Folks,

Dux:

Hmmmm. No Camel?

That kite looks like lotsa fun to fly. Too bad you couldn't afford to buy the whole plane. Maybe you can get the aft fuselage later? Or maybe they purpose built that thing that way so Fokker and Albatross bullets would just pass right through it without doing damage? Brilliant!

I've been sporting about in a 163 "Komet" of late. That has a bit more power than your Scout. You just turn 'er on and point it straight up. I must have the right STOFF because I have wrecked several formations of B17s with mine. Landing 'dead stick' on that little skid is a trip.

Great screenies JRT , whether your rig is getting on a bit or not, it does the job very well.

The 163 is one type I've yet to fly. Historically, very temperamental on landing because of the unstable fuel used. Is that toxic instabilty part of the flight model? Have you bagged any B24s or B17s yet?

Yeah! Those 'bird cages' looked quite unorthodox and the rotary engine (as you will know) has no throttle and has to be 'blipped' on and off to control speed. The complete engine rotates with the prop.

Folks,

Dux:

Yup. You fall upon the hapless enemy formations from a great height at great speed, point the nose and fire as you pass through the formation. Then what you pointed the nose at goes BOOM! Not always; for I find it difficult to aim at that speed.

The incredibly caustic and volatile "T" STOFF and "C" stoff do not seem to be modeled. The detachable wheels used only in takeoff are modeled. The tiny prop on the nose that runs a small generator is modeled. You sit calmly on the tarmac one second and the next you have lifted off, dropped the wheels and you are going straight up right past "Oh my god", "Oh crap" and then "Wow, this is actually fun".

As you know, this is a rocket not a jet and the fuel is burned at an incredible rate. When the engine inevitably quits it gets rather quiet and you have a thoughtful moment before things get really busy in the cockpit. Controlling you descent and lining up on the runway can produce a brown ring pucker. Landing on that skid is definitely another sticky bit especially the first time.

I believe that even the Camel was landed by cutting the engine on and off. Thus the common sound of Brrrrrup....silence....Brrrrrup, Brrrrrup on final. This sound can often be mistaken for engine trouble by the uninitiated.

Headed back to the hospital this morning. All went fairly well yesterday. I'll write to you later. Pip, pip, talley ho and all that rot....

Another interesting observation - well, to me at least, is that in those early days of flight, the pusher plane, where the engine is located to the rear of the pilost, were quite popular. While I would venture to guess that the rationale for this configuration could be that having that big engine right in front of you would disturb the moustache and the eybrows considerably, as well as making it impossible to fire a gun in the forward direction, I wonder what were the benefits by going almost exclusively to tractor planes later on. Greater manouverability perhaps?

Crossing my thumbs and toes Roger, and sending many hopes for a satisfactory day.

Chaps,

It must have been that at the time, a lot was sacrificed in order to get a forward firing machine gun to bear on the enemy. The DH2 had a clear shot without interrupter gear, the rear pusher engine also offering a little protection from attack. They ruled the skies until the Albatros arrived, in the see-saw game of technical advances.

Today, I purchased the Camel and the Sopwith Triplane. Both aircraft love to drop a wing on take off and landing. In the 'Bloody April' scenario, I no longer fear the Albatros DIII with the superb 'tripehound' dogfighter but execution can be laborious with a single gun. I was awarded the Military Cross on my first patrol which was quite wrong. Especially since I wrecked my Tripe on landing...Poor exchange for a DFW. I am not keen on two-seaters. The Observers keep shooting back.

Firstly, my 'achievement' was far below what would have been the norm for such an award. Five or six victories would have been the average for the first award and about another dozen for an additional bar. Secondly, Royal Naval Air Service personnel would have received the Distinguished Service Cross for commissioned officers and for NCOs and minor ranks, the Distinguished Service Medal. Furthermore, gallantry medals are too easy to come by in RoF.

A DREADFUL DEATH

Folks,

MG:

Thank you kindly for your good wishes. Alles Gut.

If you chaps will recall, there was an interim stop gap idea that caused some consternation in the ranks of the foe. Metal plates were attached to the prop of a fighter and a forward pointing machine gun was mounted. It worked a treat if you didn't mind the odd shell careening off one of those plates into a wing or parting the hair of a rather surprised wingman.

You just can't keep a secret for long. The interrupter gear was a real step forward offering for a time a true advantage in the arms race until a plane with that installed in it fell behind enemy lines and the mystery of why so many perfectly good aircraft were suddenly falling out of the sky was solved.

I see that 'god plus just one letter' has already answered the question of my difficulties getting here earlier today. We are lucky fellows to have that guy looking after this site. It must be a real headache at times and I believe he is devoted to keeping SimHQ running free of charge. I thank him and his staff for all they do.

I have been acquainting myself with another aircraft I had previously never flown in any sim. The P39 Air Cobra was quite a plane especially at low level. I flew it with good results against some Bettys and A673s that wanted to make a real mess of our airfield. The screen shot displays the P39 N variety on final after the raid.

Gents,

JRT,

It took the Russians to demonstrate what could be done with the P39. The RAF transferred about 200 to the Soviet Union after rejecting them on the grounds of altitude performance among other things. Later Q versions were a lot better. This one is made up of parts from at least three others and is in, or was in a Finnish museum at Tikkakoski. Reputedly captured from the Finns by the Russians - but which part? One Russian ace scored 20 victories in a P39. Only four left in the world, apparently.

Was it the US star, the RAF roundel or the Finnish pale blue swastika which was overpainted?

Folks,

Dux:
Nice shot.

With a bit of research added to what I already knew, supported by your seemingly inexhaustible body of facts about all facets of worldwide military aviation revealed:

The Bell P-39 Aircobra was one of the principal American fighter aircraft in service when the United States entered World War II. It was the first fighter in history with a tricycle undercarriage and the first to have the engine installed in the center fuselage, behind the pilot. The main purpose of this configuration was to free up space for the heavy main armament, a 37 mm (1.46 in) Oldsmobile T9 cannon firing through the center of the propeller hub for optimum accuracy and stability when firing.

Although its mid-engine placement was innovative, the P-39 design was handicapped by the lack of an efficient turbo-supercharger, limiting it to low-altitude work. The P-39 was used with great success by the Soviet Air Force, who scored the highest number of individual kills attributed to any U.S. fighter type.

As stated, the most successful use of the P-39 was in the hands of the Soviet Air Force . They received the considerably improved N and Q versions of the Aircobra. The tactical environment of the Eastern Front did not demand the extreme high-altitude operations that the RAF and United States Army Air Forces employed with their big bombers. The low-speed, low-altitude turning nature of most air combat on the Russian Front suited the P-39's strengths: sturdy construction, reliable radio gear, and adequate firepower. Russian pilots appreciated the cannon-armed P-39 primarily for its air-to-air attack capability.

The usual nickname for the well-loved Aircobra was Kobrushka, "little cobra", or Kobrastochka, a portmanteau of Cobra and Lastochka (swallow), "dear little cobra".

There was a later derivative of the Aircobra called the "Kingcobra" I think that was the P-69?

Folks,

Dux:

My mistake it was the P-63. I often wish I had your legendary abolity to retain facts. More research on the Kingcobra revealed the following:




The Bell P-63 Kingcobra (Model 24) was a United States fighter aircraft developed in World War II from the P-39 Airacobra in an attempt to correct that aircraft's deficiencies. Although the aircraft was not accepted for combat use by the United States Army Air Forces, it was successfully adopted by the Soviet Air Force.

The XP-87897 was larger in all dimensions than the Airacobra. The laminar flow wings increased the overall span by 4.33 ft (1.32 m) to 38.33 ft (11.68 m). The engine was fitted with a second supercharger supplementing the normal single-stage supercharger. At higher altitudes when additional boost was required, a hydraulic clutch would engage the second supercharger, adding 10,000 ft (3,000 m) to the service ceiling. A larger four-bladed propeller was also standardized. A persistent complaint against the Airacobra was that its nose armament was not easily accessible for ground maintenance, and in order to cure this problem, the XP-63 airframe was fitted with larger cowling panels.

In September 1942, even before the prototype flew, the USAAF ordered it into production as the P-63A (Model 33). The P-63A's armament was to be the same as that of the then-current P-39Q, a single 37 mm (1.46 in) M4 cannon firing through the propeller hub, two .50 in (12.7 mm) machine guns in the upper nose firing through the prop, and two .50 in (12.7 mm) machine guns in underwing gondolas. The trajectory of the .50 in guns was far flatter than that of the cannon.

Deliveries of production P-63As began in October 1943. The USAAF concluded the Kingcobra was inferior to the Mustang, and declined to order larger quantities. American allies, particularly the Soviet Union, had a great need for fighter aircraft, however, and the Soviets were already the largest users of the Airacobra. Therefore, the Kingcobra was ordered into production to be delivered under Lend-Lease. In February 1944, the Soviet government sent a highly experienced test pilot and an aviation engineer to the Bell factories to participate in the development of the first production variant, the P-63A.

Initially ignored by Bell engineers, the Russian pilot's expert testing of the machine's spin characteristics (which led to airframe buckling) eventually led to a significant Soviet role in the development. After flat spin recovery proved impossible, and upon that pilot's making a final recommendation that all pilots should bail out upon entering such a spin, he received a commendation from the Irving Parachute Company. The Kingcobra’s maximum aft CG was moved forward to facilitate recovery from spins.

There was a swept wing varient of the P-63 after the war!

Two war surplus P-63Cs were modified by Bell under Navy contract for flight testing of low-speed and stall characteristics of high-speed wing designs. The aircraft received new wings with adjustable leading edge slats, trailing edge flaps and a pronounced sweep of 35 degrees. The wings had no wheel wells; only the nose gear was retractable. L-39-1 first flew 23 April 1946, demonstrating a need for extra tail surface and rear fuselage length to balance the aircraft in flight - the wing repositioning reduced empennage effectiveness and moved the center of lift aft.

A lighter three-bladed propeller from a P-39Q-10 was mounted and the necessary changes to the empennage were made. L-39-2 incorporated these adjustments from the start. L-39-1 later went to NACA at Langley for wind tunnel testing, where much valuable data were gathered. L-39-2 also served as a testbed for the Bell X-2 40-degree wing design.

I now know far more than I ever needed or wanted to know about the Air and Kingcobras.[img]

Folks,

Dux:

Call me a creature of habit. I have always erroneously referred to the P-39 as the "Aircobra" when it is correctly called the "Airacobra". I cannot retain many correct facts about the plane but easily retain the mis-spelling with no trouble at all.

I suppose it will forever be the "Aircobra" to me.

Folks,

Dux:

A rendering of our local train station may still be moldering in your rusty mailbox....
SILENCE....
Dux has gone quiet. Perhaps he has traveled to London to lend those hard pressed bobbies a helping hand during the terrible, senseless riots? If so, he may be removing a few valuables from broken show windows in an innocent effort to ease the temptations afflicting all those mindless wrong doers.

It may not be too late to place our orders mates. I'd like a 60" flat screen telly and a new computer system Dux if it isn't too much trouble.

Chaps,

JRT,

I have just perused your very well executed drawing and have concluded that I could spend many happy hours there at that station. Well done, old chap!

I have every intention of attempting your tasty recipe just as long as it takes to re-stock our somewhat depleted herbs and curry rack. Another coinkidinky because only that very morning I had been thinking of buying another of those Thai curry packs which include all the necessary ingredients except the chicken! Thanks for emailing it.

Our police have been caught off guard, mainly because they are steeped in the soporiphic effect of political correctness and immigrant stroking influences which give more advantage to the minorities than the white indigenous population.
Anyway, I've already left my abridged opinion at Community Hall. If the anarchy persists tonight the perpetrators can expect a heavier hand if our leader's determined attitude is matched by his actions. You have probably already noticed that there is also a fair percentage of white gutter-scum among the looters and rioters.

The riots are not about a dead drug-dealer or minority jobs and opportunities. It's about extending the ghetto crime culture to a whole new level, using perceived and imagined injustices as an excuse.

Only the British National Party and the England Defence League will gain from this unprecedented, widespread rioting.

Folks,

Dux:

Your praise is blatantly far too generous even to the point that obviously I do not deserve it so naturally I believe every word and I think more highly of me than ever.

OK this will be yet another far off topic series. We have them so often I can forget what the topic really should be. Ah well, this thread has for many years become more of a broad topic blog than anything else.

It must be serious if Prime Minister David Cameron cut short a pleasant holiday in sun drenched Italy to deal with the crisis. I see that he recalled Parliament from its summer recess for an emergency debate on the riots and looting. He is a man of action and he must be seen to act. Yet since there is no clear reason for this rioting how can it be legislated away?

The collective purse has shrunk in dramatic proportions for various reasons here and there and as the sick, young, aged, infirm and the indolent now find themselves unable to suckle at the bulging tit of a benevolent government they are having to suddenly fend for themselves. I would therefore expect civil unrest to grow exponentially in the future.

All this spending beyond our means didn't start yesterday or even in the last decade. It has occurred to me that perhaps we in the west were hit just as hard by the obscene excesses of the cold war as was the former USSR. The difference being the USSR went bankrupt and we, though severely wounded and hemorrhaging cash by the bucket fulls just declared that we had triumphed over them and kept on borrowing to maintain our comfortable lifestyle. The clucking egg layers hatched in the cold war are just now coming home to perch.

Like crisis in any family these economic woes will either draw us together or they will break us asunder pitting one social strata, one political faction against another. IMHO, at least over here, we have a weak president trying harder to hang onto his job than he is trying to do his job. To make bad matters even worse our re-election fixated Congress is beholden to campaign contributors and special interests, severely constipated, gridlocked by partisan politics and for all intents and purposes unable to function as it should in a new kind of government that was supposed to be "Of the people, By the people and For the people.

As that brilliant sage and superior judge of just about any critical situation Donald Duck might say... "This doesn't look good boys."

Disclaimer:
This nonsense was typed knowing full well that no person possessing even a miner capacity for individual, intelligent thought will or should care about or pay any attention whatsoever to what I think anyway.

JRT,

Credit where it's due old bean!

Vigilantes groups on the streets of Dudley tonight with Asians bearing sharpened screwdrivers, baseball bats and God knows what else, out for confrontation with looters or anybody who looks like one. Looks like kicking off again big time. Cameron apportioning blame in any direction but towards successive governments.
While the flacid Theresa May agonizes over the use of water cannon, our Premier appears to over-rule her by mentioning rubber bullets.


This is me floating serenely of many square miles of rain-sodden marshmallow clouds. Got my arse kicked by an Alb but managed a forced landing behind our lines. The forward view from the Spad, with rain beating against the windscreen is really appalling. You tend to aim blindly toward ID sighting icons and hope for the best. Pascale Petit is living on borrowed time although he has two DFWs and 6 balloons on his belt.

Folks,

Dux:

She is a lovely bird of prey and, under the right hand, proved to be deadly against the previously almost invincible Albatross. The SPAD VII of 1916 became the fighter airplane of choice for most of the great French aces, including the beloved Georges Guynemer. I have his biography and it is impressive. I believe that this version had but one machine gun.

Strong and very fast at 135 mph, (well it was considered fast back then) the SPAD XIII airplane carried two Vickers machine guns, but was not without its faults. It had "the gliding angle of a brick" without engine power, and the engines were notoriously unreliable.

The XIII airplane became the favorite mount of no less a person than the American Ace of Aces, Captain Eddie Rickenbacker, who scored many of his 26 victories in "Old #1".

When I wind up my ancient FCG sim I prefer the dangerous and notoriously difficult to fly Camel or the SPAD VIII. Some readers may not know that SPAD is an acronym for the French company that produced it.

Gents,

JRT,

As you would expect, the better your aircraft, the stiffer the opposition. They tend to cancel out any initial advantage quite soon.

We have a new chap on the Squadron in the DH2 career. Opinionated brat, Lieutentant Jarvis Carruthers. Average flight training assessment, below average gunnery and a penchant for wandering off on his own. However, he has bagged two balloons and been awarded the MC. I have noted the contents of his locker because methinks I will be bagging it all up before long and his fiancee will be receiving a visit from the Royal Flying Corps Office for Fallen Heroes.

Folks,

Dux:

Not "Cutthroat Carruthers" the Bantam Weight champion of 1914? If so it will not be the first time this hero has fallen. Could he be the same fellow Olga's grandmother KOed in the first round of that brief sparring match back in that same year? It was rumored that she never touched him with her gloves but did him in in the clinch by placing her armpit under his nose.

Lookee here at these FCG screenies taken this morning you'll see how far the SOTA in graphics has come with RoF.

Folks,

Dux:

Here is a rather colorful and detailed cutaway of a SPAD III. Note the 200 HP Hispano engine.

JRT,

The FCG screenies brought back a few memories. Are some of them upgrades or are they all out-of-box images.

My AV8R-01 stick has latest drivers but I'm flying aircraft that should be able to turn inside some of the opposition but can't. The camel comes closest but I just wonder if there is something else I could do to even the odds a little. Something don't seem right somehow?

Carruthers was shot down today but walked away. Lucky sod...

Folks,

Dux:

Aircraft evolved after the First World War. Here is an illustration of the first model plane I ever built. I believe that was a Revell plastic kit built sometime in the late 50's. The following Christmas I received a large multi-plane kit that included a P51-D Mustang, A Fokke Wulf 190, a MiG 15 and a US Navy Panther jet.



The Boeing Pursuit or P-26A Peashooter had a wing span of 27 feet. A length of 23 feet 10 inches ; a 600 HP Pratt & Whitney R-1340-27 engine. Armament consisted of two 0.3 or one 0.5 and one 0,5 M.G. Max speed 234 MPH. Service ceiling was 26,900 ft.