Rank Aldis Again

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<p>In a previous post way back in January I wrote aboutacquiring this odd named camera Rank Aldis&n

bsp;(the unsexiest named camera ever) in a flea market in Florida where I now winter. The name was tota

lly unfamiliar to me and it was stamped “Made in Korea.” For $5 I bought it out of c

uriosity and it turned out to be a fairly nice rangefinder after a thorough clean up. This is a reb

adged Mamiya 4B that according to McKeown’s is uncommon even in the Mamiya version. Perhaps

in the UK it is more common. Note: Rank Aldis is not even listed in Mckeown’s. T

he shutter range is limited with top speed 250^th per second. It has a F2.8 Sekor 40mm len

s which I presume is of the tessar type. This camera has a CDs meter, still working, and reasonably accurate.

Rangefinder was spot on. I was unable to post any pictures at the time because my scanning

equipment, such as it is ( Epson Perfection 1200), was in my Michigan Home.</p>

<p>Rank Aldis picture</p><div></div>

<p>2nd pic</p><div></div>

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I attended an Air Show in Vero Beach in February and I was<br />delighted with the sharpness of this lens. It was a Florida bright sunny day so<br />all exposures were at f22 at 250 with Fujicolor Superia 200. There<br />were many vintage airplanes and my first thought was “ Boy, I’m glad I’m not<br />into this hobby—this is real expensive.” <br />The only plane I can really identify is the B-25 light bomber which was famous<br />for taking off of the aircraft carriers in WWII for the Jimmie Doolittle raid<br />on Tokyo. It looks pretty big to me to<br />do that.</p><div></div>

<p>Navy Hellcat? </p><div></div>

<p>Vietnam era plane.</p><div></div>

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This last shot was shot in my neighborhood the day the moon was supposed to be at its largest but with a 40mm lens it looks even puny. At aprox 8 PM, at dusk, with tripod at probably a 6 sec exposure at f8.</p><div></div>

<p>Does it smell Rank?</p>

<p>WW2 Navy Plane is a North American T28B Trojan from the early 1950s<br>

The Vietnam era plane is also a Trojan, a T28A to be exact</p>

<p>Great shots, even if a little grainy to my tastes. The moonrise picture looks good to.</p>

<p> </p>

<p>Rick: No, the Rank does not smell after I put on the funginix. Thanks for the info on the planes. The graininess may be because of my antiquated scanner, its an old flatbed--not the best for 35mm. It's better on the larger formats. I also apologise for the akward text in my 1st response. The combination of Vista, Microsoft Word does not copy and paste well in this forum.</p>

<p>I believe Rick is right on the WWII Navy plane (the T designation being a Trainer, hence the two seats) but the last plane I am almost positive is a Douglas A1 Skyraider, AKA "The Sandy", used in Vietnam as a SAR and Recon/ Forward Air Control Aircraft (among other things).</p>

<p>I have the same problem Daniel, I scan my negatives with a HP scanjet G4050. Not ideal, but it's what I can afford. ;)</p>

<p>Tom, It was my first inclination as well, but after a bit more study I'm sure it is not a Skyraider. The fuselage is not broad/thick enough from the wing roots to the tail. Also look at the engine cowling. The Skyraider's fuselage expands outward behind it, unlike the one in Daniel's photo. I stand by my claim that it's a T28A ^_^</p>

<p>After another look Rick, I believe you are correct. I was also unaware but, the T28 (even though it was designed as a Trainer to replace the WWII era T6) was modified and used extensively in Vietnam as a fighter/attack aircraft. One more thing, the difference in the T28A designed for the Air Force and the T28B designed for the Navy was a different engine and the B model had a 3 bladed prop, which makes me think that these are both T28B models.</p>

<p>Sorry for the hi-jack :D<br>

Could be Tom, My only claim to it being an T28A is that the side intakes on the lower half of the engine cowling. These are further forward then the ones I see on the B. That's about as far as my Aircraft knowledge will carry me on this particular plane.</p>

<p>Looks like a Trojan, from my experience. Interesting camera, <strong>Daniel</strong>, and those Sekor lenses are usually very good indeed. It would be good to see higher quality scans, when you can manage it. Regarding setting up posts, I usually compose in Word and copy the finished stuff into Notepad, which is just fine Copy Pasta for the forum post.</p>

<p>Pic of a Trojan ?</p><div></div>

Skyraiders did not have tricycle landing gear. And the Doolittle B25's had plexigass noses with a solid glass bombsight window. The model displayed may be a repainted USMC PBJ with a 75mm cannon in the nose.