Tag Archives: USAAF

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Boeing Belles

The latest addition to my office desktop Boeing gallery arrived in the mail today from Hong Kong. Now I have my three favourites, the B-17, B-747, and B-314, in the same 1:200 scale. You can click on any of these to see a larger size.

The detail is pretty good on the new model:

Especially given its size:

This Boeing Belle I painted years ago on one of my flight jackets – a little more eye-catching, I think, what with Rita Hayworth and all. The painting is about 16″x16″ on the back of the jacket and the lettering is done in Boeing’s logo style of the 1940s.

I took that photo of the painting in March so I could have Rita and the Mon Tête Rouge II on the back of my new phone, too, courtesy of Skinit.

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“Now pay attention, fellas. Step 7 is important.”

"Does this bug you? I'm not touching you."

7. Never annoy the fuze in this manner.

Not really. The actual instruction is “7. Hold arming vane by hub, press it into position.” This illustration is from the WWII US Army Air Force Bombardier’s Information File Armament section, said manual in PDF form at the link.

On the same page, though I think oddly not highlighted in any way, is this sensible advice: “Don’t bump detonator against side of cavity.” I’d’ve probably put it this way:

WARNING: Do not – repeat, do not – bump detonator against anything, you fool!