"ttyymmnn" (ttyymmnn)
04/07/2016 at 12:35 • Filed to: shameless plug, planelopnik
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"ttyymmnn" (ttyymmnn)
04/07/2016 at 12:35 • Filed to: shameless plug, planelopnik | 6
| 14 |
Twin .50s in the nose, two .50s each in the wings, and a 37mm cannon in the nose.
Tune in at this time tomorrow and read all about the Airacobra in Friday’s !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! post!
Azrek
> ttyymmnn
04/07/2016 at 12:42 |
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Give em the whole 9 yards!
HammerheadFistpunch
> ttyymmnn
04/07/2016 at 12:43 |
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Dem brownings!
AuthiCooper1300
> ttyymmnn
04/07/2016 at 12:44 |
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That photograph is superb!
StingrayJake
> ttyymmnn
04/07/2016 at 12:45 |
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Saw its descendant a few years ago at CAF AIRSHO. Unfortunately it didn’t fly.
RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht
> ttyymmnn
04/07/2016 at 12:48 |
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Cannon by Oldsmobile(R), if I’m not mistaken.
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Azrek
> StingrayJake
04/07/2016 at 12:54 |
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Looks like a B25 Mitchell next to it, if I am not mistaken.
McMike
> ttyymmnn
04/07/2016 at 12:57 |
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StingrayJake
> Azrek
04/07/2016 at 12:59 |
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Yeah guess I didn’t take a picture of that one. There were 3 or 4 there that day.
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ttyymmnn
> RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht
04/07/2016 at 13:06 |
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Designed by Browning, built by Colt. Only used in the P-39 and P-63 King Cobra, afaik.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M4_cannon
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ttyymmnn
> StingrayJake
04/07/2016 at 13:07 |
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I’ve seen the P-39 a couple times that the Commemorative Air Force flies. I’ve got pictures, but it was before I got a decent camera and the photos really suck. It was neat to see it, though.
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ttyymmnn
> AuthiCooper1300
04/07/2016 at 13:09 |
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It is, and as an amateur photographer, I marvel that they managed that at a time when there were no electronic light meters, etc. You didn’t get many chances for that shot, so you’d better know your business. And them, think about the logistics of that shot. No telling what the cameraman is flying in, but it’s close, close enough for the flash to be useful. Yeah, it’s a remarkable photograph.
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RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht
> ttyymmnn
04/07/2016 at 13:17 |
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For some reason which I absolutely cannot fathom, the word “Oldsmobile” does not even appear in the Wikipedia article. HOWEVER, my memory of having it referred to as an Oldsmobile cannon *does* appear to be correct, with substantial production by Oldsmobile, though I can’t find much detail.
See one sitting there on the left, and some of the feed mechanism and other parts on the display in front.
Infuriatingly, it seems there was a technical document from GM up on Google Books which is no longer there, and I have not yet found it elsewhere. Here’s how it appears in the Wikipedia talk page:
Oldsmobile 37 Mm. M4 Automatic Gun , by Oldsmobile Division, General Motors Corporation, 1945
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ttyymmnn
> RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht
04/07/2016 at 13:32 |
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Fascinating. I wonder if it was a wartime subcontract, much in the same way that Goodyear manufactured Corsairs.
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RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht
> ttyymmnn
04/07/2016 at 13:49 |
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Very possibly. All I know is that it (to use a Britishism) gets on my tits when a Wikipedia article
doesn’t
have obvious, important, and relevant information on a topic, the loose details of which are common knowledge, and doesn’t appear to have even attempted to have it. One guy in the talk page appeared to have found an initial War Department purchase order for 150 which was presumably Colt, but very little documentation past that on who produced what.
Were I to guess, if it entered common lore as an “Oldsmobile” cannon, it’s likely that they handled the bulk of total production given that Colt... had their hands full once the war was rolling. The wikipedia page on the Airacobra itself refers to the cannon as an Oldsmobile, and Airacobra production continued until ‘44, with the M4 article listing production only in ‘39 in the same heading as listing Colt. If Oldsmobile was stamping the weapons and even printing the service manuals on them, in addition to Arsenal of Democracy promotions, the “Colt” formality probably didn’t ever even make it to the servicemen.