Fire Breather

Terry Oxandale

Skinny Man
That is one of the most beautiful sounds on this earth.

For you guys here in the states, if you not taken advantage of the opportunity to ride on a Collins Foundation flight in a B17 or 24, it is an experience well worth the expense. 30 minutes of flight while walking around anywhere in the plane you want (even sticking your head out the upper hatch to watch those Cyclone radials twisting away). They treat you like an adult, nothing in the plane is child-proofed, and they even request the usual pre-fire rotation of the blades from the riders.
 
Nice plane, last carrier prop driven fighter. When the Canadian Navy, when we had one, mothballed the Sea Furies in a old WWII hanger they where all destroyed by fire.
I think there were 40 in total lost.
Dave
 
David, I believe the last prop driven carrier based attack class aircraft is the Douglas AD 1 - AD 4 Skyraider. It was used for ground support and "bombing" and is classed as an attack airplane although not stricly a fighter,as was the primary function of the Sea Fury 10(so as strictly a fighter,the SF 10 is the last) The S F 11's used by the Canadian Navy were used in a similar role as the AD 's,that is as a fighter/bomber. Originally designed as a dive bomber/ground attack plane, it was pressed into service in multiple roles in Viet Nam.Obviously not as fast or agile as the incredible Sea Fury but it saved many lives with its inherent ability to stay around the target area for a very long time and to carry an impressive array and quantity of armament.You could always recognize the sound of the big radial. A few of the Vets here should remember 'Sandy'. A.J.
 
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Al,
You are right the Skyraider and a few older converted prop aircraft were used in Nam. Most of the Commonwealth Navies used Sea Furies. I think they should use something like that in Afganistan now. A little cheaper to operate than attack helicopters. Still make a good weapons platform.
Dave
 
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