Now THAT'S an oil leak

"ttyymmnn" (ttyymmnn) 10/15/2015 at 16:41 • Filed to: planelopnik

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P-47 pilot Lt Edwin King, who managed to land his stricken P-47 in Italy after a flak hit caused the world’s worst oil leak (1945). It looks like he’s holding his oil-soaked leather flight helmet in his left hand.

uofime-2 > ttyymmnn 10/15/2015 at 16:42

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How on earth did he see well enough to land safely?

Jcarr > uofime-2 10/15/2015 at 16:47

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uofime-2 > Jcarr 10/15/2015 at 16:48

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That would explain the helmet

ly2v8-Brian > ttyymmnn 10/15/2015 at 16:50

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Flying by feel.

ttyymmnn > uofime-2 10/15/2015 at 17:09

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Exactly. I was going to explain it, but Jcarr did a better job.

Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap > ttyymmnn 10/15/2015 at 17:10

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How to paint a plane. Step one: Massive oil leak.

ttyymmnn > Jcarr 10/15/2015 at 17:10

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Not enough stars.

ttyymmnn > Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap 10/15/2015 at 17:11

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When I first saw this photo, I thought it was one of those slapdash, field expedient paint jobs, like the D-Day invasion stripes. Then I saw the canopy.

Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap > ttyymmnn 10/15/2015 at 17:16

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Yeah, that one is a bit of a mess.

Jcarr > ttyymmnn 10/15/2015 at 17:18

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There was a P-51 at Oshkosh this year called Sierra Sue that was restored to factory condition. They did it this way to more authentically represent how it would have looked when it rolled out of the factory, as opposed to a perfectly painted and polish resto. It was pretty neat to see.

Aluminium lot numbers from Alcoa still on many of the surfaces.

Skin not perfectly polished.

Nose art relatively crude and not perfectly airbrushed.

ttyymmnn > Jcarr 10/15/2015 at 17:23

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Nice. I’ve got a soft spot for plain aluminum planes. That’s one reason I’m bummed that AA changed their livery.

Future next gen S2000 owner > Jcarr 10/15/2015 at 17:41

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Crude is right.

Grindintosecond > ttyymmnn 10/15/2015 at 17:42

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That’s what 145+ quarts loosk like.

ttyymmnn > Grindintosecond 10/15/2015 at 17:51

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Pretty close:

Lubricating oil is carried in a hopper-type magnesium tank of 28.6 U.S. gal capacity [116 qts], strapped to supports on the engine mount.

http://rwebs.net/avhistory/hist…

wkiernan > ttyymmnn 10/15/2015 at 17:54

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There’s a man who will never rust.

Buick Mackane > wkiernan 10/15/2015 at 18:15

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And also his left shoulder covered in oil.

Buick Mackane > ttyymmnn 10/15/2015 at 18:32

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The P-47 Thunderbolt was probably the toughest fighter of WW2. It could sustain incredible damage and still get the pilot back to home base. Do a search on Robert S. Johnson and his miraculous survival while returning to base in his P-47 after being repeatedly raked by a German fighter until he ran out of ammunition and was still unable to shoot the P-47 down.

Nauraushaun > ttyymmnn 10/15/2015 at 23:08

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the world’s worst oil leak

Was it though?

ttyymmnn > Nauraushaun 10/15/2015 at 23:49

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Point taken.

Grindintosecond > Nauraushaun 10/16/2015 at 09:51

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Oh that one. Yeah that was from an avro lancasters 4 engines.