Author Topic: Stealing the Stuka  (Read 82806 times)

Offline apophenia

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Re: Stealing the Stuka
« Reply #75 on: July 12, 2013, 08:34:31 AM »
Good stuff  :)  Looking forward to finding out more about this Black Dragon too!
Froglord: "... amphibious doom descends ... approach the alter and swear your allegiance to the swamp."

Offline upnorth

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Re: Stealing the Stuka
« Reply #76 on: July 12, 2013, 01:17:29 PM »
Thanks for still following!

Hopefully with my reduced summer schedule and my main holidays done with, i will have more time on my hands to sit down with this and get it going again.

There is also an unfinished West Austrian Spitfire staring at me from the shelf too..... ;D
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Offline GTX_Admin

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Re: Stealing the Stuka
« Reply #77 on: July 13, 2013, 03:03:30 AM »
Good stuff  :)  Looking forward to finding out more about this Black Dragon too!

Ditto
All hail the God of Frustration!!!

You can't outrun Death forever.
But you can make the Bastard work for it.

Offline GTX_Admin

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Re: Stealing the Stuka
« Reply #78 on: July 14, 2013, 03:16:19 AM »
Maybe the Bf110s will be eventually replaced by a Me210 or Me410 derivative?
All hail the God of Frustration!!!

You can't outrun Death forever.
But you can make the Bastard work for it.

Offline upnorth

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Re: Stealing the Stuka
« Reply #79 on: July 14, 2013, 02:34:11 PM »
Maybe the Bf110s will be eventually replaced by a Me210 or Me410 derivative?

I'm thinking about alternatives, I have to take a look at what else was around at the time. The 410 is tempting though.
Pickled Wings, A Blog for Preserved Aircraft:
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Beyond Prague, Traveling the Rest of the Czech Republic:
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Offline apophenia

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Re: Stealing the Stuka
« Reply #80 on: July 16, 2013, 10:32:07 AM »
A single-seat Me 410 would be a very cool carrier aircraft. Maybe retain the Bf 110's twin tails?
Froglord: "... amphibious doom descends ... approach the alter and swear your allegiance to the swamp."

Offline upnorth

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Re: Stealing the Stuka
« Reply #81 on: July 16, 2013, 01:18:16 PM »
A single-seat Me 410 would be a very cool carrier aircraft. Maybe retain the Bf 110's twin tails?

Possibly, but a few quick sketches I did indicated that a single seat arrangement with a more conventional tail could lead to a rather cool looking radial engine DH Hornet look alike machine if done with some care and forethought; so whatever else I do with the idea, I'll probably try to keep it on that track.
Pickled Wings, A Blog for Preserved Aircraft:
http://pickledwings.com/

Beyond Prague, Traveling the Rest of the Czech Republic:
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Offline apophenia

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Re: Stealing the Stuka
« Reply #82 on: July 21, 2013, 05:48:03 AM »
That sounds good. Maybe something similar to the Me 262A canopy?
Froglord: "... amphibious doom descends ... approach the alter and swear your allegiance to the swamp."

Offline GTX_Admin

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Re: Stealing the Stuka
« Reply #83 on: July 21, 2013, 05:50:00 AM »
Or this:

All hail the God of Frustration!!!

You can't outrun Death forever.
But you can make the Bastard work for it.

Offline GTX_Admin

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Re: Stealing the Stuka
« Reply #84 on: July 21, 2013, 06:06:30 AM »
Of course maybe the '410s could have a different power plant...hint, hint:

All hail the God of Frustration!!!

You can't outrun Death forever.
But you can make the Bastard work for it.

Offline upnorth

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Re: Stealing the Stuka
« Reply #85 on: July 21, 2013, 01:29:17 PM »
Or this:




That's not too far off of what some of my sketches are forming into already.
Pickled Wings, A Blog for Preserved Aircraft:
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Beyond Prague, Traveling the Rest of the Czech Republic:
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Offline apophenia

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Re: Stealing the Stuka
« Reply #86 on: July 22, 2013, 11:07:18 AM »
Sorta like this one, then ...
Froglord: "... amphibious doom descends ... approach the alter and swear your allegiance to the swamp."

Offline upnorth

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Re: Stealing the Stuka
« Reply #87 on: July 22, 2013, 01:20:49 PM »
Yes, sorta like that.
Pickled Wings, A Blog for Preserved Aircraft:
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Beyond Prague, Traveling the Rest of the Czech Republic:
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Offline upnorth

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Re: Stealing the Stuka
« Reply #88 on: July 26, 2013, 04:32:02 PM »
So here's a sketch of the Messeschmitt Bf-510 "Fliegenklatsche"

It's more for shape and general idea, so I didn't do any shading and the perspective is a bit fishy in places:



I'll probably do a bit more with the canopy as it looks to British to me as it is. The rest looks pretty decent to me.

All comments welcomed.
« Last Edit: January 10, 2020, 12:55:03 AM by upnorth »
Pickled Wings, A Blog for Preserved Aircraft:
http://pickledwings.com/

Beyond Prague, Traveling the Rest of the Czech Republic:
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Re: Stealing the Stuka
« Reply #89 on: July 27, 2013, 04:52:47 AM »
That's a really cool sketch!

Offline GTX_Admin

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Re: Stealing the Stuka
« Reply #90 on: July 27, 2013, 05:19:03 AM »
All hail the God of Frustration!!!

You can't outrun Death forever.
But you can make the Bastard work for it.

Offline upnorth

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Re: Stealing the Stuka
« Reply #91 on: July 27, 2013, 01:43:58 PM »
Thanks a lot, guys.

I've got a couple of other rough sketches of it that I'm thinking of working up at least to the level of that one.
Pickled Wings, A Blog for Preserved Aircraft:
http://pickledwings.com/

Beyond Prague, Traveling the Rest of the Czech Republic:
http://beyondprague.net/

Re: Stealing the Stuka
« Reply #92 on: September 22, 2013, 12:13:17 AM »
Nothing new?
"What young man could possibly be bored
with a uniform to wear,
a fast aeroplane to fly,
and something to shoot at?"

Offline upnorth

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Re: Stealing the Stuka
« Reply #93 on: September 22, 2013, 04:52:13 AM »
I have an update in the works, but work just got crazy busy. Hopefully it will calm down soon and I'll get the update done.
Pickled Wings, A Blog for Preserved Aircraft:
http://pickledwings.com/

Beyond Prague, Traveling the Rest of the Czech Republic:
http://beyondprague.net/

Re: Stealing the Stuka
« Reply #94 on: September 22, 2013, 02:36:20 PM »
Take your time. A good story can't be rushed.


Chris
"What young man could possibly be bored
with a uniform to wear,
a fast aeroplane to fly,
and something to shoot at?"

Offline upnorth

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Re: Stealing the Stuka
« Reply #95 on: October 03, 2013, 06:25:14 PM »
The Luftwaffe’s Darling…

“The Me-510 was a delight to fly in every respect; it was responsive and powerful and very much a pilot’s plane. The DeHavilland Mosquito had demoralised us tremendously, but in the 510 we finally had an aircraft that could keep up with the Mosquito in both speed and maneuverability; it took a very experienced and wary Mosquito pilot to evade a 510 and its cannons.

When my unit was transferred to Africa, we found the 510 was every bit as adept at handling the Yarara as it had been with the Mosquito in Europe. We had a maneuverability advantage over the Yarara and with four 20mm cannons as standard armament, we were certainly on equal footing with them in that regard. Within half a year of deploying the 510 to Africa, we were starting to take some territory back.

The 510 units were an elite of sorts in the Luftwaffe. Every fighter pilot wanted to get into a 510, but only a hand picked few got to do so. As good as it was, the 510 was a limited commodity that was not risked on inexperienced pilots.

The 510 was an enormous stroke of luck for the Luftwaffe that came at just the right time. The downside of the 510 was that the navy, the very people who had devised the 510, were robbed of it for Luftwaffe benefit. Under peacetime inter-service rivalry this would have seemed comedic, but in earnest wartime it was simply tragic and shortsighted.

The Luftwaffe made a legend of the 510, but the navy had designed it and the navy needed it. It was stolen from them and a lot of sailors lost their lives for Luftwaffe benefit.”


…The Shroud of Sailors

The Graf Zeppellin, with its complement of He-130 torpedo bombers and Fw-190 fighters, was maintaining an uneventful watch over the Atlantic coast of northern Africa. Accompanied by and escort fleet and regularly overflown by longer ranged shore based  aircraft.

The arrival of the Luftwaffe’s Me-510 in Africa and the subsequent reclamation of territory it had allowed the Axis to perform placed fresh priority on the Allies to take control of the Atlantic coast away from Germany.

In October of 1942, The HMS Victorious and her escorts were dispatched and ordered to join with a Brazilian group led by the carrier, Amazonas, and proceed to Africa and engage the Graf Zeppellin and its fleet.

The Allied battle group had been spotted by a shore based patrol aircraft and the Graf Zeppellin was ordered to prepare for engagement.

“When the order came, I think everyone on every ship in the Graf Zeppellin battle group likely felt physically ill at the prospect. We knew we were headed for certain defeat.

It wasn't simply that we were outnumbered and outgunned; we had also been put to sea with a gap in our air defenses. We were completely without a heavy fighter.

The damned Luftwaffe had undermined us by stealing the Me-510 and now they were undermining us a second time by bringing it to Africa and being so successful with it that it became a high enough priority for Britian to confront us on it at sea.

When the Yararas and Fireflies came at us and our Fw-190s were too busy tangling with Seafires and Culpeos to protect us or the He-130s, we could do next to nothing. For every aircraft our guns shot down, it seemed two others would get through to successfully attack our ships.

As I ran across the deck of the Zeppellin, I could see the landing area was shredded and burning; we wouldn't be able to recover a single one of our aircraft even if any of them, or ourselves, survived. The ship was helpless and certain to be sunk; I grabbed a life vest and after a final look back at the splintered deck littered with bodies and stained with blood, I abandoned the ship.

After floating for the better part of an hour, surrounded by wreckage and bodies, I was picked up by a British ship and taken prisoner.

What I wouldn't have given to see the Yararas and Fireflies have to contend with Me-510s that day.”

The defeat of the Graf Zeppellin and its battle group went down in history as one of the most one sided battles of the Second World War.

The Zeppellin and its entire air group were destroyed. Ninety percent of the men assigned to the Zeppelin’s battle group were killed or unaccounted for, most of those who survived were very seriously injured.

Germany did not attempt to field another aircraft carrier during the war.

Shortly after their victory, the Allies established a sea blockade of the north African coast and began attacking German coastal positions from the sea.

Operation Sarcophagus

Sarcophagus was the code name given to the German efforts to take back their formerly held African territories. By October of 1942, they had successfully retaken the air base at Martuba and were staging to retake Tmimi and Bomba. Martuba quickly became home to an entire wing of Me-510s.

“We knew we had a bigger problem on our hands with the Me-510 than we had at first anticipated when the Garzas started coming home with holes in them or not coming home at all.

Bad enough that we had to divert fighter resources to escort Yararas, lest the 510 cut them to ribbons, but it was now also painfully clear that there was a high altitude variation on the 510 that could catch the Garza, an aircraft we’d been able to fly with near complete impunity until then.

We had underestimated the Me-510 when it first arrived in Africa. We felt the Yarara was fast enough, flew low enough and had enough armor to take a decent amount of punishment and still come home.

An entire squadron of South African Yararas, every man and every plane, was lost on a mission for our arrogance. An arrogance we never practiced again in the face of the Me-510.”
Pickled Wings, A Blog for Preserved Aircraft:
http://pickledwings.com/

Beyond Prague, Traveling the Rest of the Czech Republic:
http://beyondprague.net/

Re: Stealing the Stuka
« Reply #96 on: October 04, 2013, 07:48:40 AM »
Nice update. Thanks.


"What young man could possibly be bored
with a uniform to wear,
a fast aeroplane to fly,
and something to shoot at?"

Offline GTX_Admin

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Re: Stealing the Stuka
« Reply #97 on: October 05, 2013, 02:52:58 AM »
 :)
All hail the God of Frustration!!!

You can't outrun Death forever.
But you can make the Bastard work for it.

Re: Stealing the Stuka
« Reply #98 on: March 10, 2014, 01:45:37 AM »
So has this finished? The end of the tale?


Chris
"What young man could possibly be bored
with a uniform to wear,
a fast aeroplane to fly,
and something to shoot at?"

Offline upnorth

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Re: Stealing the Stuka
« Reply #99 on: March 10, 2014, 10:39:31 PM »
So has this finished? The end of the tale?


Chris

Not at all, I've just been super busy with work and not had a lot of time to really sit down and get a lot done writing wise.

I've got a few ideas roughed out but they need a bit of organising before they are fit to post.

My girlfriend will be on a business trip later this month so hopefully that will free up some extra time in the evenings that I can get another instalment of the story up.
Pickled Wings, A Blog for Preserved Aircraft:
http://pickledwings.com/

Beyond Prague, Traveling the Rest of the Czech Republic:
http://beyondprague.net/