and road traffic and creating travel difficult for the enemy by day and at evening.
P-61s arrived in the Pacific Theater at about the very same time as the European Black Widows. For years, the Japanese had operated lone bombers more than Allied targets at night and now U. S. fighters could find and attack them. Nonetheless, on June 30, 1944, a Mitsubishi BETTY (see NASM collection) became the 1st P-61 kill in the Pacific. Quickly, Black Widows controlled the night skies. On the evening of August 14-15, a P-61 named "Lady in the Dark" by her crew encountered an intruding Nakajima Ki-43 Hayabusa (Peregrine Falcon) OSCAR (see NASM collection) and ultimately forced it into the sea with out firing a shot. Though the war was officially more than, no one was positive that all of the Japanese had heard the message and stopped fighting. The American night fighters flew again the subsequent evening and "Lady in the Dark" again found a target. It was a Nakajima Ki-44 Shoki (Demon) TOJO and the fighters maneuvered wildly as they attempted to gain an benefit. The P-61 crew lost and reacquired the Ki-44 a number of instances then finally lost it for good and returned to base. The next day ground troops located the wrecked TOJO. In the darkness, Lady in the Dark’s crew had forced the Japanese pilot to fly into the ground, once more with no firing a shot.
With the war over, the Army cancelled additional production. Northrop had constructed 706 aircraft such as 36 with a extremely modified center fuselage. These F-15As (later redesignated RF-61C) mounted a number of cameras in the nose and proved capable reconnaissance platforms. Many of these airplanes participated in the initial excellent aerial photographic survey of the Pacific islands. A few, plus some specific purpose P-61s, stayed in active service till 1950.
NASM’s Black Widow is a P-61C-1-NO, U.S. Army Air Forces serial number 43-8330. Northrop delivered it to the Army on July 28, 1945. By October 18, this P-61 was flying at Ladd Field, Alaska, in cold climate tests and it remained there until March 30, 1946. This airplane later moved to Pinecastle Air Force Base, Florida, for participation in the National Thunderstorm Project. The project’s objective was to find out more about thunderstorms and to use this understanding to greater protect civil and military airplanes that operated close to them. The U. S. Climate Bureau and the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) undertook the study with cooperation from the Army Air Forces and Navy. With its radar and specific flight traits, the P-61 was capable of finding the most turbulent regions of a storm, penetrating them, and returning crew and instruments intact for detailed study.
Pinecastle personnel removed the guns and turret from 43-8330 in July 1946 to make room for new equipment. In September, the aircraft moved to Clinton County Army Air Base, Ohio, exactly where it remained until January 1948. The Air Force then assigned the aircraft to the Flight Test Division at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. Following declaring the airplane surplus in 1950, the Air Force stored it at Park Ridge, Illinois, on October 3 along with important aircraft destined for the National Air Museum.
But 43-8830 was not carried out flying. NACA asked the Smithsonian to lend them the aircraft for use in another particular plan. The committee wanted to investigate how aerodynamic shapes behaved when dropped from higher altitude. The Black Widow arrived at the Ames Aeronautical Laboratory, Naval Air Station Moffett Field, California, on February 14, 1951. NACA returned the aircraft and delivered it to the Smithsonian at Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland, on August ten, 1954. When the engines shut down for the final time, this P-61 had accumulated only 530 total flight hours. Smithsonian personnel trucked it to the Paul Garber Facility in Suitland, Maryland. In 2006, the aircraft was preserved and assembled at the Udvar-Hazy Center. The 3 distinct paint schemes from its previous service life have been revealed by carefully removing person layers of paint.