Which fighters were "thick skinned?"

[Nonskimmer]

Four seats in a bomb bay that'll never carry bombs again, I can live with. Plus, they can be removed.

Originally Posted by the lancaster kicks ass

unrealistic paint sceme........

Now what are you on about?

[the lancaster kicks ass]

that gloss would never have been used...........

and few of the fittings in your lanc are originals...........

[Nonskimmer]

As opposed to the BBMF Lanc, right?

And we Canucks have always liked our gloss. Believe it or not, it's an old RCAF tradition. So there.

[the lancaster kicks ass]

but it wouldn't have been used in WWII..........

and yes, most of out fittings are original, our's is a military aircraft and so doesn't go through the same checks as civilian aircraft..........

[Nonskimmer]

Originally Posted by the lancaster kicks ass

but it wouldn't have been used in WWII..........

Wanna bet? Better check it out.

Originally Posted by the lancaster kicks ass

....and yes, most of out fittings are original, our's is a military aircraft and so doesn't go through the same checks as civilian aircraft..........

What exactly are you referring to by "fittings"?

[Soren]

Originally Posted by RG_Lunatic

You can see the footstep area on the FW wings Soren! Its the area just behind and inside the cannon bulge.

On that Spitfire, it's probably a plane going out of service, and besides that the fronts of the wings are strong enough for guys to sit on if they got up their without standing on the mid part of the wing shows nothing. Crawling or scooting up off a cart is not standing. The guys standing on the wing are standing on the wingroot area where it's okay.

What's the 109 pic supposed to show?

RG there are NO painted areas on any of the a/c's wings in the pictures I presented ! (Thats includes the 190)



There are no marked areas.

I can see no markings on those planes. But the area where a person could step is very clear. On the Sptifire its the inner wing root panel, and its even deliniated by a sheetmetal line. On the FW, its less apparant but its behind and inside of the MG151 bulge.

[Soren]

Originally Posted by FLYBOYJ

Some of the ones on a C-130 are there so you won't fall off the bloody thing!

Yes those sand-paper like areas are also on alot of "Modern" Spits.

[Soren]

Originally Posted by RG_Lunatic

I can see no markings on those planes. But the area where a person could step is very clear. On the Sptifire its the inner wing root panel, and its even deliniated by a sheetmetal line. On the FW, its less apparant but its behind and inside of the MG151 bulge.

RG that simply just isnt true.

Both the Spit and 109's wings could be walked on without sustaining ANY damage AT ALL ! And I have no clue who gave you your current idea about the Spit and 109's wings.

Originally Posted by Soren

RG that simply just isnt true.

Both the Spit and 109's wings could be walked on without sustaining ANY damage AT ALL ! And I have no clue who gave you your current idea about the Spit and 109's wings.

I was told this by a live Spitfire pilot just before I climbed up and got into the cockpit at an airshow.

And look at the pic you've posted... NOT ONE OF THOSE PEOPLE ARE STANDING ON THE WING! All of them are being careful to distribute their weight so as not to damage it. And what do you see them wearing on their feet?

[Soren]

Originally Posted by RG_Lunatic

I was told this by a live Spitfire pilot just before I climbed up and got into the cockpit at an airshow.

RG I was told the same by some aircraft mechanics working on one, but this was only on old conserved Spit's, as the owners would like them to stay this way ! There was no risk for damage as long as you didnt start jumping on the wing (Wich most probably wont do )

And look at the pic you've posted... NOT ONE OF THOSE PEOPLE ARE STANDING ON THE WING! All of them are being careful to distribute their weight so as not to damage it.

RG offcourse their not standing on the wing, why would they ? The wing is slanted and theres nothing to hold onto out there, so standing up would be very difficult and the risk of falling great. Also why strain yourself by standing up when you can lie down and do the work ?

And what do you see them wearing on their feet?

Three of them clearly wear shoes.

There is film of P-47 crews walking on the wing in boots. You could not do this on a P-51, Spitfire, or FW.

On that picture of the Spitfire armorer's, clearly the two on the left are barefoot, the next one over we cannot tell, the next one appears to be wearing tennis shoes or something similar but this might be a trick of the light, and the one on the far right is barefoot.

[FLYBOYJ]

[quote="RG_Lunatic"]There is film of P-47 crews walking on the wing in boots. You could not do this on a P-51, Spitfire, or FW.

I've seen P-51s at Mojave and their wings are quite robust - now in todays terms I wouldn't recommend doing that to an airplane worth almost a million bucks!

For the most part, you could probably get away walking on the wing of any metal WWII aircraft as long as you walk along the spar area and don't jump on the bloody thing!

[Soren]

Originally Posted by RG_Lunatic

There is film of P-47 crews walking on the wing in boots. You could not do this on a P-51, Spitfire, or FW.

Who in gods name told you this rubbish ?

On that picture of the Spitfire armorer's, clearly the two on the left are barefoot, the next one over we cannot tell, the next one appears to be wearing tennis shoes or something similar but this might be a trick of the light, and the one on the far right is barefoot.

The two on the right "look like" they are barefoot, and the one next to them is sitting on his knees and we can't see his feet. The two on the right are clearly wearing shoes !

Btw whats with the "Tennis shoes in WW2" ?

[FLYBOYJ]

Originally Posted by RG_Lunatic

I was told this by a live Spitfire pilot just before I climbed up and got into the cockpit at an airshow.

And look at the pic you've posted... NOT ONE OF THOSE PEOPLE ARE STANDING ON THE WING! All of them are being careful to distribute their weight so as not to damage it. And what do you see them wearing on their feet?

Folks I think I could tell you that during the war years the ground crews (especially the armourers) were careful not to step on weak areas of a fighters wings which were usually the upper surfaces of the flap bays and the ailerons, especially if they were fabric. The one thing those guys wanted to do was to get the aircraft armed and fueled ASAP and move on the the next aircraft, if they caused some scraped paint or a little dent, so be it!

If you walked or jumped on one of those "weak" areas are you going to hurt the airplane? - probably not, at least not right away.

I worked around a lot of post WWII jets (F-86, T-33, L-29 & 39) and although these aircraft are a little more robust than most of your typical WWII aircraft, as a maintainer you develop a "plan" on how to get up on the surfaces of the plane without hurting it. You'll see guys jump up on a wing"Butt first" on the leading edge and slide themselves on to the stronger portion of the wings so the aircraft could be fueled or fixed. If the aircraft was totally restored, I would wear "footies" (canvas socks), or no shoes, but this is more the exception than the rule.

Over all, two or 3 guys standing on the wing of a spitfire or 190 shouldn't hurt it if the ground crew was careful. During the war years, unless the ground crew put their foot though the wing, they weren't going to care about small dents and scratches, after all depending on the theater and timeframe during the war, chances are the aircraft they were working on wasn't coming back! I think once in flight during a combat situation, that aircraft was going to see a lot more abuse!