Knowledge Quiz for Warbird wiz
06-04-2019, 02:11 PM
Senior Member
My Feedback: (3)
Evening clue. Thanks; Ernie P.
Question: What warbird do I describe?
Clues:
1. It was designed as a fighter, but spent much of its life in another role.
2. Single engine.
3. Single seat.
4. Our subject aircraft was a development of a prior prototype aircraft.
5. A prototype aircraft not noted for being handsome or handy.
6. In fact, the first prototype crashed, killing its pilot, on its first flight.
7. Modifications were made and three more prototypes prepared.
8. The design of the fuselage featured a rather high seating position for the pilot, which was done to allow increased visibility.
9. Fairings were used to reduce resistance around the cockpit wherever possible.
10. The design of the fuselage was also specifically intended to allow construction by relatively unskilled workers.
11. The initial production versions largely followed the design of the prototypes.
12. The parent company of the manufacturer was located in a foreign country; and this was the first aircraft designed by the subsidiary.
13. The initial production run of the fighters were armed with a single machine gun located above the top wing.
14. Later versions were equipped with two machine guns located along the forward fuselage.
15. Although our subject aircraft was reasonably fast, had excellent flying characteristics and was quite maneuverable, most combat pilots preferred an available foreign design.
16. That preference largely related to some initial design flaws and teething problems. Most of these were corrected in later versions.
17. Nevertheless, our subject aircraft was slowly pushed into a role as a reconnaissance escort aircraft.
18. Several engines, of increasing horsepower, were used in our subject aircraft during its production run.
19. Some of these increases in power necessitated changes in the wing structure.
20. Despite the increasing power available, almost all of the production aircraft used a two bladed propeller.
21. Although a four bladed propeller was used for some aircraft.
22. A car type radiator was used.
23. This may explain persistent issues with overheating of the engine.
24. It was not uncommon for ground crew to simply remove the engine covers, to increase the airflow around the engine cylinders. Later aircraft had a reduced engine cover to produce the same effect.
25. Different, elongated radiators, fitted along the leading edge of the wing, were tried.
26. One of the early “teething issues” was the fuselage mounted machine guns being located too far forward, making it impossible to clear jams.
27. Another was caused by the use of several different sub-contractors producing the aircraft, in addition to the local firm which designed it.
28. Some of these contractors tended to use shortcuts when building the aircraft.
29. And those shortcuts caused the wings to fail; which did not induce confidence in the aircraft’s pilots.
30. That lack of confidence in the perhaps frail subject aircraft, by the pilots involved, made them prefer a more robust, foreign aircraft which was available.
31. Interestingly enough, a foreign aircraft noted for shedding its wings; particularly in the earlier models.
32. But such are the vagaries of life; and this and other early design and construction flaws doomed our subject aircraft to a secondary role; escorting aircraft doing recon work.
33. Nevertheless, the aircraft remained in production from mid-1917 until the end of the war.
34. It featured a rectangular shaped fuselage.
35. The wing was of basically orthodox structure; with a scalloped trailing edge, Spruce leading edges and spars, and steel tubes with internal wire bracing.
36. Although the curvature of the wing, and the somewhat longer trailing edges, were a bit unusual.
37. The wing’s design gave the plane a degree of stability without sacrificing maneuverability.
38. Only the upper wing was fitted with ailerons.
39. Engine power was increased incrementally from 185 HP to 225 HP.
40. Which required the wings be strengthened.
41. The machine gun interrupter mechanism proved to be problematic at certain engine speeds.
42. Which lead to some issues involving bullets and propellers coming together; which proved troublesome.
43. Top speed was better than 115 MPH, for even the lesser powered versions.
44. Operational ceiling exceeded 20,000 feet.
45. And endurance was around 2-1/2 hours.
46. Upper wingspan was just over 26 feet.
47. Lower wingspan was just under 26 feet.
48. Dry weight was a bit under 1,300 pounds.
49. Loaded, a bit under 1,900 pounds.
50. A man’s name is normally included in the name of our subject aircraft.
51. In order to distinguish it from a fighter produced by the parent company.
52. And, to honor the designer.
53. After the war, this aircraft was adopted by the services of at least three other countries.
54. During the war, one of our subject aircraft was forced down, undamaged, in enemy territory.
Question: What warbird do I describe?
Clues:
1. It was designed as a fighter, but spent much of its life in another role.
2. Single engine.
3. Single seat.
4. Our subject aircraft was a development of a prior prototype aircraft.
5. A prototype aircraft not noted for being handsome or handy.
6. In fact, the first prototype crashed, killing its pilot, on its first flight.
7. Modifications were made and three more prototypes prepared.
8. The design of the fuselage featured a rather high seating position for the pilot, which was done to allow increased visibility.
9. Fairings were used to reduce resistance around the cockpit wherever possible.
10. The design of the fuselage was also specifically intended to allow construction by relatively unskilled workers.
11. The initial production versions largely followed the design of the prototypes.
12. The parent company of the manufacturer was located in a foreign country; and this was the first aircraft designed by the subsidiary.
13. The initial production run of the fighters were armed with a single machine gun located above the top wing.
14. Later versions were equipped with two machine guns located along the forward fuselage.
15. Although our subject aircraft was reasonably fast, had excellent flying characteristics and was quite maneuverable, most combat pilots preferred an available foreign design.
16. That preference largely related to some initial design flaws and teething problems. Most of these were corrected in later versions.
17. Nevertheless, our subject aircraft was slowly pushed into a role as a reconnaissance escort aircraft.
18. Several engines, of increasing horsepower, were used in our subject aircraft during its production run.
19. Some of these increases in power necessitated changes in the wing structure.
20. Despite the increasing power available, almost all of the production aircraft used a two bladed propeller.
21. Although a four bladed propeller was used for some aircraft.
22. A car type radiator was used.
23. This may explain persistent issues with overheating of the engine.
24. It was not uncommon for ground crew to simply remove the engine covers, to increase the airflow around the engine cylinders. Later aircraft had a reduced engine cover to produce the same effect.
25. Different, elongated radiators, fitted along the leading edge of the wing, were tried.
26. One of the early “teething issues” was the fuselage mounted machine guns being located too far forward, making it impossible to clear jams.
27. Another was caused by the use of several different sub-contractors producing the aircraft, in addition to the local firm which designed it.
28. Some of these contractors tended to use shortcuts when building the aircraft.
29. And those shortcuts caused the wings to fail; which did not induce confidence in the aircraft’s pilots.
30. That lack of confidence in the perhaps frail subject aircraft, by the pilots involved, made them prefer a more robust, foreign aircraft which was available.
31. Interestingly enough, a foreign aircraft noted for shedding its wings; particularly in the earlier models.
32. But such are the vagaries of life; and this and other early design and construction flaws doomed our subject aircraft to a secondary role; escorting aircraft doing recon work.
33. Nevertheless, the aircraft remained in production from mid-1917 until the end of the war.
34. It featured a rectangular shaped fuselage.
35. The wing was of basically orthodox structure; with a scalloped trailing edge, Spruce leading edges and spars, and steel tubes with internal wire bracing.
36. Although the curvature of the wing, and the somewhat longer trailing edges, were a bit unusual.
37. The wing’s design gave the plane a degree of stability without sacrificing maneuverability.
38. Only the upper wing was fitted with ailerons.
39. Engine power was increased incrementally from 185 HP to 225 HP.
40. Which required the wings be strengthened.
41. The machine gun interrupter mechanism proved to be problematic at certain engine speeds.
42. Which lead to some issues involving bullets and propellers coming together; which proved troublesome.
43. Top speed was better than 115 MPH, for even the lesser powered versions.
44. Operational ceiling exceeded 20,000 feet.
45. And endurance was around 2-1/2 hours.
46. Upper wingspan was just over 26 feet.
47. Lower wingspan was just under 26 feet.
48. Dry weight was a bit under 1,300 pounds.
49. Loaded, a bit under 1,900 pounds.
50. A man’s name is normally included in the name of our subject aircraft.
51. In order to distinguish it from a fighter produced by the parent company.
52. And, to honor the designer.
53. After the war, this aircraft was adopted by the services of at least three other countries.
54. During the war, one of our subject aircraft was forced down, undamaged, in enemy territory.
06-05-2019, 06:10 AM
Senior Member
My Feedback: (3)
Morning clue. Thanks; Ernie P.
Question: What warbird do I describe?
Clues:
1. It was designed as a fighter, but spent much of its life in another role.
2. Single engine.
3. Single seat.
4. Our subject aircraft was a development of a prior prototype aircraft.
5. A prototype aircraft not noted for being handsome or handy.
6. In fact, the first prototype crashed, killing its pilot, on its first flight.
7. Modifications were made and three more prototypes prepared.
8. The design of the fuselage featured a rather high seating position for the pilot, which was done to allow increased visibility.
9. Fairings were used to reduce resistance around the cockpit wherever possible.
10. The design of the fuselage was also specifically intended to allow construction by relatively unskilled workers.
11. The initial production versions largely followed the design of the prototypes.
12. The parent company of the manufacturer was located in a foreign country; and this was the first aircraft designed by the subsidiary.
13. The initial production run of the fighters were armed with a single machine gun located above the top wing.
14. Later versions were equipped with two machine guns located along the forward fuselage.
15. Although our subject aircraft was reasonably fast, had excellent flying characteristics and was quite maneuverable, most combat pilots preferred an available foreign design.
16. That preference largely related to some initial design flaws and teething problems. Most of these were corrected in later versions.
17. Nevertheless, our subject aircraft was slowly pushed into a role as a reconnaissance escort aircraft.
18. Several engines, of increasing horsepower, were used in our subject aircraft during its production run.
19. Some of these increases in power necessitated changes in the wing structure.
20. Despite the increasing power available, almost all of the production aircraft used a two bladed propeller.
21. Although a four bladed propeller was used for some aircraft.
22. A car type radiator was used.
23. This may explain persistent issues with overheating of the engine.
24. It was not uncommon for ground crew to simply remove the engine covers, to increase the airflow around the engine cylinders. Later aircraft had a reduced engine cover to produce the same effect.
25. Different, elongated radiators, fitted along the leading edge of the wing, were tried.
26. One of the early “teething issues” was the fuselage mounted machine guns being located too far forward, making it impossible to clear jams.
27. Another was caused by the use of several different sub-contractors producing the aircraft, in addition to the local firm which designed it.
28. Some of these contractors tended to use shortcuts when building the aircraft.
29. And those shortcuts caused the wings to fail; which did not induce confidence in the aircraft’s pilots.
30. That lack of confidence in the perhaps frail subject aircraft, by the pilots involved, made them prefer a more robust, foreign aircraft which was available.
31. Interestingly enough, a foreign aircraft noted for shedding its wings; particularly in the earlier models.
32. But such are the vagaries of life; and this and other early design and construction flaws doomed our subject aircraft to a secondary role; escorting aircraft doing recon work.
33. Nevertheless, the aircraft remained in production from mid-1917 until the end of the war.
34. It featured a rectangular shaped fuselage.
35. The wing was of basically orthodox structure; with a scalloped trailing edge, Spruce leading edges and spars, and steel tubes with internal wire bracing.
36. Although the curvature of the wing, and the somewhat longer trailing edges, were a bit unusual.
37. The wing’s design gave the plane a degree of stability without sacrificing maneuverability.
38. Only the upper wing was fitted with ailerons.
39. Engine power was increased incrementally from 185 HP to 225 HP.
40. Which required the wings be strengthened.
41. The machine gun interrupter mechanism proved to be problematic at certain engine speeds.
42. Which lead to some issues involving bullets and propellers coming together; which proved troublesome.
43. Top speed was better than 115 MPH, for even the lesser powered versions.
44. Operational ceiling exceeded 20,000 feet.
45. And endurance was around 2-1/2 hours.
46. Upper wingspan was just over 26 feet.
47. Lower wingspan was just under 26 feet.
48. Dry weight was a bit under 1,300 pounds.
49. Loaded, a bit under 1,900 pounds.
50. A man’s name is normally included in the name of our subject aircraft.
51. In order to distinguish it from a fighter produced by the parent company.
52. And, to honor the designer.
53. After the war, this aircraft was adopted by the services of at least three other countries.
54. During the war, one of our subject aircraft was forced down, undamaged, in enemy territory.
55. This gave enemy experts the opportunity to study it at leisure.
Question: What warbird do I describe?
Clues:
1. It was designed as a fighter, but spent much of its life in another role.
2. Single engine.
3. Single seat.
4. Our subject aircraft was a development of a prior prototype aircraft.
5. A prototype aircraft not noted for being handsome or handy.
6. In fact, the first prototype crashed, killing its pilot, on its first flight.
7. Modifications were made and three more prototypes prepared.
8. The design of the fuselage featured a rather high seating position for the pilot, which was done to allow increased visibility.
9. Fairings were used to reduce resistance around the cockpit wherever possible.
10. The design of the fuselage was also specifically intended to allow construction by relatively unskilled workers.
11. The initial production versions largely followed the design of the prototypes.
12. The parent company of the manufacturer was located in a foreign country; and this was the first aircraft designed by the subsidiary.
13. The initial production run of the fighters were armed with a single machine gun located above the top wing.
14. Later versions were equipped with two machine guns located along the forward fuselage.
15. Although our subject aircraft was reasonably fast, had excellent flying characteristics and was quite maneuverable, most combat pilots preferred an available foreign design.
16. That preference largely related to some initial design flaws and teething problems. Most of these were corrected in later versions.
17. Nevertheless, our subject aircraft was slowly pushed into a role as a reconnaissance escort aircraft.
18. Several engines, of increasing horsepower, were used in our subject aircraft during its production run.
19. Some of these increases in power necessitated changes in the wing structure.
20. Despite the increasing power available, almost all of the production aircraft used a two bladed propeller.
21. Although a four bladed propeller was used for some aircraft.
22. A car type radiator was used.
23. This may explain persistent issues with overheating of the engine.
24. It was not uncommon for ground crew to simply remove the engine covers, to increase the airflow around the engine cylinders. Later aircraft had a reduced engine cover to produce the same effect.
25. Different, elongated radiators, fitted along the leading edge of the wing, were tried.
26. One of the early “teething issues” was the fuselage mounted machine guns being located too far forward, making it impossible to clear jams.
27. Another was caused by the use of several different sub-contractors producing the aircraft, in addition to the local firm which designed it.
28. Some of these contractors tended to use shortcuts when building the aircraft.
29. And those shortcuts caused the wings to fail; which did not induce confidence in the aircraft’s pilots.
30. That lack of confidence in the perhaps frail subject aircraft, by the pilots involved, made them prefer a more robust, foreign aircraft which was available.
31. Interestingly enough, a foreign aircraft noted for shedding its wings; particularly in the earlier models.
32. But such are the vagaries of life; and this and other early design and construction flaws doomed our subject aircraft to a secondary role; escorting aircraft doing recon work.
33. Nevertheless, the aircraft remained in production from mid-1917 until the end of the war.
34. It featured a rectangular shaped fuselage.
35. The wing was of basically orthodox structure; with a scalloped trailing edge, Spruce leading edges and spars, and steel tubes with internal wire bracing.
36. Although the curvature of the wing, and the somewhat longer trailing edges, were a bit unusual.
37. The wing’s design gave the plane a degree of stability without sacrificing maneuverability.
38. Only the upper wing was fitted with ailerons.
39. Engine power was increased incrementally from 185 HP to 225 HP.
40. Which required the wings be strengthened.
41. The machine gun interrupter mechanism proved to be problematic at certain engine speeds.
42. Which lead to some issues involving bullets and propellers coming together; which proved troublesome.
43. Top speed was better than 115 MPH, for even the lesser powered versions.
44. Operational ceiling exceeded 20,000 feet.
45. And endurance was around 2-1/2 hours.
46. Upper wingspan was just over 26 feet.
47. Lower wingspan was just under 26 feet.
48. Dry weight was a bit under 1,300 pounds.
49. Loaded, a bit under 1,900 pounds.
50. A man’s name is normally included in the name of our subject aircraft.
51. In order to distinguish it from a fighter produced by the parent company.
52. And, to honor the designer.
53. After the war, this aircraft was adopted by the services of at least three other countries.
54. During the war, one of our subject aircraft was forced down, undamaged, in enemy territory.
55. This gave enemy experts the opportunity to study it at leisure.
06-06-2019, 02:30 AM
Senior Member
My Feedback: (3)
Morning clue, and 53 clues without a guess. Thanks; Ernie P.
Question: What warbird do I describe?
Clues:
1. It was designed as a fighter, but spent much of its life in another role.
2. Single engine.
3. Single seat.
4. Our subject aircraft was a development of a prior prototype aircraft.
5. A prototype aircraft not noted for being handsome or handy.
6. In fact, the first prototype crashed, killing its pilot, on its first flight.
7. Modifications were made and three more prototypes prepared.
8. The design of the fuselage featured a rather high seating position for the pilot, which was done to allow increased visibility.
9. Fairings were used to reduce resistance around the cockpit wherever possible.
10. The design of the fuselage was also specifically intended to allow construction by relatively unskilled workers.
11. The initial production versions largely followed the design of the prototypes.
12. The parent company of the manufacturer was located in a foreign country; and this was the first aircraft designed by the subsidiary.
13. The initial production run of the fighters were armed with a single machine gun located above the top wing.
14. Later versions were equipped with two machine guns located along the forward fuselage.
15. Although our subject aircraft was reasonably fast, had excellent flying characteristics and was quite maneuverable, most combat pilots preferred an available foreign design.
16. That preference largely related to some initial design flaws and teething problems. Most of these were corrected in later versions.
17. Nevertheless, our subject aircraft was slowly pushed into a role as a reconnaissance escort aircraft.
18. Several engines, of increasing horsepower, were used in our subject aircraft during its production run.
19. Some of these increases in power necessitated changes in the wing structure.
20. Despite the increasing power available, almost all of the production aircraft used a two bladed propeller.
21. Although a four bladed propeller was used for some aircraft.
22. A car type radiator was used.
23. This may explain persistent issues with overheating of the engine.
24. It was not uncommon for ground crew to simply remove the engine covers, to increase the airflow around the engine cylinders. Later aircraft had a reduced engine cover to produce the same effect.
25. Different, elongated radiators, fitted along the leading edge of the wing, were tried.
26. One of the early “teething issues” was the fuselage mounted machine guns being located too far forward, making it impossible to clear jams.
27. Another was caused by the use of several different sub-contractors producing the aircraft, in addition to the local firm which designed it.
28. Some of these contractors tended to use shortcuts when building the aircraft.
29. And those shortcuts caused the wings to fail; which did not induce confidence in the aircraft’s pilots.
30. That lack of confidence in the perhaps frail subject aircraft, by the pilots involved, made them prefer a more robust, foreign aircraft which was available.
31. Interestingly enough, a foreign aircraft noted for shedding its wings; particularly in the earlier models.
32. But such are the vagaries of life; and this and other early design and construction flaws doomed our subject aircraft to a secondary role; escorting aircraft doing recon work.
33. Nevertheless, the aircraft remained in production from mid-1917 until the end of the war.
34. It featured a rectangular shaped fuselage.
35. The wing was of basically orthodox structure; with a scalloped trailing edge, Spruce leading edges and spars, and steel tubes with internal wire bracing.
36. Although the curvature of the wing, and the somewhat longer trailing edges, were a bit unusual.
37. The wing’s design gave the plane a degree of stability without sacrificing maneuverability.
38. Only the upper wing was fitted with ailerons.
39. Engine power was increased incrementally from 185 HP to 225 HP.
40. Which required the wings be strengthened.
41. The machine gun interrupter mechanism proved to be problematic at certain engine speeds.
42. Which lead to some issues involving bullets and propellers coming together; which proved troublesome.
43. Top speed was better than 115 MPH, for even the lesser powered versions.
44. Operational ceiling exceeded 20,000 feet.
45. And endurance was around 2-1/2 hours.
46. Upper wingspan was just over 26 feet.
47. Lower wingspan was just under 26 feet.
48. Dry weight was a bit under 1,300 pounds.
49. Loaded, a bit under 1,900 pounds.
50. A man’s name is normally included in the name of our subject aircraft.
51. In order to distinguish it from a fighter produced by the parent company.
52. And, to honor the designer.
53. After the war, this aircraft was adopted by the services of at least three other countries.
54. During the war, one of our subject aircraft was forced down, undamaged, in enemy territory.
55. This gave enemy experts the opportunity to study it at leisure.
56. It was compared favorably with friendly (i.e., enemy) aircraft of the time.
Question: What warbird do I describe?
Clues:
1. It was designed as a fighter, but spent much of its life in another role.
2. Single engine.
3. Single seat.
4. Our subject aircraft was a development of a prior prototype aircraft.
5. A prototype aircraft not noted for being handsome or handy.
6. In fact, the first prototype crashed, killing its pilot, on its first flight.
7. Modifications were made and three more prototypes prepared.
8. The design of the fuselage featured a rather high seating position for the pilot, which was done to allow increased visibility.
9. Fairings were used to reduce resistance around the cockpit wherever possible.
10. The design of the fuselage was also specifically intended to allow construction by relatively unskilled workers.
11. The initial production versions largely followed the design of the prototypes.
12. The parent company of the manufacturer was located in a foreign country; and this was the first aircraft designed by the subsidiary.
13. The initial production run of the fighters were armed with a single machine gun located above the top wing.
14. Later versions were equipped with two machine guns located along the forward fuselage.
15. Although our subject aircraft was reasonably fast, had excellent flying characteristics and was quite maneuverable, most combat pilots preferred an available foreign design.
16. That preference largely related to some initial design flaws and teething problems. Most of these were corrected in later versions.
17. Nevertheless, our subject aircraft was slowly pushed into a role as a reconnaissance escort aircraft.
18. Several engines, of increasing horsepower, were used in our subject aircraft during its production run.
19. Some of these increases in power necessitated changes in the wing structure.
20. Despite the increasing power available, almost all of the production aircraft used a two bladed propeller.
21. Although a four bladed propeller was used for some aircraft.
22. A car type radiator was used.
23. This may explain persistent issues with overheating of the engine.
24. It was not uncommon for ground crew to simply remove the engine covers, to increase the airflow around the engine cylinders. Later aircraft had a reduced engine cover to produce the same effect.
25. Different, elongated radiators, fitted along the leading edge of the wing, were tried.
26. One of the early “teething issues” was the fuselage mounted machine guns being located too far forward, making it impossible to clear jams.
27. Another was caused by the use of several different sub-contractors producing the aircraft, in addition to the local firm which designed it.
28. Some of these contractors tended to use shortcuts when building the aircraft.
29. And those shortcuts caused the wings to fail; which did not induce confidence in the aircraft’s pilots.
30. That lack of confidence in the perhaps frail subject aircraft, by the pilots involved, made them prefer a more robust, foreign aircraft which was available.
31. Interestingly enough, a foreign aircraft noted for shedding its wings; particularly in the earlier models.
32. But such are the vagaries of life; and this and other early design and construction flaws doomed our subject aircraft to a secondary role; escorting aircraft doing recon work.
33. Nevertheless, the aircraft remained in production from mid-1917 until the end of the war.
34. It featured a rectangular shaped fuselage.
35. The wing was of basically orthodox structure; with a scalloped trailing edge, Spruce leading edges and spars, and steel tubes with internal wire bracing.
36. Although the curvature of the wing, and the somewhat longer trailing edges, were a bit unusual.
37. The wing’s design gave the plane a degree of stability without sacrificing maneuverability.
38. Only the upper wing was fitted with ailerons.
39. Engine power was increased incrementally from 185 HP to 225 HP.
40. Which required the wings be strengthened.
41. The machine gun interrupter mechanism proved to be problematic at certain engine speeds.
42. Which lead to some issues involving bullets and propellers coming together; which proved troublesome.
43. Top speed was better than 115 MPH, for even the lesser powered versions.
44. Operational ceiling exceeded 20,000 feet.
45. And endurance was around 2-1/2 hours.
46. Upper wingspan was just over 26 feet.
47. Lower wingspan was just under 26 feet.
48. Dry weight was a bit under 1,300 pounds.
49. Loaded, a bit under 1,900 pounds.
50. A man’s name is normally included in the name of our subject aircraft.
51. In order to distinguish it from a fighter produced by the parent company.
52. And, to honor the designer.
53. After the war, this aircraft was adopted by the services of at least three other countries.
54. During the war, one of our subject aircraft was forced down, undamaged, in enemy territory.
55. This gave enemy experts the opportunity to study it at leisure.
56. It was compared favorably with friendly (i.e., enemy) aircraft of the time.
06-06-2019, 10:11 AM
Senior Member
My Feedback: (3)
Afternoon clue. Thanks; Ernie P.
Question: What warbird do I describe?
Clues:
1. It was designed as a fighter, but spent much of its life in another role.
2. Single engine.
3. Single seat.
4. Our subject aircraft was a development of a prior prototype aircraft.
5. A prototype aircraft not noted for being handsome or handy.
6. In fact, the first prototype crashed, killing its pilot, on its first flight.
7. Modifications were made and three more prototypes prepared.
8. The design of the fuselage featured a rather high seating position for the pilot, which was done to allow increased visibility.
9. Fairings were used to reduce resistance around the cockpit wherever possible.
10. The design of the fuselage was also specifically intended to allow construction by relatively unskilled workers.
11. The initial production versions largely followed the design of the prototypes.
12. The parent company of the manufacturer was located in a foreign country; and this was the first aircraft designed by the subsidiary.
13. The initial production run of the fighters were armed with a single machine gun located above the top wing.
14. Later versions were equipped with two machine guns located along the forward fuselage.
15. Although our subject aircraft was reasonably fast, had excellent flying characteristics and was quite maneuverable, most combat pilots preferred an available foreign design.
16. That preference largely related to some initial design flaws and teething problems. Most of these were corrected in later versions.
17. Nevertheless, our subject aircraft was slowly pushed into a role as a reconnaissance escort aircraft.
18. Several engines, of increasing horsepower, were used in our subject aircraft during its production run.
19. Some of these increases in power necessitated changes in the wing structure.
20. Despite the increasing power available, almost all of the production aircraft used a two bladed propeller.
21. Although a four bladed propeller was used for some aircraft.
22. A car type radiator was used.
23. This may explain persistent issues with overheating of the engine.
24. It was not uncommon for ground crew to simply remove the engine covers, to increase the airflow around the engine cylinders. Later aircraft had a reduced engine cover to produce the same effect.
25. Different, elongated radiators, fitted along the leading edge of the wing, were tried.
26. One of the early “teething issues” was the fuselage mounted machine guns being located too far forward, making it impossible to clear jams.
27. Another was caused by the use of several different sub-contractors producing the aircraft, in addition to the local firm which designed it.
28. Some of these contractors tended to use shortcuts when building the aircraft.
29. And those shortcuts caused the wings to fail; which did not induce confidence in the aircraft’s pilots.
30. That lack of confidence in the perhaps frail subject aircraft, by the pilots involved, made them prefer a more robust, foreign aircraft which was available.
31. Interestingly enough, a foreign aircraft noted for shedding its wings; particularly in the earlier models.
32. But such are the vagaries of life; and this and other early design and construction flaws doomed our subject aircraft to a secondary role; escorting aircraft doing recon work.
33. Nevertheless, the aircraft remained in production from mid-1917 until the end of the war.
34. It featured a rectangular shaped fuselage.
35. The wing was of basically orthodox structure; with a scalloped trailing edge, Spruce leading edges and spars, and steel tubes with internal wire bracing.
36. Although the curvature of the wing, and the somewhat longer trailing edges, were a bit unusual.
37. The wing’s design gave the plane a degree of stability without sacrificing maneuverability.
38. Only the upper wing was fitted with ailerons.
39. Engine power was increased incrementally from 185 HP to 225 HP.
40. Which required the wings be strengthened.
41. The machine gun interrupter mechanism proved to be problematic at certain engine speeds.
42. Which lead to some issues involving bullets and propellers coming together; which proved troublesome.
43. Top speed was better than 115 MPH, for even the lesser powered versions.
44. Operational ceiling exceeded 20,000 feet.
45. And endurance was around 2-1/2 hours.
46. Upper wingspan was just over 26 feet.
47. Lower wingspan was just under 26 feet.
48. Dry weight was a bit under 1,300 pounds.
49. Loaded, a bit under 1,900 pounds.
50. A man’s name is normally included in the name of our subject aircraft.
51. In order to distinguish it from a fighter produced by the parent company.
52. And, to honor the designer.
53. After the war, this aircraft was adopted by the services of at least three other countries.
54. During the war, one of our subject aircraft was forced down, undamaged, in enemy territory.
55. This gave enemy experts the opportunity to study it at leisure.
56. It was compared favorably with friendly (i.e., enemy) aircraft of the time.
57. It was shipped to London and put on display.
Question: What warbird do I describe?
Clues:
1. It was designed as a fighter, but spent much of its life in another role.
2. Single engine.
3. Single seat.
4. Our subject aircraft was a development of a prior prototype aircraft.
5. A prototype aircraft not noted for being handsome or handy.
6. In fact, the first prototype crashed, killing its pilot, on its first flight.
7. Modifications were made and three more prototypes prepared.
8. The design of the fuselage featured a rather high seating position for the pilot, which was done to allow increased visibility.
9. Fairings were used to reduce resistance around the cockpit wherever possible.
10. The design of the fuselage was also specifically intended to allow construction by relatively unskilled workers.
11. The initial production versions largely followed the design of the prototypes.
12. The parent company of the manufacturer was located in a foreign country; and this was the first aircraft designed by the subsidiary.
13. The initial production run of the fighters were armed with a single machine gun located above the top wing.
14. Later versions were equipped with two machine guns located along the forward fuselage.
15. Although our subject aircraft was reasonably fast, had excellent flying characteristics and was quite maneuverable, most combat pilots preferred an available foreign design.
16. That preference largely related to some initial design flaws and teething problems. Most of these were corrected in later versions.
17. Nevertheless, our subject aircraft was slowly pushed into a role as a reconnaissance escort aircraft.
18. Several engines, of increasing horsepower, were used in our subject aircraft during its production run.
19. Some of these increases in power necessitated changes in the wing structure.
20. Despite the increasing power available, almost all of the production aircraft used a two bladed propeller.
21. Although a four bladed propeller was used for some aircraft.
22. A car type radiator was used.
23. This may explain persistent issues with overheating of the engine.
24. It was not uncommon for ground crew to simply remove the engine covers, to increase the airflow around the engine cylinders. Later aircraft had a reduced engine cover to produce the same effect.
25. Different, elongated radiators, fitted along the leading edge of the wing, were tried.
26. One of the early “teething issues” was the fuselage mounted machine guns being located too far forward, making it impossible to clear jams.
27. Another was caused by the use of several different sub-contractors producing the aircraft, in addition to the local firm which designed it.
28. Some of these contractors tended to use shortcuts when building the aircraft.
29. And those shortcuts caused the wings to fail; which did not induce confidence in the aircraft’s pilots.
30. That lack of confidence in the perhaps frail subject aircraft, by the pilots involved, made them prefer a more robust, foreign aircraft which was available.
31. Interestingly enough, a foreign aircraft noted for shedding its wings; particularly in the earlier models.
32. But such are the vagaries of life; and this and other early design and construction flaws doomed our subject aircraft to a secondary role; escorting aircraft doing recon work.
33. Nevertheless, the aircraft remained in production from mid-1917 until the end of the war.
34. It featured a rectangular shaped fuselage.
35. The wing was of basically orthodox structure; with a scalloped trailing edge, Spruce leading edges and spars, and steel tubes with internal wire bracing.
36. Although the curvature of the wing, and the somewhat longer trailing edges, were a bit unusual.
37. The wing’s design gave the plane a degree of stability without sacrificing maneuverability.
38. Only the upper wing was fitted with ailerons.
39. Engine power was increased incrementally from 185 HP to 225 HP.
40. Which required the wings be strengthened.
41. The machine gun interrupter mechanism proved to be problematic at certain engine speeds.
42. Which lead to some issues involving bullets and propellers coming together; which proved troublesome.
43. Top speed was better than 115 MPH, for even the lesser powered versions.
44. Operational ceiling exceeded 20,000 feet.
45. And endurance was around 2-1/2 hours.
46. Upper wingspan was just over 26 feet.
47. Lower wingspan was just under 26 feet.
48. Dry weight was a bit under 1,300 pounds.
49. Loaded, a bit under 1,900 pounds.
50. A man’s name is normally included in the name of our subject aircraft.
51. In order to distinguish it from a fighter produced by the parent company.
52. And, to honor the designer.
53. After the war, this aircraft was adopted by the services of at least three other countries.
54. During the war, one of our subject aircraft was forced down, undamaged, in enemy territory.
55. This gave enemy experts the opportunity to study it at leisure.
56. It was compared favorably with friendly (i.e., enemy) aircraft of the time.
57. It was shipped to London and put on display.
06-06-2019, 01:35 PM
Senior Member
My Feedback: (3)
Sir; not the Albatros D.III, but the D.III was the "preferred fighter" mentioned in clues 15, 30 and 31. I'd award you a bonus clue, but to tell the truth, I've run out of clues and am trying to think of a clue, short of the actual aircraft name, I can present. Maybe later this evening. Thanks; Ernie P.
06-06-2019, 02:47 PM
Sorry Ernie, I've stayed out of this one due to my work schedule and that I've been in and out of town. That said, I'm going to take a shot with the LFG Roland D.II (Shark). The odds are that I'm wrong but, what the heck
06-06-2019, 03:24 PM
Senior Member
My Feedback: (3)
Question: What warbird do I describe?
Clues:
1. It was designed as a fighter, but spent much of its life in another role.
2. Single engine.
3. Single seat.
4. Our subject aircraft was a development of a prior prototype aircraft.
5. A prototype aircraft not noted for being handsome or handy.
6. In fact, the first prototype crashed, killing its pilot, on its first flight.
7. Modifications were made and three more prototypes prepared.
8. The design of the fuselage featured a rather high seating position for the pilot, which was done to allow increased visibility.
9. Fairings were used to reduce resistance around the cockpit wherever possible.
10. The design of the fuselage was also specifically intended to allow construction by relatively unskilled workers.
11. The initial production versions largely followed the design of the prototypes.
12. The parent company of the manufacturer was located in a foreign country; and this was the first aircraft designed by the subsidiary.
13. The initial production run of the fighters were armed with a single machine gun located above the top wing.
14. Later versions were equipped with two machine guns located along the forward fuselage.
15. Although our subject aircraft was reasonably fast, had excellent flying characteristics and was quite maneuverable, most combat pilots preferred an available foreign design.
16. That preference largely related to some initial design flaws and teething problems. Most of these were corrected in later versions.
17. Nevertheless, our subject aircraft was slowly pushed into a role as a reconnaissance escort aircraft.
18. Several engines, of increasing horsepower, were used in our subject aircraft during its production run.
19. Some of these increases in power necessitated changes in the wing structure.
20. Despite the increasing power available, almost all of the production aircraft used a two bladed propeller.
21. Although a four bladed propeller was used for some aircraft.
22. A car type radiator was used.
23. This may explain persistent issues with overheating of the engine.
24. It was not uncommon for ground crew to simply remove the engine covers, to increase the airflow around the engine cylinders. Later aircraft had a reduced engine cover to produce the same effect.
25. Different, elongated radiators, fitted along the leading edge of the wing, were tried.
26. One of the early “teething issues” was the fuselage mounted machine guns being located too far forward, making it impossible to clear jams.
27. Another was caused by the use of several different sub-contractors producing the aircraft, in addition to the local firm which designed it.
28. Some of these contractors tended to use shortcuts when building the aircraft.
29. And those shortcuts caused the wings to fail; which did not induce confidence in the aircraft’s pilots.
30. That lack of confidence in the perhaps frail subject aircraft, by the pilots involved, made them prefer a more robust, foreign aircraft which was available.
31. Interestingly enough, a foreign aircraft noted for shedding its wings; particularly in the earlier models.
32. But such are the vagaries of life; and this and other early design and construction flaws doomed our subject aircraft to a secondary role; escorting aircraft doing recon work.
33. Nevertheless, the aircraft remained in production from mid-1917 until the end of the war.
34. It featured a rectangular shaped fuselage.
35. The wing was of basically orthodox structure; with a scalloped trailing edge, Spruce leading edges and spars, and steel tubes with internal wire bracing.
36. Although the curvature of the wing, and the somewhat longer trailing edges, were a bit unusual.
37. The wing’s design gave the plane a degree of stability without sacrificing maneuverability.
38. Only the upper wing was fitted with ailerons.
39. Engine power was increased incrementally from 185 HP to 225 HP.
40. Which required the wings be strengthened.
41. The machine gun interrupter mechanism proved to be problematic at certain engine speeds.
42. Which lead to some issues involving bullets and propellers coming together; which proved troublesome.
43. Top speed was better than 115 MPH, for even the lesser powered versions.
44. Operational ceiling exceeded 20,000 feet.
45. And endurance was around 2-1/2 hours.
46. Upper wingspan was just over 26 feet.
47. Lower wingspan was just under 26 feet.
48. Dry weight was a bit under 1,300 pounds.
49. Loaded, a bit under 1,900 pounds.
50. A man’s name is normally included in the name of our subject aircraft.
51. In order to distinguish it from a fighter produced by the parent company.
52. And, to honor the designer.
53. After the war, this aircraft was adopted by the services of at least three other countries.
54. During the war, one of our subject aircraft was forced down, undamaged, in enemy territory.
55. This gave enemy experts the opportunity to study it at leisure.
56. It was compared favorably with friendly (i.e., enemy) aircraft of the time.
57. It was shipped to London and put on display.
58. One of the designers was both a professor and a diplomat.
Last edited by Ernie P.; 06-06-2019 at 03:28 PM.
06-07-2019, 04:41 AM
Senior Member
My Feedback: (3)
Morning clue and a correction to clue (58). I apologize for the typo. Thanks; Ernie P.
Question: What warbird do I describe?
Clues:
1. It was designed as a fighter, but spent much of its life in another role.
2. Single engine.
3. Single seat.
4. Our subject aircraft was a development of a prior prototype aircraft.
5. A prototype aircraft not noted for being handsome or handy.
6. In fact, the first prototype crashed, killing its pilot, on its first flight.
7. Modifications were made and three more prototypes prepared.
8. The design of the fuselage featured a rather high seating position for the pilot, which was done to allow increased visibility.
9. Fairings were used to reduce resistance around the cockpit wherever possible.
10. The design of the fuselage was also specifically intended to allow construction by relatively unskilled workers.
11. The initial production versions largely followed the design of the prototypes.
12. The parent company of the manufacturer was located in a foreign country; and this was the first aircraft designed by the subsidiary.
13. The initial production run of the fighters were armed with a single machine gun located above the top wing.
14. Later versions were equipped with two machine guns located along the forward fuselage.
15. Although our subject aircraft was reasonably fast, had excellent flying characteristics and was quite maneuverable, most combat pilots preferred an available foreign design.
16. That preference largely related to some initial design flaws and teething problems. Most of these were corrected in later versions.
17. Nevertheless, our subject aircraft was slowly pushed into a role as a reconnaissance escort aircraft.
18. Several engines, of increasing horsepower, were used in our subject aircraft during its production run.
19. Some of these increases in power necessitated changes in the wing structure.
20. Despite the increasing power available, almost all of the production aircraft used a two bladed propeller.
21. Although a four bladed propeller was used for some aircraft.
22. A car type radiator was used.
23. This may explain persistent issues with overheating of the engine.
24. It was not uncommon for ground crew to simply remove the engine covers, to increase the airflow around the engine cylinders. Later aircraft had a reduced engine cover to produce the same effect.
25. Different, elongated radiators, fitted along the leading edge of the wing, were tried.
26. One of the early “teething issues” was the fuselage mounted machine guns being located too far forward, making it impossible to clear jams.
27. Another was caused by the use of several different sub-contractors producing the aircraft, in addition to the local firm which designed it.
28. Some of these contractors tended to use shortcuts when building the aircraft.
29. And those shortcuts caused the wings to fail; which did not induce confidence in the aircraft’s pilots.
30. That lack of confidence in the perhaps frail subject aircraft, by the pilots involved, made them prefer a more robust, foreign aircraft which was available.
31. Interestingly enough, a foreign aircraft noted for shedding its wings; particularly in the earlier models.
32. But such are the vagaries of life; and this and other early design and construction flaws doomed our subject aircraft to a secondary role; escorting aircraft doing recon work.
33. Nevertheless, the aircraft remained in production from mid-1917 until the end of the war.
34. It featured a rectangular shaped fuselage.
35. The wing was of basically orthodox structure; with a scalloped trailing edge, Spruce leading edges and spars, and steel tubes with internal wire bracing.
36. Although the curvature of the wing, and the somewhat longer trailing edges, were a bit unusual.
37. The wing’s design gave the plane a degree of stability without sacrificing maneuverability.
38. Only the upper wing was fitted with ailerons.
39. Engine power was increased incrementally from 185 HP to 225 HP.
40. Which required the wings be strengthened.
41. The machine gun interrupter mechanism proved to be problematic at certain engine speeds.
42. Which lead to some issues involving bullets and propellers coming together; which proved troublesome.
43. Top speed was better than 115 MPH, for even the lesser powered versions.
44. Operational ceiling exceeded 20,000 feet.
45. And endurance was around 2-1/2 hours.
46. Upper wingspan was just over 26 feet.
47. Lower wingspan was just under 26 feet.
48. Dry weight was a bit under 1,300 pounds.
49. Loaded, a bit under 1,900 pounds.
50. A man’s name is normally included in the name of our subject aircraft.
51. In order to distinguish it from a fighter produced by the parent company.
52. And, to honor the designer.
53. After the war, this aircraft was adopted by the services of at least three other countries.
54. During the war, one of our subject aircraft was forced down, undamaged, in enemy territory.
55. This gave enemy experts the opportunity to study it at leisure.
56. It was compared favorably with friendly (i.e., enemy) aircraft of the time.
57. It was shipped to London and put on display.
58. One of the designers was a professor and another a diplomat.
59. And it was he (the Diplomat) for whom the plane was named.
Question: What warbird do I describe?
Clues:
1. It was designed as a fighter, but spent much of its life in another role.
2. Single engine.
3. Single seat.
4. Our subject aircraft was a development of a prior prototype aircraft.
5. A prototype aircraft not noted for being handsome or handy.
6. In fact, the first prototype crashed, killing its pilot, on its first flight.
7. Modifications were made and three more prototypes prepared.
8. The design of the fuselage featured a rather high seating position for the pilot, which was done to allow increased visibility.
9. Fairings were used to reduce resistance around the cockpit wherever possible.
10. The design of the fuselage was also specifically intended to allow construction by relatively unskilled workers.
11. The initial production versions largely followed the design of the prototypes.
12. The parent company of the manufacturer was located in a foreign country; and this was the first aircraft designed by the subsidiary.
13. The initial production run of the fighters were armed with a single machine gun located above the top wing.
14. Later versions were equipped with two machine guns located along the forward fuselage.
15. Although our subject aircraft was reasonably fast, had excellent flying characteristics and was quite maneuverable, most combat pilots preferred an available foreign design.
16. That preference largely related to some initial design flaws and teething problems. Most of these were corrected in later versions.
17. Nevertheless, our subject aircraft was slowly pushed into a role as a reconnaissance escort aircraft.
18. Several engines, of increasing horsepower, were used in our subject aircraft during its production run.
19. Some of these increases in power necessitated changes in the wing structure.
20. Despite the increasing power available, almost all of the production aircraft used a two bladed propeller.
21. Although a four bladed propeller was used for some aircraft.
22. A car type radiator was used.
23. This may explain persistent issues with overheating of the engine.
24. It was not uncommon for ground crew to simply remove the engine covers, to increase the airflow around the engine cylinders. Later aircraft had a reduced engine cover to produce the same effect.
25. Different, elongated radiators, fitted along the leading edge of the wing, were tried.
26. One of the early “teething issues” was the fuselage mounted machine guns being located too far forward, making it impossible to clear jams.
27. Another was caused by the use of several different sub-contractors producing the aircraft, in addition to the local firm which designed it.
28. Some of these contractors tended to use shortcuts when building the aircraft.
29. And those shortcuts caused the wings to fail; which did not induce confidence in the aircraft’s pilots.
30. That lack of confidence in the perhaps frail subject aircraft, by the pilots involved, made them prefer a more robust, foreign aircraft which was available.
31. Interestingly enough, a foreign aircraft noted for shedding its wings; particularly in the earlier models.
32. But such are the vagaries of life; and this and other early design and construction flaws doomed our subject aircraft to a secondary role; escorting aircraft doing recon work.
33. Nevertheless, the aircraft remained in production from mid-1917 until the end of the war.
34. It featured a rectangular shaped fuselage.
35. The wing was of basically orthodox structure; with a scalloped trailing edge, Spruce leading edges and spars, and steel tubes with internal wire bracing.
36. Although the curvature of the wing, and the somewhat longer trailing edges, were a bit unusual.
37. The wing’s design gave the plane a degree of stability without sacrificing maneuverability.
38. Only the upper wing was fitted with ailerons.
39. Engine power was increased incrementally from 185 HP to 225 HP.
40. Which required the wings be strengthened.
41. The machine gun interrupter mechanism proved to be problematic at certain engine speeds.
42. Which lead to some issues involving bullets and propellers coming together; which proved troublesome.
43. Top speed was better than 115 MPH, for even the lesser powered versions.
44. Operational ceiling exceeded 20,000 feet.
45. And endurance was around 2-1/2 hours.
46. Upper wingspan was just over 26 feet.
47. Lower wingspan was just under 26 feet.
48. Dry weight was a bit under 1,300 pounds.
49. Loaded, a bit under 1,900 pounds.
50. A man’s name is normally included in the name of our subject aircraft.
51. In order to distinguish it from a fighter produced by the parent company.
52. And, to honor the designer.
53. After the war, this aircraft was adopted by the services of at least three other countries.
54. During the war, one of our subject aircraft was forced down, undamaged, in enemy territory.
55. This gave enemy experts the opportunity to study it at leisure.
56. It was compared favorably with friendly (i.e., enemy) aircraft of the time.
57. It was shipped to London and put on display.
58. One of the designers was a professor and another a diplomat.
59. And it was he (the Diplomat) for whom the plane was named.
Last edited by Ernie P.; 06-07-2019 at 04:47 AM.
06-07-2019, 10:49 AM
Senior Member
My Feedback: (3)
After noon clue. By now you guys should be narrowing this thing down. Thanks; Ernie P.
Question: What warbird do I describe?
Clues:
1. It was designed as a fighter, but spent much of its life in another role.
2. Single engine.
3. Single seat.
4. Our subject aircraft was a development of a prior prototype aircraft.
5. A prototype aircraft not noted for being handsome or handy.
6. In fact, the first prototype crashed, killing its pilot, on its first flight.
7. Modifications were made and three more prototypes prepared.
8. The design of the fuselage featured a rather high seating position for the pilot, which was done to allow increased visibility.
9. Fairings were used to reduce resistance around the cockpit wherever possible.
10. The design of the fuselage was also specifically intended to allow construction by relatively unskilled workers.
11. The initial production versions largely followed the design of the prototypes.
12. The parent company of the manufacturer was located in a foreign country; and this was the first aircraft designed by the subsidiary.
13. The initial production run of the fighters were armed with a single machine gun located above the top wing.
14. Later versions were equipped with two machine guns located along the forward fuselage.
15. Although our subject aircraft was reasonably fast, had excellent flying characteristics and was quite maneuverable, most combat pilots preferred an available foreign design.
16. That preference largely related to some initial design flaws and teething problems. Most of these were corrected in later versions.
17. Nevertheless, our subject aircraft was slowly pushed into a role as a reconnaissance escort aircraft.
18. Several engines, of increasing horsepower, were used in our subject aircraft during its production run.
19. Some of these increases in power necessitated changes in the wing structure.
20. Despite the increasing power available, almost all of the production aircraft used a two bladed propeller.
21. Although a four bladed propeller was used for some aircraft.
22. A car type radiator was used.
23. This may explain persistent issues with overheating of the engine.
24. It was not uncommon for ground crew to simply remove the engine covers, to increase the airflow around the engine cylinders. Later aircraft had a reduced engine cover to produce the same effect.
25. Different, elongated radiators, fitted along the leading edge of the wing, were tried.
26. One of the early “teething issues” was the fuselage mounted machine guns being located too far forward, making it impossible to clear jams.
27. Another was caused by the use of several different sub-contractors producing the aircraft, in addition to the local firm which designed it.
28. Some of these contractors tended to use shortcuts when building the aircraft.
29. And those shortcuts caused the wings to fail; which did not induce confidence in the aircraft’s pilots.
30. That lack of confidence in the perhaps frail subject aircraft, by the pilots involved, made them prefer a more robust, foreign aircraft which was available.
31. Interestingly enough, a foreign aircraft noted for shedding its wings; particularly in the earlier models.
32. But such are the vagaries of life; and this and other early design and construction flaws doomed our subject aircraft to a secondary role; escorting aircraft doing recon work.
33. Nevertheless, the aircraft remained in production from mid-1917 until the end of the war.
34. It featured a rectangular shaped fuselage.
35. The wing was of basically orthodox structure; with a scalloped trailing edge, Spruce leading edges and spars, and steel tubes with internal wire bracing.
36. Although the curvature of the wing, and the somewhat longer trailing edges, were a bit unusual.
37. The wing’s design gave the plane a degree of stability without sacrificing maneuverability.
38. Only the upper wing was fitted with ailerons.
39. Engine power was increased incrementally from 185 HP to 225 HP.
40. Which required the wings be strengthened.
41. The machine gun interrupter mechanism proved to be problematic at certain engine speeds.
42. Which lead to some issues involving bullets and propellers coming together; which proved troublesome.
43. Top speed was better than 115 MPH, for even the lesser powered versions.
44. Operational ceiling exceeded 20,000 feet.
45. And endurance was around 2-1/2 hours.
46. Upper wingspan was just over 26 feet.
47. Lower wingspan was just under 26 feet.
48. Dry weight was a bit under 1,300 pounds.
49. Loaded, a bit under 1,900 pounds.
50. A man’s name is normally included in the name of our subject aircraft.
51. In order to distinguish it from a fighter produced by the parent company.
52. And, to honor the designer.
53. After the war, this aircraft was adopted by the services of at least three other countries.
54. During the war, one of our subject aircraft was forced down, undamaged, in enemy territory.
55. This gave enemy experts the opportunity to study it at leisure.
56. It was compared favorably with friendly (i.e., enemy) aircraft of the time.
57. It was shipped to London and put on display.
58. One of the designers was a professor and another a diplomat.
59. And it was he (the diplomat) for whom the plane was named.
60. The professor was highly placed within the “ruling class”.
Question: What warbird do I describe?
Clues:
1. It was designed as a fighter, but spent much of its life in another role.
2. Single engine.
3. Single seat.
4. Our subject aircraft was a development of a prior prototype aircraft.
5. A prototype aircraft not noted for being handsome or handy.
6. In fact, the first prototype crashed, killing its pilot, on its first flight.
7. Modifications were made and three more prototypes prepared.
8. The design of the fuselage featured a rather high seating position for the pilot, which was done to allow increased visibility.
9. Fairings were used to reduce resistance around the cockpit wherever possible.
10. The design of the fuselage was also specifically intended to allow construction by relatively unskilled workers.
11. The initial production versions largely followed the design of the prototypes.
12. The parent company of the manufacturer was located in a foreign country; and this was the first aircraft designed by the subsidiary.
13. The initial production run of the fighters were armed with a single machine gun located above the top wing.
14. Later versions were equipped with two machine guns located along the forward fuselage.
15. Although our subject aircraft was reasonably fast, had excellent flying characteristics and was quite maneuverable, most combat pilots preferred an available foreign design.
16. That preference largely related to some initial design flaws and teething problems. Most of these were corrected in later versions.
17. Nevertheless, our subject aircraft was slowly pushed into a role as a reconnaissance escort aircraft.
18. Several engines, of increasing horsepower, were used in our subject aircraft during its production run.
19. Some of these increases in power necessitated changes in the wing structure.
20. Despite the increasing power available, almost all of the production aircraft used a two bladed propeller.
21. Although a four bladed propeller was used for some aircraft.
22. A car type radiator was used.
23. This may explain persistent issues with overheating of the engine.
24. It was not uncommon for ground crew to simply remove the engine covers, to increase the airflow around the engine cylinders. Later aircraft had a reduced engine cover to produce the same effect.
25. Different, elongated radiators, fitted along the leading edge of the wing, were tried.
26. One of the early “teething issues” was the fuselage mounted machine guns being located too far forward, making it impossible to clear jams.
27. Another was caused by the use of several different sub-contractors producing the aircraft, in addition to the local firm which designed it.
28. Some of these contractors tended to use shortcuts when building the aircraft.
29. And those shortcuts caused the wings to fail; which did not induce confidence in the aircraft’s pilots.
30. That lack of confidence in the perhaps frail subject aircraft, by the pilots involved, made them prefer a more robust, foreign aircraft which was available.
31. Interestingly enough, a foreign aircraft noted for shedding its wings; particularly in the earlier models.
32. But such are the vagaries of life; and this and other early design and construction flaws doomed our subject aircraft to a secondary role; escorting aircraft doing recon work.
33. Nevertheless, the aircraft remained in production from mid-1917 until the end of the war.
34. It featured a rectangular shaped fuselage.
35. The wing was of basically orthodox structure; with a scalloped trailing edge, Spruce leading edges and spars, and steel tubes with internal wire bracing.
36. Although the curvature of the wing, and the somewhat longer trailing edges, were a bit unusual.
37. The wing’s design gave the plane a degree of stability without sacrificing maneuverability.
38. Only the upper wing was fitted with ailerons.
39. Engine power was increased incrementally from 185 HP to 225 HP.
40. Which required the wings be strengthened.
41. The machine gun interrupter mechanism proved to be problematic at certain engine speeds.
42. Which lead to some issues involving bullets and propellers coming together; which proved troublesome.
43. Top speed was better than 115 MPH, for even the lesser powered versions.
44. Operational ceiling exceeded 20,000 feet.
45. And endurance was around 2-1/2 hours.
46. Upper wingspan was just over 26 feet.
47. Lower wingspan was just under 26 feet.
48. Dry weight was a bit under 1,300 pounds.
49. Loaded, a bit under 1,900 pounds.
50. A man’s name is normally included in the name of our subject aircraft.
51. In order to distinguish it from a fighter produced by the parent company.
52. And, to honor the designer.
53. After the war, this aircraft was adopted by the services of at least three other countries.
54. During the war, one of our subject aircraft was forced down, undamaged, in enemy territory.
55. This gave enemy experts the opportunity to study it at leisure.
56. It was compared favorably with friendly (i.e., enemy) aircraft of the time.
57. It was shipped to London and put on display.
58. One of the designers was a professor and another a diplomat.
59. And it was he (the diplomat) for whom the plane was named.
60. The professor was highly placed within the “ruling class”.
06-07-2019, 03:23 PM
Senior Member
My Feedback: (3)
Evening clue. Thanks; Ernie P.
Question: What warbird do I describe?
Clues:
1. It was designed as a fighter, but spent much of its life in another role.
2. Single engine.
3. Single seat.
4. Our subject aircraft was a development of a prior prototype aircraft.
5. A prototype aircraft not noted for being handsome or handy.
6. In fact, the first prototype crashed, killing its pilot, on its first flight.
7. Modifications were made and three more prototypes prepared.
8. The design of the fuselage featured a rather high seating position for the pilot, which was done to allow increased visibility.
9. Fairings were used to reduce resistance around the cockpit wherever possible.
10. The design of the fuselage was also specifically intended to allow construction by relatively unskilled workers.
11. The initial production versions largely followed the design of the prototypes.
12. The parent company of the manufacturer was located in a foreign country; and this was the first aircraft designed by the subsidiary.
13. The initial production run of the fighters were armed with a single machine gun located above the top wing.
14. Later versions were equipped with two machine guns located along the forward fuselage.
15. Although our subject aircraft was reasonably fast, had excellent flying characteristics and was quite maneuverable, most combat pilots preferred an available foreign design.
16. That preference largely related to some initial design flaws and teething problems. Most of these were corrected in later versions.
17. Nevertheless, our subject aircraft was slowly pushed into a role as a reconnaissance escort aircraft.
18. Several engines, of increasing horsepower, were used in our subject aircraft during its production run.
19. Some of these increases in power necessitated changes in the wing structure.
20. Despite the increasing power available, almost all of the production aircraft used a two bladed propeller.
21. Although a four bladed propeller was used for some aircraft.
22. A car type radiator was used.
23. This may explain persistent issues with overheating of the engine.
24. It was not uncommon for ground crew to simply remove the engine covers, to increase the airflow around the engine cylinders. Later aircraft had a reduced engine cover to produce the same effect.
25. Different, elongated radiators, fitted along the leading edge of the wing, were tried.
26. One of the early “teething issues” was the fuselage mounted machine guns being located too far forward, making it impossible to clear jams.
27. Another was caused by the use of several different sub-contractors producing the aircraft, in addition to the local firm which designed it.
28. Some of these contractors tended to use shortcuts when building the aircraft.
29. And those shortcuts caused the wings to fail; which did not induce confidence in the aircraft’s pilots.
30. That lack of confidence in the perhaps frail subject aircraft, by the pilots involved, made them prefer a more robust, foreign aircraft which was available.
31. Interestingly enough, a foreign aircraft noted for shedding its wings; particularly in the earlier models.
32. But such are the vagaries of life; and this and other early design and construction flaws doomed our subject aircraft to a secondary role; escorting aircraft doing recon work.
33. Nevertheless, the aircraft remained in production from mid-1917 until the end of the war.
34. It featured a rectangular shaped fuselage.
35. The wing was of basically orthodox structure; with a scalloped trailing edge, Spruce leading edges and spars, and steel tubes with internal wire bracing.
36. Although the curvature of the wing, and the somewhat longer trailing edges, were a bit unusual.
37. The wing’s design gave the plane a degree of stability without sacrificing maneuverability.
38. Only the upper wing was fitted with ailerons.
39. Engine power was increased incrementally from 185 HP to 225 HP.
40. Which required the wings be strengthened.
41. The machine gun interrupter mechanism proved to be problematic at certain engine speeds.
42. Which lead to some issues involving bullets and propellers coming together; which proved troublesome.
43. Top speed was better than 115 MPH, for even the lesser powered versions.
44. Operational ceiling exceeded 20,000 feet.
45. And endurance was around 2-1/2 hours.
46. Upper wingspan was just over 26 feet.
47. Lower wingspan was just under 26 feet.
48. Dry weight was a bit under 1,300 pounds.
49. Loaded, a bit under 1,900 pounds.
50. A man’s name is normally included in the name of our subject aircraft.
51. In order to distinguish it from a fighter produced by the parent company.
52. And, to honor the designer.
53. After the war, this aircraft was adopted by the services of at least three other countries.
54. During the war, one of our subject aircraft was forced down, undamaged, in enemy territory.
55. This gave enemy experts the opportunity to study it at leisure.
56. It was compared favorably with friendly (i.e., enemy) aircraft of the time.
57. It was shipped to London and put on display.
58. One of the designers was a professor and another a diplomat.
59. And it was he (the diplomat) for whom the plane was named.
60. The professor was highly placed within the “ruling class”.
61. And “some sources” claimed the professor helped with the wing design.
Question: What warbird do I describe?
Clues:
1. It was designed as a fighter, but spent much of its life in another role.
2. Single engine.
3. Single seat.
4. Our subject aircraft was a development of a prior prototype aircraft.
5. A prototype aircraft not noted for being handsome or handy.
6. In fact, the first prototype crashed, killing its pilot, on its first flight.
7. Modifications were made and three more prototypes prepared.
8. The design of the fuselage featured a rather high seating position for the pilot, which was done to allow increased visibility.
9. Fairings were used to reduce resistance around the cockpit wherever possible.
10. The design of the fuselage was also specifically intended to allow construction by relatively unskilled workers.
11. The initial production versions largely followed the design of the prototypes.
12. The parent company of the manufacturer was located in a foreign country; and this was the first aircraft designed by the subsidiary.
13. The initial production run of the fighters were armed with a single machine gun located above the top wing.
14. Later versions were equipped with two machine guns located along the forward fuselage.
15. Although our subject aircraft was reasonably fast, had excellent flying characteristics and was quite maneuverable, most combat pilots preferred an available foreign design.
16. That preference largely related to some initial design flaws and teething problems. Most of these were corrected in later versions.
17. Nevertheless, our subject aircraft was slowly pushed into a role as a reconnaissance escort aircraft.
18. Several engines, of increasing horsepower, were used in our subject aircraft during its production run.
19. Some of these increases in power necessitated changes in the wing structure.
20. Despite the increasing power available, almost all of the production aircraft used a two bladed propeller.
21. Although a four bladed propeller was used for some aircraft.
22. A car type radiator was used.
23. This may explain persistent issues with overheating of the engine.
24. It was not uncommon for ground crew to simply remove the engine covers, to increase the airflow around the engine cylinders. Later aircraft had a reduced engine cover to produce the same effect.
25. Different, elongated radiators, fitted along the leading edge of the wing, were tried.
26. One of the early “teething issues” was the fuselage mounted machine guns being located too far forward, making it impossible to clear jams.
27. Another was caused by the use of several different sub-contractors producing the aircraft, in addition to the local firm which designed it.
28. Some of these contractors tended to use shortcuts when building the aircraft.
29. And those shortcuts caused the wings to fail; which did not induce confidence in the aircraft’s pilots.
30. That lack of confidence in the perhaps frail subject aircraft, by the pilots involved, made them prefer a more robust, foreign aircraft which was available.
31. Interestingly enough, a foreign aircraft noted for shedding its wings; particularly in the earlier models.
32. But such are the vagaries of life; and this and other early design and construction flaws doomed our subject aircraft to a secondary role; escorting aircraft doing recon work.
33. Nevertheless, the aircraft remained in production from mid-1917 until the end of the war.
34. It featured a rectangular shaped fuselage.
35. The wing was of basically orthodox structure; with a scalloped trailing edge, Spruce leading edges and spars, and steel tubes with internal wire bracing.
36. Although the curvature of the wing, and the somewhat longer trailing edges, were a bit unusual.
37. The wing’s design gave the plane a degree of stability without sacrificing maneuverability.
38. Only the upper wing was fitted with ailerons.
39. Engine power was increased incrementally from 185 HP to 225 HP.
40. Which required the wings be strengthened.
41. The machine gun interrupter mechanism proved to be problematic at certain engine speeds.
42. Which lead to some issues involving bullets and propellers coming together; which proved troublesome.
43. Top speed was better than 115 MPH, for even the lesser powered versions.
44. Operational ceiling exceeded 20,000 feet.
45. And endurance was around 2-1/2 hours.
46. Upper wingspan was just over 26 feet.
47. Lower wingspan was just under 26 feet.
48. Dry weight was a bit under 1,300 pounds.
49. Loaded, a bit under 1,900 pounds.
50. A man’s name is normally included in the name of our subject aircraft.
51. In order to distinguish it from a fighter produced by the parent company.
52. And, to honor the designer.
53. After the war, this aircraft was adopted by the services of at least three other countries.
54. During the war, one of our subject aircraft was forced down, undamaged, in enemy territory.
55. This gave enemy experts the opportunity to study it at leisure.
56. It was compared favorably with friendly (i.e., enemy) aircraft of the time.
57. It was shipped to London and put on display.
58. One of the designers was a professor and another a diplomat.
59. And it was he (the diplomat) for whom the plane was named.
60. The professor was highly placed within the “ruling class”.
61. And “some sources” claimed the professor helped with the wing design.
06-08-2019, 02:24 AM
Senior Member
My Feedback: (3)
Today's clue. Thanks; Ernie P.
Question: What warbird do I describe?
Clues:
1. It was designed as a fighter, but spent much of its life in another role.
2. Single engine.
3. Single seat.
4. Our subject aircraft was a development of a prior prototype aircraft.
5. A prototype aircraft not noted for being handsome or handy.
6. In fact, the first prototype crashed, killing its pilot, on its first flight.
7. Modifications were made and three more prototypes prepared.
8. The design of the fuselage featured a rather high seating position for the pilot, which was done to allow increased visibility.
9. Fairings were used to reduce resistance around the cockpit wherever possible.
10. The design of the fuselage was also specifically intended to allow construction by relatively unskilled workers.
11. The initial production versions largely followed the design of the prototypes.
12. The parent company of the manufacturer was located in a foreign country; and this was the first aircraft designed by the subsidiary.
13. The initial production run of the fighters were armed with a single machine gun located above the top wing.
14. Later versions were equipped with two machine guns located along the forward fuselage.
15. Although our subject aircraft was reasonably fast, had excellent flying characteristics and was quite maneuverable, most combat pilots preferred an available foreign design.
16. That preference largely related to some initial design flaws and teething problems. Most of these were corrected in later versions.
17. Nevertheless, our subject aircraft was slowly pushed into a role as a reconnaissance escort aircraft.
18. Several engines, of increasing horsepower, were used in our subject aircraft during its production run.
19. Some of these increases in power necessitated changes in the wing structure.
20. Despite the increasing power available, almost all of the production aircraft used a two bladed propeller.
21. Although a four bladed propeller was used for some aircraft.
22. A car type radiator was used.
23. This may explain persistent issues with overheating of the engine.
24. It was not uncommon for ground crew to simply remove the engine covers, to increase the airflow around the engine cylinders. Later aircraft had a reduced engine cover to produce the same effect.
25. Different, elongated radiators, fitted along the leading edge of the wing, were tried.
26. One of the early “teething issues” was the fuselage mounted machine guns being located too far forward, making it impossible to clear jams.
27. Another was caused by the use of several different sub-contractors producing the aircraft, in addition to the local firm which designed it.
28. Some of these contractors tended to use shortcuts when building the aircraft.
29. And those shortcuts caused the wings to fail; which did not induce confidence in the aircraft’s pilots.
30. That lack of confidence in the perhaps frail subject aircraft, by the pilots involved, made them prefer a more robust, foreign aircraft which was available.
31. Interestingly enough, a foreign aircraft noted for shedding its wings; particularly in the earlier models.
32. But such are the vagaries of life; and this and other early design and construction flaws doomed our subject aircraft to a secondary role; escorting aircraft doing recon work.
33. Nevertheless, the aircraft remained in production from mid-1917 until the end of the war.
34. It featured a rectangular shaped fuselage.
35. The wing was of basically orthodox structure; with a scalloped trailing edge, Spruce leading edges and spars, and steel tubes with internal wire bracing.
36. Although the curvature of the wing, and the somewhat longer trailing edges, were a bit unusual.
37. The wing’s design gave the plane a degree of stability without sacrificing maneuverability.
38. Only the upper wing was fitted with ailerons.
39. Engine power was increased incrementally from 185 HP to 225 HP.
40. Which required the wings be strengthened.
41. The machine gun interrupter mechanism proved to be problematic at certain engine speeds.
42. Which lead to some issues involving bullets and propellers coming together; which proved troublesome.
43. Top speed was better than 115 MPH, for even the lesser powered versions.
44. Operational ceiling exceeded 20,000 feet.
45. And endurance was around 2-1/2 hours.
46. Upper wingspan was just over 26 feet.
47. Lower wingspan was just under 26 feet.
48. Dry weight was a bit under 1,300 pounds.
49. Loaded, a bit under 1,900 pounds.
50. A man’s name is normally included in the name of our subject aircraft.
51. In order to distinguish it from a fighter produced by the parent company.
52. And, to honor the designer.
53. After the war, this aircraft was adopted by the services of at least three other countries.
54. During the war, one of our subject aircraft was forced down, undamaged, in enemy territory.
55. This gave enemy experts the opportunity to study it at leisure.
56. It was compared favorably with friendly (i.e., enemy) aircraft of the time.
57. It was shipped to London and put on display.
58. One of the designers was a professor and another a diplomat.
59. And it was he (the diplomat) for whom the plane was named.
60. The professor was highly placed within the “ruling class”.
61. And “some sources” claimed the professor helped with the wing design.
62. After the war, the plane was used by the Hungarian Air Force.
Question: What warbird do I describe?
Clues:
1. It was designed as a fighter, but spent much of its life in another role.
2. Single engine.
3. Single seat.
4. Our subject aircraft was a development of a prior prototype aircraft.
5. A prototype aircraft not noted for being handsome or handy.
6. In fact, the first prototype crashed, killing its pilot, on its first flight.
7. Modifications were made and three more prototypes prepared.
8. The design of the fuselage featured a rather high seating position for the pilot, which was done to allow increased visibility.
9. Fairings were used to reduce resistance around the cockpit wherever possible.
10. The design of the fuselage was also specifically intended to allow construction by relatively unskilled workers.
11. The initial production versions largely followed the design of the prototypes.
12. The parent company of the manufacturer was located in a foreign country; and this was the first aircraft designed by the subsidiary.
13. The initial production run of the fighters were armed with a single machine gun located above the top wing.
14. Later versions were equipped with two machine guns located along the forward fuselage.
15. Although our subject aircraft was reasonably fast, had excellent flying characteristics and was quite maneuverable, most combat pilots preferred an available foreign design.
16. That preference largely related to some initial design flaws and teething problems. Most of these were corrected in later versions.
17. Nevertheless, our subject aircraft was slowly pushed into a role as a reconnaissance escort aircraft.
18. Several engines, of increasing horsepower, were used in our subject aircraft during its production run.
19. Some of these increases in power necessitated changes in the wing structure.
20. Despite the increasing power available, almost all of the production aircraft used a two bladed propeller.
21. Although a four bladed propeller was used for some aircraft.
22. A car type radiator was used.
23. This may explain persistent issues with overheating of the engine.
24. It was not uncommon for ground crew to simply remove the engine covers, to increase the airflow around the engine cylinders. Later aircraft had a reduced engine cover to produce the same effect.
25. Different, elongated radiators, fitted along the leading edge of the wing, were tried.
26. One of the early “teething issues” was the fuselage mounted machine guns being located too far forward, making it impossible to clear jams.
27. Another was caused by the use of several different sub-contractors producing the aircraft, in addition to the local firm which designed it.
28. Some of these contractors tended to use shortcuts when building the aircraft.
29. And those shortcuts caused the wings to fail; which did not induce confidence in the aircraft’s pilots.
30. That lack of confidence in the perhaps frail subject aircraft, by the pilots involved, made them prefer a more robust, foreign aircraft which was available.
31. Interestingly enough, a foreign aircraft noted for shedding its wings; particularly in the earlier models.
32. But such are the vagaries of life; and this and other early design and construction flaws doomed our subject aircraft to a secondary role; escorting aircraft doing recon work.
33. Nevertheless, the aircraft remained in production from mid-1917 until the end of the war.
34. It featured a rectangular shaped fuselage.
35. The wing was of basically orthodox structure; with a scalloped trailing edge, Spruce leading edges and spars, and steel tubes with internal wire bracing.
36. Although the curvature of the wing, and the somewhat longer trailing edges, were a bit unusual.
37. The wing’s design gave the plane a degree of stability without sacrificing maneuverability.
38. Only the upper wing was fitted with ailerons.
39. Engine power was increased incrementally from 185 HP to 225 HP.
40. Which required the wings be strengthened.
41. The machine gun interrupter mechanism proved to be problematic at certain engine speeds.
42. Which lead to some issues involving bullets and propellers coming together; which proved troublesome.
43. Top speed was better than 115 MPH, for even the lesser powered versions.
44. Operational ceiling exceeded 20,000 feet.
45. And endurance was around 2-1/2 hours.
46. Upper wingspan was just over 26 feet.
47. Lower wingspan was just under 26 feet.
48. Dry weight was a bit under 1,300 pounds.
49. Loaded, a bit under 1,900 pounds.
50. A man’s name is normally included in the name of our subject aircraft.
51. In order to distinguish it from a fighter produced by the parent company.
52. And, to honor the designer.
53. After the war, this aircraft was adopted by the services of at least three other countries.
54. During the war, one of our subject aircraft was forced down, undamaged, in enemy territory.
55. This gave enemy experts the opportunity to study it at leisure.
56. It was compared favorably with friendly (i.e., enemy) aircraft of the time.
57. It was shipped to London and put on display.
58. One of the designers was a professor and another a diplomat.
59. And it was he (the diplomat) for whom the plane was named.
60. The professor was highly placed within the “ruling class”.
61. And “some sources” claimed the professor helped with the wing design.
62. After the war, the plane was used by the Hungarian Air Force.
06-09-2019, 11:11 AM
Senior Member
My Feedback: (3)
Today's clue. Thanks; Ernie P.
Question: What warbird do I describe?
Clues:
1. It was designed as a fighter, but spent much of its life in another role.
2. Single engine.
3. Single seat.
4. Our subject aircraft was a development of a prior prototype aircraft.
5. A prototype aircraft not noted for being handsome or handy.
6. In fact, the first prototype crashed, killing its pilot, on its first flight.
7. Modifications were made and three more prototypes prepared.
8. The design of the fuselage featured a rather high seating position for the pilot, which was done to allow increased visibility.
9. Fairings were used to reduce resistance around the cockpit wherever possible.
10. The design of the fuselage was also specifically intended to allow construction by relatively unskilled workers.
11. The initial production versions largely followed the design of the prototypes.
12. The parent company of the manufacturer was located in a foreign country; and this was the first aircraft designed by the subsidiary.
13. The initial production run of the fighters were armed with a single machine gun located above the top wing.
14. Later versions were equipped with two machine guns located along the forward fuselage.
15. Although our subject aircraft was reasonably fast, had excellent flying characteristics and was quite maneuverable, most combat pilots preferred an available foreign design.
16. That preference largely related to some initial design flaws and teething problems. Most of these were corrected in later versions.
17. Nevertheless, our subject aircraft was slowly pushed into a role as a reconnaissance escort aircraft.
18. Several engines, of increasing horsepower, were used in our subject aircraft during its production run.
19. Some of these increases in power necessitated changes in the wing structure.
20. Despite the increasing power available, almost all of the production aircraft used a two bladed propeller.
21. Although a four bladed propeller was used for some aircraft.
22. A car type radiator was used.
23. This may explain persistent issues with overheating of the engine.
24. It was not uncommon for ground crew to simply remove the engine covers, to increase the airflow around the engine cylinders. Later aircraft had a reduced engine cover to produce the same effect.
25. Different, elongated radiators, fitted along the leading edge of the wing, were tried.
26. One of the early “teething issues” was the fuselage mounted machine guns being located too far forward, making it impossible to clear jams.
27. Another was caused by the use of several different sub-contractors producing the aircraft, in addition to the local firm which designed it.
28. Some of these contractors tended to use shortcuts when building the aircraft.
29. And those shortcuts caused the wings to fail; which did not induce confidence in the aircraft’s pilots.
30. That lack of confidence in the perhaps frail subject aircraft, by the pilots involved, made them prefer a more robust, foreign aircraft which was available.
31. Interestingly enough, a foreign aircraft noted for shedding its wings; particularly in the earlier models.
32. But such are the vagaries of life; and this and other early design and construction flaws doomed our subject aircraft to a secondary role; escorting aircraft doing recon work.
33. Nevertheless, the aircraft remained in production from mid-1917 until the end of the war.
34. It featured a rectangular shaped fuselage.
35. The wing was of basically orthodox structure; with a scalloped trailing edge, Spruce leading edges and spars, and steel tubes with internal wire bracing.
36. Although the curvature of the wing, and the somewhat longer trailing edges, were a bit unusual.
37. The wing’s design gave the plane a degree of stability without sacrificing maneuverability.
38. Only the upper wing was fitted with ailerons.
39. Engine power was increased incrementally from 185 HP to 225 HP.
40. Which required the wings be strengthened.
41. The machine gun interrupter mechanism proved to be problematic at certain engine speeds.
42. Which lead to some issues involving bullets and propellers coming together; which proved troublesome.
43. Top speed was better than 115 MPH, for even the lesser powered versions.
44. Operational ceiling exceeded 20,000 feet.
45. And endurance was around 2-1/2 hours.
46. Upper wingspan was just over 26 feet.
47. Lower wingspan was just under 26 feet.
48. Dry weight was a bit under 1,300 pounds.
49. Loaded, a bit under 1,900 pounds.
50. A man’s name is normally included in the name of our subject aircraft.
51. In order to distinguish it from a fighter produced by the parent company.
52. And, to honor the designer.
53. After the war, this aircraft was adopted by the services of at least three other countries.
54. During the war, one of our subject aircraft was forced down, undamaged, in enemy territory.
55. This gave enemy experts the opportunity to study it at leisure.
56. It was compared favorably with friendly (i.e., enemy) aircraft of the time.
57. It was shipped to London and put on display.
58. One of the designers was a professor and another a diplomat.
59. And it was he (the diplomat) for whom the plane was named.
60. The professor was highly placed within the “ruling class”.
61. And “some sources” claimed the professor helped with the wing design.
62. After the war, the plane was used by the Hungarian Air Force.
63. And the Royal Romanian Air Force.
Question: What warbird do I describe?
Clues:
1. It was designed as a fighter, but spent much of its life in another role.
2. Single engine.
3. Single seat.
4. Our subject aircraft was a development of a prior prototype aircraft.
5. A prototype aircraft not noted for being handsome or handy.
6. In fact, the first prototype crashed, killing its pilot, on its first flight.
7. Modifications were made and three more prototypes prepared.
8. The design of the fuselage featured a rather high seating position for the pilot, which was done to allow increased visibility.
9. Fairings were used to reduce resistance around the cockpit wherever possible.
10. The design of the fuselage was also specifically intended to allow construction by relatively unskilled workers.
11. The initial production versions largely followed the design of the prototypes.
12. The parent company of the manufacturer was located in a foreign country; and this was the first aircraft designed by the subsidiary.
13. The initial production run of the fighters were armed with a single machine gun located above the top wing.
14. Later versions were equipped with two machine guns located along the forward fuselage.
15. Although our subject aircraft was reasonably fast, had excellent flying characteristics and was quite maneuverable, most combat pilots preferred an available foreign design.
16. That preference largely related to some initial design flaws and teething problems. Most of these were corrected in later versions.
17. Nevertheless, our subject aircraft was slowly pushed into a role as a reconnaissance escort aircraft.
18. Several engines, of increasing horsepower, were used in our subject aircraft during its production run.
19. Some of these increases in power necessitated changes in the wing structure.
20. Despite the increasing power available, almost all of the production aircraft used a two bladed propeller.
21. Although a four bladed propeller was used for some aircraft.
22. A car type radiator was used.
23. This may explain persistent issues with overheating of the engine.
24. It was not uncommon for ground crew to simply remove the engine covers, to increase the airflow around the engine cylinders. Later aircraft had a reduced engine cover to produce the same effect.
25. Different, elongated radiators, fitted along the leading edge of the wing, were tried.
26. One of the early “teething issues” was the fuselage mounted machine guns being located too far forward, making it impossible to clear jams.
27. Another was caused by the use of several different sub-contractors producing the aircraft, in addition to the local firm which designed it.
28. Some of these contractors tended to use shortcuts when building the aircraft.
29. And those shortcuts caused the wings to fail; which did not induce confidence in the aircraft’s pilots.
30. That lack of confidence in the perhaps frail subject aircraft, by the pilots involved, made them prefer a more robust, foreign aircraft which was available.
31. Interestingly enough, a foreign aircraft noted for shedding its wings; particularly in the earlier models.
32. But such are the vagaries of life; and this and other early design and construction flaws doomed our subject aircraft to a secondary role; escorting aircraft doing recon work.
33. Nevertheless, the aircraft remained in production from mid-1917 until the end of the war.
34. It featured a rectangular shaped fuselage.
35. The wing was of basically orthodox structure; with a scalloped trailing edge, Spruce leading edges and spars, and steel tubes with internal wire bracing.
36. Although the curvature of the wing, and the somewhat longer trailing edges, were a bit unusual.
37. The wing’s design gave the plane a degree of stability without sacrificing maneuverability.
38. Only the upper wing was fitted with ailerons.
39. Engine power was increased incrementally from 185 HP to 225 HP.
40. Which required the wings be strengthened.
41. The machine gun interrupter mechanism proved to be problematic at certain engine speeds.
42. Which lead to some issues involving bullets and propellers coming together; which proved troublesome.
43. Top speed was better than 115 MPH, for even the lesser powered versions.
44. Operational ceiling exceeded 20,000 feet.
45. And endurance was around 2-1/2 hours.
46. Upper wingspan was just over 26 feet.
47. Lower wingspan was just under 26 feet.
48. Dry weight was a bit under 1,300 pounds.
49. Loaded, a bit under 1,900 pounds.
50. A man’s name is normally included in the name of our subject aircraft.
51. In order to distinguish it from a fighter produced by the parent company.
52. And, to honor the designer.
53. After the war, this aircraft was adopted by the services of at least three other countries.
54. During the war, one of our subject aircraft was forced down, undamaged, in enemy territory.
55. This gave enemy experts the opportunity to study it at leisure.
56. It was compared favorably with friendly (i.e., enemy) aircraft of the time.
57. It was shipped to London and put on display.
58. One of the designers was a professor and another a diplomat.
59. And it was he (the diplomat) for whom the plane was named.
60. The professor was highly placed within the “ruling class”.
61. And “some sources” claimed the professor helped with the wing design.
62. After the war, the plane was used by the Hungarian Air Force.
63. And the Royal Romanian Air Force.
06-10-2019, 05:32 AM
Senior Member
My Feedback: (3)
Morning clue. From here on out, any clues will have to be pretty much giveaways. Thanks; Ernie P.
Question: What warbird do I describe?
Clues:
1. It was designed as a fighter, but spent much of its life in another role.
2. Single engine.
3. Single seat.
4. Our subject aircraft was a development of a prior prototype aircraft.
5. A prototype aircraft not noted for being handsome or handy.
6. In fact, the first prototype crashed, killing its pilot, on its first flight.
7. Modifications were made and three more prototypes prepared.
8. The design of the fuselage featured a rather high seating position for the pilot, which was done to allow increased visibility.
9. Fairings were used to reduce resistance around the cockpit wherever possible.
10. The design of the fuselage was also specifically intended to allow construction by relatively unskilled workers.
11. The initial production versions largely followed the design of the prototypes.
12. The parent company of the manufacturer was located in a foreign country; and this was the first aircraft designed by the subsidiary.
13. The initial production run of the fighters were armed with a single machine gun located above the top wing.
14. Later versions were equipped with two machine guns located along the forward fuselage.
15. Although our subject aircraft was reasonably fast, had excellent flying characteristics and was quite maneuverable, most combat pilots preferred an available foreign design.
16. That preference largely related to some initial design flaws and teething problems. Most of these were corrected in later versions.
17. Nevertheless, our subject aircraft was slowly pushed into a role as a reconnaissance escort aircraft.
18. Several engines, of increasing horsepower, were used in our subject aircraft during its production run.
19. Some of these increases in power necessitated changes in the wing structure.
20. Despite the increasing power available, almost all of the production aircraft used a two bladed propeller.
21. Although a four bladed propeller was used for some aircraft.
22. A car type radiator was used.
23. This may explain persistent issues with overheating of the engine.
24. It was not uncommon for ground crew to simply remove the engine covers, to increase the airflow around the engine cylinders. Later aircraft had a reduced engine cover to produce the same effect.
25. Different, elongated radiators, fitted along the leading edge of the wing, were tried.
26. One of the early “teething issues” was the fuselage mounted machine guns being located too far forward, making it impossible to clear jams.
27. Another was caused by the use of several different sub-contractors producing the aircraft, in addition to the local firm which designed it.
28. Some of these contractors tended to use shortcuts when building the aircraft.
29. And those shortcuts caused the wings to fail; which did not induce confidence in the aircraft’s pilots.
30. That lack of confidence in the perhaps frail subject aircraft, by the pilots involved, made them prefer a more robust, foreign aircraft which was available.
31. Interestingly enough, a foreign aircraft noted for shedding its wings; particularly in the earlier models.
32. But such are the vagaries of life; and this and other early design and construction flaws doomed our subject aircraft to a secondary role; escorting aircraft doing recon work.
33. Nevertheless, the aircraft remained in production from mid-1917 until the end of the war.
34. It featured a rectangular shaped fuselage.
35. The wing was of basically orthodox structure; with a scalloped trailing edge, Spruce leading edges and spars, and steel tubes with internal wire bracing.
36. Although the curvature of the wing, and the somewhat longer trailing edges, were a bit unusual.
37. The wing’s design gave the plane a degree of stability without sacrificing maneuverability.
38. Only the upper wing was fitted with ailerons.
39. Engine power was increased incrementally from 185 HP to 225 HP.
40. Which required the wings be strengthened.
41. The machine gun interrupter mechanism proved to be problematic at certain engine speeds.
42. Which lead to some issues involving bullets and propellers coming together; which proved troublesome.
43. Top speed was better than 115 MPH, for even the lesser powered versions.
44. Operational ceiling exceeded 20,000 feet.
45. And endurance was around 2-1/2 hours.
46. Upper wingspan was just over 26 feet.
47. Lower wingspan was just under 26 feet.
48. Dry weight was a bit under 1,300 pounds.
49. Loaded, a bit under 1,900 pounds.
50. A man’s name is normally included in the name of our subject aircraft.
51. In order to distinguish it from a fighter produced by the parent company.
52. And, to honor the designer.
53. After the war, this aircraft was adopted by the services of at least three other countries.
54. During the war, one of our subject aircraft was forced down, undamaged, in enemy territory.
55. This gave enemy experts the opportunity to study it at leisure.
56. It was compared favorably with friendly (i.e., enemy) aircraft of the time.
57. It was shipped to London and put on display.
58. One of the designers was a professor and another a diplomat.
59. And it was he (the diplomat) for whom the plane was named.
60. The professor was highly placed within the “ruling class”.
61. And “some sources” claimed the professor helped with the wing design.
62. After the war, the plane was used by the Hungarian Air Force.
63. And the Royal Romanian Air Force.
64. And the Royal Yugoslav Air Force.
Question: What warbird do I describe?
Clues:
1. It was designed as a fighter, but spent much of its life in another role.
2. Single engine.
3. Single seat.
4. Our subject aircraft was a development of a prior prototype aircraft.
5. A prototype aircraft not noted for being handsome or handy.
6. In fact, the first prototype crashed, killing its pilot, on its first flight.
7. Modifications were made and three more prototypes prepared.
8. The design of the fuselage featured a rather high seating position for the pilot, which was done to allow increased visibility.
9. Fairings were used to reduce resistance around the cockpit wherever possible.
10. The design of the fuselage was also specifically intended to allow construction by relatively unskilled workers.
11. The initial production versions largely followed the design of the prototypes.
12. The parent company of the manufacturer was located in a foreign country; and this was the first aircraft designed by the subsidiary.
13. The initial production run of the fighters were armed with a single machine gun located above the top wing.
14. Later versions were equipped with two machine guns located along the forward fuselage.
15. Although our subject aircraft was reasonably fast, had excellent flying characteristics and was quite maneuverable, most combat pilots preferred an available foreign design.
16. That preference largely related to some initial design flaws and teething problems. Most of these were corrected in later versions.
17. Nevertheless, our subject aircraft was slowly pushed into a role as a reconnaissance escort aircraft.
18. Several engines, of increasing horsepower, were used in our subject aircraft during its production run.
19. Some of these increases in power necessitated changes in the wing structure.
20. Despite the increasing power available, almost all of the production aircraft used a two bladed propeller.
21. Although a four bladed propeller was used for some aircraft.
22. A car type radiator was used.
23. This may explain persistent issues with overheating of the engine.
24. It was not uncommon for ground crew to simply remove the engine covers, to increase the airflow around the engine cylinders. Later aircraft had a reduced engine cover to produce the same effect.
25. Different, elongated radiators, fitted along the leading edge of the wing, were tried.
26. One of the early “teething issues” was the fuselage mounted machine guns being located too far forward, making it impossible to clear jams.
27. Another was caused by the use of several different sub-contractors producing the aircraft, in addition to the local firm which designed it.
28. Some of these contractors tended to use shortcuts when building the aircraft.
29. And those shortcuts caused the wings to fail; which did not induce confidence in the aircraft’s pilots.
30. That lack of confidence in the perhaps frail subject aircraft, by the pilots involved, made them prefer a more robust, foreign aircraft which was available.
31. Interestingly enough, a foreign aircraft noted for shedding its wings; particularly in the earlier models.
32. But such are the vagaries of life; and this and other early design and construction flaws doomed our subject aircraft to a secondary role; escorting aircraft doing recon work.
33. Nevertheless, the aircraft remained in production from mid-1917 until the end of the war.
34. It featured a rectangular shaped fuselage.
35. The wing was of basically orthodox structure; with a scalloped trailing edge, Spruce leading edges and spars, and steel tubes with internal wire bracing.
36. Although the curvature of the wing, and the somewhat longer trailing edges, were a bit unusual.
37. The wing’s design gave the plane a degree of stability without sacrificing maneuverability.
38. Only the upper wing was fitted with ailerons.
39. Engine power was increased incrementally from 185 HP to 225 HP.
40. Which required the wings be strengthened.
41. The machine gun interrupter mechanism proved to be problematic at certain engine speeds.
42. Which lead to some issues involving bullets and propellers coming together; which proved troublesome.
43. Top speed was better than 115 MPH, for even the lesser powered versions.
44. Operational ceiling exceeded 20,000 feet.
45. And endurance was around 2-1/2 hours.
46. Upper wingspan was just over 26 feet.
47. Lower wingspan was just under 26 feet.
48. Dry weight was a bit under 1,300 pounds.
49. Loaded, a bit under 1,900 pounds.
50. A man’s name is normally included in the name of our subject aircraft.
51. In order to distinguish it from a fighter produced by the parent company.
52. And, to honor the designer.
53. After the war, this aircraft was adopted by the services of at least three other countries.
54. During the war, one of our subject aircraft was forced down, undamaged, in enemy territory.
55. This gave enemy experts the opportunity to study it at leisure.
56. It was compared favorably with friendly (i.e., enemy) aircraft of the time.
57. It was shipped to London and put on display.
58. One of the designers was a professor and another a diplomat.
59. And it was he (the diplomat) for whom the plane was named.
60. The professor was highly placed within the “ruling class”.
61. And “some sources” claimed the professor helped with the wing design.
62. After the war, the plane was used by the Hungarian Air Force.
63. And the Royal Romanian Air Force.
64. And the Royal Yugoslav Air Force.
06-10-2019, 07:24 PM
Senior Member
My Feedback: (3)
Evening clue. Thanks; Ernie P.
Question: What warbird do I describe?
Clues:
1. It was designed as a fighter, but spent much of its life in another role.
2. Single engine.
3. Single seat.
4. Our subject aircraft was a development of a prior prototype aircraft.
5. A prototype aircraft not noted for being handsome or handy.
6. In fact, the first prototype crashed, killing its pilot, on its first flight.
7. Modifications were made and three more prototypes prepared.
8. The design of the fuselage featured a rather high seating position for the pilot, which was done to allow increased visibility.
9. Fairings were used to reduce resistance around the cockpit wherever possible.
10. The design of the fuselage was also specifically intended to allow construction by relatively unskilled workers.
11. The initial production versions largely followed the design of the prototypes.
12. The parent company of the manufacturer was located in a foreign country; and this was the first aircraft designed by the subsidiary.
13. The initial production run of the fighters were armed with a single machine gun located above the top wing.
14. Later versions were equipped with two machine guns located along the forward fuselage.
15. Although our subject aircraft was reasonably fast, had excellent flying characteristics and was quite maneuverable, most combat pilots preferred an available foreign design.
16. That preference largely related to some initial design flaws and teething problems. Most of these were corrected in later versions.
17. Nevertheless, our subject aircraft was slowly pushed into a role as a reconnaissance escort aircraft.
18. Several engines, of increasing horsepower, were used in our subject aircraft during its production run.
19. Some of these increases in power necessitated changes in the wing structure.
20. Despite the increasing power available, almost all of the production aircraft used a two bladed propeller.
21. Although a four bladed propeller was used for some aircraft.
22. A car type radiator was used.
23. This may explain persistent issues with overheating of the engine.
24. It was not uncommon for ground crew to simply remove the engine covers, to increase the airflow around the engine cylinders. Later aircraft had a reduced engine cover to produce the same effect.
25. Different, elongated radiators, fitted along the leading edge of the wing, were tried.
26. One of the early “teething issues” was the fuselage mounted machine guns being located too far forward, making it impossible to clear jams.
27. Another was caused by the use of several different sub-contractors producing the aircraft, in addition to the local firm which designed it.
28. Some of these contractors tended to use shortcuts when building the aircraft.
29. And those shortcuts caused the wings to fail; which did not induce confidence in the aircraft’s pilots.
30. That lack of confidence in the perhaps frail subject aircraft, by the pilots involved, made them prefer a more robust, foreign aircraft which was available.
31. Interestingly enough, a foreign aircraft noted for shedding its wings; particularly in the earlier models.
32. But such are the vagaries of life; and this and other early design and construction flaws doomed our subject aircraft to a secondary role; escorting aircraft doing recon work.
33. Nevertheless, the aircraft remained in production from mid-1917 until the end of the war.
34. It featured a rectangular shaped fuselage.
35. The wing was of basically orthodox structure; with a scalloped trailing edge, Spruce leading edges and spars, and steel tubes with internal wire bracing.
36. Although the curvature of the wing, and the somewhat longer trailing edges, were a bit unusual.
37. The wing’s design gave the plane a degree of stability without sacrificing maneuverability.
38. Only the upper wing was fitted with ailerons.
39. Engine power was increased incrementally from 185 HP to 225 HP.
40. Which required the wings be strengthened.
41. The machine gun interrupter mechanism proved to be problematic at certain engine speeds.
42. Which lead to some issues involving bullets and propellers coming together; which proved troublesome.
43. Top speed was better than 115 MPH, for even the lesser powered versions.
44. Operational ceiling exceeded 20,000 feet.
45. And endurance was around 2-1/2 hours.
46. Upper wingspan was just over 26 feet.
47. Lower wingspan was just under 26 feet.
48. Dry weight was a bit under 1,300 pounds.
49. Loaded, a bit under 1,900 pounds.
50. A man’s name is normally included in the name of our subject aircraft.
51. In order to distinguish it from a fighter produced by the parent company.
52. And, to honor the designer.
53. After the war, this aircraft was adopted by the services of at least three other countries.
54. During the war, one of our subject aircraft was forced down, undamaged, in enemy territory.
55. This gave enemy experts the opportunity to study it at leisure.
56. It was compared favorably with friendly (i.e., enemy) aircraft of the time.
57. It was shipped to London and put on display.
58. One of the designers was a professor and another a diplomat.
59. And it was he (the diplomat) for whom the plane was named.
60. The professor was highly placed within the “ruling class”.
61. And “some sources” claimed the professor helped with the wing design.
62. After the war, the plane was used by the Hungarian Air Force.
63. And the Royal Romanian Air Force.
64. And the Royal Yugoslav Air Force.
65. The preceding three clues should give the answer.
Question: What warbird do I describe?
Clues:
1. It was designed as a fighter, but spent much of its life in another role.
2. Single engine.
3. Single seat.
4. Our subject aircraft was a development of a prior prototype aircraft.
5. A prototype aircraft not noted for being handsome or handy.
6. In fact, the first prototype crashed, killing its pilot, on its first flight.
7. Modifications were made and three more prototypes prepared.
8. The design of the fuselage featured a rather high seating position for the pilot, which was done to allow increased visibility.
9. Fairings were used to reduce resistance around the cockpit wherever possible.
10. The design of the fuselage was also specifically intended to allow construction by relatively unskilled workers.
11. The initial production versions largely followed the design of the prototypes.
12. The parent company of the manufacturer was located in a foreign country; and this was the first aircraft designed by the subsidiary.
13. The initial production run of the fighters were armed with a single machine gun located above the top wing.
14. Later versions were equipped with two machine guns located along the forward fuselage.
15. Although our subject aircraft was reasonably fast, had excellent flying characteristics and was quite maneuverable, most combat pilots preferred an available foreign design.
16. That preference largely related to some initial design flaws and teething problems. Most of these were corrected in later versions.
17. Nevertheless, our subject aircraft was slowly pushed into a role as a reconnaissance escort aircraft.
18. Several engines, of increasing horsepower, were used in our subject aircraft during its production run.
19. Some of these increases in power necessitated changes in the wing structure.
20. Despite the increasing power available, almost all of the production aircraft used a two bladed propeller.
21. Although a four bladed propeller was used for some aircraft.
22. A car type radiator was used.
23. This may explain persistent issues with overheating of the engine.
24. It was not uncommon for ground crew to simply remove the engine covers, to increase the airflow around the engine cylinders. Later aircraft had a reduced engine cover to produce the same effect.
25. Different, elongated radiators, fitted along the leading edge of the wing, were tried.
26. One of the early “teething issues” was the fuselage mounted machine guns being located too far forward, making it impossible to clear jams.
27. Another was caused by the use of several different sub-contractors producing the aircraft, in addition to the local firm which designed it.
28. Some of these contractors tended to use shortcuts when building the aircraft.
29. And those shortcuts caused the wings to fail; which did not induce confidence in the aircraft’s pilots.
30. That lack of confidence in the perhaps frail subject aircraft, by the pilots involved, made them prefer a more robust, foreign aircraft which was available.
31. Interestingly enough, a foreign aircraft noted for shedding its wings; particularly in the earlier models.
32. But such are the vagaries of life; and this and other early design and construction flaws doomed our subject aircraft to a secondary role; escorting aircraft doing recon work.
33. Nevertheless, the aircraft remained in production from mid-1917 until the end of the war.
34. It featured a rectangular shaped fuselage.
35. The wing was of basically orthodox structure; with a scalloped trailing edge, Spruce leading edges and spars, and steel tubes with internal wire bracing.
36. Although the curvature of the wing, and the somewhat longer trailing edges, were a bit unusual.
37. The wing’s design gave the plane a degree of stability without sacrificing maneuverability.
38. Only the upper wing was fitted with ailerons.
39. Engine power was increased incrementally from 185 HP to 225 HP.
40. Which required the wings be strengthened.
41. The machine gun interrupter mechanism proved to be problematic at certain engine speeds.
42. Which lead to some issues involving bullets and propellers coming together; which proved troublesome.
43. Top speed was better than 115 MPH, for even the lesser powered versions.
44. Operational ceiling exceeded 20,000 feet.
45. And endurance was around 2-1/2 hours.
46. Upper wingspan was just over 26 feet.
47. Lower wingspan was just under 26 feet.
48. Dry weight was a bit under 1,300 pounds.
49. Loaded, a bit under 1,900 pounds.
50. A man’s name is normally included in the name of our subject aircraft.
51. In order to distinguish it from a fighter produced by the parent company.
52. And, to honor the designer.
53. After the war, this aircraft was adopted by the services of at least three other countries.
54. During the war, one of our subject aircraft was forced down, undamaged, in enemy territory.
55. This gave enemy experts the opportunity to study it at leisure.
56. It was compared favorably with friendly (i.e., enemy) aircraft of the time.
57. It was shipped to London and put on display.
58. One of the designers was a professor and another a diplomat.
59. And it was he (the diplomat) for whom the plane was named.
60. The professor was highly placed within the “ruling class”.
61. And “some sources” claimed the professor helped with the wing design.
62. After the war, the plane was used by the Hungarian Air Force.
63. And the Royal Romanian Air Force.
64. And the Royal Yugoslav Air Force.
65. The preceding three clues should give the answer.
06-11-2019, 03:15 AM
Senior Member
My Feedback: (3)
Morning clue. Thanks; Ernie P.
Question: What warbird do I describe?
Clues:
1. It was designed as a fighter, but spent much of its life in another role.
2. Single engine.
3. Single seat.
4. Our subject aircraft was a development of a prior prototype aircraft.
5. A prototype aircraft not noted for being handsome or handy.
6. In fact, the first prototype crashed, killing its pilot, on its first flight.
7. Modifications were made and three more prototypes prepared.
8. The design of the fuselage featured a rather high seating position for the pilot, which was done to allow increased visibility.
9. Fairings were used to reduce resistance around the cockpit wherever possible.
10. The design of the fuselage was also specifically intended to allow construction by relatively unskilled workers.
11. The initial production versions largely followed the design of the prototypes.
12. The parent company of the manufacturer was located in a foreign country; and this was the first aircraft designed by the subsidiary.
13. The initial production run of the fighters were armed with a single machine gun located above the top wing.
14. Later versions were equipped with two machine guns located along the forward fuselage.
15. Although our subject aircraft was reasonably fast, had excellent flying characteristics and was quite maneuverable, most combat pilots preferred an available foreign design.
16. That preference largely related to some initial design flaws and teething problems. Most of these were corrected in later versions.
17. Nevertheless, our subject aircraft was slowly pushed into a role as a reconnaissance escort aircraft.
18. Several engines, of increasing horsepower, were used in our subject aircraft during its production run.
19. Some of these increases in power necessitated changes in the wing structure.
20. Despite the increasing power available, almost all of the production aircraft used a two bladed propeller.
21. Although a four bladed propeller was used for some aircraft.
22. A car type radiator was used.
23. This may explain persistent issues with overheating of the engine.
24. It was not uncommon for ground crew to simply remove the engine covers, to increase the airflow around the engine cylinders. Later aircraft had a reduced engine cover to produce the same effect.
25. Different, elongated radiators, fitted along the leading edge of the wing, were tried.
26. One of the early “teething issues” was the fuselage mounted machine guns being located too far forward, making it impossible to clear jams.
27. Another was caused by the use of several different sub-contractors producing the aircraft, in addition to the local firm which designed it.
28. Some of these contractors tended to use shortcuts when building the aircraft.
29. And those shortcuts caused the wings to fail; which did not induce confidence in the aircraft’s pilots.
30. That lack of confidence in the perhaps frail subject aircraft, by the pilots involved, made them prefer a more robust, foreign aircraft which was available.
31. Interestingly enough, a foreign aircraft noted for shedding its wings; particularly in the earlier models.
32. But such are the vagaries of life; and this and other early design and construction flaws doomed our subject aircraft to a secondary role; escorting aircraft doing recon work.
33. Nevertheless, the aircraft remained in production from mid-1917 until the end of the war.
34. It featured a rectangular shaped fuselage.
35. The wing was of basically orthodox structure; with a scalloped trailing edge, Spruce leading edges and spars, and steel tubes with internal wire bracing.
36. Although the curvature of the wing, and the somewhat longer trailing edges, were a bit unusual.
37. The wing’s design gave the plane a degree of stability without sacrificing maneuverability.
38. Only the upper wing was fitted with ailerons.
39. Engine power was increased incrementally from 185 HP to 225 HP.
40. Which required the wings be strengthened.
41. The machine gun interrupter mechanism proved to be problematic at certain engine speeds.
42. Which lead to some issues involving bullets and propellers coming together; which proved troublesome.
43. Top speed was better than 115 MPH, for even the lesser powered versions.
44. Operational ceiling exceeded 20,000 feet.
45. And endurance was around 2-1/2 hours.
46. Upper wingspan was just over 26 feet.
47. Lower wingspan was just under 26 feet.
48. Dry weight was a bit under 1,300 pounds.
49. Loaded, a bit under 1,900 pounds.
50. A man’s name is normally included in the name of our subject aircraft.
51. In order to distinguish it from a fighter produced by the parent company.
52. And, to honor the designer.
53. After the war, this aircraft was adopted by the services of at least three other countries.
54. During the war, one of our subject aircraft was forced down, undamaged, in enemy territory.
55. This gave enemy experts the opportunity to study it at leisure.
56. It was compared favorably with friendly (i.e., enemy) aircraft of the time.
57. It was shipped to London and put on display.
58. One of the designers was a professor and another a diplomat.
59. And it was he (the diplomat) for whom the plane was named.
60. The professor was highly placed within the “ruling class”.
61. And “some sources” claimed the professor helped with the wing design.
62. After the war, the plane was used by the Hungarian Air Force.
63. And the Royal Romanian Air Force.
64. And the Royal Yugoslav Air Force.
65. The preceding three clues should give the answer.
66. Our subject aircraft was the first fighter aircraft to be designed and produced “in house” by the owning country’s air service.
Question: What warbird do I describe?
Clues:
1. It was designed as a fighter, but spent much of its life in another role.
2. Single engine.
3. Single seat.
4. Our subject aircraft was a development of a prior prototype aircraft.
5. A prototype aircraft not noted for being handsome or handy.
6. In fact, the first prototype crashed, killing its pilot, on its first flight.
7. Modifications were made and three more prototypes prepared.
8. The design of the fuselage featured a rather high seating position for the pilot, which was done to allow increased visibility.
9. Fairings were used to reduce resistance around the cockpit wherever possible.
10. The design of the fuselage was also specifically intended to allow construction by relatively unskilled workers.
11. The initial production versions largely followed the design of the prototypes.
12. The parent company of the manufacturer was located in a foreign country; and this was the first aircraft designed by the subsidiary.
13. The initial production run of the fighters were armed with a single machine gun located above the top wing.
14. Later versions were equipped with two machine guns located along the forward fuselage.
15. Although our subject aircraft was reasonably fast, had excellent flying characteristics and was quite maneuverable, most combat pilots preferred an available foreign design.
16. That preference largely related to some initial design flaws and teething problems. Most of these were corrected in later versions.
17. Nevertheless, our subject aircraft was slowly pushed into a role as a reconnaissance escort aircraft.
18. Several engines, of increasing horsepower, were used in our subject aircraft during its production run.
19. Some of these increases in power necessitated changes in the wing structure.
20. Despite the increasing power available, almost all of the production aircraft used a two bladed propeller.
21. Although a four bladed propeller was used for some aircraft.
22. A car type radiator was used.
23. This may explain persistent issues with overheating of the engine.
24. It was not uncommon for ground crew to simply remove the engine covers, to increase the airflow around the engine cylinders. Later aircraft had a reduced engine cover to produce the same effect.
25. Different, elongated radiators, fitted along the leading edge of the wing, were tried.
26. One of the early “teething issues” was the fuselage mounted machine guns being located too far forward, making it impossible to clear jams.
27. Another was caused by the use of several different sub-contractors producing the aircraft, in addition to the local firm which designed it.
28. Some of these contractors tended to use shortcuts when building the aircraft.
29. And those shortcuts caused the wings to fail; which did not induce confidence in the aircraft’s pilots.
30. That lack of confidence in the perhaps frail subject aircraft, by the pilots involved, made them prefer a more robust, foreign aircraft which was available.
31. Interestingly enough, a foreign aircraft noted for shedding its wings; particularly in the earlier models.
32. But such are the vagaries of life; and this and other early design and construction flaws doomed our subject aircraft to a secondary role; escorting aircraft doing recon work.
33. Nevertheless, the aircraft remained in production from mid-1917 until the end of the war.
34. It featured a rectangular shaped fuselage.
35. The wing was of basically orthodox structure; with a scalloped trailing edge, Spruce leading edges and spars, and steel tubes with internal wire bracing.
36. Although the curvature of the wing, and the somewhat longer trailing edges, were a bit unusual.
37. The wing’s design gave the plane a degree of stability without sacrificing maneuverability.
38. Only the upper wing was fitted with ailerons.
39. Engine power was increased incrementally from 185 HP to 225 HP.
40. Which required the wings be strengthened.
41. The machine gun interrupter mechanism proved to be problematic at certain engine speeds.
42. Which lead to some issues involving bullets and propellers coming together; which proved troublesome.
43. Top speed was better than 115 MPH, for even the lesser powered versions.
44. Operational ceiling exceeded 20,000 feet.
45. And endurance was around 2-1/2 hours.
46. Upper wingspan was just over 26 feet.
47. Lower wingspan was just under 26 feet.
48. Dry weight was a bit under 1,300 pounds.
49. Loaded, a bit under 1,900 pounds.
50. A man’s name is normally included in the name of our subject aircraft.
51. In order to distinguish it from a fighter produced by the parent company.
52. And, to honor the designer.
53. After the war, this aircraft was adopted by the services of at least three other countries.
54. During the war, one of our subject aircraft was forced down, undamaged, in enemy territory.
55. This gave enemy experts the opportunity to study it at leisure.
56. It was compared favorably with friendly (i.e., enemy) aircraft of the time.
57. It was shipped to London and put on display.
58. One of the designers was a professor and another a diplomat.
59. And it was he (the diplomat) for whom the plane was named.
60. The professor was highly placed within the “ruling class”.
61. And “some sources” claimed the professor helped with the wing design.
62. After the war, the plane was used by the Hungarian Air Force.
63. And the Royal Romanian Air Force.
64. And the Royal Yugoslav Air Force.
65. The preceding three clues should give the answer.
66. Our subject aircraft was the first fighter aircraft to be designed and produced “in house” by the owning country’s air service.
06-11-2019, 03:13 PM
Senior Member
My Feedback: (3)
Right you are, Sir and congratulations. The Aviatik (Berg) D.I was a very good airplane; but by the time the bugs were ironed out, the pilots no longer trusted the plane. So, it was relegated to flying escort duty for observation aircraft. You are now up, Sir; so please post your question for us. Thanks; Ernie P.
Question: What warbird do I describe?
Clues:
1. It was designed as a fighter, but spent much of its life in another role.
2. Single engine.
3. Single seat.
4. Our subject aircraft was a development of a prior prototype aircraft.
5. A prototype aircraft not noted for being handsome or handy.
6. In fact, the first prototype crashed, killing its pilot, on its first flight.
7. Modifications were made and three more prototypes prepared.
8. The design of the fuselage featured a rather high seating position for the pilot, which was done to allow increased visibility.
9. Fairings were used to reduce resistance around the cockpit wherever possible.
10. The design of the fuselage was also specifically intended to allow construction by relatively unskilled workers.
11. The initial production versions largely followed the design of the prototypes.
12. The parent company of the manufacturer was located in a foreign country; and this was the first aircraft designed by the subsidiary.
13. The initial production run of the fighters were armed with a single machine gun located above the top wing.
14. Later versions were equipped with two machine guns located along the forward fuselage.
15. Although our subject aircraft was reasonably fast, had excellent flying characteristics and was quite maneuverable, most combat pilots preferred an available foreign design.
16. That preference largely related to some initial design flaws and teething problems. Most of these were corrected in later versions.
17. Nevertheless, our subject aircraft was slowly pushed into a role as a reconnaissance escort aircraft.
18. Several engines, of increasing horsepower, were used in our subject aircraft during its production run.
19. Some of these increases in power necessitated changes in the wing structure.
20. Despite the increasing power available, almost all of the production aircraft used a two bladed propeller.
21. Although a four bladed propeller was used for some aircraft.
22. A car type radiator was used.
23. This may explain persistent issues with overheating of the engine.
24. It was not uncommon for ground crew to simply remove the engine covers, to increase the airflow around the engine cylinders. Later aircraft had a reduced engine cover to produce the same effect.
25. Different, elongated radiators, fitted along the leading edge of the wing, were tried.
26. One of the early “teething issues” was the fuselage mounted machine guns being located too far forward, making it impossible to clear jams.
27. Another was caused by the use of several different sub-contractors producing the aircraft, in addition to the local firm which designed it.
28. Some of these contractors tended to use shortcuts when building the aircraft.
29. And those shortcuts caused the wings to fail; which did not induce confidence in the aircraft’s pilots.
30. That lack of confidence in the perhaps frail subject aircraft, by the pilots involved, made them prefer a more robust, foreign aircraft which was available.
31. Interestingly enough, a foreign aircraft noted for shedding its wings; particularly in the earlier models.
32. But such are the vagaries of life; and this and other early design and construction flaws doomed our subject aircraft to a secondary role; escorting aircraft doing recon work.
33. Nevertheless, the aircraft remained in production from mid-1917 until the end of the war.
34. It featured a rectangular shaped fuselage.
35. The wing was of basically orthodox structure; with a scalloped trailing edge, Spruce leading edges and spars, and steel tubes with internal wire bracing.
36. Although the curvature of the wing, and the somewhat longer trailing edges, were a bit unusual.
37. The wing’s design gave the plane a degree of stability without sacrificing maneuverability.
38. Only the upper wing was fitted with ailerons.
39. Engine power was increased incrementally from 185 HP to 225 HP.
40. Which required the wings be strengthened.
41. The machine gun interrupter mechanism proved to be problematic at certain engine speeds.
42. Which lead to some issues involving bullets and propellers coming together; which proved troublesome.
43. Top speed was better than 115 MPH, for even the lesser powered versions.
44. Operational ceiling exceeded 20,000 feet.
45. And endurance was around 2-1/2 hours.
46. Upper wingspan was just over 26 feet.
47. Lower wingspan was just under 26 feet.
48. Dry weight was a bit under 1,300 pounds.
49. Loaded, a bit under 1,900 pounds.
50. A man’s name is normally included in the name of our subject aircraft.
51. In order to distinguish it from a fighter produced by the parent company.
52. And, to honor the designer.
53. After the war, this aircraft was adopted by the services of at least three other countries.
54. During the war, one of our subject aircraft was forced down, undamaged, in enemy territory.
55. This gave enemy experts the opportunity to study it at leisure.
56. It was compared favorably with friendly (i.e., enemy) aircraft of the time.
57. It was shipped to London and put on display.
58. One of the designers was a professor and another a diplomat.
59. And it was he (the diplomat) for whom the plane was named.
60. The professor was highly placed within the “ruling class”.
61. And “some sources” claimed the professor helped with the wing design.
62. After the war, the plane was used by the Hungarian Air Force.
63. And the Royal Romanian Air Force.
64. And the Royal Yugoslav Air Force.
65. The preceding three clues should give the answer.
66. Our subject aircraft was the first fighter aircraft to be designed and produced “in house” by the owning country’s air service.
Answer: The Aviatik (Berg) D.I
The Aviatik (Berg) D.I, was a single-engine, single-seater biplane fighter that was developed and manufactured by the Austro-Hungarian branch of German aircraft company Aviatik. It was also known as Berg D.I or the Berg Fighter, because it was designed by Dipl. Ing. Julius von Berg, and to distinguish it from the D.I fighter built by the parent Aviatik firm in Germany. The D.I was the first locally designed fighter aircraft to be adopted into the Austro-Hungarian Air Service (Luftfahrtruppen). It was manufactured both in-house and under license by a number of subcontractors. In 1917, the D.I entered Austro-Hungarian service and saw active operations in the final years of the First World War; it was commonly used for aerial reconnaissance missions, as many fighter units continued to prefer using the German-built Albatros D.III conducting air superiority operations. Following the end of the conflict, it was adopted by the Hungarian Air Force, the Royal Romanian Air Force and the Royal Yugoslav Air Force.
The first flight of the prototype (30.14) occurred at Aspern on 16 October 1916; however, this test flight went badly, resulting in the death of the test pilot. In response, further modifications to the design were made and three additional prototypes were manufactured, labelled 30.19 (for tests on the ground), 30.20 (for in-flight tests) and 30.21 (as a reserve airframe). Construction of the additional test aircraft was completed during late 1916 and the test programme commenced during early 1917. During March 1917 30.21 suffered some damage during an eventful landing, however, it was quickly repaired and returned to the flight test programme. On the whole, the reports of test pilots who flew the prototypes were largely positive, which not only cleared the way for quantity production of the type to commence and for its adoption by the Austro-Hungarian Imperial and Royal Aviation Troops, which quickly placed multiple orders for the type. The first unit to receive production examples (with two synchronized Schwarzloses, on each side of the cylinders) of the D.I was Fluggeschwader I (FLG I, later to be renamed to Flik 101G) at Divača airfield on 15 May 1917. The prototypes had been largely representative of the initial production D.I aircraft, minor differences include the wings being fitted with greater stagger and the relocation of the aileron control cables. However, they did differ in terms of armament, the prototypes lacking any offensive weapons while production fighters were initially outfitted with a single unsynchronized Schwarzlose machine gun, located above the top wing to fire above the propeller. The Aviatik (Berg) D.I was a single-seat biplane fighter aircraft. The pilot sat within a high-mounted central position, providing him with a high level of visibility both below and above the upper wing; to enable this seating position, the design featured an uncommonly high decking, which was faired to offer minimal resistance where possible. Much of the design was shaped by the industrial circumstances of the Austro-Hungarian Empire; due to a lack of skilled labour, much of the airframe was as simplified as possible in order to make the type easier to manufacture and capable of being produced in relatively small facilities. The fuselage of the D.I was rectangular-shaped, composed of a single longeron set at each corner and spaced via bulkheads in the forward section of the fuselage, which provided a mounting point for the engine bearers. Additional reinforcement was provided in the form of tubular steel diagonal struts that ran along the sides of the fuselage between the bearer and the lower wing root. Aft of the cockpit, the bulkheads were dispensed with for lighter frames composed of spruce, which were strengthened by diagonal struts; no internal wire bracing was used throughout the structure, relying upon the external plywood panels for rigidity. The wings of the D.I used an orthodox structure for the time, composed of spruce spars and leading edges. Steel tubing was used for the compression members while wires were used for internal bracing. A wire-based trailing edge gave the wing a distinctive scalloped appearance. The single-piece upper wing was fixed to the fuselage using the W-shaped struts, while the lower wing was bolted directly onto the side of the lower fuselage. Unblanced ailerons were only fitted onto the upper wing; these were hinged onto false spars set within the framework of the wing and actuated via a projecting lever set into the wing itself. During its later service, the wings had to undergo strengthening in order to support the use of more powerful engines that were adopted during the type's production run. The D.I incorporated a relatively unconventional innovation in the form of an unusual aerofoil section. Specifically, the upper camber of the wing had a pronounced reflex curvature towards its trailing edge, while the maximum depth was further aft than was standard amongst contemporary fighter aircraft. To enable this unusual construction, the rear-portion of the ribs were somewhat thin and flexible, resulting the wing "giving" under sudden forces such as gusts of wind, but without losing equilibrium. According to Haddow, these features of the wing were attributable for the D.I's high level of stability, which allegedly did little to lessen or undermine its responsiveness to control inputs, as would normally be the case amongst typical aerodynamically stable fighters. Early production D.Is were powered by a single Austro-Daimler-built engine, capable of providing 185 hp; the majority of aircraft would be fitted with more powerful 200, 210, and 225 hp units instead. The adoption of the 225 hp engine proved to be too powerful for the airframe, requiring various changes to increase structural strength, particularly within the wing area. Regardless of the engine power, a standardised two-bladed Juray-built propeller was adopted, although an unusual four-bladed unit was used on a minority of aircraft in its place. The majority of aircraft were fitted with a car-type radiator mounted in the aircraft's nose; two different variants were used, a more common rounded-top model and a more angular flat-top unit. Alternatively, some D.Is were provided with a twin-block radiator mounted one above the other on the forward fuselage, which enabled a more streamlined nose to be adopted. Regardless of the version of the radiator used, cooling was a persistent issue suffered by the type. As a result, many D.Is would be flown with the engine cowling being completely removed by ground crews; a solution to the overheating issue was fitted on later-built aircraft in the form of a simple low-cut fringe cowl that kept the engine cylinders exposed and an elongated block radiator fixed onto the leading edge of the wing. The D.I was fitted with various armaments. It was initially armed with a single Schwarzlose machine gun, which was mounted onto braces set into the upper fuselage; this arrangement was clear of the propeller blades yet still allowed for easy in-flight access to the breach mechanism. Ammunition was stored in a drum within the fuselage decking and belt-fed to the gun via a purpose-built conduit. However, this arrangement was commonly judged to have been outmoded by the time that the D.I was entering service; accordingly, a new armament arrange was soon adopted. A twin Schewarzlose gun arrangement, which featured synchronization gear as to allow the rounds to pass directly between the propeller blades without striking them; however, the locally produced interrupter mechanism was found to be unreliable in service when the engine was ran at certain speeds. In spite of the issue, which made the guns prone to striking the propeller blades, this newer armament arrangement was rolled out. Further changes, including the guns being set further back, were also made late on into production. In many respects, the D.I was allegedly proved to have been good combat aircraft amongst its contemporaries. It was a reasonably fast aircraft, possessing excellent flying characteristics and maneuverability, and could reach higher altitudes than most of its adversaries. In addition, the D.I was provided with a roomy and comfortable cockpit which gave a good field of view. Despite those desirable features, the new Aviatik fighter wasn't greeted with enthusiasm when it entered service in autumn 1917, as the type also had some serious defects which didn't endear it to its pilots. The early aircraft had structural deficiencies and their machine guns were installed beyond the reach of the pilot so that when they jammed, there was nothing the pilot could do about it. These problems were later rectified with the strengthening of the airframe and the repositioning of the guns. While the original Aviatik D-I design by Julius von Berg was sound, the Series 115 aircraft license-produced by the Lohner firm at Wien-Floridsdorf were notorious for failures along the wing trailing edges in high speed maneuvers, as Lohner had deviated from Aviatik specifications by employing thinner, lighter wing ribs. The main cause of complaints was the engine's tendency to overheat far too easily. To alleviate these cooling problems, operational units tended to fly their aircraft without the engine's top panels and sometimes the side panels were also left off. The Austro-Hungarian aviation units used the D.I widely until the end of the First World War on Eastern, Italian and Balkan fronts, mainly as an escort for reconnaissance aircraft, as most of the fighter units preferred the Albatros D.III for air superiority. During 1918, a single D.I was forced down in an undamaged state on the Italian font; this undamaged example was later shipped back to the United Kingdom where it was subject to an extensive evaluation, which found it to be comparable to its various peers of the time, being particularly light, strong, and simplistic in terms of its construction. The captured aircraft was later put on public display in London. Data from Austro-Hungarian Army Aircraft of World War One, Jane's Vintage Aircraft Recognition Guide The O. Aviatik (Berg) D.I
General characteristics· Crew: 1· · Length: 6.86 m (22 ft 6 in) versions without car type radiator; 6.95 m (22.8 ft) with car-type radiator· · Upper wingspan: 8 m (26 ft 3 in)· · Lower wingspan: 7.89 m (25 ft 11 in)· · Height: 2.92 m (9 ft 7 in)· · Wing area: 20.3 m2 (219 sq ft)· · Empty weight: 580 kg (1,279 lb)· · Gross weight: 850 kg (1,874 lb)· · Powerplant: 1 × Austro-Daimler 185hp 6-cylinder water-cooled in-line piston engine, 138 kW (185 hp)· · Propellers: 2-bladed fixed-pitch wooden propeller, 2.75 m (9 ft 0 in) diameter
Performance· Maximum speed: 187 km/h (116 mph; 101 kn)· · Endurance: 2 hours 30 minutes· · Service ceiling: 6,150 m (20,180 ft)· · Time to altitude: 1,000 m (3,300 ft) in 2 minutes 18 seconds· 2,000 m (6,600 ft) in 8 minutes 4 seconds 3,000 m (9,800 ft) in 20 minutes 18 seconds
Armament· Guns: 2 × fixed 8 mm (0.315 in) Schwarzlose MG M.07/12 forward firing synchronised machine guns with 300 rpg
Question: What warbird do I describe?
Clues:
1. It was designed as a fighter, but spent much of its life in another role.
2. Single engine.
3. Single seat.
4. Our subject aircraft was a development of a prior prototype aircraft.
5. A prototype aircraft not noted for being handsome or handy.
6. In fact, the first prototype crashed, killing its pilot, on its first flight.
7. Modifications were made and three more prototypes prepared.
8. The design of the fuselage featured a rather high seating position for the pilot, which was done to allow increased visibility.
9. Fairings were used to reduce resistance around the cockpit wherever possible.
10. The design of the fuselage was also specifically intended to allow construction by relatively unskilled workers.
11. The initial production versions largely followed the design of the prototypes.
12. The parent company of the manufacturer was located in a foreign country; and this was the first aircraft designed by the subsidiary.
13. The initial production run of the fighters were armed with a single machine gun located above the top wing.
14. Later versions were equipped with two machine guns located along the forward fuselage.
15. Although our subject aircraft was reasonably fast, had excellent flying characteristics and was quite maneuverable, most combat pilots preferred an available foreign design.
16. That preference largely related to some initial design flaws and teething problems. Most of these were corrected in later versions.
17. Nevertheless, our subject aircraft was slowly pushed into a role as a reconnaissance escort aircraft.
18. Several engines, of increasing horsepower, were used in our subject aircraft during its production run.
19. Some of these increases in power necessitated changes in the wing structure.
20. Despite the increasing power available, almost all of the production aircraft used a two bladed propeller.
21. Although a four bladed propeller was used for some aircraft.
22. A car type radiator was used.
23. This may explain persistent issues with overheating of the engine.
24. It was not uncommon for ground crew to simply remove the engine covers, to increase the airflow around the engine cylinders. Later aircraft had a reduced engine cover to produce the same effect.
25. Different, elongated radiators, fitted along the leading edge of the wing, were tried.
26. One of the early “teething issues” was the fuselage mounted machine guns being located too far forward, making it impossible to clear jams.
27. Another was caused by the use of several different sub-contractors producing the aircraft, in addition to the local firm which designed it.
28. Some of these contractors tended to use shortcuts when building the aircraft.
29. And those shortcuts caused the wings to fail; which did not induce confidence in the aircraft’s pilots.
30. That lack of confidence in the perhaps frail subject aircraft, by the pilots involved, made them prefer a more robust, foreign aircraft which was available.
31. Interestingly enough, a foreign aircraft noted for shedding its wings; particularly in the earlier models.
32. But such are the vagaries of life; and this and other early design and construction flaws doomed our subject aircraft to a secondary role; escorting aircraft doing recon work.
33. Nevertheless, the aircraft remained in production from mid-1917 until the end of the war.
34. It featured a rectangular shaped fuselage.
35. The wing was of basically orthodox structure; with a scalloped trailing edge, Spruce leading edges and spars, and steel tubes with internal wire bracing.
36. Although the curvature of the wing, and the somewhat longer trailing edges, were a bit unusual.
37. The wing’s design gave the plane a degree of stability without sacrificing maneuverability.
38. Only the upper wing was fitted with ailerons.
39. Engine power was increased incrementally from 185 HP to 225 HP.
40. Which required the wings be strengthened.
41. The machine gun interrupter mechanism proved to be problematic at certain engine speeds.
42. Which lead to some issues involving bullets and propellers coming together; which proved troublesome.
43. Top speed was better than 115 MPH, for even the lesser powered versions.
44. Operational ceiling exceeded 20,000 feet.
45. And endurance was around 2-1/2 hours.
46. Upper wingspan was just over 26 feet.
47. Lower wingspan was just under 26 feet.
48. Dry weight was a bit under 1,300 pounds.
49. Loaded, a bit under 1,900 pounds.
50. A man’s name is normally included in the name of our subject aircraft.
51. In order to distinguish it from a fighter produced by the parent company.
52. And, to honor the designer.
53. After the war, this aircraft was adopted by the services of at least three other countries.
54. During the war, one of our subject aircraft was forced down, undamaged, in enemy territory.
55. This gave enemy experts the opportunity to study it at leisure.
56. It was compared favorably with friendly (i.e., enemy) aircraft of the time.
57. It was shipped to London and put on display.
58. One of the designers was a professor and another a diplomat.
59. And it was he (the diplomat) for whom the plane was named.
60. The professor was highly placed within the “ruling class”.
61. And “some sources” claimed the professor helped with the wing design.
62. After the war, the plane was used by the Hungarian Air Force.
63. And the Royal Romanian Air Force.
64. And the Royal Yugoslav Air Force.
65. The preceding three clues should give the answer.
66. Our subject aircraft was the first fighter aircraft to be designed and produced “in house” by the owning country’s air service.
Answer: The Aviatik (Berg) D.I
The Aviatik (Berg) D.I, was a single-engine, single-seater biplane fighter that was developed and manufactured by the Austro-Hungarian branch of German aircraft company Aviatik. It was also known as Berg D.I or the Berg Fighter, because it was designed by Dipl. Ing. Julius von Berg, and to distinguish it from the D.I fighter built by the parent Aviatik firm in Germany. The D.I was the first locally designed fighter aircraft to be adopted into the Austro-Hungarian Air Service (Luftfahrtruppen). It was manufactured both in-house and under license by a number of subcontractors. In 1917, the D.I entered Austro-Hungarian service and saw active operations in the final years of the First World War; it was commonly used for aerial reconnaissance missions, as many fighter units continued to prefer using the German-built Albatros D.III conducting air superiority operations. Following the end of the conflict, it was adopted by the Hungarian Air Force, the Royal Romanian Air Force and the Royal Yugoslav Air Force.
Development
Origins
The Aviatik (Berg) D.I has its origins within the experimental single-seater 30.14 aircraft. Work on this prototype had commenced during early 1916; aviation author George Haddow described this aircraft as being, in comparison to the later D.I, "ugly" and "cumbersome". However, it also shared many features with its subsequent production form, such as the similar wing design. It was claimed by some sources that Professor Richard Knoller, a high-profile figure within the Austro-Hungarian Empire, participated in the design of the 30.14s wing.The first flight of the prototype (30.14) occurred at Aspern on 16 October 1916; however, this test flight went badly, resulting in the death of the test pilot. In response, further modifications to the design were made and three additional prototypes were manufactured, labelled 30.19 (for tests on the ground), 30.20 (for in-flight tests) and 30.21 (as a reserve airframe). Construction of the additional test aircraft was completed during late 1916 and the test programme commenced during early 1917. During March 1917 30.21 suffered some damage during an eventful landing, however, it was quickly repaired and returned to the flight test programme. On the whole, the reports of test pilots who flew the prototypes were largely positive, which not only cleared the way for quantity production of the type to commence and for its adoption by the Austro-Hungarian Imperial and Royal Aviation Troops, which quickly placed multiple orders for the type. The first unit to receive production examples (with two synchronized Schwarzloses, on each side of the cylinders) of the D.I was Fluggeschwader I (FLG I, later to be renamed to Flik 101G) at Divača airfield on 15 May 1917. The prototypes had been largely representative of the initial production D.I aircraft, minor differences include the wings being fitted with greater stagger and the relocation of the aileron control cables. However, they did differ in terms of armament, the prototypes lacking any offensive weapons while production fighters were initially outfitted with a single unsynchronized Schwarzlose machine gun, located above the top wing to fire above the propeller.
Production
The D.I was manufactured both in-house and under license by a number of subcontractors. The Austrian branch of Aviatik was responsible for producing the 38, 138, 238 and 338 Series itself; all models were produced by external parties, including: · Lohner manufactured the 115 and 315 Series· · Lloyd manufactured the 48, 248 and 348 Series.· · MAG (Magyar Általános Gépgyár - General Hungarian Machine Works) manufactured the 84 and 92 Series· · Thöne und Fiala manufactured the 101 Series· · Wiener Karosserie Fabrik (WKF) (Vienna Coachwork Factory) manufactured the 184, 284 and 384 Series.· The numbers given to the different series were used to indicate various pieces of information; the first digit represented the manufacturer, the following number being used as a 'type number', which would be followed by a point and numbers to identify the individual fighters. The main differences between the different series was in the power of Austro-Daimler engines used (185 hp in the early production aircraft, 200 or 210 hp in the mid-production, and 225 hp in the last ones). Other key areas of change included the positioning of the machine guns, as well as various structural alterations and refinements to the radiator. By 31 October 1918, 677 Aviatik (Berg) D.I airframes of all batches had been handed over to the Austro-Hungarian Imperial and Royal Aviation Troops. The series 215 aircraft ordered from Lohner remained unbuilt.Design
Operational service
Specifications (D.I series 38)
General characteristics· Crew: 1· · Length: 6.86 m (22 ft 6 in) versions without car type radiator; 6.95 m (22.8 ft) with car-type radiator· · Upper wingspan: 8 m (26 ft 3 in)· · Lower wingspan: 7.89 m (25 ft 11 in)· · Height: 2.92 m (9 ft 7 in)· · Wing area: 20.3 m2 (219 sq ft)· · Empty weight: 580 kg (1,279 lb)· · Gross weight: 850 kg (1,874 lb)· · Powerplant: 1 × Austro-Daimler 185hp 6-cylinder water-cooled in-line piston engine, 138 kW (185 hp)· · Propellers: 2-bladed fixed-pitch wooden propeller, 2.75 m (9 ft 0 in) diameter
Performance· Maximum speed: 187 km/h (116 mph; 101 kn)· · Endurance: 2 hours 30 minutes· · Service ceiling: 6,150 m (20,180 ft)· · Time to altitude: 1,000 m (3,300 ft) in 2 minutes 18 seconds· 2,000 m (6,600 ft) in 8 minutes 4 seconds 3,000 m (9,800 ft) in 20 minutes 18 seconds
Armament· Guns: 2 × fixed 8 mm (0.315 in) Schwarzlose MG M.07/12 forward firing synchronised machine guns with 300 rpg
06-11-2019, 04:33 PM
I am going to change up things a bit with this quiz. I am looking for an airplane.
1. This aircraft was built by the producer of a famous fighter.
2. The subject aircraft was designed after the war the fighter served in.
3. The subject aircraft was designed in such away it could be sold to civilians as well as be attractive for military use.
1. This aircraft was built by the producer of a famous fighter.
2. The subject aircraft was designed after the war the fighter served in.
3. The subject aircraft was designed in such away it could be sold to civilians as well as be attractive for military use.
06-11-2019, 06:42 PM
Senior Member
My Feedback: (3)
I am going to change up things a bit with this quiz. I am looking for an airplane.
1. This aircraft was built by the producer of a famous fighter.
2. The subject aircraft was designed after the war the fighter served in.
3. The subject aircraft was designed in such away it could be sold to civilians as well as be attractive for military use.
1. This aircraft was built by the producer of a famous fighter.
2. The subject aircraft was designed after the war the fighter served in.
3. The subject aircraft was designed in such away it could be sold to civilians as well as be attractive for military use.
Answer: Fokker C.I, C.II, C.III and C.IV
The Fokker C.IV was a 1920s Dutch two-seat reconnaissance aircraft designed and built by Fokker.
Design and development
The C.IV was developed from the earlier C.I but it was a larger and more robust aircraft. The C.IV was designed as a reconnaissance biplane with a fixed tailwheel landing gear and was originally powered by the Napier Lion piston engine. It had a wider fuselage and wider track of the cross-axle landing gear than the C.I. Operational history
Examples of the C.IV were delivered to both the Dutch Army Air Corps (30 aircraft) and the Dutch East Indies Army (10 aircraft). It was also exported; the USSR bought 55 aircraft and the United States Army Air Service acquired eight. Twenty aircraft were licensed built in Spain by the Talleres Loring company for the Spanish Army's Aeronáutica Militar. After service as reconnaissance machines the aircraft were then operated as trainers into the 1930s. The last flying example of a C.IV is a C.IVa with a Rolls-Royce Eagle VIII engine, preserved at the Owls Head Transportation Museum in Owls Head, Maine. It was used in a trans-Pacific attempt in the late 1920s or early 1930s. Pilots Bob Wark and Eddie Brown took out the seats in the passenger compartment and installed a large fuel tank. They also put a small cockpit just in front of the vertical stabilizer with a hand-powered fuel pump inside. In flight, the crew member sitting there would transfer fuel to the main tank in the wing, where it would be fed by gravity into the engine. In this trans-Pacific attempt they planned not to go straight across the Pacific but up the West Coast of North America to Alaska and down the chain of Aleutian Islands, proceeding down the Chinese coast to Tokyo. They took off from Tacoma, Washington and started to head north, but made it only about 100 miles of the way to Vancouver, British Columbia when the engine vapor locked and forced a landing in a field. They had to dump most of their fuel to bring down the weight in order to take off from the field. When they got back in the air, they started heading for nearby Ladner Field, Vancouver to top off the tanks, but they crashed upon landing and decided to give up. They loaded the C.IV onto a Ford AA flatbed truck and brought it back to Washington State. It ended up in Ephrata, Washington, where it was kept outdoors and was eventually badly burned in a grass fire. It sat until 1970, when one of the museum's trustees found it and restored it and donated it to the museum. It flies to this very day.
06-11-2019, 07:45 PM
Not even in the ballpark Ernie but nice try. I am looking for an airplane.
1. This aircraft was built by the producer of a famous fighter.
2. The subject aircraft was designed after the war the fighter served in.
3. The subject aircraft was designed in such away it could be sold to civilians as well as be attractive for military use.
4. This aircraft shared a feature with the most popular variant of the famous fighter.
1. This aircraft was built by the producer of a famous fighter.
2. The subject aircraft was designed after the war the fighter served in.
3. The subject aircraft was designed in such away it could be sold to civilians as well as be attractive for military use.
4. This aircraft shared a feature with the most popular variant of the famous fighter.
06-13-2019, 12:59 PM
Any guesses guys? I am looking for an airplane.
1. This aircraft was built by the producer of a famous fighter.
2. The subject aircraft was designed after the war the fighter served in.
3. The subject aircraft was designed in such away it could be sold to civilians as well as be attractive for military use.
4. This aircraft shared a feature with the most popular variant of the famous fighter.
5. This aircraft was manufactured by the original company for the military and manufacture by multiple companies for civilian use.
6. The military version was only used by two countries.
1. This aircraft was built by the producer of a famous fighter.
2. The subject aircraft was designed after the war the fighter served in.
3. The subject aircraft was designed in such away it could be sold to civilians as well as be attractive for military use.
4. This aircraft shared a feature with the most popular variant of the famous fighter.
5. This aircraft was manufactured by the original company for the military and manufacture by multiple companies for civilian use.
6. The military version was only used by two countries.
06-13-2019, 07:27 PM
Your thinking is headed toward the right track but still no cigar. I am looking for an airplane.
1. This aircraft was built by the producer of a famous fighter.
2. The subject aircraft was designed after the war the fighter served in.
3. The subject aircraft was designed in such away it could be sold to civilians as well as be attractive for military use.
4. This aircraft shared a feature with the most popular variant of the famous fighter.
5. This aircraft was manufactured by the original company for the military and manufacture by multiple companies for civilian use.
6. The military version was only used by two countries.
7. The subject aircraft was designed more than decade before the DH Twin Otter.
1. This aircraft was built by the producer of a famous fighter.
2. The subject aircraft was designed after the war the fighter served in.
3. The subject aircraft was designed in such away it could be sold to civilians as well as be attractive for military use.
4. This aircraft shared a feature with the most popular variant of the famous fighter.
5. This aircraft was manufactured by the original company for the military and manufacture by multiple companies for civilian use.
6. The military version was only used by two countries.
7. The subject aircraft was designed more than decade before the DH Twin Otter.
06-14-2019, 05:16 AM
Morning clue time! I am looking for an airplane.
1. This aircraft was built by the producer of a famous fighter.
2. The subject aircraft was designed after the war the fighter served in.
3. The subject aircraft was designed in such away it could be sold to civilians as well as be attractive for military use.
4. This aircraft shared a feature with the most popular variant of the famous fighter.
5. This aircraft was manufactured by the original company for the military and manufacture by multiple companies for civilian use.
6. The military version was only used by two countries.
7. The subject aircraft was designed more than decade before the DH Twin Otter (Elmshoot's guess).
8. The airplane is an unarmed single engine mono-coupe.
9. The airplane is four seater.
1. This aircraft was built by the producer of a famous fighter.
2. The subject aircraft was designed after the war the fighter served in.
3. The subject aircraft was designed in such away it could be sold to civilians as well as be attractive for military use.
4. This aircraft shared a feature with the most popular variant of the famous fighter.
5. This aircraft was manufactured by the original company for the military and manufacture by multiple companies for civilian use.
6. The military version was only used by two countries.
7. The subject aircraft was designed more than decade before the DH Twin Otter (Elmshoot's guess).
8. The airplane is an unarmed single engine mono-coupe.
9. The airplane is four seater.