Ok, I'm gonna give this one a go - What is a Zlin XII?

Hi Mike!

Welcome to the "World of Improbable Planes" of Merlin! :-) Some magic powder and you have to find a plane that was only produced once in an obscur basement by semi fanatic engineers under drugs! :-) Good luck finding this one... I already lost half my brain cells on the previous ones a few month ago... remember the Supermarine Air Yacht Rowan!

By the way... it looks like a Fokker!

Jean-Luc

Hi Jean Luc!

Rowan had better be glad I didn't ask a question about Spitfire-towed fuel wings :-) :-) :-) :-).

After some thought, I think my Zlin XII answer was probably off, but I've googled Gotha, Klemm, Arado, Hungarian civil aircraft (the letter code is Hungarian), Bucker, Aero, deHavilland, Percival, Miles, Airspeed, Letov, Avia, Messerschmitt, Focke-Wulf, Nardi, Weiss, Caproni, Piaggion, Macchi and just about every manufacturer of similar-type a/c I could find.

I think I'll go home and cry in my beer now

Hi Rowan,is it a Arado Ar.96
Andy

Hi Guys

I must admit this is a bit of a rare one - but Mike is quite right... it is (or was) a Hungarian aircraft. Apparently, when it was flown into Allied hands, the ATI guys had to resort to a copy of Jane's All The World's Aircraft to identify what they'd got! :-)

I'll give you the answer tomorrow if no-one's found it by then.

All the best

Rowan

Hi again

OK - time's up... I'll put you all out of your misery! :-) :-)

I know the answer was really on the tip of all your tongue's - the mystery aircraft was a Muegyetemi Sportrepulo Egyesulet (MSE) M-24.Apparently, it was flown to the Italian Adriatic town of Tortoreto by a Hungarian test-pilot and a Polish workman on 11 Dec 1944! That's something that'll always be a useful topic of conversation at cocktail parties. :-)

I won't torture you the same way with the next question:

Which German prototype bomber was jokingly called "the flying power-station" because it carried so many electrical systems?

All the best

Rowan

LOL! :-)

I said it was something build by fanatic engineers under drugs! Hungarian ones Hmmm... :-)

Jean-Luc

A what , i can't even type it, let alone say it



FW 191 V1

Andy

Oh, THAT MSE M-24. I should have known . . . . . . . . :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-)

Nice one Andy

It was indeed the Fw 191. It would make a good-looking entry for the "Bombs Away" campaign...

Over to you for the next question.

All the best

Rowan

Thanks Rowan.
My question is, In FAA (Fleet Air Arm) service, an Avenger was not always an Avenger. The British tried to put a new name to the the TBF but with little success. In the end, the American name prevailed. Which was that little-known designation?
Andy

The FAA called the TBF the Tarpon.

David

Correct David, Avenger does sound a lot better than Tarpon :-)
Thanks Andy

Which three aircraft have carried out flex deck landings? The aircraft had no undercarriage and landed on an inflatable rubber deck.

David

Great question David!


The Republic F-84G, the deHavilland Vampire and the Grumman F9F-7 .

From an interesting little google search:

The USAF used an F-84G and a "runway" made by GE
that was a lot like the British Flexdeck ( http://yarchive.net/mil/no_wheel_landing_research.html )


The British system, which was up and working at Farnborough using a
Vampire, was used by the Navy test pilots as an introduction to the
flexdeck.

"The procedure at Farnborough was straightforward. One dry run was
made with hook up in the up position over the flexdeck at an approach
speed of about 90 knots. The hook was then lowered, and in a straight
away of about 3,000 feet a 10-deg glide slope was established aimed at
the center of the flexdeck. Engagement was evdcent by the pitching
down and rapid deceleration of the airplane followed by several
relatively mild impacts and about a dozen bounces until the airplane
halted, all in some 100 feet. It was a little like being dribbled by
Wilt Chamberlain. (http://yarchive.net/mil/no_wheel_landing_research.html)

A pair of F9F-7s took part in a very interesting experiment in 1954.
This was the evaluation of the feasibility of landing wheels-up on an
inflated rubber mat, or "flexdeck" as it came to be known. The basic
idea behind flexdeck was that aircraft equipped to land on such a
surface could dispense with the weight and complexity of a retractable
undercarriage. Referred to as Design 94A by the company, the project
involved the modification of F9F-7 BuNos 130862 and 130863. A false
bottom was added underneath the center fuselage and the aircraft were
re-engined with J48-P-8 engines. The leading edge slats were bolted
permanently in the down position and the center flap section was
locked shut. The first wheels up arrested landing took place on an
inflated mat at NATC Patuxent River, Maryland on February 18, 1955.
The tests proved that such landings could be performed safely and
reliably. However, the Navy concluded that the basic idea was
impractical, since aircraft without undercarriage could not divert to
airfields or carriers that did not have flexdeck. The project was
finally terminated in March of 1956. (http://home.att.net/~jbaugher1/f9_10.html)

Thanks Mike

You got it right. I only recently found out about the USAF involvement, in this failed british concept.

David

Okay, here goes:

Besides the various internal system and mounting changes, one visual cue distinguishes the versions of the Martin-Baker seat used in the F-14A Tomcat and the A-6E Intruder.

Don't forget, contestants, to phrase your answer in the form of a question :-) :-) :-)

Hi Mike

In pics on the ejection site it looks like the Intruder's GRU-7EA seat has one firing big handle on the headrest, while the Tomcat's GRU-7A has two smaller ones.

Is that the answer?

All the best

Rowan

Yep :-)

I gotta start buying some Hungarian a/c reference books.

Cheers Mike

It was just lucky I remembered the link from a review a while back.

Her's a two-part question:

Name this experimental aircraft design:



and name the famous aircraft that used the data obtained with it.

And don't worry - it's not Hungarian! LOL! :-)

All the best

Rowan

No ideas yet? It's pretty easy really!

I'll post the answer tomorrow if no-one's come up with it.

All the best

Rowan

Hi- just a guess here, but is it the Short SC1 VSTOL which led to the Harrier?
MC

Hi Rowan!

It's a DFS 40 Delta V, one of Lippisch's early projects. The first in fact to be motorized. The datas were used for the glider prototype version of the Me 163 Komet.
Answer courtesy of the web...

Jean-Luc

Hi Jean-Luc

Spot on! The question was courtesy of my tattered old copy of Putnams "German Aircraft of the Second World War" - one of the first refs I ever bought as a teenager (so long ago, I think they'd just invented the printing-press!). :-)

Over to you for the next one...

All the best

Rowan

Hi all!

I decided to search in one of my older books too... as it's "vintage" time at the moment at Armorama
The picture below comes from a book I bought around 1981 (I was 14 years old). The book was written by Robert Grinsell and had incredible artwork and drawings by Rikyu Watanabe.



Identify the plane in the background, Identify the pilot it belongs to and identify the car. As it is a well know picture, I suppose you won't need some help from the net this time!

Jean-Luc