Battleship Aircraft

[Andrey Egorov]

USSWisconsin, great article! Read with delight.
I'm not sure if second Beriev's plane was named KOB-2 instead of KOR-2.

[RustyBattleship]

The Iowa's today in this shot

Yes. In order to get the ship under a low bridge for its tow to Benicia, the Navy had to cut the top of the mast off. The acetylene cuts I inspected look like they were very well done.

Putting it all back together will require some tricky design work as well as a very tall and very strong crane for that main platform assembly.

Volunteer staging builders, shipfitters, welders, riggers and painters not afraid of heights gladly accepted.

[USSWisconsin]

sorry that was a typo

USSWisconsin, great article! Read with delight.
I'm not sure if second Beriev's plane was named KOB-2 instead of KOR-2.

Andrey, you are correct, it is a typo, the Be-4 was called KOR-2

[Dreadnought]

Hey Dread, here's a picture from page 129 of "Dreadnaught 83-84." (New Jersey Cruise book)

It shows this thingy on the fantail....[ATTACH]18983[/ATTACH]

Yep, that would be the one, her numbers match, I have to cut down my image sizes to post but I did take a few of the present model lately.

[USSWisconsin]

thanks for the help

You might find Larkin's Battleship and Cruiser Aircraft of the United States Navy 1910-1949 useful.

Thank you Tiornu, excellent reference work, I was not aware of this -- just got it, beautiful book!, it should help me sharpen up the US aircraft story and add more detail. It appears that a lot of WWI aircraft saw brief service in this capacity - using "flying off" platforms on the turrets.

Thank you Dreadnought, Ytlas, Rusty, and Andrey and tbm3fan for your kind words and help with getting this story right, especially the helicopters. Found more info on the hangers on British ships too.

[Tiornu]

A bit off-topic, but Larkin has another pair of books, available as a single volume, covering US Navy aircraft and US Marine aircraft for roughly the same period. He gives squadron compositions and such.

[Dreadnought]

USS New Jerseys helo Kayman SH-2F Seasprite.
Type LAMPS Mk.1 etc etc.

[Dreadnought]

Helo ops.

USS New Jersey BB-62 helocopter operations booth. Landing illumination lights, Access, Blast shields (main battery) for the windows on control booth.

[Dreadnought]

Glide Slope Level Indicator, Wave off lights.

[Dreadnought]

*I have more to post but work calls. Probably sometime tomorrow night.

[Dreadnought]

President Eisenhower arrives via helo on the tail of USS Des Moines CA134.;)

[Rumrunner]

President Eisenhower arrives via helo on the tail of USS Des Moines CA134.;)

Whats up with the Helo's wheels? Swimmy floats?

[TopHatter]

Whats up with the Helo's wheels? Swimmy floats?

Maybe they don't want their beautiful teak deck scuffed up by the helo's tires :))

[Rumrunner]

looks sorta like an upside down Court Jester's hat...and is there carpeting behind it?

[RustyBattleship]

Finally tracked those "floats" down.

Click on this link:

Sikorsky Flying Boats, Seaplanes & Helicopters

Scroll down to the photos on the left side and there will be a Sikorsky with Eisenhower and Kruschev standing beside it. The Helo has the same "floats".

Actually, according to another (now can't find again) web site it explained that the "floats" were added on to soften landings on ships at sea. If the helo is within an inch or so of touch down and the ship suddenly rolls or pitches upward the VIPs inside might get an instant case of sciatica.

The "floats" were not installed on helos destined strictly for ground to ground missions. Also, the were NOT for flotation at sea. But strictly for the safety and comfort of personnel during landings on ships.