Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 30, 2017 10:15:50 GMT -7
Love the XP-56. A great "could have been" interceptor.
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Post by cowboy40 on Jul 30, 2017 11:30:55 GMT -7
Love the XP-56. A great "could have been" interceptor. Yep, you would be lucky to get two missions in that damn thing...most likely kill yourself landing it!!
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Post by cowboy40 on Jul 30, 2017 12:20:22 GMT -7
Who would have thought that the military helicopter would come from such humble beginnings.... The Army Air Forces called it the R-4, the RAF called it the Hoverfly, but the pilot's who flew it...called them "egg Beaters" "Whirlybirds" and us in the general public, we call them copters... Here is the beginning of the American military's love affair with helicopters the Sikorsky R-4B. It was made from tubes, fabric and a 7 cylinder Warner R-550 Super Scarab radial engine developing 200 hp. The aircraft was barely able to left itself off the ground with three men aboard, and its top speed was only 75 mph!!!
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Post by cowboy40 on Jul 30, 2017 15:58:02 GMT -7
Offered as an improvement on the R-4, the new Sikorsky R-6A Hoverfly II, included several improvements to the original. These improvements included the fitting of a new Franklin O-405-9 horizontally opposed 6 cylinder engine of 240 hp mated to the proven R-4's rotor and transmission system, with a more streamlined Fuselage, longer tail boom and better balanced rotor blades. This improvements allowed for a faster speed of 100 mph. Post-war models were fitted with even more powerful power-plants.
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Post by cowboy40 on Jul 30, 2017 21:08:48 GMT -7
Someone requested the Corsair earlier...so here it is....the Vought O2U-1.....the first of the Voughts to be called Corsair.....
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Post by cowboy40 on Jul 30, 2017 21:13:04 GMT -7
Couldn't resist the above...but that one up there is the forgotten Vought Corsair...Here is what was requested..another navy fighter driven by that big R-2800 engine.... This is a cannon armed (4 x 20mm) Vought F4U-4B Corsair...I love flying F4U-4 versions...one of the ultimate fighters of the World War II era...
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zaarin7
Lieutenant
I'm up for Vassal/Skype gameing.
Posts: 150
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Post by zaarin7 on Jul 31, 2017 9:53:42 GMT -7
That 2K HP engine was one of the major advantages the Allied air forces had over the Axis. And to a large degree it came about because the western allies had access to higher octane gas reliably than the Axis powers did.
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Post by cowboy40 on Jul 31, 2017 21:45:41 GMT -7
As the USN progressed into the mid 30's, they were still relying on the biplane. In this case the Great Lakes BG-1 bomber was the primary dive bomber on the American carriers in 1935. This was a good plane and it offered a longer range with a bomb load then the scout bombers of the Vought SBU and the Curtiss SBC...
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Post by cowboy40 on Jul 31, 2017 21:54:28 GMT -7
The RAF's last biplane fighter....the Gloster Gladiator Mk II was able to conduct itself well even against monoplane fighters, but by 1941, it was beginning to show its obsolescence.
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Post by cowboy40 on Jul 31, 2017 22:48:58 GMT -7
The USN's main torpedo bomber in the mid 30's was the Martin T4M Torpedo Truck. This plane was also manufactured by Great Lakes as the TG...This plane was also operated as a float plane....
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Post by cowboy40 on Jul 31, 2017 23:54:29 GMT -7
The only way i can describe this fighter, despite it being under powered, is that it is a quaint little airplane, very much a pleasure to fly. It responds will to the controls and it is very agile. I actually think it is one of the best handling planes in my collection. The Seversky P-35A set the standard for Army Air Corps fighters of the 30's. It introduced a fighter with retracting undercarriage, enclosed cockpit and all metal airframe and control surfaces. It really is a nice little plane! This was the granddaddy of one of the most important plane of World War II
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Post by starcruiser on Aug 1, 2017 7:37:28 GMT -7
Yep - the P-47 Thunderbolt (aka the Jug).
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Post by cowboy40 on Aug 1, 2017 11:10:01 GMT -7
Yep - the P-47 Thunderbolt (aka the Jug). Correct, the Jug got its start with this little baby...
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Aug 1, 2017 12:45:19 GMT -7
I was reading a book about the Me-109 which had a little anecdote in it. Near the end of WWII, a German Officer was giving anti-aircraft gunnery instruction and was telling his soldiers how to identify various aircraft. "If the aircraft appears shiny, then it is American. If aircraft appears dark, then it is British. If the airplane does not appear, then it is German."
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Post by cowboy40 on Aug 1, 2017 13:24:41 GMT -7
When you have a collection of American military aircraft, you have to have ones of these parked on the tarmac, regardless if you collection is plastic models, radio controlled birds, or in my case a virtual hanger full of computerized thunder. The Boeing P-26 was another one of the mile markers reached in the Army Air Corps...it was the first Army fighter to break 200 mph. and it showed the value of monoplanes for military use....
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Post by cowboy40 on Aug 1, 2017 14:54:10 GMT -7
Another aircraft to set a standard for the Army Air Corps, and some say the world's other air forces, was the Martin B-10 bomber. This plane was the first American bomber with a power driven gun torrent. and it was the first American bomber with enclosed cockpits. It was also an export success as the Martin Model 127. The aircraft proved its rugged construction when one of them crashed during a flight to Alaska. It made a water landing and its buoyant wing kept the aircraft afloat and it was recovered and put back into service.
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Post by cowboy40 on Aug 1, 2017 16:21:01 GMT -7
The most successful out of the early Sikorsky helicopters, developed in World War II, was the R-5 (later known as the H-5). This aircraft was a total redesign of the R-4/R-6, and it was powered by the 450hp Pratt & Whitney R-985 Wasp Junior mine-cylinder radial engine that gave the aircraft a higher service ceiling, speed, endurance and payload. It used the same transmission system as the R-4, but with a bigger main rotor. The initial aircraft, Model S-48, was a two place tandem-seat machine, but later models would have a wider fuselage capable of seating three and having a more powerful engine (Model S-51). The aircraft pictured is one of the original S-48... The S-51 was a post war modification of the design. Side Bar: The Sikorsky family was also operated by the USN, USMC, the RAF and the FAA The R-4 was known as the HNS to naval aviation and used as a training machine. It was known as the Hoverfly to the British. The R-6 was known as the HOS to the navy and was used as an observation and utility bird. It was also known as the Hoverfly to the British. The R-5 (S-48) was known as the HO2S in the navy, and again it was used as an observation and utility machine. The S-51 types were known as the HO3S. The British gave the machines the name Dragonfly.
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Post by cowboy40 on Aug 1, 2017 22:19:31 GMT -7
The final stage of the Curtiss Model 81 Hawk was the YP-40Q Warhawk. This plane was practically a total redesign of the fighter. Improvements included fitting of a later model Allison V-1710 engine. laminar flow wings, 360 degree vision canopy, and clipped wings. Like in the P-63, this new Allison had a good high altitude performance, and the new wings gave the airplane excellent handling characteristics. This performance was on par with the Bell Kingcobra and it also performed well with the Mustang. Unfortunately for Curtiss, both North American and Bell already had major contracts for their machines, and the new Warhawk was deemed to be unneeded, but this redesign and modifications of the Model 81 proved it was still capable... Many people have labelled the aircraft the Ultra-hawk.
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Post by cowboy40 on Aug 1, 2017 22:32:26 GMT -7
In 1934, the US Army released a requirement for an aircraft that cold carry a bomb load over 5,000 miles, and the result was what the Army called the Long Range Bomber. The first airplane to meet this requirement was the Boeing XB-15, also known as the XBLR-1. This aircraft was so large and heavy that it had to have doubled wheeled main landing gear to support the weight. Other notable features included what the Army Air Corps called Comfort-Conditioning. This meant the plane had racks (bunks for the crew to rest), a kitchenette, and some say the laboratory on the plane even had a shower!!! Even though the plane meet the requirements, it failed to gain a contract for production, because it was to slow for the standards of 1938, but is should be remembered that the requirements for the aircraft where first issued in 1934... The airplane was so complicated that it actually wasn't delivered until 1938, and by that time the B-17 was in the air...and if you look at the XB-15, you can see the Fortress's origins in the this airplane!
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Post by cowboy40 on Aug 1, 2017 23:42:32 GMT -7
starcruiser: This one is for you.... And yes the Curtiss P-6E is very much a pleasure to fly....it is also worthy to note that the vee inline 12-cylinder Curtiss V-1570 Conqueror used a supercharger and developed 600hp propelling the plane almost to that 200 mph mark that wouldn't be broke in the Army Air Corps until the introduction fo the P-26
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Post by cowboy40 on Aug 2, 2017 0:39:34 GMT -7
A contemporary to the Curtiss P-6, the Boeing P-12 was basically the F4B with the naval equipment removed, and it shared a similar performance to the Curtiss Fighter...both would be eventually replaced by the P-26 and P-35 fighters: though some of both types could still be found on Army Air Fields around the US and her territories right up to the time of the Pearl Harbor attack
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Post by starcruiser on Aug 2, 2017 7:48:11 GMT -7
starcruiser: This one is for you.... And yes the Curtiss P-6E is very much a pleasure to fly....it is also worthy to note that the vee inline 12-cylinder Curtiss V-1570 Conqueror used a supercharger and developed 600hp propelling the plane almost to that 200 mph mark that wouldn't be broke in the Army Air Corps until the introduction fo the P-26 And I even like the color...
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Post by starcruiser on Aug 2, 2017 7:49:15 GMT -7
A contemporary to the Curtiss P-6, the Boeing P-12 was basically the F4B with the naval equipment removed, and it shared a similar performance to the Curtiss Fighter...both would be eventually replaced by the P-26 and P-35 fighters: though some of both types could still be found on Army Air Fields around the US and her territories right up to the time of the Pearl Harbor attack Both the P6 and P12 were often used as "unit hacks" in their later years. Some may have been used as trainers for a while as well.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Aug 2, 2017 8:08:58 GMT -7
Vultee P-66?
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Post by cowboy40 on Aug 2, 2017 8:22:56 GMT -7
I think i might have one parked in the backyard of the hangers somewhere...lol
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