air-portable question

[DDoyle]

I am supposing - but it is just that - supposing - that the troop seats and side boards on the air-portable trucks were "seamed" like the floor of the truck.

Does anyone know with certainty how this was done? Got photos?

Figured if I ask now, I won' be (too) ridiculed when the book comes out.

Thanks in advance.

David Doyle

[Bill_Wolf]

David,

On my Norwegian return the left side was not "seamed". The backrest on the right side boards were split at the seam. The seat boards were not.

When rebuilding this summer the "seamed" boards were rotted the worst so I assume they were original. I replaced them with full length boards from a salvaged seat of troop seats.

In the museum at Overloon Netherlands they have a dismantled Air-portable. In the pictures I took there no troop seats were provided.

John Cliche may know the definitive answer to this question.


Bill

[Cat Man]

DD,

The question of air moble transport of CCKW's is interesting. There are really two types of CCKW dump trucks that were modified.

Both are detailed in a RARE War Dept Technical Bulletin TB ENG 33A titled "Disassembly and Loading of standard Engineer Equipment for Transport in C-47 Cargo Plane" 22 July 1944.

The first method was to disassemble a standard CCKW dump truck and torch cut the dump box lenght wise. The charts indicate three plane loads were required per truck. The D&A including cutting and welding the dump bed is listed at 78 Man Hours and the component loads do not show the troop seats as part of any of the three plane loads. Indicating the troop seats were likely not considered a requirement and were not included.

The second method is detailed for a truck previously modified with a "Bolted butt-joint in the frame" This is the "Air Portable" truck collectors love. It is also split into three plane loads. Front half and rear half. And the cargo bed is cut across the center making a two piece cargo bed. This method reduced the man hours to only 39 or almost half the unmodified method.

As you can see in the scan, Items E are the troop seats and are shown as 144" long and 260 Lbs. That would be full lenght. They are also seen in the illustration, layed over the two sections of the bed.

If the post war trucks have two piece troop seats, I think it is a post war modification of the WWII US loading plan.



By the way, cutting and stuffing a Cat D7 with Dozer takes 8 plane loads and requires 231 man hours!!

How's that?

Cat Man

[dr deuce]

If I remember correctly, one noter in here has the C47 manual for this operation. If the plane got over xx degrees in a bank (not too much), get out your Rosary Beads. You were going down!

[abn CCKW]

on my airportable that I purchased in the Netherlands neither the troop seat's back or bottom were cut .

I do have a photo copy of TB 9X-74
Procedure for Disassembly and Stowage of GMC 2 1/2-ton,6x6,Airborne Trucks .
dated 27 MAY 1944
the discription of the test flight by the pilot say's that " Care had to be exercised in banks and turns in flight one because of the trucks main chassis c/g being located above the window line.This gave the aircraft a tendency to continue to turn about its longitudinal axis.Turns in excess of 15 degrees bank are not advised"

of the troop seats , they discribe them as (2) lazy backs
the illustrations for the lwb cckw 353 show them as one piece assemblies as the cut point would be several inches forward of the third upright and would leave the split unsupported