Ernie P.

My Feedback: (3)

I'm sure I could come up with something interesting. (-: I'd rather see some one else post something, though. Any new folks wanting to give it a try? If so, please post your question. Thanks; Ernie P.

Hydro Junkie

Okay, it's after 8:00pm EDT and since no one else has posted anything, I'll do a relatively simple one for you all to chew on. Looking for an aircraft:
1) Unlike almost every other aircraft made by this country during this war, this one was designed for high altitude combat
Good Luck

proptop

My Feedback: (8)

I dug thru a bunch of dusty boxes looking for my copy of William Green's "Warplanes of the Third Reich" because I just had a gut feeling...
Went from Arado to Heinkel....but glossed over Gotha...

It's been many years since I've looked through my books...kind of forgotten how many I have...and have been (a bit too) dependent on the internet for info, etc.

Maybe / hopefully lrb75 will have something soon...perhaps he is not familiar with the "rules" (what few we might have) of the thread...of trying to get something up within 24 hours...?

edit: I see Hydro Junkie posted something while I was slowly typing...

Ernie P.

My Feedback: (3)

Okay; I'll take a long shot. How about the Ta 152? Thanks; Ernie P.


The Focke-Wulf Ta 152 was a World War II German high-altitude fighter-interceptor designed by Kurt Tank and produced by Focke-Wulf.
The Ta 152 was a development of the Focke-Wulf Fw 190 aircraft. It was intended to be made in at least three versions—the Ta 152H Hφhenjδger ("high-altitude fighter"), the Ta 152C designed for medium-altitude operations and ground-attack using a different engine and smaller wing, and the Ta 152E fighter-reconnaissance aircraft with the engine of the H model and the wing of the C model.
The first Ta 152H entered service with the Luftwaffe in January 1945. While total production—including prototypes and pre-production aircraft—has been incorrectly estimated in one source at approximately 220 units,[SUP][2][/SUP] only some 43 production aircraft were ever delivered before the end of the European conflict.[SUP][1][/SUP] These were too few to allow the Ta 152 to make a significant impact on the air war.[SUP][3][/SUP]

Top_Gunn

My Feedback: (6)

Another long shot: Nakajima KI-84?

Ernie P.

My Feedback: (3)

Yeah, proptop; I found a reference to the plane when I was reading something. But when I looked, I found quite a bit on it was on the internet. Like you, I hope Irb75 will be back; but he didn't respond to at least two PM's and the info I posted here. If he's still around, and I hope he is, I'll happily allow him to take a turn next time I'm up. But he has to communicate with us. Thanks; Ernie P.

Hydro Junkie

DAMN AL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I figured it would go quick but, seriously, on the first clue? I guess that means you're up Top Gunn

Top_Gunn

My Feedback: (6)

Darn. I was just trying to keep things rolling along. Didn't really want to win. I'll try to come up with something by tomorrow. Unless IRB75 comes back and would like to take a shot.

Here's Wikipedia on the Frank: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nakajima_Ki-84

My guess was prompted mainly by the fact that low-level combat was the norm in Russia and the Pacific, and stayed that way in Russia until the end, but the B-29 raids changed that in the Pacific.

Hydro Junkie

For most of WWII, the Japanese used fighters optimized for dogfighting below 20,000 feet, the A6M for 15,000. The reason being that the pilots didn't need O2 so the planes would be lighter and longer ranged, as was the reasoning for no self sealing fuel tanks or pilot/cockpit armor. It was this reason alone that made the P-38 and P-40 so effective against the Japanese planes but not so in Europe, they didn't have the same supercharging as the British and German planes. It is a well known fact that the P-40 flat out could tear up the ME-109 and FW-190 below 15,000 and did so on many occasions. They just didn't have the supercharging needed to take these planes on at the high altitudes flown in most air combat. This wasn't the case over the Pacific or China. With the Japanese planes being made for lower levels, the Americans could fight on even terms. Once the tactics were developed to combat the A6M, the war was almost over. The "Frank", along with one or two other fighters, changed this as they were able to take on B-29, Hellcat, Corsair AND Mustang at high altitudes. The problem was, for the Japanese anyway, the lack of pilots with the training to make use of these new planes. With the losses the Japanese started taking at Coral Sea and Midway, as well as in the Solomon Islands afterwards, pretty much all of Japans trained and experienced pilots were gone. Without the pilots to fly these new planes, they were nothing more than a sad footnote in the Senshi Shoho, the official war history written by the Japanese government and military after the war

Top_Gunn

My Feedback: (6)

OK, here we go. I don't think this one has come up before, and a search on RCU turns up no matches, but I have little confidence in those searches so I can't be sure.

Looking for an aircraft.

1. Named for a person

2. Twin engines

3. Became obsolete and was withdrawn from frontline service before the end of its war

Hydro Junkie

The Hudson

Top_Gunn

My Feedback: (6)

Not the Hudson, which I believe was named for a place (possibly Hudson County, New Jersey). To be sure, that place was itself named after a person, so that was a good guess. But the plane I'm looking for was named after a person directly, not after a place that was named for a person.

Top_Gunn

My Feedback: (6)

Today's clue:

Looking for an aircraft.

1. Named for a person

2. Twin engines

3. Became obsolete and was withdrawn from frontline service before the end of its war

4. Radial engines. A few were tried with inline engines, and those were given a different name.

proptop

My Feedback: (8)

The Vickers Wellington (named after the Duke of, or a Hamburger hungry character in Popeye cartoons ) pops into my head...there were radial and inline engined variants...but I don't recall a different name for them...except for the Warwick...but?

Top_Gunn

My Feedback: (6)

The Wellington is an excellent guess, but it's not the plane I have in mind. Here's another clue.


Looking for an aircraft.

1. Named for a person

2. Twin engines

3. Became obsolete and was withdrawn from frontline service before the end of its war

4. Radial engines. A few were tried with inline engines, and those were given a different name.

5. Crew of four, in a somewhat cramped environment.

lrb75

My Feedback: (12)

Handley page hampden. Sorry I have been very busystem at work. Haven't had time to put a question together.

Top_Gunn

My Feedback: (6)

That's it! Named for a guy I'd never heard of. Proptop was so close with the Wellington guess. Both very similar planes, used in the same roles at the same time, named for people. Derek Robinson's novel "Damned Good Show" is about Hampden raids, almost entirely unsuccessful, early in WWII. It's probably not one of Robinson's best novels, but its depiction of the raids and the truly spectacular inaccuracy of bombing at the time makes it well worth reading for those interested in that sort of thing.

Here's the Wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Handley_Page_Hampden

Ernie P.

My Feedback: (3)

Okay, Irb75; you are up, Sir. Please post your question. Thanks; Ernie P.

proptop

My Feedback: (8)

I almost went with the Hampden...but I mentally flipped a coin and chose the Wimpy...something about the Geodesic structure, Barnes Wallis, and maybe because I watched "One of Our Aircraft is Missing" not long ago...

lrb75

My Feedback: (12)

Might be easy but at least it shouldnt be on wikipedia. When he was captured what did Louis Zamparini supposedly draw for the japanese instead of the secret norden bomb sight.

proptop

My Feedback: (8)

Ahhh yes...the infamous Norden Vacuum cleaner?

lrb75

My Feedback: (12)

Not what I was looking for. The line may have been repeated by Jack o'connell.

Ernie P.

My Feedback: (3)

Well, now I'm puzzled. I thought proptop had nailed it. Don't forget, Irb75; you're supposed to post a new clue at least once a day. Thanks; Ernie P.

lrb75

My Feedback: (12)

I did add a clue in my response.

Hydro Junkie

It would be better if you listed your clues. Having to pick them out of a post makes finding the clues difficult, at best