I used to check this site at least once a day. Now I realized that I have not been here for at least a couple of weeks. Logged in, and understood why. See you sometime next year, if ever.
What about Retro Track & Air’s Ex Finnish Air Force Gloster Gamecock restoration G- CGYF? http://www.retrotrackandair.com/projects.html
Probably BS.
Googling “V-tail bonanza conversion” I did find a link to an article by J.Mac McClellan in an old Flying magazine about this V-tail to straight tail modification. The link is horribly long, too long to paste it here, but if you are interested it should not be too difficult to find.Short version is that a rather famous modifier, Mike Smith, was behind this mod, and he called it the Tri-Tail Modification, costing 25.000 USD. In the article there is a photo of Smith’s V35 Bonanza N111MS, converted to a straight tail, which Smith called V35ST. Probably worth reading, if you are really interested in Bonanzas. And as I was told by the couple who owned one of these mods, there were just a couple of them ever made.
Here is the link anyways:
A few years ago in Oshkosh I had a bit to eat at lunchtime, and was joined by a couple from California. They had flown in with their Bonanza, which they described as a “V35 Bonanza with a conventional tail”. They explained that a company had come up with an expensive modification kit, which replaced the V-tail with a conventional unit. After they had managed to sell just a couple of these kits, Beechcraft came up with a kit of their own which beefed up the V-tail a bit and cost just a few bucks, fulfilling all FAA requirements for a utility category aircraft. I wonder if anyone here knows more of this V-Bonanza with conventional tail, or if any more of these are still flying?
The story of this A-20 has been widely published in Finland already long time ago (well, over a year ago). The aircraft is an A-20G-20-DO, USAAF serial 42-86826,obviously supplied to Soviet Union as a lend-lease airplane. With the Soviets it got tactical number 24 and was based at Klopitsy Air Base in the Leningrad region. The Havoc was shot down while attacking German cargo ship M/S Moltkefels on 18 September 1944. The ship was on its way to Tallinn to pick up German troops in order to transport them to Riga. The aircraft was hit by AA fire, either from M/S Molkefels, or the mine sweeper which was accompanying it. The A-20 took hits in both engines, and its pilot (Junior Lt. Gusman Miftahudinov) made a succesful forced landing on the sea. Navigator Yuri Aksenov was not injured, and was able to launch their dinghy and help the injured machine gunner/radio operator Gleb Lokalov and the pilot on board. The crew spent seven days on the dinghy, before being rescued by Finnish Coast Guard on 25 September in the archipelago of Aland. Finland had already ceased hostilities with Soviet Union, so the crew did not become POWs, but were returned home. However, all three were killed in action at later stages of the war. The pilot was oldest of the three, he was 21 years of age. Lokalov was born in 1925, so was about 18 or 19 years, Aksenov was 17 or 18, born in 1926. Makes you think, doesn’t it?
Not true. There is a a total of 15 MiG-21BIS aircraft preserved in Finland, of the total of 26 operated by the Air Force. Some in museums, some as gate guardians and some as instructional aircraft. Six aircraft were written off in accidents, 15 remaining of 20 is not too bad. Of the earlier 22 MiG-21Fs, 17 were left when they were phased out. Three are currently preserved in museums. Finnish AF also had six two-seat MiG-21U and 21UM aircraft, four of these are preserved.
No need for research. There is a train service from main railway station in Helsinki, trains marked either I or P. Do not get off at the airport, but on Aviapolis station, about 150 meters from the museum, take the exit of Aviabulevard.
The AF Museum and the Finnish AF Museum are the main ones, both absolutely worth visiting. Hallinportti museum, next to Halli AFB, is small, but interesting, housing a Bristol Bulldog, among other things. There are small museums at Lappeenranta Airport, Kymi Airfield (an airworthy Gloster Gauntlet plus other stuff) and at Vesivehmaa Airfield, North of town of Lahti (Blackburn Ripon + lots of other airplanes). If you have a chance, any of these smaller museums is worth a visit, too.
FiAf needs these for what?
Topspeed has got his medication wrong again. I wonder how long it takes before he is kicked out of this forum, like he has been from every military and aviation forum in his native Finland.
All three Tiger Moths that have been registered in Finland were used for glider towing.
I wonder why they don’t reply to you. Maybe they follow this forum?
Exactly, TooCool, topspeed is famous in his native Finland for getting kicked out of every aviation forum for his nonsensical “designs”. He seems to have some sort of engineering degree, but has no clue about aviation. When confronted with this, his defense is that his father worked for the Air Force (non-flying, non-technical) and he had fighter pilots living as next door neighbors. That obviously gives him 1st hand knowledge of aircraft design…:).
But you have to remember that Mr Topspeed already has designed an electric airliner which carries 600 passengers at M3.5 and has a range of 20000 NM. Otherwise he would not have started this thread…:).
BW-372 is indeed a genuine example, but the conservation work was performed at the Finnish AF Museum.