Afternoon clue. Thanks; Ernie P.
What warbird do I describe?
1. This aircraft was the first of its type to enter service.
2. And the first of its type to be used in actual combat.
3. It was built in three different countries.
4. It was developed from a single pre-war, unsuccessful, prototype.
5. Although the prototype aircraft crashed very early on, it was considered to be worth further development.
6. And that further development led to our subject aircraft.
7. It had a rather short service life, little more than a year of combat.
8. But its successful deployment started a flood of aircraft designed for the same purpose.
9. Aircraft which quickly rendered our subject aircraft obsolescent.
10. Which did not, unfortunately, result in its withdrawal from active service in combat.
11. As a result, our subject aircraft is mostly remembered as being little more than a target for enemy aircraft for much of its service life.
12. But the truth is that our subject aircraft was still a dangerous opponent when properly handled and utilized.
13. As more than one enemy pilot, including some very well known, learned.
14. Very early on, it was discovered the guns intended to be used were going to be a problem.
15. So, they were replaced with lighter and more dependable guns.
16. Its combat debut was less than stellar; as its gun jammed and secondary armament had to be employed.
17. Which resulted in a “probable” kill.
18. Less than a month later, the same crew, flying a different aircraft of the same type, was forced to land behind enemy lines.
19. The plane fell into enemy hands and the crew was captured.
20. Initially, our subject aircraft was provided to, and utilized by, different units in small numbers.
21. But very quickly, as larger numbers became available, full squadrons were equipped with the aircraft.
22. Within a year, it was outclassed by enemy aircraft; and was soon withdrawn from combat and used for training purposes.
23. The license built engines that powered our subject aircraft were often not up to the quality of the originals; which caused some problems.
24. Inadequate speed and rate of climb were further problems; making the plane inadequate for the role for which it was designed.
25. And some of the features of the aircraft, including its overall configuration, proved to be pretty much dead ends.
26. In the end, the combination of all these factors doomed our subject aircraft to a rather short active service life.
27. In fact, only one pilot achieved “ace” status in this aircraft.
28. And one observer.
29. A slightly later aircraft, with the same general layout and appearance, had better performance.
30. Which resulted in the later aircraft having a longer service life.
31. And which caused a lot of confusion between the two types.
32. Because the layout and appearance of the two planes were very similar.
33. The later aircraft was considerably heavier.
34. But it also had more than 50% more power.
35. And a stationary inline engine that was more dependable.
36. Our subject aircraft had two crew members.