Spot on guys.It is indeed Geoffrey de Havilland. I personally think the designs he came up with were outstanding, and he had the strength of character to continue with designs like the Mossie that he knew were good even though there was no Air ministry orders waiting. That’s quite a financial risk, whihc you can’t imagine companies making today – if we had an aviation industry that is. :rolleyes:
Perhaps I should provide another hint. His sister was an actress and if she was anything like her borther, her acting would have been rather wooden. 😉
Technically speaking, G E Ball surived the war. However, as he was killed in a flying accident on 1 February 1946, it hardly counts as such. 🙁 He is buried in Exeter High Cemetery.
I did think of going with Watson-Watt, but decided to go with an aircraft man instead. This is W-W in his heyday.
Good try, but wrong country. This chap is British. And you might have heard of his sister … 😉
I think I would be more inclined to go with this chap, who certainly gets my vote as one of the best aircraft designers.
Here’s a couple of images from the RAF’s official BoB website. Just a few of the unsung heroes (and heroines).
Heinkel: An Aircraft Album has this to say about the He 113:
“When the RLM first considered the He 100 for the Luftwaffe, they regarded it as a natural progression from the He 112 and labelled it “He 113”. Later, with the outbreak of war, the Luftwaffe devised a propaganda scheme which would combine this concept with the fact that the aircraft in question had broken two world speed records. Using the 12 He 100D-1s as subject, a prolonged flood of photographs were released depicting “a new Luftwaffe fighter serving in quantity”, which allegedly was a more successful He 112 descendant embodying the advanced He 100 features. In fact the aircraft shown in such varying poses and markings were the same He 100D-1s at Rostock, painted in the livery of one ficticious squadron after another to indicate the existence of a large He 113 force.
“For some two to three years this had the desired effect, Allied Intelligence finding it difficult not to accept the authenticity of photographs showing this formidable aircraft in flight, taking-off or lined up in groups ready for “scramble”. Heinkel staff played the part of pilots, perhaps climbing into their 113s parked at the edge of the Rostock-Marienehe field, engines running. Close examination of the many pictures revealed that the aircraft could not be armed, as indeed they were not while photographs were being taken, but the elaborate manner in which this deception was conducted ensured that the myth took some time to explode.”
Thus, the Heinkel aircraft were He 112, He 100 and He 100 (pretending to be He 113). In reality, there was never any such aircraft as a He 113.
Thank’s Ian 🙂 , Cheers 😉 , Tally Ho! Phil :diablo: (p.s. what about the Romanian He-112s in last pic :confused: )
I can’t really tell you much about them, other than the details given in Heinkel: An Aircraft Album published back in 1970. This notes: “One order for new He 112s did materialise from Rumania, for 24 examples. The first 13, of the B-0 series, were delivered from May 1939, whilst the remainder, delivered in late September as B-1s, had individual exhaust stubs to provide thrust augmentation.” Sadly, no details about their use by Rumania.
Funny that :p , I was just thinking you might pop in Ian :rolleyes: , Yes thay were part of it all 🙂 , And with out that cog the wheels would not have turned 😉 , Cheers all 🙂 , Tally Ho! 😀 Phil :diablo:
Well, I had to get my tuppence worth in! I would also have mentioned the various other groundcrew – mechanics, fitters, armourers, and the 101 others who all played a vital role – but I don’t have any photos of them to post. Perhaps someone else might pitch in with that aspect. I think it’s important to remember that 75% of RAF personnel never set foot in an aircraft. Whilst I am, and always will be, in awe of what aircrew achieved, I’m very interested in the larger part of the organisation which made the flying bit possible.
I was about to post that none of these aircraft saw action, but fortunately I had the sense to consult Putnam’s German Aircraft of the Second World War first, and you’re quite correct Stormbird. The book notes that 17 were delivered to Grupo 5-G-5 of the Spanish Nationalist Air Force in November 1938: “The unit comprised two squadrons, one equipped with the Bf 109E-1, the other with the He 112B, and operated as top cover for Fiat CR 32 fighters. When the Spanish Civil War ended, the fifteen He 112B-0s that remained were transferred to Grupo 27 based in Spanish Morocco. As late as 1943 one of these aircraft destroyed an American Lockheed P-38 Lightning fighter which strayed into Spanish air space.”
The same book notes that the He 100 never saw any action at all, although there were plenty of propaganda photos showing them in different markings.
Let us also not forget the eyes and brain of the air defence organisation, which enabled the aircrew to achieve so much.
Going by the file name, I would suggest that it is Willi Meserschmitt, taken in the 1970s (or perhaps in his 70s).
No 3 is an I12I.
No 7 is an Il20.
I have to say this particular quiz is not exactly difficult, considering the images are saved as the name of the aircraft.
I always suspected that the original obituary at the start of this thread, from BBC News Online, struck me as the kind of information that comes from a little bit of a source and is not quite understood correctly and misinterpreted. However, I couldn’t rule it out altogether.
Now, however, an obituary for Fred Whipple has appeared in today’s Guardian which seems much more likely and fits whith the known facts about Window/chaff. The Guardian notes: “At the office of scientific research and development within the Harvard radio research laboratories from 1942 to 1945, he directed the American programme for the development, production and operational use of “confusion reflectors”, the strips of reflecting aluminium dropped from aircraft to disable enemy radar.”
This confirms what I thought may be the case: Fred Whipple didn’t come up with the idea of chaff, but rather he was responsible for its development (presumably confirming the best lengths for different German radars, etc) and introduction into US service.