Thursday, January 27, 2011
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
The 3.7-inch Heavy AA Gun
Developed in the late thirties from a British Army specification for a weapon between the then current 3 and 4.7 inch calibre Anti-Aircraft guns.
Research suggested that a 3.7-inch gun firing a shell of approximately 25lb weight could fill the gap. Thus, in 1933, a specification for a 3.7" gun weighing eight tons was issued. The gun had to be capable of being put into action in 15 minutes and of being towed at 25mph.
A design by Vickers-Armstrong was accepted and the pilot model passed proof in April 1936 with production being authorised a year later. The first production guns were delivered in January 1938. It was extremely advanced and complicated, yet regarded as one of the best of its type.
The first production model could fire a 28lb 94mm shell to 30,000 feet at a rate of 20 rounds per minute. It was crewed by seven men or, from 1941 onwards, increasingly by women when deployed for Home Defence.
Production was initially slow, particularly due to its complicated carriage but modifications to the design to simply it for production helped and peak production was reached for guns in March 1942 (228) and for mountings June 1942 (195).
The guns were made in the United Kingdom until 1943 and then in Canada for the rest of the war. Unlike the Germans, who used their 88mm guns as both anti-aircraft and anti-tank, the QF 3.7 was too heavy to be used in mobile warfare and was damaged by low elevation firings. The last version, Mark VI, was only employed in static positions.
Research suggested that a 3.7-inch gun firing a shell of approximately 25lb weight could fill the gap. Thus, in 1933, a specification for a 3.7" gun weighing eight tons was issued. The gun had to be capable of being put into action in 15 minutes and of being towed at 25mph.
A design by Vickers-Armstrong was accepted and the pilot model passed proof in April 1936 with production being authorised a year later. The first production guns were delivered in January 1938. It was extremely advanced and complicated, yet regarded as one of the best of its type.The first production model could fire a 28lb 94mm shell to 30,000 feet at a rate of 20 rounds per minute. It was crewed by seven men or, from 1941 onwards, increasingly by women when deployed for Home Defence.
Production was initially slow, particularly due to its complicated carriage but modifications to the design to simply it for production helped and peak production was reached for guns in March 1942 (228) and for mountings June 1942 (195).The guns were made in the United Kingdom until 1943 and then in Canada for the rest of the war. Unlike the Germans, who used their 88mm guns as both anti-aircraft and anti-tank, the QF 3.7 was too heavy to be used in mobile warfare and was damaged by low elevation firings. The last version, Mark VI, was only employed in static positions.
Source: Days of Glory
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
USS Shenandoah
The airship USS Shenandoah was the first American built rigid airship. Although built in the United States, Shenandoah was based on the design of the German L-49, a World War I high altitude bomber which had been forced down intact in France in October, 1917 and carefully studied.
Construction of ZR-1 took place during 1922 and 1923; parts were fabricated at the Naval Aircraft Factory in Philadelphia, and the ship was assembled at the Lakehurst Naval Air Station in New Jersey. ZR-1 was 680.25 feet long, with a diameter of 79.7 feet, and could carry up to 2,115,174 cubic feet of lifting gas in 20 gas cells. As originally built the ship carried six Packard 6-cylinder engines — five mounted in individual power cars attached to the hull, and one mounted at the rear of the control gondola — but the sixth engine was removed in 1924.
ZR-1 made a series of test and demonstration flights in September and early October, 1923 — including an appearance at the National Air Races in St. Louis and flights over New York and Washington — and on October 10, 1923, the ship was christened USS Shenandoah (an American Indian term meaning “daughter of the stars”) and officially accepted as a commissioned vessel of the United States Navy.
On September 3, 1925, on its 57th flight, Shenandoah was caught in a storm over Ohio. Updrafts caused the ship to rise rapidly, at a rate eventually exceeding 1,000 feet per minute, until the ship reached an altitude over 6,000 feet. Shenandoah rose, fell, and was twisted by the storm, and the ship finally suffered catastrophic structural failure, breaking in two at frame 125, approximately 220 feet from the bow. The aft section sank rapidly, breaking up further, with two of the engine cars breaking away and falling to the ground, killing their mechanics. In all, fourteen members of the crew were killed in the crash.
Construction of ZR-1 took place during 1922 and 1923; parts were fabricated at the Naval Aircraft Factory in Philadelphia, and the ship was assembled at the Lakehurst Naval Air Station in New Jersey. ZR-1 was 680.25 feet long, with a diameter of 79.7 feet, and could carry up to 2,115,174 cubic feet of lifting gas in 20 gas cells. As originally built the ship carried six Packard 6-cylinder engines — five mounted in individual power cars attached to the hull, and one mounted at the rear of the control gondola — but the sixth engine was removed in 1924.
ZR-1 made a series of test and demonstration flights in September and early October, 1923 — including an appearance at the National Air Races in St. Louis and flights over New York and Washington — and on October 10, 1923, the ship was christened USS Shenandoah (an American Indian term meaning “daughter of the stars”) and officially accepted as a commissioned vessel of the United States Navy.
On September 3, 1925, on its 57th flight, Shenandoah was caught in a storm over Ohio. Updrafts caused the ship to rise rapidly, at a rate eventually exceeding 1,000 feet per minute, until the ship reached an altitude over 6,000 feet. Shenandoah rose, fell, and was twisted by the storm, and the ship finally suffered catastrophic structural failure, breaking in two at frame 125, approximately 220 feet from the bow. The aft section sank rapidly, breaking up further, with two of the engine cars breaking away and falling to the ground, killing their mechanics. In all, fourteen members of the crew were killed in the crash.
Monday, January 24, 2011
Tank. Oil Tank
Field tanker on the T-26 light tank platform, armed with a 0.3-in DT-29 machine gun1936
via shushpanzer_ru @ LJ
Friday, January 21, 2011
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Heron
CANT Z.506 Airone
A three-engine maritime utility float aircraft produced by the Italian manufacturer Cantieri Aeronautici e Navali Triestini (CANT). The Z.506 was used for transport, reconnaissance, bombing and search- and rescue.Source/specs: flugzeuginfo.net
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