Hi there

According to http://www.constable.ca/levesque.htm,
Omer Levesque downed his Fw 190 on November 22 1941, but I found an interesting passage in Alfred Price's "Fw 190 At War":

"...Following the action on 18 September in which the commander of II.JG26, Hauptmann Walter Adolph, was killed, an official RAF report noted the destruction of '... a Curtiss Hawk (or Fw 190)...' Three days later, after an action fought round escorted Blenheim bombers attacking the power station at Gusnay near Bethune, the Polish-manned No 315 Squadron reported that its Spitfires had destroyed '... one unknown enemy aircraft with a radial engine...' Almost certainly this was a reference to a the Fw 190 flown by Leutnant Ulrich Dzialas of 8./JG26 who was shot down and killed that day."

Of course, there are no names given for the victorious Allied pilots... maybe it's a case of accessing the squadron records.

All the best

Rowan

Well, until someone steps up with the claim, my Omer is the one!

Hi Ollie

It looks like Walter Adolf was shot down by Cyril Babbage.

I couldn't find a reference to Fw 190 claims in the combat Alfred Price mentions as "3 days later", but 315 Sqn was in action on the 27th Sept and Sgt Chudek claimed an Fw 190 confirmed descroyed and another probable.

All the best

Rowan

Thanks, but I went by your article on www.modelingmadness.com about the Trumpeter Spit, which stated 410 :-)

As for Rowan's observation, and being a historian by trade, I'm inclined to defer this turn to him

Fire away Rowan!

Oh, then my finger slipped on that one!

Hi there

Well it was only by chance that I spotted the reference - one of the many beauties of this quiz for me is that it gives me an excuse to wade through my stash of old books that might otherwise sit on the shelf for ages.

Anyway, here's a question that will probably be far too easy:

What was the difference between RAF "Rhubarbs" and "Circuses" in WW2?

All the best

Rowan

First thing i found on the net.
The purpose of a "rhubarb" was to hit the enemy on the ground where it would inconvenience him the most. Hurricanes and Spitfires in pairs or larger formations struck into Nazi-occupied France and Belgium attacking railroads, munition factories, airfields, electric lines and gun posts.
The "circus" was a large formation of bombers and fighters which roared high across the Channel to strike at railroad junctions, airfields, or munitions plants. It had a twofold objective - to inflict damage upon the enemy's communications and industries, and to draw the Germans into the air where the fighter escort could engage it.
Andy

Yeah, what he said

Hi there

Yep! Sounds good to me. Over to you Andy.

Rowan

Thanks Rowan.
W.W.2 question for you now.
What was the most modern fighter the Norwegian Air Force had available with which to defend against the German invasion.
Andy

Hi everyone,

I'm going to guess the Gloster Gladiator?

Hi Andy

According to http://www.nuav.net/norwair1940.html, Norway had 6 "Curtiss Hawks" available.

All the best

Rowan

Correct Brain, it was the Gladiator. They did have some Curtiss Hawks but they were out of service and not operational at the time of the invasion.
Andy

Hi everyone,

Here is plane I had never seen or heard of before. It has the nose of an F-20, twin engines and the wings and body similar to an F-16 or 18. The canopy and tail have french influence. 130 of these have been delivered and fly operationally.
Guess who?

Ching-kuo Indigenous Defense Fighter

From Federation of American Scientists (www.fas.org):

"The project consisted of four sub-projects. They were the Ying-yang project (in cooperation with General Dynamics Corporation) which made the air-frame; the Yun-han project (in cooperation with Hughes Corporation), which designed the engine; the Tian-lei project (in cooperation with Westinghouse Company), which took care of the avionics system; and the Tian-chien project, which developed the weapons system.

"The twin-engine IDF is similar to the F-16 except that it is slightly smaller and has a slightly shorter range. The IDF is a hybrid as far as its external appearance is concerned. The nose of the fighter jet is a replica of the F-20A Tigershark, while ts body, wings, and vertical tail surface are apparently lifted from the F-16, and the shape of its cockpit hood and vertical tail wing and its girth near the engine inlets have a notable French flavor.

"The IDF is superior to the F-5E in airborne performance. The IDF accelerates better than the F-104 and its turning radius is smaller than that of the F-5. The aircraft, equipped with four Sidewinder missiles, but without spare fuel tanks, has a combat endurance of three minutes on afterburner and a combat radius of between 70 and 90 nautical miles. With a combat radius of 600 nautical miles while carrying out armed reconnaissance and patrol missions, the IDF is capable of conducting preemptive raids and strikes at airports along the Chinese coast. It is mainly used in combat for air control and is capable of using "Hsiung Feng"-II missiles to attack targets at sea. Most of the IDFs are expected to be armed with the indigenously-produced, BVR Tien Chien-II (Sky Sword-II) ARAAM."


Do I get a lollipop? :-)

Hi Mike,

You nailed that in a heartbeat. You did forget to mention its used by Taiwan only :-) :-) :-) :-) :-)
Well done and here is your present.



Brian

:-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-)

Touche'. I wanna red one, and a blue one . . . . .:-)


Digging in the dreary recesses of my mind and . . . .

The first iteration of teardrop fin/rudder on Spitfires was developed originally for this mark of Spit.

And remember to phrase your answer in the form of a question - after all, this is Jeopardy bwahahahahahaha!

C'mon, this one isn't that hard . . . . I hope

What is the Mk VII ?

it's like the punch line about the three pieces of string that go into a bar - frayed knot

Hi Mike

I think I can see a frayed knot coming, but I've got a pic of the Griffon-powered DP845 in the spring/summer of 1942 with the pointed tail - originally built as a Mk IV and converted to be the prototype Mk. XII. Is that the answer?

All the best

Rowan

The Mk. XII is correct. Even though the Mk. VIII is often cited as the source of that configuration, the concept was introduced on DP845 when it was adapted into the Mk. XII prototype.

So, children, when you see one of those late mark Mk. IX's or Mk. XVI's, you can be swave and deboner and say: "Well, that's got a Mk. XII fin and rudder . . . ."

You have the conn.

Hi Mike

Eeek! B*gger me! I actually have waded through all my Spit refs for that one! I honestly thought it was a trick question and it'd turn out to be the Mk. IX :-) :-)

Totally caught off guard, I'll go and try to dig out a question...

All the best

Rowan

Hi again

OK, one for our picture anylists. In December 1944 a rather unexpected prize flew into Allied hands... can anyone identify it?:



All the best

Rowan

You brute, you brute you brute


Okay, I'm gonna figure this one out . .. . somehow LOL