Monday, August 3, 2026

 


This picture, taken on the ramp at Cam Ranh Bay, shows the flaps at full extension. One can clearly see that the entire trailing edge of the wing is part of the flap system. One can also understand why one had to point the nose at the ground to get the thing down with the flaps fully extended// 

The augmentor tubes on the top of the Caribou engine nacelle.  These large tubes served to collect the 14 individual exhaust stacks and direct the exhaust gas out over the rear edge of the wing.  Since  they were open at the front where the stacks entered, a venturi effect resulted which drew in outside air to mix with the exhaust gas.  This served not only to help cool the very hot exhaust, but also actually added a little extra thrust.

This is the Petester fueling his own airplane.  Actually, it was a major nuisance and the crew members each took turns.  The fuel tanks were filled with an open cell foam material to make them less likely to explode if penetrated by a projectile, so the fuel would not run in at the rate the fuel truck would pump.  The fueller had to constantly stop the flow to allow the gas to seep out through the foam.  Since it took quite a while and the top surface of that wing was very hot, this was not the most desirable of jobs.

Long range flying wasn't exactly uppermost in the minds of the Caribou's designers.   When long overwater flights were necessary, additional fuel and oil was carried in the cargo compartment.  The rubber fuel bladders were filled with avgas and then pressurized with the deicing pumps.  As fuel was burned from the wing tanks, more could be added by operating the valves shown at the right.  This particular picture was taken somewhere along the route from Cam Ranh Bay to Kadena AFB in Okinawa (by way of Clark AB in the Philippines).

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