Sunday, April 17, 2005

 

Today In Aviation History

APRIL 18, 1942. Lieutenant Colonel James H. Doolittle leads raid on Japan by B-25 Mitchell bombers launched from the aircraft carrier USS Hornet.

General James H. Doolittle, USAF, (1896-1993)

The North American B-25 Mitchell

SPECIFICATIONS
Span: 67 ft. 7 in.
Length: 52 ft. 11 in.
Height: 15 ft. 9 in.
Weight: 28,460 lbs. loaded
Armament: Five .50-cal. machine guns; 5,000 lbs. of bombs
Engine: Two Wright R-2600s of 1,700 hp. ea.
Cost: $96,000

PERFORMANCE
Maximum speed: 275 mph.
Cruising speed: 230 mph.
Range: 1,200 miles
Service Ceiling: 25,000 ft.

B-25 Mitchell Images

USS Hornet
USS Hornet Photo

USS Hornet (CV 8)
Vital Statistics
Commissioned: 20 October 1941
Displacement: 23,507 tons (25,484 full load)
Length: 824' 9" oa, 770' wl, Beam: 83'3" wl, 109'6" extreme
Armament (1942): eight 5"/38 (8x1), sixteen 1.1" (4x4), 23 20mm
Performance: 32.5 knots maximum

Aircraft: 85 (various combinations of
Wildcat, Avenger, Dauntless, and Devastator)
Complement: 306 officers, 2,613 enlisted

SUNK - October 27, 1942

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APRIL 18, 1943. P-38 Lightnings intercept Japanese aircraft and down two Mitsubishi G4M "Betty" bombers killing Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, Japan's leading military strategist. Very ironic it happened exactly one year to the day after the "Doolittle Raid".

Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto

Lockheed P-38 Lightning Info

Lockheed P-38 Lightning Images

SPECIFICATIONS:
Lockheed P-38L Lightning
Dimensions:
Wing span: 52 ft. 0 in (15.84 m)
Length: 37 ft. 10 in. (11.53 m)
Height: 12 ft. 10 in. (3.91 m)
Weights:
Empty: 14,100 lb. (6,395 kg)
Operational: 17,500 lb. (7,937 kg)
Performance:
Maximum Speed: 390 mph (627 km/h) @ 15,000 ft. (4,572 m)
Service Ceiling: 40,000 ft. (12,192 m)
Range: 900 miles (1,448 km) @ 30,000 ft. (9,144 m)
Powerplant:
Two Allison V-1710-111/113 , liquid cooled engines. Engine power
developed 1,425 hp (1,062 kw) @ sea level and 26,500 ft. (8,077 m).
Under war emergency conditions 1,600 hp (1,193 kw) was available.
Armament:
One 20 mm. Hispano AN-M2C cannon. and four .50 calibre Browing machine guns.
External bomb load of 4,000 lbs. or ten 5 in. rockets.

Mitsubishi G4M "Betty" Photos and Info

SPECIFICATIONS For Mitsubishi G4M3 Model 34 Type: Long Range Bomber
Allied Codename: Betty

Crew: Seven
Powerplant:
Type: Two Mitsubishi MK4T Kasei 25 Radial
Horsepower: 1,825

Dimensions:
Wing Span: 25.00m (82 ft. 0.25 in.)
Length: 19.50m (63 ft. 11.75 in.)
Height: 6.00m (19 ft. 8.25 in.)
Wing Area: 78.13 m² (841.01 sq ft.)

Weight:
Empty: 8350kg (18,049 lb.)
Max. Take-Off: 12500kg (27,558 lb.)

Performance:
Max. Speed: 470 km/h (292 mph) at 5150m (16,895 ft.)
Service Ceiling: 9220m (30,250 ft.)
Max. Range: 4335 km (2,694 miles)

Armament:
Four 20-mm cannon
Two 7.7-mm (0.303-in) machine guns
Plus
One 800 kg (1,764 lb) Torpedo or
1000 kg (2,205 lb.) of bombs

# posted by Steve @ 11:42 AM
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