SimonCraig1

Well done MajorTomsk and you are upi!

Paradummies it is!

In parallel with Glimmer and Taxable, Operation Titanic was the release of ~500 dummy paratroopers in four different locations inland of the french coast to make the Germans believe the D-Day assaults were going somewhere other than Normandy. The SAS also landed troops who broadcast sounds of fighting and generally made a nuisance of themselves, most were eventually captured and some executed. One of the key results of the operation was to delay German reserves from reaching Gold and Omaha beaches on the morning of D-Day.

In Vietnam, covert operations used them to lure VC out of hiding. They used surplus dummies from the Korean War and and sometimes used ice instead. The ice melted leaving only parachutes making it look like an operation was taking place.

The original dummies looked nothing like those in "The longest Day". Some images can be seen here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paradummy

MajorTomski

OK Please name for me an aircraft that:
1. Had a single engine.
2. Was pressurized.
3. A major structural component was composed of glued together 2x4's.

perttime

... need more clues ...

a65l

My Feedback: (17)

He 162......

Ernie P.

My Feedback: (3)

All;

MajorTomski hasn't posted in well over three days. The official limit is 24 hours. Giving him the benefit of the doubt, we are still at a standstill; and I suggest we move on. The floor is open to the first with a question to ask. Thanks; Ernie P.

makmov

My Feedback: (1)

What Airforce featured Bf-109s and Hawker Hurricanes at the same time, and fought against Luftwaffe Bf-109s.

miklos

My Feedback: (38)

Israeli?

MajorTomski

Gentlemen I appologize, life had me away from the computer for a couple of days. I'll jump back on my cluse when Makmov gets a winner.

Speaking of which:

What Airforce featured Bf-109s and Hawker Hurricanes at the same time, and fought against Luftwaffe Bf-109s.

My two cents either:

The Yugoslav AF in WW-II or

The "airforce" formed to make the Battle of Briton movie in the 60's.

makmov

My Feedback: (1)

it's back to you, yes the Yugos had 109s and Hurricanes that fought against the Luftwaffe 1941.

MajorTomski

Very well then, let's pick up where I dropped out:

OK Please name for me an aircraft that:
1. Had a single engine.
2. Was pressurized.
3. A major structural component was composed of glued together 2x4's.
4. Was one of the earliest aircraft to test an afterburner.
and since I dropped the ball
5. Was one of the first aircraft to fly with a unique wing shape

makmov

My Feedback: (1)

Komet?

Ernie P.

My Feedback: (3)

The He-162? Thanks; Ernie P.


The Heinkel He 162 Volksjäger (German, "People's Fighter") was a German single-engine, jet-powered fighter aircraft fielded by the Luftwaffe in World War II. Designed and built quickly, and made primarily of wood as metals were in very short supply and prioritised for other aircraft, the He 162 was nevertheless the fastest of the first generation of Axis and Allied jets. Volksjäger was the Reich Air Ministry's official name for the He 162. Other names given to the plane include Salamander, which was the codename of its construction program, and Spatz ("Sparrow"), which was the name given to the plane by Heinkel.

MajorTomski

No to both the Me-163 and He-162 niether had afterburners

OK Please name for me an aircraft that:
1. Had a single engine.
2. Was pressurized.
3. A major structural component was composed of glued together 2x4's.
4. Was one of the earliest aircraft to test an afterburner.
and since I dropped the ball
5. Was one of the first aircraft to fly with a unique wing shape
6. The single prototype still exists (I've actually worked on it!)

makmov

My Feedback: (1)

Miles M.52

MajorTomski

No to the Miles M.52

OK Please name for me an aircraft that:
1. Had a single engine.
2. Was pressurized.
3. A major structural component was composed of glued together 2x4's.
4. Was one of the earliest aircraft to test an afterburner.
and since I dropped the ball
5. Was one of the first aircraft to fly with a unique wing shape
6. The single prototype still exists (I've actually worked on it!)
7. At one point this aircraft was identified as the MiG 23!

makmov

My Feedback: (1)

XR-222

perttime

Grumman XF10F Jaguar

makmov

My Feedback: (1)

The Encyclopedia of how not to build an airplane...

MajorTomski

No to both of those too

OK Please name for me an aircraft that:
1. Had a single engine.
2. Was pressurized.
3. A major structural component was composed of glued together 2x4's.
4. Was one of the earliest aircraft to test an afterburner.
and since I dropped the ball
5. Was one of the first aircraft to fly with a unique wing shape
6. The single prototype still exists (I've actually worked on it!)
7. At one point this aircraft was identified as the MiG 23!
8. Data gained from this plane resulted in two different successfull single engine and one four engined aircraft fleets witht the same wing shape

zippome

How about the Gotha (horton) 229?
Wild A#@ guessing now,,,,

Thanks ,
Zipp

makmov

My Feedback: (1)

the Ho 229 while wood, the Germans wouldn't have ever built anything from 2X4. The 229 was laminated and metric. It also had two engines.

makmov

My Feedback: (1)

BICh-3

most all the other flying wings had two or more engines.

Ernie P.

My Feedback: (3)

Just a guess, but would Alexander Lippisch and Operation Paperclip be involved with this prototype? How about the Convair XF-92, with the first American delta wing? It lead to the F-102, F-106 and B-58. Thanks; Ernie P.


The Convair XF-92 was the first American delta-wing aircraft. Originally conceived as a point-defense interceptor, the design was later made purely experimental. However, its design, suitably enlarged, led Convair to use the delta-wing on a number of designs, including the F-102 Delta Dagger, F-106 Delta Dart, B-58 Hustler, Navy's F2Y Sea Dart as well as the experimental XFY.

In April 1948 the XF-92A was shipped to Muroc Dry Lake, later to become Edwards AFB. Early tests were limited to taxiing, although a short hop was made on 9 June 1948. The XF-92A's first flight was on 18 September 1948 with Convair test pilot Ellis D. "Sam" Shannon at the controls. After company testing, the aircraft was turned over to the USAAF on 26 August 1949, with the testing being assigned to Frank Everest and Chuck Yeager.

Yeager was the first Air Force pilot to fly the XF-92A. On his second flight he dived the aircraft in a 4 g split-S dive, reaching Mach 1.05 for a brief time. When approaching for landing on this flight he continued to pull the nose higher and higher in order to slow the forward speed to avoid the problems from his first attempt. Surprisingly, the aircraft simply wouldn't stall; he was able to continue raising the nose until he reached 45 degrees pitch, flying under control in that attitude to a landing at 67 mph (108 km/h), 100 mph (160 km/h) slower than Convair had managed.

In 1951, the XF-92A was refitted with an Allison J33-A-29 engine with an afterburner, offering a thrust of 7,500 lbf (33,000 N). The re-engined XF-92A was flown by Yeager for the first time on 20 July 1951. However, there was very little improvement in performance. In addition, there were maintenance problems with this engine and only 21 flights were made during the next 19 months. A final engine change was made to the 8,400 lbf (37,000 N) J33-A-16.

On 9 April 1953, Scott Crossfield began a series of flights on behalf of NACA. These tests revealed a violent pitch-up tendency during high-speed turns, often as much as 6 g, and on one occasion 8 g. The addition of wing fences alleviated this problem.
None of the pilots had much good to say about the design. Yeager commented "It was a tricky plane to fly, but ... I got it out to 1.05 Mach." Crossfield was more direct, saying "Nobody wanted to fly the XF-92. There was no lineup of pilots for that airplane. It was a miserable flying beast. Everyone complained it was underpowered."

MajorTomski

Congratulations Ernie you got it! The Convair XF-92A

The nose inlet cone was made of wood and turned on a lathe to facilitate different inlet configurations as testing expanded.

It did a cameo as the MiG 23 in the movie "Jet Pilot":
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/77/Convair_XF-92_(''Jet_Pilot').jpg

And in the 1990-1993 time frame the airplane was being restored by my sister squadron the 401st CLSS at Wright Patt for display at the USAFM. During a weekend I got to remove the rudder from the one and only airframe. It is now on display at the National Museum of the United States Air Force.

http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/fac...ID=2374&page=2

OK Ernie, stump us!

Ernie P.

My Feedback: (3)

Thank you, Sir. That was an excellent question; and I doubt I can do better. I didn't know about the nose cone being made of wood; but I figured it had to be a delta wing. Let's see if this question keeps you guys amused. Thanks; Ernie P.


Sometimes, the stars align. Or not.

Question: What warbird do I describe?

Clues:

(1) The company which produced it wasn’t particularly noted for producing armed aircraft. Yet they had produced an interesting design and were awarded a contract to produce a couple of prototypes.

(2) The prototypes looked very promising; being satisfactory in all respects and better than anticipated in some performance parameters.

(3) The pilots flew and were delighted with the way the planes performed. The mechanics twisted their wrenches and declared the aircraft reliable, and easy to service and maintain. The Generals nodded sagely and made approving noises. And yet it was never produced.