Ernie P.

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Thank you, Sir. I was away hunting until yesterday, and didn't see your question until late last night. And a good question it was, BTW. This should be a very easy question to answer, but I think the answer is quite interesting. I hope you all enjoy it. Thanks; Ernie P.


We all know the story; or at least one of several versions of the story. Lieutenant Wilfrid May was an inexperienced pilot. He had been ordered to stay above any dogfights and observe; or perhaps he had been told to make a single firing pass if he saw the opportunity and then dive for home.

May attacked a German aircraft, then dove away as instructed. But to his shock, he found himself pursued by another German aircraft. Unknown to him, his pursuer was none other than the Red Baron, Manfred von Richthofen. Captain Roy Brown, a personal friend of May, then attacked Richthofen in turn.

From that point, what happened is still argued; although there is general belief that Richthofen was hit by gunfire from the ground. But…


Question: Why did Richthofen single out Lieutenant May for attack?


Clues:

(1) The Baron was leading his formation, just as Brown was leading his.

Mein Duff

May was obviously a rookie and lingering on the fringes of the combat area.

Ernie P.

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Actually, that is the reason commonly given. But in truth, there may have been yet another and more compelling reason. I think you'll agree with my answer when you see it. Or, when you answer the question yourself. Thanks; Ernie P.


Question: Why did Richthofen single out Lieutenant May for attack?

Clues:

(1) The Baron was leading his formation, just as Brown was leading his.

(2) Many theories have been advanced to explain why Richthofen pursued May so doggedly. This answer (Which, I must admit, I have never seen in print.) may explain why.

JohnnyS

From: http://www.kuro5hin.org/story/2003/12/25/13258/202

According to this account, Manfred von Richtofen was attacking Wilfred "Wop" May because May had attacked Manfred's cousin Leutnant Wolfram von Richthofen. It's a complex fight, as described in the article.

Ernie P.

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I knew it wouldn't take you guys long to figure this one out, but the story is so interesting I wanted to highlight it.

You are correct, Sir. Interesting that so much of what happened that day has been lost, and so much more manufactured. Richthofen was noted for being particularly concerned for the welfare of his brother Lothar; and it is reasonable to think he would also be concerned about protecting his cousin. It is also interesting that it was confirmed by examination of the Baron's machine guns on the ground afterward that both guns were hopelessly jammed.

You are up, Sir. Thanks; Ernie P.


We all know the story; or at least one of several versions of the story. Lieutenant Wilfrid May was an inexperienced pilot. He had been ordered to stay above any dogfights and observe; or perhaps he had been told to make a single firing pass if he saw the opportunity and then dive for home.
May attacked a German aircraft, then dove away as instructed. But to his shock, he found himself pursued by another German aircraft. Unknown to him, his pursuer was none other than the Red Baron, Manfred von Richthofen. Captain Roy Brown, a personal friend of May, then attacked Richthofen in turn
From that point, what happened is still argued; although there is general belief that Richthofen was hit by gunfire from the ground. But…
Question: Why did Richthofen single out Lieutenant May for attack?

Clues:

(1) The Baron was leading his formation, just as Brown was leading his.

(2) Many theories have been advanced to explain why Richthofen pursued May so doggedly. This answer (Which, I must admit, I have never seen in print.) may explain why.

(3) Wilfrid May himself reported he had attacked a blue triplane, which he claimed as shot down (He didn’t, in fact shoot it down.). His guns jammed and he dove for home. A red triplane latched onto his tail and shot him up rather badly, but didn’t hit him personally.

(4) The Baron wasn’t the only Richthofen to fly for the German Air Force.

Answer: May had unknowingly attacked the Baron’s cousin, Wolfram von Richthofen. Wolfram was also an inexperienced pilot, and had also been given orders to stay above the fight and observe. When May attacked him, Wolfram turned into the dogfight. The Baron saw Wolfram in distress and attacked May. Brown then chased the Baron to protect his own charge.

Wilfrid Reid "Wop" May, OBE, DFC (April 20, 1896 – June 21, 1952), was a Canadian flying ace in the First World War and a leading post-war aviator. He was the final allied pilot to be pursued by Manfred von Richthofen before the German ace was shot down on the Western Front in 1918. After the war, May returned to Canada pioneering the role of a bush pilot while working for Canadian Airways in Northern Alberta and the Northwest Territories.

May joined the Army in February 1916 during the First World War. He rose through the enlisted ranks to sergeant, and spent most of 1916 as a gunnery instructor. In 1917, his battalion, the 202nd battalion C.E.F. (Edmonton Sportsmen), was shipped to England, where he and his friend Ray Ross applied to join the Royal Flying Corps. His first flight resulted in the destruction of both his own and another aircraft; nevertheless, the RFC accepted his applications and May resigned from the Canadian Army. After initial training in London in October, he was moved to a fighter training squadron and graduated in February 1918.

On April 9, Lieutenant May was transferred to No. 209 Squadron of the newly-created Royal Air Force (the squadron being a unit of the Royal Naval Air Service until April 1, when the RAF was created). The squadron was commanded by another Canadian, May's former school friend Roy Brown, who had never lost a subordinate pilot. May spent most of April getting used to his Sopwith Camel.

On April 20, May fought his first aerial combat. The German Fokker Triplane crashed of its own accord during the brief fight.

The following day, April 21, saw 209 Squadron again on patrol. Due to his inexperience, Brown gave May similar instructions as before – he was to stay out of the fights and simply keep an eye out. Around 10 a.m. the squadron attacked a group of Triplanes. During the dogfighting, May circled above. But when he spotted another plane doing the same thing he decided to launch an attack.

May chased the aircraft which fled into the middle of the dogfight. But when his machine guns jammed, May quickly dived out of combat. Unknown to anyone, May's target was Wolfram von Richthofen, cousin of Manfred von Richthofen, the "Red Baron". Wolfram had also been given orders to sit out above the fight and watch because he was a novice flyer, too.

On seeing his cousin being attacked, Manfred started to chase May as he turned to pull out of the dogfight with jammed guns. Roy Brown, who was flying above, also noticed the Red Baron peeling off to attack May. Diving in from behind, Brown intercepted von Richthofen's red Triplane. May noted in his combat report:

21/4/18 Camel D3326 90 minutes Engaged 15 to 20 triplanes - claimed one. Blue one. Several on my tail, came out with red triplane on my tail which followed me down to the ground and over the line on my tail all the time got several bursts into me but didn’t hit me. When we got across the lines he was shot down by Capt. Brown. I saw him crash into side of hill. Came back with Capt. We afterwards found out that the triplane (red) was the famous German airman Baron Richthofen. He was killed.

In point of fact, who actually shot down the Red Baron is a subject of much dispute.

May continued flying with 209 Squadron until the end of the war, and eventually claimed 1 and 1 shared aircraft captured, 6 and 1 shared destroyed, and 3 and 1 shared 'out of control'. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross in 1918. He relinquished his RAF commission on 8 May 1919 with the rank of captain.

JohnnyS

OK, here's a new aircraft.

1. Shoulder wing monoplane.

2. Total of three engines, two of which were mounted on the wingtips.

3. Supersonic.

4. Never became operational, but 12 were built.

psb667

is this it?

adavis

Sud Ouest Trident?

Best Regards,
=Adrian=

JohnnyS

No, that's not supersonic.

JohnnyS

Yes, that's it!

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

The SNCASO SO.9000 Trident was a mixed power French prototype interceptor aircraft of the 1950s. Capable of supersonic flight the project was cancelled in July 1957 after only 12 examples had been built.

Design and development

The French Air Staff tasked SNCASO to develop a point defence interceptor, studies began in October 1948.[1] The aircraft that emerged was a shoulder wing monoplane, to be primarily powered by a SEPR rocket engine and augmented with wing-tip mounted turbojets. First flown on 2 March 1953 by test pilot Jacques Guignard the aircraft used the entire length of the runway to get airborne powered only by its turbojets.[1] From March 1955 the Trident I flew with new turbojets, the more powerful Dassault-built MD 30 Viper ASV.5, which produced 7.34 kN (1,654 lbf) thrust each. With these engines it soon exceeded Mach 1 in a shallow dive without rocket power.[2]

Test flights of the SO.9000 were described by the author Bill Gunston as 'hairy' until the rocket motor was added in September 1954. During the 18-month test programme the aircraft completed over 100 flights, eventually reaching a speed of Mach 1.8 and an altitude of 20,000 metres (65,000 ft).[1]

A Trident II was lost due to an accident on 21 May 1957 [3]

The project was cancelled in July 1957; the decision was influenced by the manned fighter cuts announced by the British Defence Minister, Duncan Sandys.[1]
Variants

SO.9000 Trident I

Two aircraft built. The first aircraft was built at Istres and was completed in late-1952, the second aircraft 02 crashed on its first flight in September 1953. Three-chamber SEPR 481 rocket engine, each chamber producing 2,755 lbf (12,250 N) thrust.

SO.9050 Trident II

Ten pre-production aircraft ordered in 1953. Higher power Turbomeca Gabizo turbojets (2,645 lbf (11.77 kN) thrust) with two-chamber SEPR 631 rocket engine (each chamber now being individually ignited for finer thrust control). First flight 21 December 1955.

Your turn!!!

bodyshopjustin

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Trident 1 or Trident 2?? Never mind was too late page did not refresh

psb667

Its not shoulder wing either. Neat thing to run across though

JohnnyS

Also this one, which was created during the war. http://tanks45.tripod.com/Jets45/His...canP51/P51.htm

Cool stuff!

psb667

You would have to have some iron nerves to fly that thing

Ernie P.

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Interesting how much the Ford pulsejets look like the pulsejets on the V-1. Thanks; Ernie P.

JohnnyS

Adavis, it's your turn.

a65l

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Not a lot of room for variation in that particular type of engine...

Ernie P.

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Actually, I did some checking. The Ford pulsejet was a direct copy of the engine used on the German V-1. Apparently, one of the V-1's was recovered after it landed in England, almost undamaged, and it was sent to the US for testing. It was copied and used in the early US rocket program. Some of the early US "cruise missiles" were direct copies of the V-1. Thanks; Ernie P.


The origins of the Argus As 014 lie in 1928, when Munich inventor Paul Schmidt began work on a new design of pulse jet engine. Schmidt received a patent on his design in 1931 and received support from the German Air Ministry in 1933. In 1934, along with Professor Georg Madelung, Schmidt proposed a "flying bomb" to be powered by his pulse jet to the Ministry and received a development contract the following year. In 1938 he demonstrated a pulse jet–powered pilotless bomber, but the project was shelved by the Air Ministry as the prototype lacked range and accuracy and was expensive to construct. That same year, however, the Argus Company began work on a flying bomb using Schmidt's engine. Schmidt later joined Argus in 1940. License manufacture of the As 014 was carried out in Japan in the latter stages of World War II, as the Ka10, and as the American-made reverse-engineered Ford PJ31 in the United States, for powering the Republic-Ford JB-2 Loon cruise missile and the experimental USAAF-developed JB-4 television-guided bomb.



The Republic-Ford JB-2 Loon was a United States copy of the German V-1 flying bomb. Developed in 1944, and planned to be used in the United States invasion of Japan (Operation Downfall), the JB-2 was never used in combat. It was the most successful of the United States Army Air Forces Jet Bomb (JB) projects (JB-1 through JB-10) during World War II. Postwar, the JB-2 played a significant role in the development of more advanced surface-to-surface tactical missile systems such as the MGM-1 Matador and later MGM-13 Mace.

However, in July 1944, three weeks after German V-1 "Buzz Bombs" first struck England on June 12 and 13, American engineers at Wright Field, fired a working copy of the German Argus As 014 pulse-jet engine, "reverse-engineered" from crashed German V-1s that were brought to the United States from England for analysis. The reverse engineering provided the design of America's first mass-produced guided missile, the JB-2.

By 8 September, the first of thirteen complete JB-2s, reverse engineered from the material received at Wright Field in July was assembled at Republic Aviation. The United States JB-2 was different from the German V-1 in only the smallest of dimensions. The wing span was only 2Β½ inches wider and the length was extended less than 2 feet (0.61 m). The difference gave the JB-2 60.7 square feet of wing area versus 55 for the V-1.

Ernie P.

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Adavis; your question is overdue. Thanks; Ernie P.

Ernie P.

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All;

Adavis has gone missing. His question is overdue by nearly two days. Whoever has a question ready, please post it. Thanks; Ernie P.

adavis

Next warbird:-

1) Monoplane.

2) Twin engine.

3) First aircraft of its type produced this nation.

Best Regards,
=adrian=

grbaker

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Bell P-59

Ernie P.

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Hmmm.... British or German, British or German. Okay, let's try German; the He 280. Thanks; Ernie P.


The Heinkel He 280 was the first turbojet-powered fighter aircraft in the world. It was inspired by Ernst Heinkel's emphasis on research into high-speed flight and built on the company's experience with the He 178 jet prototype. A combination of technical and political factors led to it being passed over in favor of the Messerschmitt Me 262. Only nine were built and none reached operational status.

Ernie P.

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Heck; let's cover both of them. The Gloster Meteor. Thanks; Ernie P.


The Gloster Meteor was the first British jet fighter and the Allies' first operational jet. Although the German Messerschmitt Me 262 was the world's first operational jet, the Meteor was the first production jet as it entered production a few months before the Me 262. The Meteor's development was heavily reliant on its ground-breaking turbojet engines, developed by Sir Frank Whittle and his company, Power Jets Ltd. Development of the aircraft began in 1940, work on the engines had started in 1936. The Meteor first flew in 1943 and commenced operations on 27 July 1944 with 616 Squadron of the Royal Air Force (RAF). Although the Meteor was not an aerodynamically advanced aircraft, it proved to be a successful and effective combat fighter.

adavis

Next clue:-

1) Monoplane.

2) Twin engine.

3) First aircraft of its type produced by this nation.

4) Famous designer from another nation.

Best Regards,
=Adrian=