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The crew preparing a Breguet Bre.14 A2, the reconnaissance version. The Bre.14 was the mainstay during the late war years of the French Aviation Militaire. After the war it soldiered on for years in France but even longer in the French African and Asian colonies (or protectorates). It was also used extensively in other forces. The US Expeditionary Force (in WW1) also flew the Breguet Bre.14.
The crew is here working the engine, which given this picture needed a crew of four to get the engine started. Although hand swinging the propeller has not started it might go when the other two people underneath the front of the fuselage has done their job with the engine.
For the curious. At the right side of the fuselage is a wind power driven electricity generator which feeds probably the wireless transmitter (In French TSF - Télégraphie (ou Téléphonie) Sans Fil)
Drive wheels for the belt driven circular saw table in the quarry workshop. Unfortunately the belts are no longer attached and have largely rotted away.
Cortland, NY. August 2017.
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If you would like to use THIS picture in any sort of media elsewhere (such as newspaper or article), please send me a Flickrmail or send me an email at natehenderson6@gmail.com
A thrift store wine glass filled with water and a few drops of food color meets a fast marble.
The background was no the best.
Bu ti have to say that being showered with fragments of glass from several shots was kind of neat.
As I cowered from said shrapnel.
Cheers.
It’s all for God.
Not only were you created by God; you were
created for him, too. The ultimate goal of the
universe is to show the glory of God. It is the
reason for everything that exists, including
you. God made it all for his glory. Without
God’s glory, there would be nothing.
What is the glory of God? It is who God is.
It is his nature, his character, and his power.
Where is the glory of God? Just look around.
Everything created by God reflects his glory in
some way. We see it everywhere, from the most
microscopic form of life to the vast Milky Way,
from sunsets and stars to storms and seasons.
Creation reveals our Creator’s glory. You can
learn a lot about God’s character just by
looking around. Through nature we learn that
God is powerful, that he enjoys variety, loves
beauty, is organized, and is wise and creative.
The Bible says, “The heavens declare the glory of
God.”
- Rick Warren's Purpose Driven Life
Made from a pair of modified “weed-eater” engines this racing engine was slated to power a model speed boat. Ed coupled the two crankcases together, installed a custom made double throw crankshaft and modified the cylinders to accept his large capacity water jacketed heads. It is equipped with a belt driven peristaltic water pump to keep the engine cool while on the running stand. The stand houses the fuel tank and fuel pump, a water tank and radiator, and a pair of electronic ignitions; one for each spark plug. A special ring gear was added to the flywheel that can easily be accessed from above once the engine is installed in a boat. Ed wanted a fast engine that makes noise so he opted for a pair of upright exhaust stacks for audible effect.
See More 2-Cylinder Engines at: www.flickr.com/photos/15794235@N06/albums/72157649352645204
See More Inline Engines at: www.flickr.com/photos/15794235@N06/albums/72157638336677194
See More Model Boat and Car Engines at: www.flickr.com/photos/15794235@N06/sets/72157641089388694/
See Our Model Engine Collection at: www.flickr.com/photos/15794235@N06/sets/72157602933346098/
Visit Our Photo Albums at: www.flickr.com/photos/15794235@N06/albums
Courtesy of Shirley Miller Anglemyer and Patricia Miller Jimerson
Pat McElroy, Mike Gombert
Paul and Paula Knapp
Miniature Engineering Museum
Having driven past this black-and-white timbered, mock Tudor building many times, and seen the sign for "Chainbridge Hotel", I assumed that this was, indeed, a hotel. Wrong! It's the main station building for Berwyyn Station, just west of Llangollen. The Chainbridge Hotel is actually on the oposite side of the River Dee and is accessed by.....you guessed it....The Chain Bridge. Simples!
NCB Lothians Area operated a Machinery Stores at Arniston near Gorebridge where various bits of surplus machinery were stored if they were considered too good to scrap.
Most Rustons were chain driven but this one uses connecting rods from a jackshaft under the cab.
Ruston & Hornsby 338429 of 1955 from Kinneil Colliery at Bo'ness which has since been preserved.
9th August 1979
The car is my 2014 Ibiza Estate driven 1,500 miles from Spain to Northern Scotland. The Buccaneer aircraft is permanently located beside the Buccaneer Garage in Elgin Scotland which is close to RAF Lossiemouth where the jet flew from.
Buccaneers were used by the Royal Navy and later the Royal Air Force during the period 1962-1994 and were designed to carry nuclear weapons.
After it was taken out of use it was bought by the garage owner and towed early one morning along the road from the airfield. Pictures of the journey made local news. Update: The aircraft has now been sold and is located in Fife.
I had driven from New Jersey up to Binghamton to photograph NS workings and just south of the station I came across this pair of CP Rail liveried CP locos. I honestly don’t whether they were parked “permanently” or whether they were scheduled for duty in the foreseeable future. CP 5671 is an SD40-2; CP 7305 is a GP38-2 (SD standing for Special Duty and GP standing for General Purpose).
Leica M8
28mm:F2 ASPH
250/F11
APRIL 2007 -- WA, AUSTRALIA -- One exposure of our car. I used my SB-800 flash once on full under the bonnet, then diffused four times ouside, then twice inside. -- PHOTO BY SHAUN CENTA
The second edition of "Driven A Woman's Rally" 2017, which was held in Bengaluru city and more than 200 teams participated.
This Matador was driven by the present owners for all his working life.. It was used in the families timber hauling business as timber tractor.
Lake County, Oregon, 2025
Mamiya 645 1000S, Sekor C 80mm f1.9, Fuji Acros II 100, Developed Kodak D-76 1:1
New pictures from a relatively old model, finished during the late Nineties - the Pontiac Grand Prix has collected some dust and the decals have yellowed over the years, so that I photoshopped a little and refreshed some areas digitally.
Some background:
ISM Racing was an auto racing team owned by Bob Hancher. The team fielded entries in the Indy Racing League and the NASCAR Winston Cup Series. ISM fielded cars in the IRL from 1997 to 1999, and McIlhenny Company, maker of Tabasco brand products, sponsored their Winston Cup car. The company announced in 1997 that it would sponsor the No. 35 Pontiac driven by Todd Bodine. The car would be owned by Bob Hancher. The team debuted on the weekend of the announcement at Charlotte Motor Speedway, with Bodine finishing 26th.
After a rumor that Tabasco had ended its sponsorship, the team failed to qualify for the first three races of the 1998 season. Surprisingly, McIlhenny Company voiced no concerns, despite the high-pressure stakes of NASCAR racing. After a tenth-place finish at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Team Tabasco missed the next race at Darlington Raceway, as well as three of the next four races, ranking 39th place in the one race in which it did appear. A practice accident took Bodine out of the California 500, where Wally Dallenbach Jr. filled in as driver. Bodine would be back on board for the Coca-Cola 600 in late May, finishing 28th.
June 6 saw Bodine's last ride in the Tabasco Pontiac at Richmond International Raceway. In his brief tenure, Team Tabasco only managed to qualify in five of the first thirteen races (including the race during which Dallenbach drove). ISM replaced Bodine with Loy Allen Jr. for the Pepsi 400 on a temporary basis; after the race was delayed due to wildfires, Bodine was fully released by the team before the next race at New Hampshire International Speedway. Gary Bradberry and Jimmy Horton were scheduled to drive for the team at future races.
After running only one of the next three races, however, Hancher sold the operation to Tim Beverly and his driver Darrell Waltrip. The Tyler Jet Motorsports team drove Chevrolet Monte Carlos and intended to continue using the model. In their first race, the Brickyard 400, Waltrip started dead-last but climbed through the field to finish 13th. But the team's use of Chevrolets sparked outrage at McIlhenny Company because it had invested heavily in Pontiacs as part of its marketing program. Lawsuits ensued between Tabasco and Hancher, and McIlhenny Company forced the team to run Pontiacs. Waltrip's best finish that year was 18th at Richmond; otherwise, the team performed poorly and Tabasco left the sport at the end of the year.
In NASCAR discussion this affair has become known as the "Tabasco Fiasco".
About the model:
This real world race car model was built around 2000 - one of the very few car kits I ever did.
The inspiration came through television - in the mid 90ies, local Free TV aired parts of the NASCAR Winston Cup series, as summaries but also some complete live races. Being interested in motorsport, I followed the series and decided to try my skills at a model - and the choice fell onto this Pontiac Grand Prix from the 1998 season.
At first I was a bit disappointed by the kit, because it looked pretty simple and crude, with flash and rather soft details. But after building it and checking reference pictures of the real stock cars of that era, I must admit that the kit is a) very accurate, b) fits well and c) offers anything you might ask for.
The kit was built almost 100% right out of the box. The only changes I made were opened cooler intakes in the car's front (you can see the radiator behind the mesh, the motor is complete, too, as well as the interior - the hood can be opened, and the whole car body can be lifted from the chassis) and scratch-built safety belts from paper instead of the decals, for a 3D effect. The rest is OOB.
The paintjob was hell, though, because the first attempt to paint the car body with white from the rattle can went awry, with cracks appearing everywhere, so that I eventually had to get rid of the initial layers of primer and paint through a bath in brake fluid. Messy affair that also washed out some of the styrene's softener, leaving the plastic rather brittle and with a matt/coarse surface. However, the second attempt (with a different primer) was successful. Applying the large decals on the car's bulged shapes was another challenge, but the carrier film was pretty elastic so that it worked even without decal softener or other aids. Finally, everything was sealed with glossy varnish. And after lot of sweat and cursing, the car looks just great!
ACE Driven
True Directional Concave Design
20x9 / 20x10.5
Mica Gray with Machined Face
Email Me For Any Wheel or Fitment Question: oscar@kaneiusa.com
This was the first time I had worked on the unit for twenty eight years. Despite driving several hundred different locomotives,of many classes,this little unit ranks in my top five most memorable traction units ever driven. Great memories working with several drivers who were on the unit with me back in the 1990’s. Some sadly no longer with us.
• This item will be out at Lakrya's Marketplace Store once the event is over ♥
◦ Compatibility :
- Classic & Mesh Avatars
◦ Ayla Mesh Tiara:
- Unrigged Mesh
- Materials Enabled
- Copy / Modify / No Transfer
◦ HUD :
- 2 Customizable Sections
- 3 Group Tabs
- 45 Textures
- 6 Presets
- HSL Color Palette
- Resizer
- Alpha
- Glow
- Brightness
- Script Delete
1958 Maserati 250F chassis CM7 driven by Allan Miles. He finished first in class 6 of the Pre 1961 Grand Prix cars (HGPCA: Historic Grand Prix Cars Association).
I took this photo during the Historic Grand Prix 2013 on Circuit Park Zandvoort in The Netherlands. I had such a great time with the following race classes:
MES Pre '66 Touring Cars
Grand Prix Cars Pre '61
Historic Formula Junior
FIA Historic Sports Cars
Historic Formula 2
Demonstratie - Yamaha Classic Racing Team Demonstratie
Demonstratie - Porsche Demonstratie
Demonstratie - Coloni Demonstratie
Youngtimer Trophy
Grand Prix Cars '61 - '65
NKHTGT - Nederlands Kampioenschap Historische Toerwagens & GT's
Demo - Yamaha Classic Racing Team Demonstratie
FIA Historic Formula 1
Historic Monoposto Racing
MES Gentlemen Drivers
Please don't use this image on websites, blogs or other media without my explicit permission.
© All rights reserved - Alle rechten voorbehouden
Wiki - The Battle of Barrington was an intense and deadly gunfight between federal agents and notorious Great Depression Era gangster, Baby Face Nelson, that took place on November 27, 1934 in the town of Barrington, outside Chicago, Illinois. It resulted in the deaths of Nelson, Federal Agent Herman "Ed" Hollis and Agent/Inspector Samuel P. Cowley.
With the death of "Public Enemy Number One" John Dillinger in July 1934, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, known at the time as the Division of Investigation, focused on eliminating what remained of the notorious Dillinger Gang. Lester "Baby Face Nelson" Gillis, whom newspapers of the era dubbed "Dillinger's aid", had managed to elude the federal dragnet. By late November 1934, the new Public Enemy Number One was hid out in the isolated piney woods of Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. Bolstered by his new found status, the diminutive Nelson bragged he would rob, "...a bank a day for a month."
On the morning of November 27, Nelson, sporting a thin mustache on his youthful face, Helen Gillis (Nelson's loyal wife), and John Paul Chase, Nelson's trusted right-hand man, departed Lake Geneva and traveled south, toward Chicago, on U.S. Route 12 (now U.S. 14). Nelson planned to meet two underworld figures in Chicago and had reasoned daylight the safer time to travel as agents would expect an evening departure.
Near the village of Fox River Grove, Illinois, Nelson observed a vehicle driven in the opposite direction. Inside the car were federal agents Thomas McDade and William Ryan. McDade and Ryan were traveling to Lake Geneva to support a fellow agent who had relayed an encounter with Nelson. The agents and the gangster recognized each other simultaneously and after several U-turns by the agents and by Nelson, Nelson wound up in pursuit of the federal car.
As Nelson's powerful V-8 Ford, driven by Helen Gillis, caught up to the weaker federal sedan, Nelson and Chase opened fire on the agents. Incredibly, McDade and Ryan were not killed or injured. The agents returned fire, sped ahead and ran off the highway. Taking defensive positions, McDade and Ryan awaited Nelson and Chase. The agents, however, were unaware a round fired by Ryan had punctured the water pump and or the radiator of Nelson's Ford. With his Ford rapidly losing power, Nelson was now pursued by a Hudson automobile driven by two more agents: Herman Hollis and Samuel P. Cowley.
A plaque at the Barrington Park District in Barrington, Illinois commemorates the site of the Battle of Barrington, a 1934 shootout that claimed the lives of two FBI agents and resulted in the death of notorious Chicago gangster Baby Face Nelson.
With his new pursuers attempting to pull alongside, Nelson instructed Helen Gillis to steer into the entrance of Barrington's Northside Park, just across the line from Fox River Grove, and stop. Hollis and Cowley overshot Nelson's Ford by over 100 feet (30 m). With their car stopped at an angle, Hollis and Cowley exited, took defensive positions behind the vehicle and, as Helen Gillis fled toward a drainage ditch, opened fire on Nelson and Chase.
Within seconds of the gun battle starting, a round from Cowley's Thompson submachine-gun struck Nelson above his belt line. The .45 caliber bullet tore through Nelson's liver and pancreas and exited from his lower back. Nelson grasped his side and leaned on the Ford's running board. Chase, in the meantime, continued to fire from behind the car. When Nelson regained himself, he suddenly stepped into the line of fire and advanced toward Cowley and Hollis. Cowley was hit by a burst from Nelson's machine gun, after retreating to a nearby ditch. Pellets from Hollis' shotgun struck Nelson in the legs and momentarily downed him. Hollis, possibly already wounded, retreated behind a utility pole. With his shotgun empty, Hollis drew his service revolver only to be struck by a bullet to the head from Nelson's gun. Hollis slid against the pole and fell face down. Nelson stood over Hollis for a moment then limped toward the agents' bullet-riddled car. Nelson backed the agents' car over to the Ford, and, with Chase's help, loaded the agents' vehicle with guns and ammo from the disabled Ford. After the weapon's transfer, Nelson, too badly wounded to drive, collapsed into the Hudson. Chase got behind the wheel and, along with Helen Gillis and the mortally wounded Nelson, fled the scene.
Nelson had been shot a total of nine times; a single (and ultimately fatal) machine gun slug had struck his abdomen and eight of Hollis's shotgun pellets had hit his legs. After telling his wife "I'm done for", Nelson gave directions as Chase drove them to a safe house on Walnut Street in Wilmette. Nelson died in bed there, with his wife at his side, at 7:35 that evening. Hollis, with massive head wounds, was declared dead soon after arriving at the hospital. At a different hospital, Cowley hung on long enough to confer briefly with Melvin Purvis, telling him, "Nothing would bring [Nelson] down." He underwent unsuccessful surgery before succumbing to a stomach wound similar to Nelson's.
Following an anonymous telephone tip, Nelson's body was discovered wrapped in a Native American patterned blanket in front of St. Paul's Lutheran Cemetery in Skokie, which still exists today. Helen Gillis later stated that she had placed the blanket around Nelson's body because, "He always hated being cold..."
Newspapers reported, based on the questionable wording of an order from J. Edgar Hoover ("...find the woman and give her no quarter"), that the Bureau of Investigation had issued a "death order" for Nelson's young widow, who wandered the streets of Chicago as a fugitive for several days, described in print as America's first female "public enemy". After surrendering on Thanksgiving Day, Helen Gillis, who had been paroled after capture at Little Bohemia Lodge, served a year in prison for harboring her late husband and died in 1987. Chase was apprehended later and served a term at Alcatraz and died in 1973. www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIo-GKSEG2g
British postcard in the Picturegoer Series, London, no. 744a. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM).
Charles Bickford (1891-1967) was an American character actor of gruff voice and appearance. He was nominated three times for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, for The Song of Bernadette (1943), The Farmer's Daughter (1947), and Johnny Belinda (1948). Other notable roles include Anna Christie (1930), Whirlpool (1948), A Star is Born (1954), and The Big Country (1958).
Charles Ambrose Bickford was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, during the first minute of 1891. His parents were Loretus and Mary Ellen Bickford. The fifth of seven children, he was an intelligent but very independent and unruly child. He had a particularly strong relationship with his maternal grandfather, a sea captain who was a powerful influence during his formative years. At the age of nine, he was tried and acquitted of the attempted murder in the shooting of a trolley motorman who had callously driven over and killed his beloved dog. He attended Foster School and Everett High School. Always more interested in experiencing life than reading about it, Bickford was considered 'the wild rogue' of this family, causing his parents frequent consternation. In his late teens, he drifted aimlessly around the United States for a time. Bickford had intended to attend the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to earn an engineering degree, but while wandering around the country, he became friends with the manager of a burlesque show, who convinced Bickford to take a role in the show. He debuted in Oakland, California, in 1911. Before breaking into acting, he worked as a lumberjack and investment promoter and, for a short time, ran a pest extermination business. He also was a stoker and fireman in the United States Navy. His first entry into acting was on the stage, eventually including Broadway. This venue provided him with an occasional living and served as the principal training ground for developing his acting and vocal talents. Bickford enjoyed himself so much that he abandoned his plans to attend M.I.T. He made his legitimate stage debut with the John Craig Stock Company at the Castle Square Theatre in Boston in 1912. During World War I, Bickford served as an engineer lieutenant in the United States Army. He eventually joined a road company and traveled throughout the United States for more than a decade, appearing in various productions. In 1925, while working in a Broadway play called Outside Looking In, he and co-star James Cagney (in his first Broadway role) received rave reviews. The play was a smash hit, and Bicjkford was offered a role in the film Beau Geste (Herbert Brenon, 1926). Anxious not to give up his newfound Broadway stardom, he turned it down, a decision he later regretted. Following his appearance in the critically praised but unsuccessful Maxwell Anderson-Harold Hickerson drama about the Sacco and Vanzetti case, Gods of the Lightning (Bickford was the Sacco character), Bickford was contacted by filmmaker Cecil B. DeMille. He was offered a contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to star in DeMille's first talking picture, Dynamite (Cecil B. DeMille, 1929), co-starring Conrad Nagel and Kay Johnson. Bickford played a coal miner Hagon Derk, who is sentenced to hang for murder. According to The New York Times reviewer Mordaunt Hall, Bickford gave "a splendid performance". Soon he began working with MGM studio head Louis B. Mayer on a number of projects.
Charles Bickford soon became a star after playing Greta Garbo's lover in Anna Christie (Clarence Brown, 1930) but he never developed into a leading man. Always of independent mind, exceptionally strong-willed and quick with his fists, Bickford would frequently argue and nearly come to blows with Mayer and any number of other MGM authority figures during the course of this contract with the studio. During the production of DeMille's Dynamite, he punched out his director following a string of heated arguments primarily, but not exclusively, related to the interpretation of his character's role. Throughout his early career on both the stage and later films Bickford rejected numerous scripts and made no secret of his disdain for much of the material he was offered. Not surprisingly, his association with MGM was short-lived, with Bickford asking for and quickly receiving a release from his contract. However, he soon found himself blacklisted at other studios, forcing him to take the highly unusual step (for that era) of becoming an independent actor for several years. His career took another turn in 1935. While rehearsing a scene for Universal's East of Java (George Melford, 1935), he was mauled by a 400-pound lion on his neck and shoulders, very close to his jugular vein. it required nearly a year for him to recover from the injuries. While he recovered, he lost his contract with Fox as well as his leading-man status owing to extensive neck scarring suffered in the attack coupled with his advancing age. It was not long, however, before he made a very successful transition to character roles, which he felt offered much greater diversity and allowed him to showcase his talent to better effect. Much preferring the character roles that now became his forte, Bickford appeared in many notable films, including The Farmer's Daughter (H.C. Potter, 1947) with Loretta Young, Johnny Belinda (Jean Negulesco, 1948) starring Jane Wyman, A Star is Born (George Cukor, 1954) starring Judy Garland and James Mason, and Not As a Stranger (Stanley Kramer, 1955), starring Olivia de Havilland, Robert Mitchum, and Frank Sinatra.
Finding great success playing an array of character roles in films and later in television, Charles Bickford quickly became highly sought after. His burly frame and craggy, intense features, coupled with a gruff, powerful voice lent themselves to a wide variety of roles. Most often he played lovable father figures, stern businessmen, heavies, ship captains or authority figures of some sort. During the 1940s, he was nominated three times for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, for The Song of Bernadette (Henry King, 1943) featuring Jennifer Jones, The Farmer's Daughter (H.C. Potter, 1947), and Johnny Belinda (Jean Negulesco, 1948). In the 1950s, he served as host of the television series The Man Behind the Badge (1955). Bickford continued to act in generally prestigious projects right up to his death. He guest-starred on TV series like The Islanders (1960), The Barbara Stanwyck Show (1960), and The Eleventh Hour (1963). In his final years, Bickford played rancher John Grainger, owner of the Shiloh Ranch, on the Western series The Virginian (1962-1968) with Doug McClure. Two of the actor's most memorable late-career big-screen roles were a wealthy and ruthless rancher in the Western The Big Country (William Wyler, 1958) starring Gregory Peck and Jean Simmons, and the forlorn father of an alcoholic (played by Lee Remick) in the drama Days of Wine and Roses (Blake Edwards, 1962). In 1965, Bickford published his autobiography, Bulls Balls Bicycles & Actors. In 1967, Charles Bickford died in Los Angeles of pneumonia and a blood infection at the age of 76. Jennifer Jones, who was a close friend of Bickford, attempted suicide on the day of his death, but it is not clear if Bickford's death had anything to do with the attempt. Since 1916, he had been married to Beatrice Loring. They had a son, Rex, and a daughter, Doris.
Sources: Jim Beaver (IMDb), Wikipedia and IMDb.
And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.
I was out wildflowering my way around the Mojave over a long weekend during the spectacular En Nino of 1998. I had left another site at dusk and driven most of the way to Joshua Tree, my target for the next day, and was looking for a place to pull off the road and camp. So I turned off the highway and followed an unnamed dirt road off into the desert. There were cars on a neighboring road that remained visible out across the flat desert as I drove, and I was feeling a little paranoid because I was traveling alone, so I drove for probably a few miles until I found a spot that seemed a bit more secluded. I could see there were flowers nearby as I turned in for the night in the bed of the pickup shell. And the perfume from the dune evening-primrose was so intense that I spent the night with my sinuses all stuffed up. But I had only the barest inkling of the sight that was to greet me at dawn. I'm posting 2 shots: 1 just before sunup & the other just after.
When people talk about a wildflower bloom in the desert, you have to realize: it's very localized, keenly dependent on where there was a cloudburst or two, what the elevation and soil conditions are, etc. You'll drive for miles and miles with nary a petal, and then all of a sudden there'll be a patch like this. Up until now, I had just been following ranger station reports & online 'hotlines'. But this site I found all by myself, and that made it special.
+++ DISCLAIMER +++
Nothing you see here is real, even though the conversion or the presented background story might be based historical facts. BEWARE!
Some background:
The Martin B-26 Marauder was a World War II twin-engine medium bomber built by the Glenn L. Martin Company. First used in the Pacific Theater in early 1942, it was also used in the Mediterranean Theater and in Western Europe.
After entering service with the U.S. Army, the aircraft received the reputation of a "Widowmaker" due to the early models' high accident rate during takeoffs and landings. The Marauder had to be flown at exact airspeeds, particularly on final runway approach and when one engine was out. The 150 mph (241 km/h) speed on short final runway approach was intimidating to pilots who were used to much slower speeds, and whenever they slowed down below what the manual stated, the aircraft would stall and crash.
The B-26 became a safer aircraft once crews were re-trained, and after aerodynamics modifications (an increase of wingspan and wing angle-of-incidence to give better takeoff performance, and a larger vertical stabilizer and rudder). After aerodynamic and design changes, the aircraft distinguished itself as "the chief bombardment weapon on the Western Front" according to a United States Army Air Forces dispatch from 1946. The Marauder ended World War II with the lowest loss rate of any USAAF bomber.
A total of 5.288 were produced between February 1941 and March 1945. By the time the United States Air Force was created as an independent service separate from the Army in 1947, all Martin B-26s had been retired from U.S. service. Furthermore, after the end of hostilities in the European theatre of operations, many airframes with low flying hour numbers were left in British airfield.
This was the situation when establishing Hunting Aircraft in 1944 by the purchase of Percival Aircraft: this business was absorbed into the British Aircraft Corporation in 1959.
At the end of 1945 the young British company Hunting Air Travel Ltd., a division of Hunting plc., based at Luton Airport, entered the scene - actually a commercial airline, not an aircraft manufacturer. The new airline began commercial operations from Bovingdon Airport at the start of 1946, and the lack of suitable passenger aircraft for domestic routes (or to continental neighbors) led to a private conversion program for leftover B-26 airframes.
This work was done by Percival Aircraft Ltd, which had become part of Hunting in 1936 and also had its headquarter at Luton. At first, only five B-26B bombers were planned to be converted into P.26 airliners. The airframes underwent considerably changes, primarily stripping them off of any military equipment, closing the bomb bays and adding a passenger cabin with appropriate seating and entry.
Furthermore, the bombers' original R-2800 engines were replaced by more powerful and efficient R-3350 radials with 2.000 hp/1.470 kW each. This was a simple task, since this engine had been an early design options and the mountings were compatible.
Other modifications included an enlarged wingspan, which was intended for a more economical flight as well as a reduced landing speed, especially when loaded.
The revamped aircraft entered service in 1951 when Hunting Air Travel changed its name to Hunting Air Transport. Flying primarily on the British Isles, the aircraft attained immediately some interest from other small airlines, also from continental Europe.
When Percival Aircraft Ltd changed its name to Hunting Percival Aircraft in 1954, a total of 21 B-26 bombers had been converted for Hunting-Clan Air Transport (6, Hunting Air Transport had changed its name in 1953), Aer Lingus (6), Derby Airlines (4), Sabena (3) and Manx Airlines (2).
All of these differed slightly, being tailored to their operators' needs, e. g. concerning seat capacity, engines or entry configurations. The last machines were re-built for Aer Lingus, with 27 passenger seats (nine rows in 2+1 configuration), a crew of four, and integral boarding ladder under the rear fuselage (instead of standard side doors). Furthermore, these final machines were driven by slightly more powerful (2.200 hp/1.640 kW) turbo-compound R-3350 engines, which offered a considerably improved fuel efficiency and an extended range (+20%).
By that time the civil aircraft industry had undergone a major recovery and new models like the turboprop-driven Fokker F.27 Friendship entered the scene - faster, with bigger passenger capacities and more efficient, and the P.26 could not keep up anymore. Another big weakness was the lack of a pressurized cabin, so that the P.26 could only operate at medium altitude. Until 1960 all remaining P.26 were withdrawn and scrapped, most of them had reached their service life, anyway, but operational costs had become prohibitive.
General characteristics:
Crew: 4 (pilot, navigator/radio operator, two service)
Capacity: 21–32 passengers
Length: 58 ft 3 in (17.8 m)
Wingspan: 79 ft 3 in (24.20 m)
Height: 21 ft 6 in (6.55 m)
Wing area: 734 ft² (66 m²)
Empty weight: 24.000 lb (11.000 kg)
Loaded weight: 37.000 lb (17.000 kg)
Powerplant:
2× Wright R-3350-745C18BA-1 radial, each rated at 2.200 hp (1.640 kW),
driving four-bladed propellers
Performance:
Maximum speed: 287 mph (250 knots, 460 km/h) at 5.000 feet (1.500 m)
Cruise speed: 225 mph (195 knots, 362 km/h)
Landing speed: 100 mph (79 knots, 161 km/h)
Range: 3.420 mi (2.975 nmi; 5.500 km)
Service ceiling: 21.000 ft (6.400 m)
Wing loading: 46,4 lb/ft² (228 kg/m²)
The kit and its assembly:
Another Group Build entry, this time for the 2015 "De-/Militarize it" GB at whatifmodelers.com that ran from June through August. I am not 100% certain how the idea of converting a B-26 bomber into a 50ies airliner came up - I have modified the aircraft before, and maybe handling with resin R-3350s for the Supermarine Stalwart flying boat had a subtle influence. However, it was a suitable idea, and I quickly got hands on a vintage Matchbox kit of the Marauder.
This one was chose because of the simplicity of the kit (e .g. without an open bomb bay) and its relatively clean surface. When I got it, though, I had to cope with missing parts: the complete cockpit was missing. The seller did not mention it, I did notice it too late, so I had to create the interior from scratch, as well as the civil pilot figures which were puzzled together, too.
Anyway, conversion was rather straightforward. All guns and turrets were closed/faired over. The dorsal turret received a plug, the nose is the OOB clear part hidden under a coat of putty and the new tail cone is actually a nose from a Frog Supermarine Attacker.
Additionally, some of the original windows were hidden (including the ventral entry hatch) while new round windows, esp. for the passenger cabin under the wing spar, were drilled. They were later filled with Clearfix, after all paint work was done.
The wing tips were enlarged with donations from a Hobby Boss La-7 pistion fighter, leftover from a former conversion project. Even though I did not expect much from this addition I think that the bigger wingspan (the total extension is less than 2", though) and the more pointed tips subtly change the look and the proportions of the B-26?
The OOB engines were replaced by resin R-3350 from Contrails: a perfect match, just the OOB nacelles had to be shortened because the R-3350s come with a complete exhaust section, they are pretty long compared to the R-2800s. Actually, this option was real: AFAIK the R-3350 was a high power alternative for the B-26, but I think that at the time of the aircraft's design it was not available yet, and when it came into production the B-29 received anything that rolled off of the production lines. But in this post WWII case it's a good and plausible modification, since airliners from that era (e .g. the Lockheed Constellation) were powered by this engine type, too.
Further mods include new wheels (just for a modernized look, instead of the WWII grass runway balloon tires) and the passengers received a retractable boarding staircase. This addition was originally intended as a display trick, because the B-26 kit is prone to tip over on its tail. But it turned out that the resin engines weigh so much that the kit even stands without extra weight inside now! Well, the scratched stair was fitted, anyway...
Painting and markings:
This was a bit complicated, because I wanted a 50ies livery, yet a colorful option. One early choice had been Belgian airline Sabena in dark blue and white, or the Netherland's KLM, but then I stumbled across a limited decal sheet from airliner specialist TwoSix Decals for a 1:72 Fokker F.27 in Aer Lingus service, upon the type's introduction in 1955. Perfect match, and since I like green and I could avoid white as far as possible, this was the winning design! :D
From that, things were again straightforward: the paint scheme remains close to the benchmark. The dark green on the upper fuselage is Humbrol 3 (Brunswick Green), the fin was sprayed in white and the metallic undersides were painted with different aluminum shades, including Revell Acrylics, Modelmaster 'Aluminum Plate' Metallizer and simple Aluminum paint, plus some Humbrol 56 for fake panel lines and the fabric-covered ailerons.
Panel lines on the upper fuselage and some dirt were painted with Humbrol 91 (Black Green). On top of that a very light black ink wash was applied in order to emphasize engravings, esp. on the wings and the white fin.
The decals came next (wonderfully printed, dead sharp, very thin carrier film), and they posed less problems than expected. The window openings on the white cheatline were simply covered and punched through, and after final cosmetic touch-ups incl. light soot stains behind the engine exhausts. I also added de-icing leading edges and some walking areas on the wings, cut from black and grey decals sheet (from TL Modellbau).
Finally the kit received a coat of glossy acrylic varnish from the rattle can (which did not turn out as evenly as expected, I guess to due to the age of the paint… The aircraft looks somewhat dirty now), et voilà, the Irish Marauder Commuter was ready for take-off!
I am really happy how this conversion turned out. I have seen pics of civilized B-26s (yes, this was actually done, but only in a few cases), and without all the lumps and bumps and with a decent paint job the aircraft looks really sleek and elegant. The classic, early Aer Lingus livery confirms this, a pretty and unusual bird!