Lightning Storm Chase

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Lightning Storm Chase

Image by Striking Photography by Bo Insogna
Enormous lightning bolts striking in the sky in the southwest desert with giant saguaros.

The Stroll

Image by Striking Photography by Bo Insogna
On this night lightning was hitting on the other side of the Mcdowell Mountains. I identified a spot off of N. Tatum Blvd. searching to the east. I had to climb up a hill and under some barbed wire. Seeking via the camera this storm came over the mountain. It began hitting the highest points. It was fantastic. The bolts started hitting all the ridges and walking down the mountain. It began selecting up speed and came right at me. I was seeking though the camera lens with excitement at what I saw then the subsequent thing I new the storm was right on top of me, This is 1 time I crawled out on my belly keeping my tripod close to the ground. Down the hill, under the barbed wire and to the security zone… “The Car”. www.TheLightningMan.com

Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center: Boeing B-29 Superfortress “Enola Gay”, with Lockheed P-38J-ten-LO Lightning

A few nice machined elements companies images I located:

Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center: Boeing B-29 Superfortress “Enola Gay”, with Lockheed P-38J-ten-LO Lightning

Image by Chris Devers
Quoting Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum | Lockheed P-38J-10-LO Lightning :

In the P-38 Lockheed engineer Clarence &quotKelly&quot Johnson and his team of designers created one particular of the most effective twin-engine fighters ever flown by any nation. From 1942 to 1945, U. S. Army Air Forces pilots flew P-38s more than Europe, the Mediterranean, and the Pacific, and from the frozen Aleutian Islands to the sun-baked deserts of North Africa. Lightning pilots in the Pacific theater downed more Japanese aircraft than pilots flying any other Allied warplane.

Maj. Richard I. Bong, America’s major fighter ace, flew this P-38J-ten-LO on April 16, 1945, at Wright Field, Ohio, to evaluate an experimental method of interconnecting the movement of the throttle and propeller manage levers. Nevertheless, his proper engine exploded in flight prior to he could conduct the experiment.

Transferred from the United States Air Force.

Manufacturer:
Lockheed Aircraft Firm

Date:
1943

Country of Origin:
United States of America

Dimensions:
All round: 390 x 1170cm, 6345kg, 1580cm (12ft 9 9/16in. x 38ft four five/8in., 13988.2lb., 51ft ten 1/16in.)

Materials:
All-metal

Physical Description:
Twin-tail boom and twin-engine fighter tricycle landing gear.

• • • • •

Quoting Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum | Boeing B-29 Superfortress &quotEnola Gay&quot:

Boeing’s B-29 Superfortress was the most sophisticated propeller-driven bomber of World War II and the first bomber to house its crew in pressurized compartments. Though made to fight in the European theater, the B-29 located its niche on the other side of the globe. In the Pacific, B-29s delivered a assortment of aerial weapons: conventional bombs, incendiary bombs, mines, and two nuclear weapons.

On August 6, 1945, this Martin-built B-29-45-MO dropped the first atomic weapon employed in combat on Hiroshima, Japan. 3 days later, Bockscar (on display at the U.S. Air Force Museum near Dayton, Ohio) dropped a second atomic bomb on Nagasaki, Japan. Enola Gay flew as the advance weather reconnaissance aircraft that day. A third B-29, The Wonderful Artiste, flew as an observation aircraft on each missions.

Transferred from the United States Air Force.

Manufacturer:
Boeing Aircraft Co.
Martin Co., Omaha, Nebr.

Date:
1945

Country of Origin:
United States of America

Dimensions:
General: 900 x 3020cm, 32580kg, 4300cm (29ft 6 five/16in. x 99ft 1in., 71825.9lb., 141ft 15/16in.)

Supplies:
Polished overall aluminum finish

Physical Description:
Four-engine heavy bomber with semi-monoqoque fuselage and high-aspect ratio wings. Polished aluminum finish general, standard late-Planet War II Army Air Forces insignia on wings and aft fuselage and serial number on vertical fin 509th Composite Group markings painted in black &quotEnola Gay&quot in black, block letters on reduced left nose.

Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center: View of south hangar, such as B-29 Superfortress “Enola Gay”, a glimpse of the Air France Concorde, and several others

Image by Chris Devers
Quoting Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum | Boeing B-29 Superfortress &quotEnola Gay&quot:

Boeing’s B-29 Superfortress was the most sophisticated propeller-driven bomber of World War II and the very first bomber to residence its crew in pressurized compartments. Despite the fact that made to fight in the European theater, the B-29 located its niche on the other side of the globe. In the Pacific, B-29s delivered a selection of aerial weapons: standard bombs, incendiary bombs, mines, and two nuclear weapons.

On August 6, 1945, this Martin-constructed B-29-45-MO dropped the initial atomic weapon utilized in combat on Hiroshima, Japan. 3 days later, Bockscar (on show at the U.S. Air Force Museum near Dayton, Ohio) dropped a second atomic bomb on Nagasaki, Japan. Enola Gay flew as the advance climate reconnaissance aircraft that day. A third B-29, The Fantastic Artiste, flew as an observation aircraft on each missions.

Transferred from the United States Air Force.

Manufacturer:
Boeing Aircraft Co.
Martin Co., Omaha, Nebr.

Date:
1945

Nation of Origin:
United States of America

Dimensions:
All round: 900 x 3020cm, 32580kg, 4300cm (29ft six five/16in. x 99ft 1in., 71825.9lb., 141ft 15/16in.)

Materials:
Polished all round aluminum finish

Physical Description:
4-engine heavy bomber with semi-monoqoque fuselage and higher-aspect ratio wings. Polished aluminum finish all round, common late-Planet War II Army Air Forces insignia on wings and aft fuselage and serial quantity on vertical fin 509th Composite Group markings painted in black &quotEnola Gay&quot in black, block letters on decrease left nose.

Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center: Hawker Hurricane Mk. IIC, with Northrop P-61C Black Widow, B-29 Superfortress “Enola Gay”, and SR-71 Blackbird in the background

Image by Chris Devers
See far more pictures of this, and the Wikipedia article.

Specifics, quoting from Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum: Steven F. Udvar-Hazy | Hawker Hurricane Mk. IIC:

Hawker Chief Designer Sydney Camm’s Hurricane ranks with the most critical aircraft styles in military aviation history. Designed in the late 1930s, when monoplanes have been deemed unstable and too radical to be effective, the Hurricane was the initial British monoplane fighter and the first British fighter to exceed 483 kilometers (300 miles) per hour in level flight. Hurricane pilots fought the Luftwaffe and helped win the Battle of Britain in the summer of 1940.

This Mark IIC was constructed at the Langley factory, close to what is now Heathrow Airport, early in 1944. It served as a coaching aircraft in the course of the Planet War II in the Royal Air Force’s 41 OTU.

Donated by the Royal Air Force Museum

Manufacturer:
Hawker Aircraft Ltd.

Date:
1944

Nation of Origin:
United Kingdom

Dimensions:
Wingspan: 12.2 m (40 ft)
Length: 9.eight m (32 ft 3 in)
Height: 4 m (13 ft)
Weight, empty: 2,624 kg (five,785 lb)
Weight, gross: three,951 kg (eight,710 lb)
Prime speed:538 km/h (334 mph)
Engine:Rolls-Royce Merlin XX, liquid-cooled in-line V, 1,300 hp
Armament:4 20 mm Hispano cannons
Ordnance:two 250-lb or two 500-lb bombs or eight three-in rockets

Materials:
Fuselage: Steel tube with aircraft spruce forms and fabric, aluminum cowling
Wings: Stressed Skin Aluminum
Horizontal Stablizer: Anxiety Skin aluminum
Rudder: fabric covered aluminum
Control Surfaces: fabric covered aluminum

Physical Description:
Hawker Hurricane Mk. IIC single seat, low wing monoplane ground attack fighter enclosed cockpit steel tube fuselage with aircraft spruce forms and fabric, aluminum cowling, stressed skin aluminum wings and horizontal stablizer, fabric covered aluminum rudder and manage surfaces grey green camoflage best surface paint scheme with dove grey underside red and blue national roundel on upper wing surface and red, white, and blue roundel reduce wing surface red, white, blue, and yellow roundel fuselage sides red, white and blue tail flash Rolls-Royce Merlin XX, liquid cooled V-12, 1,280 horsepower engine Armament, 4: 20mm Hispano cannons.

• • • • •

See a lot more photographs of this, and the Wikipedia report.

Information, quoting from Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum: Steven F. Udvar-Hazy | Northrop P-61C Black Widow:

The P-61 Black Widow was the very first U.S. aircraft designed to find and destroy enemy aircraft at evening and in undesirable weather, a feat made feasible by the use of on-board radar. The prototype first flew in 1942. P-61 combat operations began just after D-Day, June six, 1944, when Black Widows flew deep into German airspace, bombing and strafing trains and road targeted traffic. Operations in the Pacific started at about the identical time. By the end of Globe War II, Black Widows had seen combat in each theater and had destroyed 127 enemy aircraft and 18 German V-1 buzz bombs.

The Museum’s Black Widow, a P-61C-1-NO, was delivered to the Army Air Forces in July 1945. It participated in cold-climate tests, high-altitude drop tests, and in the National Thunderstorm Project, for which the prime turret was removed to make room for thunderstorm monitoring equipment.

Transferred from the United States Air Force.

Manufacturer:
Northrop Aircraft Inc.

Date:
1943

Country of Origin:
United States of America

Dimensions:
All round: 450 x 1500cm, 10637kg, 2000cm (14ft 9 3/16in. x 49ft 2 9/16in., 23450.3lb., 65ft 7 three/8in.)

• • • • •

Quoting Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum | Boeing B-29 Superfortress &quotEnola Gay&quot:

Boeing’s B-29 Superfortress was the most sophisticated propeller-driven bomber of World War II and the first bomber to home its crew in pressurized compartments. Although developed to fight in the European theater, the B-29 found its niche on the other side of the globe. In the Pacific, B-29s delivered a selection of aerial weapons: traditional bombs, incendiary bombs, mines, and two nuclear weapons.

On August 6, 1945, this Martin-constructed B-29-45-MO dropped the initial atomic weapon utilised in combat on Hiroshima, Japan. Three days later, Bockscar (on display at the U.S. Air Force Museum near Dayton, Ohio) dropped a second atomic bomb on Nagasaki, Japan. Enola Gay flew as the advance climate reconnaissance aircraft that day. A third B-29, The Great Artiste, flew as an observation aircraft on each missions.

Transferred from the United States Air Force.

Manufacturer:
Boeing Aircraft Co.
Martin Co., Omaha, Nebr.

Date:
1945

Country of Origin:
United States of America

Dimensions:
General: 900 x 3020cm, 32580kg, 4300cm (29ft 6 5/16in. x 99ft 1in., 71825.9lb., 141ft 15/16in.)

Components:
Polished general aluminum finish

Physical Description:
4-engine heavy bomber with semi-monoqoque fuselage and high-aspect ratio wings. Polished aluminum finish all round, common late-Globe War II Army Air Forces insignia on wings and aft fuselage and serial number on vertical fin 509th Composite Group markings painted in black &quotEnola Gay&quot in black, block letters on lower left nose.

• • • • •

See more pictures of this, and the Wikipedia post.

Specifics, quoting from Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum | Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird:

No reconnaissance aircraft in history has operated globally in a lot more hostile airspace or with such complete impunity than the SR-71, the world’s quickest jet-propelled aircraft. The Blackbird’s performance and operational achievements placed it at the pinnacle of aviation technologies developments throughout the Cold War.

This Blackbird accrued about two,800 hours of flight time during 24 years of active service with the U.S. Air Force. On its final flight, March six, 1990, Lt. Col. Ed Yielding and Lt. Col. Joseph Vida set a speed record by flying from Los Angeles to Washington, D.C., in 1 hour, 4 minutes, and 20 seconds, averaging three,418 kilometers (2,124 miles) per hour. At the flight’s conclusion, they landed at Washington-Dulles International Airport and turned the airplane more than to the Smithsonian.

Transferred from the United States Air Force.

Manufacturer:
Lockheed Aircraft Corporation

Designer:
Clarence L. &quotKelly&quot Johnson

Date:
1964

Country of Origin:
United States of America

Dimensions:
General: 18ft 5 15/16in. x 55ft 7in. x 107ft 5in., 169998.5lb. (5.638m x 16.942m x 32.741m, 77110.8kg)
Other: 18ft five 15/16in. x 107ft 5in. x 55ft 7in. (five.638m x 32.741m x 16.942m)

Supplies:
Titanium

Physical Description:
Twin-engine, two-seat, supersonic strategic reconnaissance aircraft airframe constructed largley of titanium and its alloys vertical tail fins are constructed of a composite (laminated plastic-sort material) to lessen radar cross-section Pratt and Whitney J58 (JT11D-20B) turbojet engines feature large inlet shock cones.