[subsea]

I really like Grumman's wing folding mechanism, it's brilliant and elegant.

You're correct about it being both brilliant and elegant! The story is that Leroy Grumman thought of this approach while playing with an eraser and a paperclip while sitting at his desk in his office. While we were still Grumman, before Northrop took over and destroyed the culture and decimated Bethpage, we had that eraser and paperclip on display in the corporate headquarters (in Bethpage). I don't know where they reside now, although I suspect it's down in Melbourne, FL, at the NG Aerospace Systems HQ there.

Here are 2 more shots of the TBM, one with a better view of the wing folding.

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[subsea]

Grumman WF-2 (aka: Willy Fudd, and renamed to E-1B when the Navy changed their aircraft numbering scheme) on the flight deck of the Intrepid. I used to see these things flying over my house in the 1960's, when I lived 1.5 miles from the end of the Grumman Aerospace runway.

[Racer X 69]

An A6 Intruder and an EA6B near NAS Whidbey and Oak Harbor, Washington on Whidbey Island. K5IIs, Sigma 28mm f2.8 Miniwide.

[subsea]

Intruders near NAS Whidbey and Oak Harbor, Washington on Whidbey Island. K5IIs, Sigma 28mm f2.8 Miniwide.

Nice shot. Just be aware that the aircraft to the rear is not an Intruder. It's actually an EA-6B Prowler, an electronic warfare aircraft derived from the Intruder. It can be distinguished from the Intruder by the rear cockpit which carries 2 electronic warfare officers, and by the antenna pod at the top of the vertical tail. It also normally carries 4 EW pods, one of which can be seen outboard of the HARM missile on the portside wing. Whidby is the home of the Navy's EW squadron.

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Last edited by subsea; 09-08-2018 at 02:59 PM.

[Racer X 69]

Just be aware that the aircraft to the rear is not an Intruder. It's actually an EA-6B Prowler, an electronic warfare aircraft derived from the Intruder. It can be distinguished from the Intruder by the rear cockpit which carries 2 electronic warfare officers, and by the antenna pod at the top of the vertical tail. It also normally carries 4 EW pods, one of which can be seen outboard of the HARM missile on the portside wing.

I used to know all that but it has been 53 years since my family lived there.

Thanks for the correction.

[subsea]

I couldn't help myself! They were 2 of the aircraft I had a very small part in as an aerodynamics engineer early in my career with Grumman.

[Racer X 69]

I couldn't help myself! They were 2 of the aircraft I had a very small part in as an aerodynamics engineer early in my career with Grumman.

We lived in the naval housing projects just outside the gate to Ault Field. I could see the runway from my bedroom window. At night they would take off from the airfield, fly to the strip halfway down the island and do a touch and go, then come back to Ault Field and do another touch and go, repeatedly, all night long.

I would stay up almost all night watching them.

That runway is inactive now (the one at Ault Field) and there are two new ones in use. The strip part way down the island is still there, and in use, although the local residents whine about it.

I guess they don't understand the sound of Freedom.

[Racer X 69]

A Douglas A3D-2P, serial number 144825, built by Douglas Aircraft, El Segundo, California, 3 December 1959, on display at NAS Whidbey.

Pentax K5IIs, Sigma 28mm f2.8 Miniwide.

[wtlwdwgn]

I guess they don't understand the sound of Freedom.

One man's noise is another man's music!

[subsea]

We lived in the naval housing projects just outside the gate to Ault Field. I could see the runway from my bedroom window. At night they would take off from the airfield, fly to the strip halfway down the island and do a touch and go, then come back to Ault Field and do another touch and go, repeatedly, all night long.

I would stay up almost all night watching them.

That runway is inactive now (the one at Ault Field) and there are two new ones in use. The strip part way down the island is still there, and in use, although the local residents whine about it.

I guess they don't understand the sound of Freedom.

That's OK. The Grumman runway in Bethpage, NY, now has a water tower growing out of it. The field in Calverton, NY, now has all kinds of small businesses covering it's acreage. Progress!!!

My office used to overlook the Bethpage runway, and I'd be working while looking at all of the military aircraft landing and taking off all day. The good ol' days!

[vespa]

A few "arty farty" shots.

[ramseybuckeye]

[subsea]

Three images of a Douglas A-4B on the hanger deck of the Intrepid. (K-3II and HD DA 16-85mm).

[Keiner]

A380 MSN 262 on first flight approaching XFW - 2018.09.17

[redpit]

A380 MSN 262 on first flight approaching XFW - 2018.09.17

That is a rare sight! Great caption