Tailspin Turtle

From personal experience in the mid-1950s, it was a hard g and it was the name for a malt-shop/snack bar sort of establishment on base.

For what it's worth: https://tailhooktopics.blogspot.com/2018/11/f-18a-main-landing-gear.html It's very complicated. As you guessed, the shrink-planing mechanism not only compresses the strut to reduce the length of the wheel well required, but also rotates the wheel's axle during retraction to minimize the wheel well's depth.

For what it’s worth:http://tailspintopics.blogspot.com/2013/09/the-bigger-banjo.html

Send me a personal message with your email address.

They and the links were retained and removed after landing.

Thanks for that. BuNo 142650 was the first from the factory with the tanker provisions. I had been told that earlier A3Ds were semi-permanently modified with the tanker package and became KA-3Bs. I did not realize that the provisions were also retrofitted but that does not surprise me. I have yet to find out what the difference was between the tanker kit and the permanent installation but when I do, I’ll update/correct the post.

Also see http://tailspintopics.blogspot.com/2016/01/grumman-6b-iron-hand.html but Rick and I were collaborating so there might not be anything new.

For what it's worth: https://tailspintopics.blogspot.com/2009/10/grumman-panther.html

Thanks - although the color actually varies to some extent in real life, it's always better to start with the closest approximation. Now, what do you do for "white"?

The forward section of the rudder was actually the trimmer panel. The aft section was the rudder itself. A big enough rudder for single engine operation at take off and landing speeds was far too big at cruise speeds.as North American was to discover with the AJ Savage. During single-engine operation, the trimmer panel responded to rudder-pedal movement like the rudder itself.

In 1/72 scale, I use a thin strips of the kind of white high-quality "wrap" tissue paper that a present is wrapped in before being put in the box. It can be painted after been draped and tacked in place with white glue by just touching the brush to the center of the tissue. It naturally wicks out to the edge of the strip and no farther.

Kittyhawk appears to have used VMF-312's FJ-3M color scheme with the WR tail code on its FJ-2 kit cover art.

Also: http://tailspintopics.blogspot.com/2013/04/things-under-wings-va-25-1-skyraider.html

That was my plan but things got in the way, like new-to-me material. Steve Ginter has finally made me commit to a hard deadline so the monograph can be available by Christmas. It should be worth the wait for hard-core Phantom Phans.