Page 410 - (DK) The Ultimate Visual Dictionary 2nd Ed.

SEA AND AIR
World War II Radiator- STARBOARD ENGINE
COWLINGS
access
cowling
aircraft Lower side-
cowling
Cowling
fastener
WHEN WORLD WAR II began in 1939, Upper side-
air forces had already replaced most PROPELLER cowling
of their fabric-skinned biplanes High-visibility 2,400-HP Napier Sabre Cartridge
with all-metal, stressed-skin yellow tip 24-cylinder engine starter
Propeller
monoplanes. Aircraft played a far
Light-alloy governor
greater role in military operations propeller
during World War II than ever before. spinner Radiator
header
The wide range of aircraft duties, and the tank
introduction of radar tracking and guidance
systems, put pressure on designers to improve
Propeller
aircraft performance. The main areas of drive shaft
improvement were speed, range, and
engine power. Bombers became larger Distributor
and more powerful—converting from Variable-pitch Ejector exhaust Magneto Starter motor
two to four engines—in order to aluminum-alloy
blade
carry a heavier bomb load; the
US B-17 Flying Fortress could COMPONENTS OF A
HAWKER TEMPEST Engine top
carry up to 6.8 tons (6.2 metric tons) of
MARK V, C.1943 cowling
bombs over a distance of about 2,000 miles Cowling
(3,200 km). Some aircraft increased their range by using fastener
drop tanks (fuel tanks that were jettisoned when empty to Upper side-
cowling
reduce drag). Fighters needed speed and manoeuvrability:
the Hawker Tempest shown here had a maximum speed
of 435 mph (700 km/h), and was one of the few Allied Lower side-
cowling
aircraft capable of catching the German jet-powered V1 “flying
bomb.” By 1944, Britain had introduced its first turbojet- PORT
Radiator-access ENGINE
powered aircraft, the Gloster Meteor fighter, and Germany had
cowling COWLINGS
introduced the fastest fighter in the world, the turbojet-powered
Me 262, which had a maximum speed of 540 mph (868 km/h).
VHF
SECTIONED B-17G FLYING FORTRESS BOMBER, C.1943 antenna
Fin
Astronavigation Oxygen Upper gun Radio Ammunition Dorsal Rudder
dome bottle turret operator’s belt fin
First “Cheyenne-
Handheld pilot’s 1,000 lb seat Ammunition type” tail-
gun seat (454 kg) box
bomb Waist gun gun turret
Plastic
nose

Tail gunner’s
Retracted
Ammunition Entrance tailwheel compartment
Bomb HF radio Navigator’s feed door
aimer’s antenna seat Ammunition
viewing Bomb door Sperry ball Oxygen bottle feed
panel Chin gun gun turret
turret Direction-finding-
antenna fairing
408