Chapter 1620
Set Them Straight
The Metal girls could all hear the sound of a heavy machine gun firing as they approached the hillside compound. They were all properly clothed now. They pulled up to the gate and identified themselves. The attendant was waiting for them. They were admitted immediately.
There was a selection of armored vehicles prepositioned and waiting for them.
"You can leave the SUV in the parking lot." The attendant said. "There are several APCs for you to choose from. They all have a variation of their weapons systems."
Holly-Cam thanked the attendant and drove over to the designated parking area. There were half a dozen vehicles parked there along with a HMMWV.
Laura spotted a military vehicle she recognized. She saw several of them in the parking lot at the indoor shooting range. She saw some tourists get out of one. They were using it to collect them from the various hotels.
"Are we going to drive the Jeep looking thing?" Laura asked.
Cammy glanced over where Laura looked.
"It's usually referred to as a Humvee." Cammy said. "Some people refer to it as a Hummer."
Mary scoffed a little bit. It was the least likely thing she wanted to do with a male. Wait. There was actually something else which displeased her even more.
"It seems like they could have thought of a better name." Mary said. "I'm not really sure I care for its overtones."
Ally wanted to set them straight. She figured a little additional information would be intriguing.
"There was a governor of an adjoining state who made reference to what you indicated when he received his Humvee. His spouse eventually dumped him for several reasons." Ally said. "Our rides are a little more substantial."
The girls approached the building there. There was some additional protective gear for them to wear. They were taken out to the back. There were several M113A2 armored personnel carriers parked there.
Leticia spent a moment to look at the vehicles.
"They don't appear quite as beefy as the tank did." Leticia said.
Sheila didn't want her to worry. There wouldn't be anyone shooting at them where they were.
"We'll get to drive around in them first." Sheila said. "Think of it as the ultimate 'off road' experience. There's another tank there. We'll get to fire the cannon. It will be rather loud. The Tracks have several different weapons on them."
Cammy looked over the tracks available. She decided she wanted the one with the M134. Mary and Tricia would ride with her.
"I think we can take three of the armored personnel carriers out." Cammy said. "It'll give us a few people in each one so we can rotate around the positions easier."
Sheila selected the M113A2 equipped with an M60 and an M249.
Leticia would ride with Sheila.
Ally chose the Track equipped Mark 19 40MM grenade launcher and an M248.
Laura and Holly-Cam would ride with Ally.
There was an attendant waiting for each of them at their designated armored personnel carriers. They were all giving some basic training as well as safety instructions.
The Metal girls didn't need any training. They didn't want to create an issue by protesting. He wanted to make sure the girls with them wouldn't have any trouble acclimating to the APC.
Hanna-Camille was satisfied Young Jesse could load and operate an M2 machine gun.
They were ready to move on to what was parked next to them. It was an M60 tank.
Hanna-Camille was updated by CamNet.
"The rest of the girls are here." Hanna-Camille said. "They have three Tracks."
Young Jesse was glad to hear they would all be reunited. She still felt a little guilty about slipping out on the rest of them. She didn't want to do more of the same, as she normally did Down Under, for practice. Where she was now was something new.
"Let's take this big brute for a spin." Young Jesse said. "I can't wait to fire the cannon."
Hanna-Camille was aware the other girls all drove the tank in the parking lot at the indoor location. She didn't think it would be too difficult for Young Jesse since they were driving the Track earlier.
Matt introduced them to the two female attendants who were assigned to the M60. They went over some brief instructions. They would practice driving the tank first before they fired the cannon on the range.
Young Jesse didn't have any trouble operating the tank. Hanna-Camille was a natural behind the controls. They returned back to the firing range next to their APC.
They were giving instructions on how to operate the turret as well as aim and load the cannon.
Hanna-Camille considered 'bore sighting' the cannon when she fired it. She didn't want to show off anymore than she already did by hitting the long range targets with the M2 machine gun.
They could soon hear other automatic fire off to the side. They knew it was the rest of the girls on their way over. There were a series of small explosions as well.
"One of them is using the Track with the Mark 19 on it." Young Jesse said.
Hanna-Camille thought they were about to make a much larger statement.
Everything checked out. They followed the instructions of the two instructors and Matt.
"We're going to fire our cannon." Matt said.
Young Jesse wanted to be involved in the process of loading the cannon as well as aiming it and firing it. She fired the first round and scored near the target.
Hanna-Camille did everything as well. She fired and hit the target.
The two female attendants were impressed.
Matt wasn't surprised at all. The redhead really knew her stuff. She was able to handle anything which was heavy with almost no difficulty. He figured she must 'work out'.
Young Jesse fired a half dozen more rounds. There was an M60 mounted on top of the turret. She practiced with it for a while as well.
It wasn't long before Hanna-Camille and Young Jesse could see three APCs approaching. It appeared as if they were racing. Somehow it didn't surprise them. She wondered if any of them disabled the governor on the engine to get more performance out of it with the increased revolutions.
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Temporal Mission:
Past Timeline:
November 26 1963
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Cameron was aware there was no major improvement in the performance of a P-40 fitted with the Merlin engine as opposed to the Allison engine. It was because of the design limitations of the airframe. It originally started out with an R1830 radial engine as the Curtiss P-36 Hawk, also known as the Curtiss Hawk Model 75 for export. It's top speed was just over 300 miles and hour, on a good day. It didn't seem to have many of them. It was also lightly armed. All of the fighters of the time period were.
"The Merlin in the P-40 was originally done as a request by Great Britain." Cameron said. "It was to simplify the power plants needed for the various aircraft when engines needed to be changed. The engine could be used for a P-40, a Hurricane, or a Spitfire. The Mosquito and the Lancaster among others, also used the Merlin power plant. There were several different tuning levels for each of the aircraft and what its specific mission would be."
Eddie scoffed a little.
"Putting Merlin's on a bomber is about the same as putting them in a PT Boat." Eddie said. "Seriously, what was someone thinking?"
Cameron wanted to point out another request of Great Britain.
"When Great Britain looked at the P-38, they requested the Allison engines not be turbocharged, nor have counter rotating props." Cameron said. "A batch aircraft were equipped with the Allison engine without the turbocharger. They were only equipped with the single stage supercharger. Again, it was to simplify the change of engines amongst other aircraft which used the standard Allison engine with just the supercharger."
Speedy scratched his head as they moved the P-40 into the hangar.
"If I remember correctly, Lockheed built a hundred of them for the contract and the Limeys' crawfished on them and didn't accept them." Speedy said. "They went into coastal defense service for the United States instead. The pilots who flew them said they were great below fifteen thousand feet. For coastal defense they didn't need to go any higher. The pilots who flew a standard P-38 needed to be a little cautious of the torque. There was none with the counter rotating props."
Eddie remembered the Thompson Trophy Races right after the war.
"One of the Lockheed test pilots flew a P-38 in the first air race after the war." Eddie said. "It had the turbos removed but kept the counter rotating engines. He came in second against all the Mustangs and Corsairs. Every one of them finished behind him."
Speedy laughed as they moved the P-40 into its parking spot inside of the hangar.
"The first race left a lot of people scratching their heads." Speedy said. "One of the Bell test pilots came in first place with a P-39. It used the Allison engine as well. It left everyone shaking their heads. They used a four bladed prop off of a P-63 Kingcobra. They modified the hydraulic system so the wheels would rapidly retract. They were off the runway with the wheels up while everyone else was still on the ground. They took the lead from the start and held it. No one ever would have thought a P-39 Airacobra would ever beat a Mustang or a Corsair in any kind of a race. The P-38 pilot needed to work for second place."
Cameron felt something important should be pointed out.
"Both of those test pilots aircraft were at a disadvantage against the faster aircraft." Cameron said. "Since they were test pilots, they knew those aircraft inside and out. They knew how far things could be pushed. They knew every trick."
Young Allison wanted to remind everyone of something important.
"There's no substitute for experience." Young Allison said. "The best airplane is only the best, when it's equipped with a highly qualified and skillful pilot. It's what always makes the difference in the end. It's more about the pilot than it is about the aircraft."
Speedy couldn't agree more.
"Cindy and you know what you're talking about, Emily." Speedy said. "I've been able to out fly other Mustang pilots with highly modified aircraft."
Cameron knew she could out fly any human pilot. She saw Young Allison give her a stern look. She figured it was probably better not to mention it, especially the human part.
Speedy and Eddie disconnected the tow bar from the P-40. The group headed back outside of the hangar to the P-51. It was quickly connected. The P-51 was soon on its way inside.
"I can't believe how easy it is to move these aircraft." Speedy said.
Young Allison needed to suppress a giggle. She knew Cameron could move it around with one hand like a child's toy. She wanted to address another issue which was discussed earlier. It was something she read about before.
"As far as equipping the Lightning with Merlin engines instead of the Allison engines, there was a lot of controversy as to exactly why it was never done. It was never even tried to test one of them." Young Allison said. "It was rumored one of the officials who oversaw the production of the P-38 was a high ranking official at the parent company where the Allison engines were manufactured. The company who made the American version of the Merlin engine, was a rival competitor in one of their enterprises. It would have meant lost revenue for the company he worked for. Even though there was no notable improvement in the performance of the P-40 with the Merlin engine, most likely there would have been with the Lightning. It certainly would have simplified the maintenance of the aircraft without the need for the turbocharger. The two stage supercharger on the Merlin should have been able to reach nearly the same altitude and improve the performance."
The P-51 was now inside the hangar. It was moved to its parking spot.
Cameron wanted to ask a question about performance.
"How much quicker is the P-38 initially when it's raced against another fighter from the same starting speed?" Cameron asked. "I calculate it should be able to pull away immediately. A P-47 might hold an advantage in a dive from altitude. Dive speed wouldn't be a factor in an air race."
Speedy nodded his head.
"The Lightning is heavier than the other fighters, as well as larger." Speedy said. "I can always pull away from another fighter if we start out to race. They're able to catch up to me later on, but not right away. In a dive, the speeds are very evenly matched. A Thunderbolt can initially pull away in a dive because of its massive weight. It's the biggest and heaviest single engine fighter. It runs the same R2800 a Corsair does. It packs a turbocharger on top of the supercharger."
Cameron was aware of another aircraft from the same manufacturer which exhibited similar characteristics, even if it was a jet.
"The F-105 is the heaviest single engine jet fighter." Cameron said. "It's still Mach 2 capable. The Air Force will attempt to use it in a manner for which it wasn't designed soon. It was designed to carry a payload at supersonic speeds on the deck with an atomic weapon inside of its bomb bay."
Speedy and Eddie looked at each other.
"A Thunderchief has an internal bomb bay?" Eddie asked.
Cameron was just as surprised when she read about it.
"Yes." Cameron said. "An auxiliary fuel tank will be placed inside of it when it's attempted to be used in its new role. It will use external pylons for it conventional payload."
Young Allison could see Cameron was getting ahead of herself. She was referring to events in Southeast Asia which hadn't bloomed yet. She briefly wondered if there was anything they could do to prevent the loss of life which would follow. It all turned out to be for nothing in the end. She was fairly certain the new President pushed the agenda even more than the previous President would have. Maybe all of those deaths were on her, by her actions to deliver the head shot from the grassy knoll. It wasn't something she really wanted to think about. She noticed Cameron's skirt was up, again.
"Let's move the P-38 inside." Young Allison said. "The wind is starting to pick up a little."
Cameron reached down and pulled her skirt down. She hadn't thought about it for quite some time.
Set Them Straight
Everyone has different goals
There are those who like to create
Others want an easy ride
They would rather scoff and berate
There are often rules in place
They're not subject to debate
No one wants to be hung out to dry
Or used as chum for bait
There are few shortcuts in life
Even if some try to skate
No matter how much they slack
They never will be first rate
To be one who uses others
Is a poor personal trait
There will always be some
Who can't carry their own weight
They will fail on their own
It's their own chosen fate
It never hurts too much
To set them straight
Nobody
