Tailspin Turtle

https://tailspintopics.blogspot.com/2013/06/things-under-wings-f4h-f-4-phantom.html Note the lack of sway braces on the attachment of the Sergeant Fletcher tank to the pylon, a result of that tank being bolted directly to the pylon.

Little known fact: the F-111B could land back aboard with all six Phoenixes plus more fuel than the F-14 could have if it carried four back.

And this is includes a comparison of the long and short noses: https://tailspintopics.blogspot.com/2014/10/f11f-tiger.html

I don’t know how accurate the Lindberg kit is but this includes a comparison of the long nose F11F to the XF9F-9: https://tailhooktopics.blogspot.com/2018/01/the-grumman-xf9f-9-too-little-too-soon.html

I’ve mentioned it in one of my books (e.g. the Navy requirement for a day fighter that resulted in the F8U Crusader had compatibility with the concept as a design requirement) but I checked and I didn’t post anything about it in my blogs...

The XB-42/43 main landing gear probably set a record for the number of doors involved: https://tailhooktopics.blogspot.com/2019/09/douglas-xb-4243-main-landing-gear.html Douglas significantly simplified the A3D’s.

For what it’s worth the F4H’s bespoke tanks (370 and 600 gallon) went through a similar evolution. The original tanks were designed by McDonnell. They were later replaced by tanks with a constant diameter in the midsection, presumably to reduce manufacturing cost. See https://tailspintopics.blogspot.com/2013/06/things-under-wings-f4h-f-4-phantom.html

https://tailspintopics.blogspot.com/2011/07/douglas-low-drag-external-fuel-tanks.html

Airplanes, helicopters, birds, insects, and gliders stay up by pushing air down (in the case of the glider, only in rising air). How and how much air they push down are just details.

I was at an air show at NASA Ames once upon a time (the Blues were flying A-4s). It was a lovely sunny day. There was an excellent representation of Navy airplanes in the static-display area. They were all gray/white and clean. No two greys were the exact same color or sheen.

I'm sure that the EA-3B had a plugged window frame aft of the one that had a round window in it, at least on the right side. I'm all but certain that the next window location was eliminated by the incorporation of the small bomb bay in the aft area of the cabin. Whether the last plugged window on each side was present is a definite maybe. It's there on the initial Douglas A3D-2P access-panel drawing.

https://tailspintopics.blogspot.com/2015/09/grumman-6a-vs-6e-intruder.html

https://clearpropmodels.com/uh-2a/bseasprite https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235069382-uh-2a-seasprite-172-clearprop/

Direct from Clearprop - their margin is better when you do that.

I just got one in the mail. In a word, brilliant! At first glance at what’s in the box, which for starters is first class, the parts are beautifully detailed inside and out (if any aftermarket company can find some feature that’s missing or shape that’s inaccurate, I will be very surprised); the multi-page instruction sheet is in color, detailed, and on high quality paper; photo-etched details are included where injection molding would be inadequate; and decals are provided for four different helicopters along with almost as many stencils as would be on an F-4, all of them readable with approp