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Spirit of St. Louis


Nick Filippone

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My friend is building the Revell "Spirit of St. Louis." He has noted in photos of the actual aircraft two tubes protruding from under the fuselage approximately where the cockpit is (or a little behind it). These are apparently not on the standard Ryan Brougham. Does anyone know the function of these two tubes? Thanks. Nick Filippone

 

 

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My friend is building the Revell "Spirit of St. Louis." He has noted in photos of the actual aircraft two tubes protruding from under the fuselage approximately where the cockpit is (or a little behind it). These are apparently not on the standard Ryan Brougham. Does anyone know the function of these two tubes? Thanks. Nick Filippone

 

 

Nick,

 

Have a look at these images of her original construction:

http://www.papermodelers.com/gallery/showgallery.php?cat=570

 

Also tell your friend that the aircraft in the NASM is not in the historic flight configuration.

 

And the Llindbergh site has lots of period photos where these 'dump tubes' (for lack of a better term) are not visible

 

www.charleslindbergh.com

Edited by jcorley
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IIRC, the tubes are indeed "dump tubes" intended to permit rapid dumping of fuel from the overload fuel tanks onboard the SoStL in case Lindbergh developed engine trouble early and needed to land.

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I'm "the friend" that Nick posted this question for, so thanks very much for everyone's input (and thanks Nick for posting it). According to the Charles Lindberg site that was suggested:

 

"The two tubes beneath the fuselage are flare dispensers that were installed for Lindbergh's flights to Latin America and the Caribbean."

 

That seems to make more sense to me than the fuel dump tube suggestion, mostly because of their position on the fuselage (aft of the cockpit by several feet), the diameter of the tubes (at least 2-4" wide), and the fact that they just look like they were some kind of later addition (some fairly rough patching is in evidence around the tubes).

 

Since I am doing the S of St. L as it landed at Paris, I'll leave the tubes off.

 

Thanks again for the assistance.

 

Tim Burke

#33715

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I'm "the friend" that Nick posted this question for, so thanks very much for everyone's input (and thanks Nick for posting it). According to the Charles Lindberg site that was suggested:

 

"The two tubes beneath the fuselage are flare dispensers that were installed for Lindbergh's flights to Latin America and the Caribbean."

 

That seems to make more sense to me than the fuel dump tube suggestion, mostly because of their position on the fuselage (aft of the cockpit by several feet), the diameter of the tubes (at least 2-4" wide), and the fact that they just look like they were some kind of later addition (some fairly rough patching is in evidence around the tubes).

 

Since I am doing the S of St. L as it landed at Paris, I'll leave the tubes off.

 

Thanks again for the assistance.

 

Tim Burke

#33715

Sounds good Tim. Thx for the feedback.

 

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