psb667

Aeg g.4k

Ernie P.

My Feedback: (3)

Hmmm..... Psb667 is starting to nose around. He's off track at the moment, but it won't take him long to catch the scent. Thanks; Ernie P.


Question: What warbird do I describe?

Clues:

(1) There were only fifteen of these (modified) versions of a common bomber aircraft. Yet, for a brief period, they performed a very valuable service.

(2) The designated use of these bombers was to counter an enemy secret weapon; the first in a series.

(3) The bomber its’elf featured one very obvious external modification.

Ernie P.

My Feedback: (3)

And a morning clue. Thanks; Ernie P.


Question: What warbird do I describe?

Clues:

(1) There were only fifteen of these (modified) versions of a common bomber aircraft. Yet, for a brief period, they performed a very valuable service.

(2) The designated use of these bombers was to counter an enemy secret weapon; the first in a series.

(3) The bomber its’elf featured one very obvious external modification.

(4) A typical mission plan involved going very low and quite fast.

perttime

Vickers Wellington DWI Mark I and Mark II make 15 aircraft.

minesweeping aircraft. Fitted with petrol engine and Maudsley electrical generator to induce magnetic field in a 48 ft (14.63 m) diameter loop mounted under fuselage. They had a solid nose with a bracket supporting the loop, which was also supported under the rear fuselage and the wings, outboard of the engines. DWI stood for "Directional Wireless Installation" – a cover story for the true purpose of the loop.

Ernie P.

My Feedback: (3)

Right on the nose, perttime; and very well done, Sir! The very few DWI Wellingtons "swept" nearly 20% of the magnetic mines sown by Germany in the early days of WWII. Their service, at a time when conventional methods were both difficult and dangerous, were invaluable. You are up, Sir! What is your question for us? Thanks; Ernie P.


Question: What warbird do I describe?

Clues:

(1) There were only fifteen of these (modified) versions of a common bomber aircraft. Yet, for a brief period, they performed a very valuable service.

(2) The designated use of these bombers was to counter an enemy secret weapon; the first in a series.

(3) The bomber its’elf featured one very obvious external modification.

(4) A typical mission plan involved going very low and quite fast.

(5) The lower the aircraft flew, the better chance of success. The faster the aircraft flew, the better chance of coming home afterwards.

(6) Mission success was noted by something between a gentle bump and a sharp thump; and sometimes by bits of flying metal impacting the aircraft.




Answer: The Directional Wireless Installation Wellington bomber.



DWI versions fitted with a 48 ft (14.63 m) diameter metal hoop were used for exploding enemy mines by generating a powerful magnetic field as it passed over them. In 1944, Wellingtons of Coastal Command were deployed to Greece, and performed various support duties during the RAF involvement in the Greek Civil War. A few Wellingtons were operated by the Hellenic Air Force.


Type 418 Wellington DWI Mark I
Conversion of four Wellington Mark IAs to minesweeping aircraft. Fitted with Ford V-8 petrol engine and Maudsley electrical generator to induce magnetic field in a 48 ft (14.63 m) diameter loop mounted under fuselage. They had a solid nose with a bracket supporting the loop, which was also supported under the rear fuselage and the wings, outboard of the engines. DWI stood for "Directional Wireless Installation" – a cover story for the true purpose of the loop.

Type 419 Wellington DWI Mark II
DWI Mark I aircraft upgraded by installation of De Havilland Gipsy engine for increased generation power. At least 11 further aircraft converted to this standard.


Later, some ships survived mine blasts, limping into port with buckled plates and broken backs. This appeared to be due to a new type of mine, detecting ships magnetically and detonating at a distance, causing damage with the shock wave of the explosion. Ships that had successfully run the gantlet of the Atlantic crossing were sometimes destroyed entering freshly cleared British harbours. More shipping was being lost than could be replaced, and Churchill ordered the intact recovery of one of these new mines to be of the highest priority.

The British experienced a stroke of luck in November 1939. A German mine was dropped from an aircraft onto the mud flats of the Thames estuary during low tide. As if this was not sufficiently good fortune, the land belonged to the army, and a base with men and workshops was at hand. Experts were dispatched from London to investigate the mine. They had some idea that the mines used magnetic sensors, so everyone removed all metal, including their buttons, and made tools of non-magnetic brass. They disarmed the mine and rushed it to labs at Portsmouth, where scientists discovered a new type of arming mechanism. A large ferrous object passing through the Earth's magnetic field will concentrate the field through it; the mine's detector was designed to trigger at the midpoint of a steel-hulled ship passing overhead. The mechanism had an adjustable sensitivity, calibrated in milligauss. (As it turned out, the German firing mechanism was overly sensitive, making sweeping easier.) The U.S. began adding delay counters to their magnetic mines in June 1945.

From these data, methods were developed to clear the mines. Early methods included the use of large electromagnets dragged behind ships or below low-flying aircraft (a number of older bombers like the Vickers Wellington were used for this). Both of these methods had the disadvantage of "sweeping" only a small strip. A better solution was found in the "Double-L Sweep" using electrical cables dragged behind ships that passed large pulses of current through the seawater. This induced a large magnetic field and swept the entire area between the two ships. The older methods continued to be used in smaller areas. The Suez Canal continued to be swept by aircraft, for instance. Wartime Japanese sweep methods, by contrast, never advanced much past 1930s standards, and failed entirely to keep up with new American mines, clearing no more than 15% of all the mines laid in Japan's coastal waters. Moreover, IJN's minesweeping force was far too small with 350 ships, and 20,000 men.

While these methods were useful for clearing mines from local ports, they were of little or no use for enemy-controlled areas. These were typically visited by warships, and the majority of the fleet then underwent a massive degaussing process, where their hulls had a slight "south" bias induced into them which offset the concentration effect almost to zero.

Initially, major warships and large troopships had a copper degaussing coil fitted around the perimeter of the hull, energized by the ship's electrical system whenever in suspected magnetic-mined waters. Some of the first to be so-fitted were the carrier HMS Ark Royal and the liners RMS Queen Mary and RMS Queen Elizabeth, which were used as troopships. This was felt to be impracticable for the myriad of smaller warships and merchant vessels, not least due to the amount of copper that would be required. It was found that "wiping" a current-carrying cable up and down a ship's hull temporarily cancelled the ships' magnetic signature sufficiently to nullify the threat. This started in late 1939, and by 1940 merchant vessels and the smaller British warships were largely immune for a few months at a time until they once again built up a field. Many of the boats that sailed to Dunkirk were degaussed in a marathon four-day effort by degaussing stations.

perttime

I had a vague recollection of a bomber with a huge loop attached for something magnetic....
.-.-.-.-.-.

OK,
It is a military aircraft

1) It was designed, and entered service, during WW2
2) It never fired its guns "in anger" (as far as I could find out).

Ernie P.

My Feedback: (3)

Well, more than one aircraft will fit the clues thus far; but the obvious one is: The Grumman F8F Bearcat. Why do I think it won't be this simple? Thanks; Ernie P.


The Grumman F8F Bearcat (affectionately called "Bear") was an American single-engine naval fighter aircraft of the 1940s. It went on to serve into the mid-20th century in the United States Navy, the United States Marine Corps, and the air forces of other nations. It would be Grumman Aircraft's final piston engined fighter aircraft. Modified versions have broken speed records for propeller-driven aircraft, and are popular among warbird owners.

The F8F prototypes were ordered in November 1943 and first flew on 21 August 1944, a mere nine months later. The first production aircraft was delivered in February 1945 and the first squadron, Fighter Squadron 19 (VF-19), was operational by 21 May 1945, but World War II was over before the aircraft saw combat service.

Postwar, the F8F became a major U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps fighter, equipping 24 fighter squadrons in the Navy and a smaller number in the Marines. Often mentioned as one of the best-handling piston-engine fighters ever built, its performance was sufficient to outperform many early jets. Its capability for aerobatic performance is illustrated by its selection as the first demonstration aircraft for the navy's elite Blue Angels flight demonstration squadron in 1946, who flew it until the team was temporarily disbanded in 1950 during the Korean War and pressed into operational combat service. The F9F Panther and McDonnell F2H Banshee largely replaced the Bearcat as their performance and other advantages eclipsed piston-engine fighters.

The first combat for the F8F Bearcat was during the French Indochina War (aka First Indochina War 1946-1954) when nearly 200 Bearcats were delivered to the French forces in 1951. When the war ended in 1954, 28 surviving Bearcats were supplied to the new South Vietnamese Air Force and entered service in 1956. The SVAF retired their F8Fs in 1959 which were replaced by North American T-28 Trojans, then later Douglas A-1 Skyraiders as the Vietnam War (aka Second Indochina War 1957–1975) continued through the 1960s. F8Fs were also supplied to Thailand during the same time period.

perttime

The Bearcat is a favorite of mine ... but I do have something different in mind.

It is a military aircraft

1) It was designed, and entered service, during WW2
2) It never fired its guns "in anger" (as far as I could find out).
3) Performance was roughly equal with early Spitfires.

perttime

It is a military aircraft

1) It was designed, and entered service, during WW2
2) It never fired its guns "in anger" (as far as I could find out).
3) Performance was roughly equal with early Spitfires.
4) Its engine was an unlicenced copy but the license fees were paid later.

pilotal

MIG  9 ?

psb667

Yak 15

perttime

Nice guesses but not quite what I'm looking for.

It is a military aircraft

1) It was designed, and entered service, during WW2
2) It never fired its guns "in anger" (as far as I could find out).
3) Performance was roughly equal with early Spitfires.
4) Its engine was an unlicenced copy but the license fees were paid later.

5) The engine was a quite famous radial design.
6) A new company was established to produce the aircraft because the more famous one in the country was busy producing other aircraft types.

Ernie P.

My Feedback: (3)

A clarification if you would, perttime. When you state "It never fired its guns ''in anger'' (as far as I could find out)"; do you mean to indicate the aircraft never entered combat, or only that it never fired at an enemy aircraft? For example; a recon bird might never fire a shot in anger; but might well be fired upon. Thanks; Ernie P.

perttime

OK, clarified

It is a military aircraft

1) It was designed, and entered service, during WW2
2) It never fired its guns "in anger" (as far as I could find out). = It never entered combat
3) Performance was roughly equal with early Spitfires.
4) Its engine was an unlicenced copy but the license fees were paid later.

5) The engine was a quite famous radial design.
6) A new company was established to produce the aircraft because the more famous one in the country was busy producing other aircraft types.

7) It was armed with 13.2 mm Browning machine guns, in the first version mixed with 7.9 mm guns.

perttime

It is a military aircraft

1) It was designed, and entered service, during WW2
2) It never fired its guns "in anger" (as far as I could find out). = It never entered combat
3) Performance was roughly equal with early Spitfires.
4) Its engine was an unlicenced copy but the license fees were paid later.
5) The engine was a quite famous radial design.
6) A new company was established to produce the aircraft because the more famous one in the country was busy producing other aircraft types.
7) It was armed with 13.2 mm Browning machine guns, in the first version they were mixed with 7.9 mm guns.

8) The country in question had placed orders for between 200 and 300 fighters from USA. Deliveries were canceled because of a weapons embargo against everybody else but the United Kingdom.
9) Mitsubishi Zero would have been good, and it was available, except that the logistics for delivery were pretty impossible.

zippome

I think Iknow the answer, but I don't wanna be a thread killer again...

Ernie P.

My Feedback: (3)

Well, the first five clues were enough. The combat thing I questioned seems to eliminate the Finnish VL Mersky, so that leaves the Swedish FFVS J 22. BTW; I haven't been able to log on since yesterday. Am I the only one who had problems? Thanks; Ernie P.


The FFVS J 22 was a single-engine fighter aircraft developed for the Swedish Air Force during World War II.

At the onset of World War II, the Swedish Air Force (Flygvapnet) was equipped with largely obsolete Gloster Gladiator (J 8) biplane fighters. To augment this, Sweden ordered 120 Seversky P-35 (J 9) and 144 P-66 Vanguard (J 10) aircraft from the United States. However, on 18 June 1940, United States declared an embargo against exporting weapons to any nation other than Great Britain. As the result, Flygvapnet suddenly faced a shortage of modern fighters. Several other foreign alternatives were considered: the Finnish VL Myrsky and Soviet Polikarpov I-16 were unsatisfactory, and while the Mitsubishi A6M Zero was available, delivery from Japan was impractical. A batch of Fiat CR.42 Falco (J 11) biplanes and Reggiane Re.2000 Falco (J 20) were eventually purchased but this was clearly an interim solution.

With Flygvapnet facing a serious shortage of aircraft and Saab running at full capacity building its B 17 and B 18 bombers, a new firm and factory were established specifically for the new fighter — Kungliga Flygförvaltningens Flygverkstad i Stockholm ("Royal Air Administration Aircraft Factory in Stockholm," FFVS) under Bo Lundberg. The aircraft, designated J 22, was a monoplane with a plywood-covered steel airframe. Wing and fuselage layout were conventional, with the narrow-track main landing gear retracting rearward entirely within the fuselage, somewhat similar to the 1935 Focke-Wulf Fw 159 parasol-wing monoplane fighter design. Power came from a Swedish copy of the Pratt & Whitney R-1830 Twin Wasp, manufactured without a license at the time, though license fees were paid later.

The J 22 first flew on 20 September 1942 from Bromma airport, where the factory was located. It entered service in October 1943, at the F9 air wing at Gothenburg, with the last of the 198 aircraft delivered in April 1946. Sub-assemblies for the J 22 were made by over 500 different contractors.


The J 22 was well liked by its pilots and possessed good manoeuvrability and responsive controls. Forward visibility on the ground left something to be desired and if the tailwheel was left unlocked and able to swivel during take-off there was the potential to ground-loop. In mock dogfights with P-51 Mustangs (called J 26 in Swedish service) it was able to "hold its own" up to 5,000 metres (16,000 ft) although, above 6,000 m (19,000 ft), without a good high altitude supercharger, it became sluggish. Because of its simple systems the J 22 was very easy to maintain and service.

With 575 km/h (360 mph) from a 795 kW (1,065 hp) engine, the press called the diminutive fighter "World's fastest in relation to the engine power" (while not absolutely true, it was in the same class as the early marks of Supermarine Spitfire and Zero). The J 22 crews promptly modified this to "World's fastest in relation to the track width" (for which the Spitfire might also have competed), because of the very narrow wheel track. The aircraft was retired in 1952.

perttime

You got it Ernie P. !
FFVS J 22 it is. Actually, I hadn't even heard about it a while ago, but stumbled upon a mention when looking for something else.
A compact little fighter: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FFVS_22

Looks like it has a flywheel for starting the engine:
http://youtu.be/-IZCc1D71l4

Ernie P.

My Feedback: (3)

Thanks, perttime. Actually (I could be wrong), I thought the crank was simply to spin the engine over and to get the oil circulating before firing the engine. On to my question. Thanks; Ernie P.


Question: What warbird do I describe?

Clues:

(1) It was probably the absolute best of its type ever built.

(2) Unfortunately, its day was over before it ever reached production.

pilotal

CF-105 Arrow   ?

perttime

I think pulling prop blades is the usual way to turn the engine, and the prop would probably turn if you turned the engine. With sound on, I get the definite impression that they are turning and accelerating something heavy that turns smoothly, and it keeps turning when the guys dash away from the aircraft.

(I've had some problems getting into rcuniverse too. Yesterday, I got an error message with Firefox but got through with Internet Exploder)

Ernie P.

My Feedback: (3)

Interesting.... I responded to this earlier, but my response doesn't show up now. It did earlier. Hmmm.... Anyhow, a great answer pilotal; but not the one for which I'm looking. The Arrow was cancelled for political reasons. This aircraft flew, did everything asked of it and more, and was ready for production; but it simply got there at the wrong time. But, you have earned another clue. Thanks; Ernie P.


Question: What warbird do I describe?

Clues:

(1) It was probably the absolute best of its type ever built.

(2) Unfortunately, its day was over before it ever reached production.

(3) It was the epitome of “high speed, low drag”.

Ernie P.

My Feedback: (3)

Okay, perttime; I think you're correct. The inertia starter was generally used as a backup, though. Normally they fired the engines from an onboard electric starter (a small ground cart supplied the electrical power) a compressed air cartridge, or a blank shotgun cartridge. However, the inertia starter (or walking the propeller) was often used just to get things moving before the main starting method was utilized. For some reason, the crews often preferred the inertia starter. Thanks; Ernie P.

DeferredDefect

Would it be the Northrop F20 Tigershark? It was better performing than its rivals, cheaper, and more reliable, but never got an order.... ended up being used for television commercial work. 

Ernie P.

My Feedback: (3)

Nope; not the Tigershark. Not a bad answer, though. Maybe this next clue will help. Thanks; Ernie P.


Question: What warbird do I describe?

Clues:

(1) It was probably the absolute best of its type ever built.

(2) Unfortunately, its day was over before it ever reached production.

(3) It was the epitome of “high speed, low drag”.

(4) The proposal for its development came about because a need was forseen for an aircraft that could fly faster, farther and higher than any existing aircraft.