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154 IAP Kittyhawk with bomb rack?
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Author Topic: 154 IAP Kittyhawk with bomb rack?  (Read 6321 times)
marluc
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« 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.

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
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John Thompson
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« Reply #1 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
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marluc
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Posts: 418



« Reply #2 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:

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
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Dark Green Man
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« Reply #3 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)
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John Thompson
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« Reply #4 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
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marluc
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Posts: 418



« Reply #5 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":

And you?re right,they look very similar.
Best regards:

Martin
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