Key Publishing

oldironside

Forum Replies Created

Viewing 15 posts - 1 through 15 (of 21 total)

1 2 →

Author

Posts
November 6, 2016 at 8:53 pm in reply to: 9th of Sept 1940 Hurricane/He111 collision Alton Hants #840736

oldironside
Participant

Interesting stuff. I happen to be from Alton, and I’d never heard of this. I even took a trip to the Curtis Museum a couple of years ago to ask about Alton being bombed, and was shown the Home Guard maps of where the various bombs fell (mostly in open country).

August 10, 2011 at 10:53 pm in reply to: Did Roy Chadwick copy the Vulcan design from Jack Northrop? #1059868

oldironside
Participant

Ah, do I need to add a smiley to show that I am joking? 😮

Mitchell was a hack.

Joking!!!

Err, I understood it was a joke, but I’ve been on enough forums to know that people will willfully misunderstand anything if they can. :rolleyes:

Related to this, Willi Messerschmitt didn’t design the 109 and 110, it was mailny Richard Lusser, who started with Klemm. Messerschmitt himself was responsible for the 210, 209 and 309, before being kicked upstairs.

August 10, 2011 at 10:05 pm in reply to: Did Roy Chadwick copy the Vulcan design from Jack Northrop? #1060023

oldironside
Participant

Of course, R.J. Mitchell obviously copied the Heinkel He70’s wing when he designed the Spitfire…

I feel you are in danger of starting a totally new thread which could run and run. :diablo:

August 8, 2011 at 7:11 am in reply to: Luftfahrtmuseum Hannover-Laatzen #1064609

oldironside
Participant

Looks a very nice museum. One thing though I thought the Swastika was a banned symbol in Germany?

The swastika is only allowed in its historical context – museums, historical documentaries, etc. For example, in the railway museum in Koblenz you can see Herman Göring’s personal train which has retained it’s original emblems (as well as a rather large refrigerator).

I happen to work for the Luftwaffe (teaching English) and one of the first things I was told when I got the job was that Nazi symbolism was strictly forbidden in lessons. It’s a bit schizophrenic, because our base is named after a Second World War fighter ace, with a portait of him displayed in the cafeteria. When I produced a worksheet about him I had to blank out the emblem on the tail of his aircraft.

Still, I can’t blame them for being touchy about the whole subject.

August 7, 2011 at 9:04 pm in reply to: Luftfahrtmuseum Hannover-Laatzen #1064977

oldironside
Participant

Looks good.

And background info on the Spit? An F22?

August 7, 2011 at 8:51 pm in reply to: Favorite WWII Prototypes that never made it? #1065000

oldironside
Participant

I reckon the canon breach fairings would have been good for at least 5 knots worth of drag each.

It could still do 420 knots, according to German Wikipedia (Vikipedia?). However, I just discovered that the info there was taken from an English language site and translated. Link here.

http://www.spitfire-mk9.com/spitfire_variants.html

August 7, 2011 at 4:14 pm in reply to: Favorite WWII Prototypes that never made it? #1065568

oldironside
Participant

That just looks – wrong.

It does look a bit like something a 14-year old would sketch, except without the auxiliary jet engines and a Boulton Paul power turret behind the pilot. 😮

August 7, 2011 at 11:32 am in reply to: Favorite WWII Prototypes that never made it? #1065789

oldironside
Participant

Spitfire…

Mark IV.

A Rolls Royce Griffon and no fewer than six 20mm cannon, intended to enter squadron service in October 1941 (at least according to the German Wikipedia article).

August 3, 2011 at 5:31 pm in reply to: Favorite WWII Prototypes that never made it? #1071074

oldironside
Participant

Focke-Wulf 191.

Part of the Bomber B programme, hamstrung by the same engine problems as the Ju288, but with the added drawback of being totally electric. No hydraulics, hence the nickname the flying powerstation.

July 8, 2011 at 3:48 pm in reply to: Interesting photo of captured Wellington #1035383

oldironside
Participant

However those in the photo look typical of Luftwaffe bombers hastily ‘blacked up’ for night bombing during the 1940/ ’41 Blitz period. Just my gut feeling!

I would tend to agree with you. It certainly isn’t a well thought through, RLM sanctioned paint scheme and I’ve never seen a German night fighter so amateurishly painted. However, as you point out, as the BoB tailed off and the Blitz started there was a rush to make day bombers less conspicuous by night.

I do wonder what the legal position would be for aircraft operating without national markings. I realise that there was a world war on and camouflage was vital, but surely flying without markings could lead the crew open to all sorts of charges.

July 8, 2011 at 11:13 am in reply to: Interesting photo of captured Wellington #1035896

oldironside
Participant

I agree the aircraft in the background looks like a Ju88, although I think it is a bomber variant. It looks very much like the kind of ‘blacking up’ job that was done on Luftwaffe bombers in late 1940/early ’41 for night raids againt the UK.

In the hangar right at the back of the shot there is another twin engined aircraft with a small gondola on the starboard side (unless it’s my imagination) although the picture is blurred enough for it to be a He111. It certainly looks Ju88ish to me. However, both the A series bomber and the first night fighters (C-version) had the gondola. The image isn’t clear enough to see whether it’s got a glazed or sheet metal nose.

July 7, 2011 at 4:03 pm in reply to: Interesting photo of captured Wellington #1037262

oldironside
Participant

What is the aircraft in the background of photo 4, the fuselage and tail markings both look like a circle ?

Funnily enough, that’s exactly the last question in the forum where the pictures are displayed. (I must confess I don’t speak Dutch, but I can speak German, so I can decode it) No answer yet.

June 25, 2011 at 5:50 pm in reply to: Remember "The Forgotten Bomber" #1059281

oldironside
Participant

Not a bad film and one I’d never heard of. I was surprised to have it pop up on TCM.

It’s a cracking little film, IMHO. Great cast and a well told story. Not to mention all those gorgeous aircraft dressing the set.

I was hoping to find it on youtube (I watched Went The Day Well there the other week), but unfortunately it’s not been uploaded. Only odd bits and pieces.

June 25, 2011 at 10:15 am in reply to: Remember "The Forgotten Bomber" #1059855

oldironside
Participant

I saw a Blenheim the other night on television in the 1945 UK film,
Johnny in the Clouds. It was good to see one (as well as an Anson and Bostons..and some B-17s) on film.

The UK title was The Way To The Stars, intended to do for the RAF what The Way Ahead did for the infantry.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0038238/

http://youtu.be/2vCJCm7T-J0

June 24, 2011 at 4:03 pm in reply to: Me-163 #1061124

oldironside
Participant

2. In a few encounters it was described by Allied pilots that the Me-163’s would leave contrails at times when their engine was on, and then at times they would cut it off for a bit before cutting it back on. I know the Komet had a throttle, but could the pilots turn the engine on and off during flight without any trouble?

I remember reading somewhere (it was a book that accompanied a BBC programme about WW2 secret weapons, but I can’t recall the name for the life of me) that 163s were fitted with a stopwatch in the middle of the instrument panel to stop the pilot trying a relight too soon (minimum wait of one minute, if I recall correctly). The same source stated that the 163’s throttle had five settings- off, idle and three positions of thrust.
Author

Posts

Viewing 15 posts - 1 through 15 (of 21 total)

1 2 →