Max89

The combined Lancaster at War looks great. I found a seller in Canada and just ordered a copy. Thank you all for the tips.

I've been trying to do all my searching online. No doubt these books contain plenty of wartime photos, but I don't have any of them. I'll have to look into buying a copy or two...

Does anyone have any wartime Lancaster Mk III photos that they can share? It might just be a case of me being terrible at searching for things, but for an aircraft as popular as the Lanc, I can barely find any good photos of it. The ones I do find are almost always of the surviving or museum aircraft. I would prefer photos where the registration number of the aircraft is visible, if possible.

I found a drawing that hopefully makes it a little easier to identify the blisters/bulges on the Brooklyn-class cruisers. On this drawing of the USS Savannah, the "blister" is clearly demarcated and can be seen running all the way from the first turret to the last.

Interesting. So a "blister" is essentially a widening of the hull to increase the ship's beam, and therefore provide additional stability, correct? In the context of Brooklyn-class cruiser modifications, did the terms "bulges" and "blisters" refer to the same thing? Or were the bulges a separate modification?

I've learnt that some of the Brooklyn-class cruisers were fitted with blisters or bulges, and this leads me to two questions: Are "blisters" the same thing as "bulges"? I'm assuming bulges refer to anti-torpedo bulges. Was the USS Helena ever fitted with either blisters or bulges? For example, here is a photo of USS Savannah with the following caption: "5 September 1944 photo as rebuilt after FX-1400 guided bomb damage off Salerno. Hull is blistered up to the main deck and her former single 5"/25 guns have been replaced with twin 5"/38s. She is also fitted with a new bridge and new light weight antiaircraft guns and arrangement of those guns. The entire Brooklyn class was planned to be so modified but this was canceled at the end of the war." I can't really tell what they're referring to when they say "blistered up", because I can't really see anything that resembles blisters in that photo.

Thanks for the info, @ArnoldAmbrose. Yes, I too think that the propeller (along with the anchor and ship bell) at the USS Helena memorial in Montana are all from CA-75, although I can't find any reputable sources to confirm that. One thing to note though is that the memorial was erected several years before CL-50's wreck was discovered in 2018. It's a pity that the footage from RV Petrel's dive to CL-50 is hidden away. Paul Allen's team only shared a 30 second clip on YouTube where there's a shot of an outboard propeller half buried under the sea floor. There's probably a ton of useful info in that footage.

I'm modelling the USS Helena (CL-50) as she would've appeared during her final days before sinking, but I'm unsure of what propellers to use here. I understand that when the ship was originally launched, she had 3-bladed props, but I also know that the ship was rebuilt/upgraded/modernized later. Did the ship always have 3-bladed props until the end?

Is it just me or are the rear nozzles on the GR.3 wider than the front nozzles? I've been operating under the assumption that all four nozzles are identical in appearance.

I found a pretty good picture of the tailplane from an angle that avoid perspective distortion. So as Graham said, rounded at the front, then tapers at the back. See the image below.

Hey there, I have some general questions about the Harrier GR.3 that I'm hoping someone here might have the answers to. I noticed that there are two boundary layer bleed air discharge ducts directly behind the canopy (#53 in this diagram). Are these actuated with controls to open/close/adjust them, or are they fixed? Does the tailplane taper out towards the end or does it end with a straight edge that's parallel to the fuselage? I've attached a crude drawing depicting top views of the tailplane, where #1 tapers out and #2 doesn't. Which is more accurate? Thanks in advance!

Did all FAW 2s have this change applied, whether from the factory or through a retrofit?

I learnt today that the "chin blisters" on the Sea Vixen were initially used for retractable rocket launchers, but were later repurposed on the FAW 2 to house gas canisters used to cool the Red Tops (picture below). Can someone confirm if this is accurate? When did this change take place? Also, did all aircraft that were built as FAW 2 come from the factory with these gas canisters in place of the rocket launchers? Or was this always a retrofit?

Does anyone know where I can find high resolution photos of A-10A Thunderbolts in the 1980s? The only requirement I have is that the tail number should be clearly visible, including the first two digits which are typically in smaller font.

Does anyone know why the vertical stabilizers on A-10A 76-0540 look different compared to all other aircraft of its type? It almost looks as if the bottom of the vertical stabilizers are "clipped". You should be able to see this in the attached photo on the left. Here's the source of the image: https://www.airliners.net/photo/USA-Air-Force/Fairchild-A-10A-Thunderbolt-II/185519 The funny thing is that if you look up earlier pictures of that same aircraft when it was in service, it has normal looking stabilizers.