On carriers and cockpits - [Weirddave]

Seems to be a WWII day here at AoS HQ. Maybe we open bloggers should have gotten together to make one big post.

Anyhow, here are a couple of things that I bookmarked recently that I found interesting.

This Amazing First Person View Shows Every Move It Takes To Fly A P-51

The plane itself is GORGEOUS (and I say that as someone who has always been a Thunderbolt guy. Love the Mustang, but give me a Jug any day). There are three videos at the link that give a pilot's eye view from the initial walk around through a ten minute flight and landing, and it's worth watching them all.

In other news, they've found the wreck of USS Independence. “Found” may be a bit inaccurate, they knew where they scuttled her. “Surveyed” is probably a better word. Anyhow, the first picture at the link is of Independence AFTER she survived an atomic bomb test. Tough little* ship.

*”Little” because she was a light carrier. Here's a great picture that shows (from bottom to top) Saratoga, Enterprise and Essex-class Hornet moored together, a great visual comparison of the three major fleet-carrier classes from WWII. Just above Hornet is San Jacinto, which was an Independence-class light carrier. The picture gives you a great appreciation as to how the ships compared size-wise.

Open Thread

posted by Open Blogger at 07:56 PM

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