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July 1942. "Production. B-25 bombers. Mounting a 1700-horsepower Wright Whirlwind engine to the firewall of a B-25 bomber. Fairfax bomber plant, Kansas City." 4x5 Kodachrome transparency by Alfred Palmer. View full size.
Note the classic aviation style overalls, and on his belt, a ring to hold "tool chits," brass tags that were turned in at tool room for specialty tools.
Thems was the daze...
A useful safety innovation from B.F. Goodrich. Developed in the 1920s, these rubber boots on the wing leading edges could be inflated with compressed air to crack off accumulations of ice. Ice on the wings reduces the airfoil efficiency, sometimes to the point that there's insufficient lift to maintain altitude.
in Kansas City Kansas, built 6,608 B-25's and sent 862 to Russia, the 1700hp engines were Wright R-2600-92 and were 14 cylinders in double row.
I'm suremit's in the original caption, but you might note that no B-25 version was powered by the Wright Whirlwind. Virtually all were powered by Wright Twin Cyclones.
That zinc chromate paint was a necessary factor in keeping the corrosion of aluminum to a minimum.(whew!) Considering the fact that many B-25's ended up in the Pacific theatre, it was a wise choice. Admittedly, it's a great color for the Kodachrome format.
Kodachrome remains the photo standard. What a loss!
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