B_7Ptest.htm

1942 ENGINES

by Capt Beck

We used to fly our planes until the engines began to vibrate and throw out too much oil, and only then did we look at them -- there were no 25 or 50 hour checks then. There were so many other things to be done. I flew one combat mission when the [cylinder] head temperatures were reading 50% above the maximum allowed, and the oil temperature 25% above the maximum allowed for safe operation.

In the 400 series it was found that when side guns were fired the empty shell cases fell to the bottom of the fuselage and constricted the operation of the bottom turret. I devised a long bag, fastened on the gun at the bottom of the receiver to catch the empty cartridges. (This [was] actually done while still in the States.)