Apophenia's Offerings

[apophenia]

An AN/APQ-126 might be doable.

Nice! And, going by YA-7D development, should be available around 1968?

[GTX_Admin]

Nice! And, going by YA-7D development, should be available around 1968?

Yep.

[apophenia]

M.A.D asked me to do a whif night fighter derivative of the Grumman F9F-8T 2-seater for carrier use by the RAN's FAA. (Hope that you like it, Rob.)

He chose the pre-1961 markings of 805 Squadron - a sawtooth pattern in red and white. Those colours were worn on 805 Sea Venom tip tanks. Since the F9F-8 didn't have tip tanks, the sawtooth markings were moved to the drop tanks. Other RW markings were moved about to suit the Cougar's rather unique body shape. This included overlapping 'NAVY' on both the upper Extra Dark Sea Grey and lower Sky surfaces.

The most liberties were taken with the individual aircraft number - with '801' rendered in white on the upper surface as well as being moved from the main undercarriage covers forward to the nose gear cover. I also added a national flag to the vertical fin ... just for a bit of extra colour.

[Old Wombat]

The Cougar looks odd with that double-bubble.


Whilst the single-bubble looks elegant dressed in a 1950's inspired high-demarcation EDSG-over-Sky scheme.




 

[GTX_Admin]

 

[apophenia]

... Whilst the single-bubble looks elegant dressed in a 1950's inspired high-demarcation EDSG-over-Sky scheme.

Nice! I much prefer this Sky-up-on-the-spine demarcation. I wish I'd thought of that!

The Cougar looks odd with that double-bubble...

It does indeed. The basis for this was the F9F-8T trainer but then the radome from F4D-1 Skyray's radar set was grafted on. Of necessity, the curve of the F9F-8T's lower fuselage is largely eliminated to accommodate the larger diameter of thatAN/APQ-50 radome.

M.A.D didn't tell me his overall plan for this Cougar night fighter within his alternative orbat. I doubt that it will match his thinking but I'm imagining something like the following:

N4 = Grumman (CAC) Cougar F(AW) Mk.48 (aka F9F-8NF) [1]
- N4(NF) = Cougar shipbard all-weather/night fighter
-- Armament = Up to 4 x AAM-N-7 Sidewinder IA missiles; and

N6 = Grumman (CAC) Cougar trainer (aka F9F-8T and F9F-8NF)
- N6(T) == Cougar pilot trainer (based on Grumman F9F-8T)
- N6(NF) = Cougar radar-operator trainer (based on Grumman F9F-8NF)
- N6(TT) = Cougar target tug; surplus N6(T) conversions with Delmar target kit

I could see elements of this fleet outlasting the RW Sea Venoms and Vampire T.34 trainers. For example, after retirement from shipboard operations, I can imagine a few lower-hour Cougars being moved into a land-based spoofing role to keep RAN air defence operators on their toes.

Anyway, I guess will know for sure when M.A.D publishes his orbat.
_____________________________________________

[1] I wanted a British-sounding designation so I made up F(AW) Mk.48. The '4' came from N4 - the RW Sea Venom code - and the '8' from F9F-8, of course.

[Litvyak]

... Whilst the single-bubble looks elegant dressed in a 1950's inspired high-demarcation EDSG-over-Sky scheme.

Nice! I much prefer this Sky-up-on-the-spine demarcation. I wish I'd thought of that!

I really like both, but my vote is for the line lower down, just because I like EDSG as a colour. :)

[apophenia]

Inspired by Robomog's build based on Tophe's original concept, I've spun off on my own.
-- https://beyondthesprues.com/Forum/index.php?PHPSESSID=780018ed97a037113eecbec10ba52bc4&topic=11235.msg222703

Now that 'Mog has done the hard-graft in styrene, I get to push the pieces around in pixels 

Basically, I've shifted the fuselage pod forward to simplify its nose gear installation. I've also shortened that pod, pushing the rear engine forward. The cockpit has also been relocated (more on that later).

I've changed the main gear to now being rearward-retracting. That provides room in extended boom noses for armament - I'm imagining something like twin 37 mm COW guns (which Tophe most certainly would not approve of!). Since the main gear has been removed from the inboard wing panels, that space is now available for fuel (hence the ability to remove the Spit's main fuselage tank and push the cockpit forward).

Detail-y stuff is moving the foremost Merlin's carburettor intake to the port side (smoothing air flow for the rear intake which remains on the starboard side); increasing the horizontal tail span; substituting a bubble canopy; etc.

[Robomog]

Brilliant adaption, really  nice. 

I think Tophe would like this. Two adaptions from one of his idea's 

(but maybe not the cannon  )

Mog
>^-.-^<

[apophenia]

Cheers 'Mog.

Tophe would definitely have appreciated seeing evolutions springing from his original concepts. (Though, as you say, not the added weaponry!)

[apophenia]

I'm clearing out stalled US project whifs. One was Kerick's September 2022 suggestion for a Boeing 757-based medium bomber
-- https://beyondthesprues.com/Forum/index.php?topic=10484.msg201491#msg201491

My starting point was Scott Norebbo's excellent 757-200PF freighter blank:
-- https://www.norebbo.com/boeing-757-200-blank-illustration-templates/

And my bomber variation will also remain a 'blank' for now (not currently being in the mood to apply USAF markings).

________________________________________________________

Backstory - Boeing BC-32D Scorekeeper

Knowing that Boeing was struggling to keep the 757 production line going in the late 1990s, Washington encouraged the USAF Low-Intensity Warfare (LIW) study programme. One branch of LIW focused on possible roles for the B757 airframe. In part, this sprang from the acceptance of four Boeing 757-2G4s as C-37A VIP transports (with the first delivery in late June 1998). All LIW 757 studies were powered by twin 40,100 lbf F117-PW-200 (PW2000-40) turbofans (for a degree of commonality with the C-17A Globemaster III airlifter.

Unrelated to LIW studies was the 45-seat C-32B Gatekeeper airlifter. Although USAF (or ANG) operated, the C-32Bs flew clandestine US Government Gate Keeper (GK) missions for State Department Foreign Emergency Support Teams. Development of the C-32B was finalized in 1998 but funding was not made available until the FY2001 USAF budget. Meanwhile, Boeing had already received a go-ahead on two other LIW-related 757 projects. The first was a crew familiarization trainer which could also be flown on cargo support missions - these modified ex-airline aircraft would emerge as the KC-32C Beekeepers (BK).

Also projected was a 'blacker' project code-named Scorekeeper (SK) - aka LIWIMB (Low-Intensity Warfare - Interim Medium Bomber). Surrounded by much speculation, it turned out that the BC-32D Scorekeeper was a relatively low-performance bomber based on the 757's wings, tailplane, powerplants, and main undercarriage. The fuselage, however, was completely changed. Of smaller diameter (with an egg-shaped section), only the nose section was pressurized. In order to simplify crew training, that nose section was closely based upon the crew stations and sensors from the Rockwell B-1B Lancer strategic bomber.

Directly aft of the BC-32D's nose section was a 15 feet (4.572 m) long forward bomb bay - sized to match that of the Rockwell B-1B (including its rotary launcher). Aft of this, beneath the wings, was an equipment bay and main undercarriage wheel stowage. Behind the wings was the rear bomb bay - 21 feet (6.40 m) long to allow for Boeing's planned Massive Ordnance Penetrator (a 14 ton bunker-buster which later entered USAF service as the GBU-57A/B MOP). As such, the BC-32D's maximum bomb load was to be approximately 2/3rds that of the B-1B Lancer.

The Scorekeeper LIWIMB was interspersed with 757-200s on the Renton production line with first BC-32D deliveries to the USAF in the Summer of 2001. Although designed with operation over countries like Somalia in mind, the BC-32D proved ideal for the bombing campaign of Operation Enduring Freedom against the Taliban's Afghanistan. By the end of Oct 2001, a flight of four BC-32Ds were operating from Al Udeid AB in Qatar. More Scorekeepers would follow for deployment to the Persian Gulf and OEF.

A further outcome of the Low-Intensity Warfare study was the so-called Peacekeeper (PK) project which culminated in the C-32E Peacekeeper - a self-unloading pallet freighter derivative of the 757-200 series - but that is another story ...

[GTX_Admin]

 

[Kerick]

That’s cool! Now I have to find a 757 and a B-1 in the same scale!

[Jeffry Fontaine]

That’s cool! Now I have to find a 757 and a B-1 in the same scale!

I think you will find both subjects available in 1/144th scale.

[GTX_Admin]

That’s cool! Now I have to find a 757 and a B-1 in the same scale!

I think you will find both subjects available in 1/144th scale.

And possibly 1/72

[apophenia]

And possibly 1/72

Hey, everyone, lookee ... Greg is recommending 1/72!!   

___________________________________________________

The Rat was previously considering whif markings for his Heller M.S.406 and I had suggested Polish.
-- https://beyondthesprues.com/Forum/index.php?topic=11295.msg225031#msg225031

So, I decided to do some quicky profile retouchs in 1939 Polish markings ...

Bottom: This Morane-Saulnier M.S.406 was the first of the French deliveries. It arrived in early July 1939 and was used for tests by the Brygada Pościgowa's trials unit at Lublin. On 01 Sept, this aircraft was quickly transferred to the 121. eskadra myśliwska based at Kraków for operational use. The French individual aircraft number on its rudder has been over-painted and  squadron number '4' applied to the rear fuselage.

Note that this M.S.406 was lacking some of its equipment - lacking a radio and reflector gunsight while being armed with a third wz.33 7,9 mm machine gun in place of the French motor-canon.

Top: This Morane-Saulnier M.S.406 of the 111 eskadra myśliwska has been partially repainted in the 1939 Polish camouflage pattern. The scheme is późny khaki (late khaki) over couleur olive (substituting for oliwkowy). The positioning of Polish national markings has also been corrected.

Note that 'biały 3' is fully armed with an H.S.404 motor-gun and twin wz.33 wing guns. No reflector sight was supplied but this fighter has been equipped with a Polish radio-transmitter set.

[Old Wombat]

And possibly 1/72

Hey, everyone, lookee ... Greg is recommending 1/72!!   

Only because they don't make 757s in 1/48 (a.k.a. Gods' Own Scale).

[GTX_Admin]

And possibly 1/72

Hey, everyone, lookee ... Greg is recommending 1/72!!   

You take that back!  You take that back right now!!

[GTX_Admin]

And possibly 1/72

Hey, everyone, lookee ... Greg is recommending 1/72!!   

Only because they don't make 757s in 1/48 (a.k.a. Gods' Own Scale).

Exactly.  Good man.

[apophenia]

Dunno why but I love WW2 French too-little-too-late prototypes and projects. Anyway, blame The Rat for his Heller MS.406 kit awaking my obsession with revising Morane Saulnier's mutt of a fighter...

Here, I'm playing with the Morane Saulnier MS.540 C1 fighter concept. MS.540 was a factory designation for an improved fighter for Doflug (with the Swiss military designation D-3802). But the Swiss D-3802 shows a lot of differences from the Morane factory drawings of the MS.540 C1 - mainly to do with the wing shape and main undercarriage.

According to Jacques Moulin, the MS.540 C1 was originally a make-work project "just to keep the design office of the Établissement Morane Saulnier busy" after the German occupation. Likely that is true. But the MS.540 C1 also comes off as a more realistic MS.406 C1 follow-on compared with the more advanced MS.640 C1 design. [1] That is shown in retaining the wings and undercarriage of the earlier fighter.

So, what if Morane Saulnier had begun its MS.540 C1 project a bit earlier - perhaps as a lower-risk alternative to the MS.450 C1 prototypes? With the fall of France, the project is moved with the Morane Saulnier design office to Ossun airfield in the far south of the Unoccupied Zone. There, Morane Saulnier chief designer René Gauthier simplifies the design to incorporate available MS.406 and MS.410 spares. The original, monocoque fuselage is abandoned in favour of rebuilt MS.406/MS.410 tubular frames.

Since the planned 1,200 hp HS 12Z engine is not available, the HS 12Y-32 would be kept (unless spare HS 12Y-49s could be found). The underwing radiators were also abandoned for an underbelly radiator bath (moved aft for weight reasons). With all these restrictions imposed upon his team, ingénieur René Gauthier focused on reducing the MS.540's frontal area (as compared with the MS.406). The resulting fighter would still be inferior to the Luftwaffe's Bf 109s but it was expected to be faster than any in-service French fighter despite making use of spares and damaged components.

_______________________________

[1] Reportedly, the unfinished prototype MS.640-01 was to be barged south as the Germans occupied Paris. Instead, the airframe was unceremoniously dumped into the Canal de Briare east of Orléans.