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Title: 154 IAP Kittyhawk with bomb rack? Post by: marluc on June 24, 2009, 03:30:27 PM Hello everybody:
I found this photo in scalemodel.ru,of soviet ace Matveyev (and other pilots) in front of one of 154 IAP?s Kittyhawks. (http://i195.photobucket.com/albums/z27/marluc_foto/P-40/th_KittyhawkMatveyev_modificado.jpg) (http://s195.photobucket.com/albums/z27/marluc_foto/P-40/?action=view¤t=KittyhawkMatveyev_modificado.jpg) These planes were fitted with bomb racks to carry a FAB-250 bomb hung on the centerline under the fuselage,during spring 1942.But this Kittyhawk has what looks like a bomb rack under the left wing,am I wrong? Your help will be very appreciated.This is the link to the thread in saclemodels.ru: http://scalemodels.ru/modules/forum/viewtopic.php?t=9433&postdays=0&postorder=asc&&start=20 Best regards: Martin Title: Re: 154 IAP Kittyhawk with bomb rack? Post by: John Thompson on June 24, 2009, 05:17:43 PM Hi Martin! Just a wild guess on my part, but could it be part of the launch rails for RS82 rockets? This seems to have been a fairly common modification to the P-40; in fact, I took the liberty of looking at the other P-40 photos in your album, and two of those aircraft have the launch rails fitted.
John Title: Re: 154 IAP Kittyhawk with bomb rack? Post by: marluc on June 25, 2009, 02:25:58 PM Hello John:
Thanks for your help. ...but could it be part of the launch rails for RS82 rockets? It was my first thought,but should be two rails not one.As far as I know,the only Kittyhawks fitted with rocket launchers were the Klimov engined birds. ... I took the liberty of looking at the other P-40 photos in your album, and two of those aircraft have the launch rails fitted. One is a Tomahawk and the other a Klimov engined Kitty.This is an enlarged view: (http://i195.photobucket.com/albums/z27/marluc_foto/P-40/th_KittyhawkMatveyevdetalle.jpg) (http://s195.photobucket.com/albums/z27/marluc_foto/P-40/?action=view¤t=KittyhawkMatveyevdetalle.jpg) The green arrows point to what looks like two fins in the downside of a rail,could be some kind of sway braces? Greetings: Martin Title: Re: 154 IAP Kittyhawk with bomb rack? Post by: Dark Green Man on June 25, 2009, 06:23:28 PM I agree with John, it looks like fins for the RS-82 and it actually looks like a pair of them to me (also a common fit for P-40's in Soviet service) [/color] Title: Re: 154 IAP Kittyhawk with bomb rack? Post by: John Thompson on June 25, 2009, 11:44:46 PM Does this help? Here's a thread from Air Warfare Forum about Klimov-engined P-40's which includes not only some neat drawings, but also (about half-way down the page, posted by Jarda Rankl) a photo of a P-40 with RO82 rails, taken at almost exactly the same angle as the Matveyev photo:
http://www.airwarfareforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=6683&sid=e4e7ad32bcb0c8c84239d93e9a51de32 It's a very poor image, but it looks very similar. John Title: Re: 154 IAP Kittyhawk with bomb rack? Post by: marluc on June 26, 2009, 06:14:06 AM Thanks Paul and John.It must be one or two rocket launchers,the enlarged image is too blurred to try a decent interpretation.Besides,I?ve found that Kittyhawks of 154 IAP had a FAB-250 bomb hung on the centerline under the fuselage for ground attack duties (not under the wings).And during 1942,many P-40s had a pair of RS-82 rockets under each wing to be employed as shturmoviks.
It's a very poor image, but it looks very similar. I have the same photo that I scanned from Osprey?s "Soviet Lend-Lease Fighter Aces of WW2": (http://i195.photobucket.com/albums/z27/marluc_foto/P-40/th_KittyhawkKlimov.jpg) (http://s195.photobucket.com/albums/z27/marluc_foto/P-40/?action=view¤t=KittyhawkKlimov.jpg) And you?re right,they look very similar. Best regards: Martin |