super sioux[QUOTE=chornedsnorkack;1119239]
Is it then the case that Latecoere 631 is the biggest seaplane anyone has ever had tickets on? It is definitely bigger than Boeing 314… what are the fuselage and cabin like?
QUOTE]
According to John Strouds ‘European Transport Aircraft since 1910’ published by Putnam in 1966 normal accomodation was for 46 passengers. There were seven two-seat cabins forward of the wing, then came a lavatory and a baggage compartment, aft of these was a restaraunt and bar, and under the centre section four four-seat cabins. Aft of these cabins were two lavatories on each side and then eight two-seat cabins. Behind these was the entrance and more lavatories, and right aft was the kitchen, which was equipped with a butane cooker. The passenger seats could be converted to sleeping berths, and all the cabins were curtained off from the central corridor.
Like all flying boat airliners of that period they were not intended for mass transport .
Ray
super siouxThat would have been Samuel Langley’s 1903 attempt at a high dive from a houseboat into the Potomac river.
Hi Chris, the Langley was flown by Glenn Curtiss in 1915 at Lake Keuka USA after he had it removed from the Smithsonian Institute and fitted with floats and properly “tuned up”. It was powered by the original engine, designed by a Mr Manley. and the original propellor. Source ‘Jane’s Historical Aircraft from 1902 to 1916 by the Countess of Drogheda. A facsimile reprint from Jane’s All the World’s Aircraft 1917.
Ray
super siouxBleriot did not crash at Reims 1909
[QUOTE=jorolat;1112432]A photograph of Louis Blériot’s aeroplane after an accident at the Reims Air Meet, France, held between August 22 – 29, 1909:
The event took place a month after Bleriot’s historic first flight across the English Channel on Bétheny Plain, just outside of Reims (aka Rheims) – does anyone know the map co-ordinates? I can find Reims ok but not Betheny Plain!
John Latter
QUOTE]
Bleriot did not crash at Reims in 1909 hence the unusual engine in the photo was not fitted to a Bleriot XI which he raced in the Gordon Bennett event held at Reims. Five aircraft were in a crashed condition on the landing ground during the events, one reason why American Glenn Curtiss only flew in the air race which he won by four seconds from Bleriot. No Bleriot 12 is shewn in my records but there is a Bleriot XI-2 which flew in 1910. Mistakes were made in the early reporting of aircraft events just as they are today!
Ray
super sioux‘Hole’ used at RAF Akrotiri
In 1946/47 as part of Project Ruby, USAAF B-17s and B-29s operated from Marham, dropping a series of bombs onto the U-boat pens at Farge. the B-17s carried Disney rocket-powered bombs on external bomb racks mounted under the wing root area.
The B-29s were used to carry Tallboy, Grand Slam and Amazon bombs (the Amazon a US equivalent of the Grand Slam in terms of weight, I believe). To load these biggies, the 29’s bomb doors were removed and special releases were fitted. To get the bombs into the aircraft a hole was dug in the ground, the bomb put in the hole and then the aircraft was towed over the top of the bomb which was then winched up to be carried semi-submerged in the belly of the aircraft.
The Grand Slam was designed to be dropped from an altitude that the Lancaster could not get to. Only the B-29 could get it to its optimum release height (35,000 + ft?). There were some pics of the Marham-based B-29s published in Flight at the time.
The hole seems to have had a varied use when loading a bomb. In the early sixties in Cyprus when a nuclear device was loaded into a Canberra it was positioned over the hole so the operation could be carried out in ‘secret’ behind screens. I dont know if any nuclear device was ever flown from Akrotiri as they were not supposed to be based there when the island became independent.
Ray
super siouxOk, I’ll stick my neck out and say that I think the one on the left is a Potez 29 Sanitaire (White with Red crosses) and the others are standard Potez 25 TOE in Khaki.
John
No need to stick your neck out John you are absolutely right! In my copy of ‘Dust clouds in the Middle East’ by Christopher Shores there is a photo of a Potez 25 TOE and a Potez 29 which has crosses on its wings of EO 596 at Deir ez Zor Syria. Both seem to have five light coloured bands on their upper wings as well.
Ray
super sioux(/QUOTE )Was RAF andover a Training Depot Station and if so what was its designated number? Also why put the RAF Staff College there?[/QUOTE]
Welcome Bob,
According to the biography of Air Chief Marshall Wilfred Freeman by Anthony Furse, Freeman who was to be senior instructor there and was posted in before it opened in 3 Jan 1922 when he became NO. 3 of the directing staff.
All decisions regarding the new RAF training establishments including the RAF Staff College were taken by Marshall of the Royal Air Force Trenchard.
No. 2 School of Aerial Navigation and Bomb-dropping used HP 0/100 and 0/400 aircraft when at Andover
Ray
super siouxDo 217 and flamethrower fitting.
Do217 if my memory serves right. There’s a pic of it in one of Alfred Price’s books. If I also remember correctly, it was shot down (or at least badly damaged) because the flamethrower didn’t so much discourage as attract the RAF fighters!
In August 1943 the Heine Company fitted a Do 217 with flame throwing equipment for the ground attack role! This was tested satisfactorily during runway-attack trials. Another weapon tested was the Gevat (Device) 104 ‘Munchhausen’ which was 11.25 metres long and could fire anti-tank rockets
(weighing 1470-1600 kg, each having a 700 kg head) at naval targets from a range of 4000 metres. after 14 tests it was decided to go for anti-tank bombs and gliding weapons. Information from DO 217 -317 -417 An Operational Record by Manfred Griehl published by Airlife. It covers these aircraft in depth and well worth owning.
super siouxSHACKLETON… END OF AN ERA. SHACKLETON The History of the Lancaster
That is what my copy of the video by Stanley Hitchcock is called. A La Mancha Production of 1987 and distributed by GMH Entertainments in 1987. The main picture on the cover is of possibly a PROTOTYPE SHACKLE -BOMBER taken in B & W with a smaller colour photo of an AEW 2 taken from the BBMF LANCASTER! After 20 years is still a valuable member of my collection.
super sioux‘The Speed Seekers’ by Thomas G Foxworth published 1989 by Haynes Publishing Group covers racing aeroplanes and races 1919-1926.
It says the pilot Flight Lieutenant H M Schofield pilot of the Short Crusader which crashed on take-off miraculously emerged alive!
super siouxI.N.T.A aircraft
I am an avid collector of Flight Manuals and Pilots Notes, and have been collecting and studying these for nearly 50 years (half a century!) Generally speaking most are in the English language but some are not. The most recent additions are Spanish, one for the CASA Bu-1311 which is a well known type, and one for the INTA EE-4. There is a rough drawing of it, and it looks rather like a de Havilland Chipmunk with a rounded rudder. The few illustrations are headed HM-1, and it appears that this was the original designation. Google could not show me a photograph of the type, so I would like some brave soul to post any pictures of it they may have, along with any information. Thank you.
According to ‘The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft’ entry on I.N.T.A which is Spain’s Instituto Nacional de Tecnia Aeronautica which had no production facilities but whose designs were built by Aeronautica Industrial sa (AISA).
The I.N.T.A aircraft comprise a small family of lightplanes,the I.N.T.A H.M.1 of 1943 a mixed structure and fabric-covered two seat primary trainer. No mention of EE-4 in the article but who knows what was happening in Spain in the early forties! By 1948 I.N.T.A was only designing gliders. Sorry only a photo of the H.M.7 a four seat tourer version of the H.M.1 is in the volume.
super siouxI dont know the date but I think the location was Brighton Marina when a Red Arrow clipped a yacht mast and ended up in the drink, pilot ok.
super siouxThis info. extracted from the official history of the Okinawa campaign tells of 19 spotting planes flown in from CVE’s and LST’s on 2 APRIL and commencing operations on the 3 APRIL. If you go to lstmemorial.org/archive/pr0804.htm you will find a report from a pilot who flew from LST 776 at Okinawa via the Brodie system. Just to put the cat amonst the pigeons, on another site someone reckons the 776 was transported across the Atlantic on another LST to be part of the Normandy landings. That I would like to see a photo of![EMAIL=”lstmemorial.org/archive/pr0804.htm”]http://lstmemorial.org/archive/pr0804.htm%5B/EMAIL]
super siouxThe address for the organization is a freepost and they are based in the Isle of Man. Maybe I should fill in the coupon:D oh and thheres a b+w picture. The tail has a circle with 2B in it and the registration is G-11-22
From evidence I have, the photo seems to be the prototype of the Avro 748 Series 2B with a provisional registration for initial test flying. The photo may not suggest that this is the aircraft in the proposed scheme but to show an illustration of an Avro 748 for marketing purposes.
super siouxBrewster B-339B (Buffalo)
A possible aircraft is the Brewster B-339B fighter of which Belguim had ordered 70 but only two were flyable in early 1940. I know nothing of operational use if any but one was found in 1940’s colours in Germany after surrender. The rotund shape is shewn clearly in the photo, only the linkage to the aileron not showing in the photos of Buffalo’s in RAF service I have. Comments please.
super siouxMig 23’s used in latest bombing
Mig 23’s used in bombing attacks on Mogadishu International Airport and another airfield 60 miles away was also attacked! Both were damaged but not sure if declared non- operational.
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