}}}—–>>> Feb2004 QUIZ <<<—–{{{

Another dozen for the second month. Tried to be a little less historic on this one. Just a little. Have fun!

CLOSED

Correct answers day one.
Correct answers day two.
Final answers.

1. — The Fincastle Trophy. What is it and who won it in 2003?
Commenwealth ASW games – RAAF, RNZAF, RCAF, RAF taking part. Last year (in December) the RAAF 10th & 11th Sqdr from Edinburgh, New South Wales won. mpa got this one. But it was held in RAAF Pearce near Perth, Western Australia last year.

2. — The first USN unit equipped with F/A-18E/F to be permanently forward deployed. Name the unit, its homebase and the CV it is assigned to for the time being.
VFA-102, NAS Atsugi, CV 63. Transall.

3. — Something about manufacturing stuff’n things:
3.1. Who builds the landing gear for the F/A-22?
3.1.1 Who developed the alloy that landing gear is made of? And what is it made of?
3.2. Who builds the tires for the F/A-22? (more than one company!)
3.3. Who builds the brakes for the F/A-22?
3.4. Who builds the main landing gear doors for the Japanese F-2?
3.5. Who builds the pylons for the Japanese F-2?
3.6. Who was awarded with designing (and building) the conformal fuel tanks for the EF2000?
3.1.1 Airmet 100, by LBL and Carpenter
3.2. Michelin & Goodyear
3.4. Kawa it is
3.5. Nippi at Yokohama – hard to find information about that plane?
3.1. Goodrich, formerly Menasco, but they merged
3.3. Honeywell
3.6. GKN as subcontractor of BAE.

4. — The AMSA. One prototype had two external features that made it easily distinguishable from the others.
4.1 What was/is the AMSA?
4.2 What were those features?
4.3 When was AMSA cancelled?
4.4 When did that aforementioned prototype made its first flight?
4.5 Name five project names that AMSA received to survive, before it got its final designation.
The programme that produced the Rockwell B-1A, yes. The features on #4 were the spine plus the blunt tail cone (you can’t spot that ejection seat thing ;)). The B-1A was cancelled June 30, 1977, but the first flight of #4 took place on February 14, 1979 from Palmdale to Edwards. After canellation in June 1977 #4 was used for the BPE (Bomber Penetration Evaluation) programme, became NTP (Near Term Penetrator) on June 30, 1981 and continued as SWL, CMCA, MRB and finally settled for LRCA (Long Range Combat Aircraft) :rolleyes:. LAMPS and SLAB were the names before AMSA. Later it somehow turned into the B-1B.

5. — There are jets with straight wings. There are jets with swept wings. There are jets with one straight and one swept wing (like the F-14 on that test flight). Name a twin-engine jet that flew with one forward and one backward swept wing.
Tricky question. NASA AD-1 Obliqued Wing. (A German idea of course). Good for drag, bad idea for aesthetics.

6. — Name at least five current helicopters with nicknames that were used on conventional planes before. (Like the Eurocopter Tiger and the Grumman F11F Tiger)
I really should have asked for ten! Ok, in alphabetical order:
Apache: AH-64 + pre-Mustang + Wright F3W
Cobra: YF-17 + AH-1
Commando: Westland + C-46 (though not “Comanche”, see below)
Cougar: Eurocopter + Grumman F9F
Defender: MD500 + Islander
Enforcer: MD900 + that Piper prototype + that Fokker
Havoc: Mi-28 + Douglas A-20
Hind: Mi-24 + Hawker
Tiger: Eurocopter + Grumman F11F
Tomahawk: Kaman H-2 + Curtiss

plus Panther and Fennec and Raven.

Some I know:
Blackhawk: UH-60 + Curtiss XF-87
Comanche: Eberhart FG + RAH-66
Seahawk: Curtiss FC/F7C + Boeing F3B + SH-60

7. — What was the Argentinan Air Force’ last operational involvement in a war? Which aircraft were participating?
*No UN stuff plz*
It was a solitairy Fokker F28 in the second Gulf War 1990/91. But the answer King J came up with is also a quite spectecular achievement in research – quote: “The surviving Canberra from Bachus flight was the last argie AF plane to return to base, but the fighter cover (two Mirage IIIs callsign Pluton) despite returning home earlier, did in fact take off 30 minutes later from Rio Gallegos (21:50 local) than the Canberras from Trelew (21:20 local). So, that would make Pluton Mirages the last operational sortie to be dispatched.”

8. — What aircraft did the USCG contribute to the second Persian Gulf War 1990/91?
It was in fact a lonely HU-25B to look for oil spills. mpa (and Herr A.H.) got it right.

9. — What was the C-119’s contribution to the U.S. space programme?
Catching film capsules. The 6593rd Test Squadron from Hickham. For those Corona missions. Done first on August 19, 1960. http://www.nro.gov/index5.html

10. — When did the first air-to-air refueling of a jet bomber take place? Which planes were involved?
Yesss, Transall. A SAC RB-45C (BuNo. 48-012) refueled (twice) by KB-29P on July 29th, 1950 on the way from Elmendorf to Yokota. A/A Refueling of F-84, B-50 and B-36 was quite common at that time already.

An interesting article: http://www.fortunecity.com/littleitaly/cremona/112/id65.htm

11. — Name six or more side-by-side twinseater aircraft with jet engines flown from the deck of an aircraft carrier.
> F3D Skynight
> A-6 Intruder
> F-111B (This is an interesting story. The F-111B was on deck only a couple of days! See http://www.usscoralsea.net/pages/f111.html)
> Sea Venom
> Sea Vixen (altough those weren’t really “side by side”, more “over and under”)
> the S.E.202 Sea Aquillon
> the Savage yes, but only one XAJ-1 prototype.
> the A3D, but only the prototype.
> Additionally the XTB3F-1 Guardian, but the jet engine was never used and removed after the first few flights.

The Viking houses 4, not 2. And Flood is right, the Sea Vampire T.22 was not carrier qualified.

12. — A little story about an aircraft company. Was the largest in the whole world during WW1. Built the first planes to cross the Atlantic ocean. Merged in 1929 to become to largest aviation company in the US. But then, later, they decided to build a jet – the first jet ever for that company but also the last plane ever for them. They lost, quit and sold the aviation business altogether.
12.1. Name that company. With whom did in merge in 1929? When did they quit? To whom did they sell?
12.2. Name those first aircraft to cross the Atlantic. When did that take place and how long did it take?
12.3. Name that fateful first jet. To which contender did it loose?
12.4. What is that company doing today?
And a couple of questions out of competition:
– The original plant: What is it today?
– The second plant in Tonawanda: What is it today?
– The third plant in Cheektowaga: What is that site today?
Have you ever been to Buffalo, NY? Didn’t miss too much. But what a decline! A lot of good companies follow that path later.
It was indeed Curtiss, Curtiss-Wright from July 4th, 1929 on. They quitted after loosing with their XF-87 Blackhawk to the XF-89 Scorpion on October 10, 1948 and sold everything to NAA.
Those first hops across the Atlantic took place May 8th to 27th in 1919 with NC-4. Today they Curtiss-Wright is the main supplier of nuclear control valves for SS(B)Ns and CVNs.
Plant #1 is a Home Depot today, Plant #2 houses Western Electric, and #3 was sold to Westinghouse, later to the Buffalo Airport Center Assoc, then was vacant for about 5 years and only in 1999 torn down to give way for a depot of the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authorities.
That Cornell building was part of the original factory, when Curtiss was still strewn all over town in rented places.

Bonus Question — How did it come that the U.S. Air Force lost a radar station to high water in 1961?
Arthur again. That sure is a strange story! The DEW radar platform “Texas Tower No.4” sank in a hurricane with 100ft+ waves off New Jersey on January 15, 1961. USS Wasp was nearby, but couldn’t make enough speed over ground to help and was badly damaged in the process.

http://www.radomes.org/museum/
http://www.njscuba.com/shipwrecks/texas_tower.html
http://www.vitalfew.info/new_page_12.htm