Author Topic: Stealing the Stuka  (Read 82803 times)

Offline upnorth

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Re: Stealing the Stuka
« Reply #150 on: December 13, 2015, 04:36:57 AM »
I'm thinking of closer relations with Britain coming from the fictional end of things. Argentina giving Britian early access to the Yarara and developing carrier technology from a British base.

Peron was a bit of a wildcard in foreign relations and Argentina did get some British gear early on in the post war period, such as the Gloster Meteor.

I'm keeping a carrier in the Argentine arsenal post war and toying with the idea of taking Fairey Gannets to replace the Avengers. A single Mamba was one idea I had for the Yarara turboprop.
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Re: Stealing the Stuka
« Reply #151 on: December 13, 2015, 11:40:14 AM »
Thanks for continuing to follow.

I spent quite a bit of time researching immediate post war foreign relations of the Yarara producing countries to figure out who likely post war users of it could be.

I decided to take it out of Australia and New Zealand fairly quick and reduce the presence of it in Asia.

Right now, I'm trying to figure out how to weave the Yarara fiction in with real aspects of Peronist Argentina and develop a plausible reason to make a turboprop version of it.

War with Chile? Brazil?


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 #152 on: December 13, 2015, 08:11:49 PM »
Thanks for continuing to follow.

I spent quite a bit of time researching immediate post war foreign relations of the Yarara producing countries to figure out who likely post war users of it could be.

I decided to take it out of Australia and New Zealand fairly quick and reduce the presence of it in Asia.

Right now, I'm trying to figure out how to weave the Yarara fiction in with real aspects of Peronist Argentina and develop a plausible reason to make a turboprop version of it.

War with Chile? Brazil?


Chris

I'm not sure of outright war, but definitely border tensions between Argentina and Chile. The two countries have a history of border disputes.

Within Argentina itself, there will be the 1955 junta which overthrew Peron.

There was also the Malayan Emergency, in which Thailand and Indonesia both participated in but on opposite sides.

Use by Thai forces also opens the door to use in Korea and early stages of Vietnam.

The Middle East has no shortage of conflicts I could put the Yarara into

In Kenya, the Yarara could be put into action in the Mau Mau Uprising.

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Re: Stealing the Stuka
« Reply #153 on: December 13, 2015, 09:00:08 PM »
South Africa pushing north.

Allied use during the early part of the Korean conflict.


Chris
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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 #154 on: December 14, 2015, 03:54:54 AM »
South Africa pushing north.

Allied use during the early part of the Korean conflict.


Chris

Definite possibilities I'm considering.
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Offline upnorth

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Re: Stealing the Stuka
« Reply #155 on: January 31, 2016, 12:54:06 AM »
We'll Meet Again

"The immediate post war years in Germany were depressive ones to say the least. Wreckage was everywhere and it was difficult to see any reason to stay.

I'd spent most of the war as a POW and really had no idea what to do with myself when I got home to a shattered Berlin. Through the course of the war, I had lost both my father and my sister as well as learning that my fianceé had not waited for my return and had moved on romantically.

Getting back into flying as solace was near impossible given the restrictions of flying activities in Germany at the time. I was beside myself and an emotional wreck.

In this period of time, I was approached by Johannes Steinhoff and invited to be part of the rebuilding of the Luftwaffe. It was an ironic offer from and ironic source given that he had been a commanding officer of mine in 1940 and was disappointed enough in my off duty antics that he had me transfered to Africa as a punishment.

I'd say that by transfering me to Africa, he did save my life in a way. I was very Bohemian in my lifestyle and had I stayed in Europe I doubt I could have successfully hid the fact that I was nobody's Nazi. I'd have been found out and punished in far worse ways for that, I'm sure.

It looked like he was about to save my life a second time. He certainly didn't owe me such a thing.

Steinhoff had the herculean task of rebuilding the Luftwaffe and he needed experienced pilots to fill out the officer ranks. He came to me in the hopes that not only my piloting skills were intact, but that time spent as a POW had forced the immaturity out of me. Needless to say, I jumped at the opportunity to prove myself on both counts and reported for a medical examination and selection.

I accompanied Steinhoff and a selection of veteran Luftwaffe pilots to America for training on a variety of modern aircraft that would equip the new Luftwaffe.

It all went generally well. I quite liked the F-86 Sabre, though the F-84 Thunderjet left me cold. I very much enjoyed comparing the various machines to each other and kept a lot of notes on each.

One evening, Steinhoff took me aside and told me how pleased he was to see me take the training so seriously and keeping the self control to keep myself out of pubs and the excessive partying I had been known for under his command.

Had that compliment come from any other man, it would ceratinly not have meant so much. He remembered the old me and took a chance on letting me be part of the new Luftwaffe. I had something to prove to him."

Some Sunny Day

"For a brief time, after training in America, myself and a few other pilots were invited to Argentina to do some training with Argentine pilots while waiting for the Luftwaffe to be officially reformed. It was there that I finally got a chance to get up close to the beast that had made me a POW; I finally got my hands on a Yarara.

Of course, the Series III Yarara was a very different machine to the Series II that we faced in Africa. However, it was an eye opening experience to be around one; the more I learned about it, the more I was impressed with it and the story behind it. To learn that it had its origin in a German design smuggled out of the Reich was quite exciting. Seeing how far it had been developed from the old Ju-87 drawings was nothing short of astounding.

I couldn't call the Yarara beautiful, but it was certainly more attractive and refined than the hideous Ju-87 it came from.

Flying the Series III was a great experience as long as you kept in mind what the plane was made to do. Its diving and recovery abilities were amazing and it was rock solid at low altitudes; about as perfect a platform for ground attack as could be. While I cetainly could have flown circles around one in a Bf-109, it was a very responsive aircraft for its size and role.

Watching a veteran Yarara pilot throw one around the sky was a treat to be savoured indeed.

I did get the chance to examine a Series II Yarara at the FMA facilities at La Pampa. While it wasn't in flying condition, its armor was intact and it wasn't hard to see why they told us 109 guys to stay clear of it and let the 110 and 510 pilots take them on. I suspect a Yarara could have exhausted a 109 of ammunition and stood a chance of carrying on.

I enjoyed my time in Argentina very much. As we were preparing to return to Germany, I had no way of knowing that I would be coming back to South America much sooner than I expected."
« Last Edit: January 31, 2016, 02:55:26 AM by upnorth »
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Re: Stealing the Stuka
« Reply #156 on: January 31, 2016, 03:57:05 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 #157 on: January 31, 2016, 07:08:54 AM »
Thanks for continuing the story.


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 #158 on: January 31, 2016, 06:56:01 PM »
Glad you're still following and enjoying.

Hans-Joachim Marseille is one of those people that I've always thought would be great for the "What if they had survived the war" scenarios.

He definitely had a ton of growing up to do, but I always though that if he got the chance to mature a bit as a person that he'd be a very good guy to have in the post war Luftwaffe.

I figured having him taken prisoner fairly early on in the conflict and kept as such through the duration of hostilities would be just the thing to get the "Devil may care" lad out of him and get him to be more responsible.
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Offline upnorth

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Re: Stealing the Stuka
« Reply #159 on: February 01, 2016, 02:50:09 AM »
A Man Distilled

"Jochen Marseille had changed much since he was under my command in 1940. He had the requisite confidence and aggressiveness for a fighter pilot, but lacked the equally requisite discipline to make them work to best advantage.

Africa took a lot of Europe's temptations away from him and he was, from all accounts, starting to show the potential of a great pilot when he was taken prisoner.

When I first saw him in Berlin after the war had ended, I saw a humbled man; not broken by any means, but certainly one who had learned that he wasn't invincible. The value of him learning that lesson became quickly evident when I offered him a chance to be part of the new Luftwaffe. His eagerness was clear, but temprered by a maturity I had not seen in him back in 1940.

Gone was the rakish lad I had sent packing to Africa. In his place was a young but wiser man looking for direction and purpose. I certainly had a purpose for him and was ready to take the chance that he was now more prepared to take direction than to defy it as he used to.

When we went to America, he was surprisingly assiduous in his training and evaluation of the American aircraft types that the reformed Luftwaffe would be using.

He had never been much of a team player in my memory, but he now flew in formations with no issues. Jochen had been transformed, I could not deny it.

His flying skills were sharp as ever. It also seemed his social skills were still very finely honed and he'd made good use of them in Argentina. He'd made many friends there, some very influential ones as it turned out.

Less than a year after he returned to Germany from Argentina, a letter crossed my desk from the Argentine Embassy requesting that Marseille be appointed as a military attaché to the newly re-established German Embassy in Buenos Aires. After cutting through the associated bureaucracy, he was on his way back across the Atlantic.

It didn't take long for him to show he was the very right man to be put in such a job. He got regular flying time in a variety of machines and was very adept at making deals for aeronautical technology exchange between Argentina and Germany."
« Last Edit: February 01, 2016, 01:21:21 PM by upnorth »
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Re: Stealing the Stuka
« Reply #160 on: February 01, 2016, 06:40:05 AM »
The forum needs a " LIKE " button.

LIKE



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 #161 on: February 01, 2016, 01:10:04 PM »
Thanks  :)
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Offline upnorth

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Re: Stealing the Stuka
« Reply #162 on: February 04, 2016, 04:22:13 AM »
False Starts in a Fertile Field

„Argentina was an exciting place to be from an aeronautical standpoint in the immediate post-war period. Several skilled aircraft designers and tradesmen came from Germany and other continental European countries to restart their careers. Among them was Kurt Tank and a group of other former Focke-Wulf employees who came with him.

There was also a push for an indigenously design jet fighter aircraft in Argentina. The first attempt, the Pulqui I, had been designed and flown prior to my attaché posting. It was a false start by all accounts. I arrived in summer of 1950, just after the Pulqui II first flew.

I had to say that the Pulqui II definitely looked like a better thought out machine than the Pulqui I. However, I had a few misgivings about it based on the fact that Tank had used his Ta-183 Huckebein design as an influence. I just could not see the sense in developing what was, at heart, an emergency fighter design to create a new fighter that there was time to develop from a clean sheet.

As it was, my scepticism of the aircraft was not of much consequence. The design was cemented and the aircraft built before I arrived. Just as its forbear, the Pulqui II eventually came to nothing. While poor performance had put an end to the Pulqui I, it was the fall of Peron's government in large part that spelled the end of the Pulqui II. Much governmental support for an indigenous jet fighter was lost after Peron fell.

At the same time, Reimar Horten was also in the country and pushing his ideas of flying wings and delta wing designs forward. He had much more revolutionary designs than Tank, but they ultimately were lost after Peron fell as well.

However, all was not lost. I had made acquaintance with Gyorgy Jendrassik, a Hungarian physicist and mechanical engineer who came to Argentina to escape political persecution in his homeland.”

In the Crucible of Thrust

Jochen Marseille met Gyorgy Jendrassik at an aeronautical industry conference hosted by FMA in Cordoba in September of 1950. Jendrassik very much wished to return to the development of gas turbine engines he had been working on prior to the war.

He had first published the idea of the turboprop engine in the 1920s and by 1937 had successfully bench run a gas turbine engine of 100 horsepower. From there, he developed the prototype of his Cs-1 turboprop engine. The Cs-1 generated a great deal of interest in the Hungarian aeronautical community and plans were to create heavy fighter to be powered by a pair of the engines.

The Cs-1 was bench run for the first time in 1940, but cumbustion associated problems led to work being discontinued on it in 1941.

Jendrassik brought the Cs-1 plans with him to Argentina and was very eager to drum up support that would allow him to return to working on the project and institute some modifications he had thought of in the interim.

He found an ardent supporter in Marseille:

“Jendrassik was very passionate about about his Cs-1 engine; while a lot of what he explained to me about it in technical terms went over my head, he clearly was a man who knew what he was talking about and had put in over a decade of work on gas turbine technology already to back up his position.

While the race to create a jet fighter would not be Argentina's to win, there was equal competition at the same time for turboprop engine technology. The country's aviation industry still had a chance there.

I started making calls and pulling strings.”

With Jendrassik guiding him through the technical challenges that lay in the path of solving the Cs-1's problem areas. Marseille gained a better understanding of the engine's potential and how sound a design it already was. It seemed it would not take much to make a flyable prototype based on Jendrassik's existing design and the amendments he proposed to it.

Marseille had some room given to Jendrassik at FMA in Cordoba to begin serious design work on the proposed modifications to the Cs-1. Part of that deal was that Jendrassik would also provide lectures about turboprop technology to Aerotechnical Institute faculty and students. It was a mutually beneficial arrangement.

Marseille spent a good deal of time in Cordoba in meetings between representatives of FMA and Jendrassik himself to make sure the support of the Cs-1 stayed strong there.

He also assembled support for the Cs-1 in Buenos Aires. Various governmental ministries had taken interest; most notable were the ministries of industry, natural resources and trade.

Appropriate metallurgy would be required for the various components; between Argentina and Brasil, there was a more than adequate selection of natural mineral wealth to supply the metal demands of the engine's construction.

Also in Buenos Aires were the facilities of Hispano-Argentina, a company which was financially suffering in the post war years. They were a company in much need of a new project.

After a great deal of negotiating, which resulted in a generous development grant from the government to outfit Hispano-Argentina for production of the Cs-1, all the pieces seemed in place for the Cs-1 development to go ahead.

A Horse for the Power

The Yarara Series III was an easy choice of aircraft to take the Cs-1 for its first flight in. There was more than enough room in the nose with minimal modification and adjusting the aircraft's centre of gravity to compensate for the weight difference between the Griffon and the Cs-1 was relatively unproblematic.

The new Cs-1 prototype had been bench run in Autumn of 1951 and fitted and ground run in the Yarara through winter of that year.

All was set for the Cs-1's first flight in spring of 1952.
« Last Edit: February 04, 2016, 04:48:33 AM by upnorth »
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Re: Stealing the Stuka
« Reply #163 on: February 05, 2016, 01:04:31 AM »
" Like " button firmly pushed!



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

Offline apophenia

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Re: Stealing the Stuka
« Reply #164 on: February 05, 2016, 08:41:40 AM »
Nice twist with Jendrassik and the Cs-1! Watching with interest  :)
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Offline upnorth

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Re: Stealing the Stuka
« Reply #165 on: February 05, 2016, 01:18:24 PM »
Thanks, guys. Glad you're still following.

I decided to put the Cs-1 into the mix as I was getting a bit tired of trying to figure out what existing post war foreign turboprop to try to make fit.

Also the Cs-1 was a sound design that very likely would have stayed viable and had development potential into the post war period. That Jendrassik did actually spend time in Argentina after the war, and that the country did have the industrial base and resources to create the engine, opened the door for a domestic product rather than something imported.
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Offline upnorth

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Re: Stealing the Stuka
« Reply #166 on: April 12, 2016, 09:26:29 PM »
Something Old, Something New

On an early May morning in 1952, a set of hangar doors opened at FMA's Cordoba facilities and a pair of graceful aircraft were rolled out into the Argentine sun. Both aircraft were painted in an immaculate coat of silver paint trimmed with the Argentine colours.

A veteran FMA man recalls the scene:

"It was like looking at the Garza prototype on the day of it's first flight; The aircraft reflected the sun stunningly in their high polished silver paint.

I watched the hub of activity around the two aircraft as they were being prepared for first flight. There were some briefings going on behind closed doors that I wasn't privy to, so I just took the opportunity to be a spectator.

As midday approached, a group of people came onto the tarmac from the hangar and assembled in front of the two machines. It was a mix of  military and civilian people, all very smartly dressed. Some speeches were given, many hands were shaken and several glasses of champagne were brought together. The optimism was contagious.

Once the crowd had receded to a safe distance, the aircraft were started and taxied toward the end of the runway. It was so strange to hear something other than Rolls Royce piston engine sounds coming from a Yarara. The high pitched whine the turboprop engines started with soon gave way to a more pulsating tone as they sat ready to take off.

As they began the take off, they accelerated faster than I'd have thought possible for a propeller driven aircraft; it seemed impossible to me!

They lifted off, took up their landing gear and entered a climb so steep I swore they would stall; instead, they kept climbing. I'd only ever seen a jet take off like that.

The pilots performed a series of very high speed passes as well as many of the ground attack moves the Yarara was famous for. It was all very impressive and the pilots were met with huge applause as they parked the aircraft and opened the cockpits.

They had smiles on their faces, but they seemed a bit unsteady on their legs and their flight suits were almost completely soaked with sweat. I felt it a bit odd as they were both very experienced test pilots with many hours between them."

The day was also recalled by Jochen Marseille:

"It was an amazing performance of the new variant on the surface, but my pilot's eye told me something was amiss in the air. Some of the maneuvers seemed to take much longer than they should have to execute and the aircraft appeared to become a bit shaky towards the higher end of the speed range from where I stood.

The nervous state of the pilots upon getting out of the aircraft confirmed for me that they needed to be debriefed while the flight was still fresh in their minds and they could report most fully upon it."

How Sharper than a Serpent's Tooth...

The pilots were shuttled away quickly to a debriefing room. As they calmed a bit, they both stated that the aircraft and engine were sound. However, they also both stated that the handling was a great deal different than they had anticipated and previous variants of the Yarara would not be a good indication of the learning curve that the turboprop version would present.

"Everything in the turboprop Yarara happened so much faster than expected and there was poor sensitivity and reaction time on the controls in relation to the new higher speeds.

It felt like the engine and outside of the aircraft was designed by a jet team, but the cockpit and controls by someone with their heads still in the piston era. It could be flown, but there was still much work to be done on it.

What was clear to me was that the aircraft was of high enough performance that a standard advanced piston trainer was likely to be insufficient in preparing pilots for the new Yarara.

Of the many recommendations I made in my reports on the turboprop Yarara, I stressed the importance of a dedicated two seat model for training purposes."

Upon the pilots' urging, work on designing a second seat into the new version was given particularly high priority.

« Last Edit: April 13, 2016, 01:02:56 AM by upnorth »
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Re: Stealing the Stuka
« Reply #167 on: April 13, 2016, 04:05:54 AM »
This forum needs a "like " button, because I really like this.



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

Offline elmayerle

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Re: Stealing the Stuka
« Reply #168 on: April 13, 2016, 09:27:38 AM »
This forum needs a "like " button, because I really like this.
+1

Offline upnorth

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Re: Stealing the Stuka
« Reply #169 on: April 14, 2016, 06:02:15 PM »
...to Have an Ungrateful Child

The troublesome flight characteristics of the turboprop Yarara prototypes proved a puzzle for the FMA engineers to solve. Many sleepless nights were spent on pinpointing the problems and developing solutions that would result in a revised prototype in the most expedient manner.

The troubles experienced by the pilots on the first flight had, thus far, been kept low key and known only to a few; the intent was to keep it that way. In the interim,  Jochen Marseille confered extensively with the test pilots and fimiliarised himself with the plane's controls and operations in preparation for a test flight of his own.

“It wasn't an easy task to convince the powers that be at FMA to allow me to take one of the turboprop prototypes up for a test flight, but I felt the need to see for myself what the pilots had experienced and make a report of my own.

Persuading them that an extra opinion couldn't hurt was easy enough. However, they didn't want the prototype to be too visible to the public until revisions had been made lest an accident occur and expose the problems to a wider audience.

They finally relented to me flying the aircraft, though it came on the condition that I had to fly the aircraft in gear down configuration at moderate speed to the La Pampa facilities and do the test flying there.

La Pampa was in a rural setting with very few people near it. The isolated nature of it meant that prying eyes were at a minimum. It was an understandable compromise that I accepted.”

Preceded to La Pampa by transport aircraft carrying the two test pilots plus testing personnel and their equipment;  Marseille settled into the cockpit of one of the Yararas and took off from Cordoba on a totally uneventful flight to La Pampa.

“As I made my way south, I took my time to examine the cockpit layout and accessibility of the various knobs, levers and switches. I could certainly see what the test pilots meant when they said the cockpit felt dated. As I thought about some of the more modern jet cockpits I had experienced in America, I made some notes on my knee board for changes that could be made.

Upon arriving at La Pampa, I met again with the pilots and discussed the observations I'd made about cockpit layout. Generally, all three of us were thinking in a similar way about how to make the cockpit a more modern place.

Keeping in mind the Yarara's mission of low level ground attack, my mind returned to the cockpit of the Republic F-84 Thunderjet that I had spent time flying in America.

While I didn't really enjoy flying the Thunderjet, I felt that it had a cockpit layout that could serve as a good model for revisions to the Yarara's. Both test pilots had seen the F-84 cockpit and agreed that my idea had merit and should be looked into.

We also unanimously agreed that an ejection seat should seriously be considered for the new variant.”

One of the FMA test pilots also recalls:

“There were lots of notes being compared between ourselves and Jochen during our time in La Pampa and lots of new ideas coming up just from his flight to La Pampa. In a way, we had already begun writing a report before he took his test flight.

I didn't like the idea of anyone flying the prototype until modifications had been made on it, but I couldn't deny the usefulness of extra input from another experienced pilot could provide.

Two days after arriving in La Pampa, everything was ready for Jochen's test flight. We were all very nervous as he taxied out and opened the throttle. It might have been better had we not known what to expect.

He went through all of the moves that we had in Cordoba, plus a few others before taking the speed up towards the maximum end. The aircraft was definitely looking shaky as he took it into a shallow dive. Fortunately, he had given himself a good amount of space between himself and the ground as it seemed to take forever for him to fully recover from the dive.

He was clearly experiencing the same sluggishness on the controls that I had. Much to everyone's relief, he landed the plane shortly after that last manouver.”

Getting the Ghost out of the Machine

After a thorough post flight inspection showed the aircraft to be unharmed from the most recent of test flights; pilots, crew and aircraft returned to Cordoba.

The consensus of many meetings between pilots, engineers and executives confined what most had already suspected; the airframe and engine were not the problem. It was the cockpit and flight control system that needed a complete reworking.

A former FMA engineer:

“The teams tasked with designing the cockpit and flight control systems clearly had been struggling. During the most recent meetings, there had been a clear undercurrent of friction within them resulting from relatively young people being supervised by decidedly old school thinkers who had a propensity for forcing things to be done the old way and intimidating their younger charges into keeping quiet.

It became clear that before we removed a single component from the inside of the aircraft, there were certain components that had to be removed from those teams.

What was also clear was that we would need outside advisors to help us design a cockpit and flight controls appropriate to a modern, jet powered aircraft. Representatives from both American and British aviation companies were very helpful to us in these regards.”

After much frenzied work and many overtime hours, a revised single seat prototype was cleared for flight testing. Wisely, the revised aircraft was taken to La Pampa for testing.

Jochen Marseille relates his experience flying the revised version:

“The new cockpit was an entirely different place and we all felt a lot safer sitting on a Martin Baker Mk.2 ejection seat!

All of the flight instruments were easily visible and in sensible arrangement; the sight was no longer a war relic, but a very modern one.

Once in the air, feedback on the controls was much improved. The new flight control system had assisting mechanisms built in that made responsivemess much quicker and eliminated any need for the pilot to expend energy wrestling the aircraft into or out of position.

The aircraft still got shaky at higher speeds, but these speeds were also around the 550 km/h mark. It was a very respectable speed and we decided to use it as reference for setting the aircraft's “never exceed” speed.

We were all very happy with the revised prototype, as were the air force. Production was approved shortly after.”
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Re: Stealing the Stuka
« Reply #170 on: April 15, 2016, 02:54:16 AM »
Yeah!
"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 #171 on: August 11, 2016, 04:31:48 PM »
Halfmast in the Evening

The wheels of a Yarara IV touched the runway surface at La Pampa almost exactly at 20:30 on July 26 of 1952. The aircraft was from the first production batch and Jochen Marseille was at the controls.

"I was visiting La Pampa for the week. My duties after the Yarara IV had been approved for production saw me splitting most of my time between Buenos Aires and Cordoba. I was happy to be back at La Pampa and to have the chance to see how the production standard of the new Yarara handled. Both myself and the FMA test pilots were very pleased with it.

It was a bit different in form from the pre-production machines. Beyond the revised nose profile dictated by the turboprop engine, a decision had been made to build all Series IV machines with the capacity to be fitted with a second seat. The wing was also refined, while the general shape stayed the same, the cannons and radiators had been removed and the internal structures revised for greater strength. It had been decided to remove the cannons in favour of more external weapon stations. Cannon pods were available if a need was seen to fit the Yarara IV with them.

I had taken off from La Pampa at around 19:30 on July  26, 1952. It was a lovely, clear evening with enough remaining daylight to get one more flight in. I put the aircraft through numerous loops, rolls and other moves both at high and low altitudes and never had to fight to get the machine to do anything. Despite the early problems, the Yarara IV had become the proverbial 'Pilot's airplane'.

I was in quite an optimistic mood as I felt the wheels touch down an hour after I had lifited off. I entered the taxiway and busied myself with shutdown procedures. As I climbed from the plane, I couldn't help but notice a changed mood in the air around the airport. Nobody was talking much and faces were largely sombre.

As I walked towards the hangar offices to file a post flight report, I noticed the national flag was at halfmast; it had not been so when I took off.

After a moment's thinking, I realised that could only be for one person. Eva Perón was gone. She had lost her battle with cancer."

While Marseille was filling out his post flight report in a strangely silent office, a secretary quietly entered and presented him with a telegram from the German Embassy ordering him to return to Buenos Aires immediately. He was expected to attend Perón's funeral the next day alongside the other diplomatic staff.

"A quick check of the weather reports showed that the chances of me being able to get to the capital that evening were next to zero. A weather system moving in between La Pampa and Buenos Aires that night would make flying impossible. There was no express rail service from La Pampa to the capital. Driving was a bad idea as well, the bulk of the roads around La Pampa became impassable in heavy rain.

In a rush of telegrams and phone calls, I managed to secure myself a place in part of a formation flypast that was being organised for the funeral. It wasn't how the embassy people wanted me to attend, but they accepted it as better than my complete absence.

As the first Yarara IV squadron was still in training, it was decided that myself and two company test pilots would take a trio of the aircraft instead of the military."

Mourning in the Morning

The morning of July 27 broke clear over La Pampa; Marseille and his two colleagues completed their pre-flight checks and took off toward the capital. Along the way, they joined formation with two other groups of aircraft.

"We formed up line astern behind a group of three Gloster Meteors and a trio of Yarara III aircraft followed us. I allowed myself a moment of selfish thought as I looked at the formation ahead of us; if there was one aircraft I disliked more than the F-84 Thunderjet, the Gloster Meteor was that aircraft. Argentina had the Mk.IV Meteor and I couldn't find a single thing to like about the 'Meatbox', as the RAF pilots had taken to calling it.

I was tempted, though only for a moment, to place my gunsight over one of those Meteors. I thought better of it, that would be an amusement for another day.

As we flew over the procession, I couldn't help but think how surreal it was to see so many people lining the streets for just one person. Could she mean that much to so many?

As I continued to alternate my gaze between the crowds below and the Meteors leading us, I felt a tear or two trickle down my cheek and a terrible knot in my stomach. The tears weren't for "Evita" but rather for my beloved Germany.

The last time I had seen so many people gathering for a singular purpose and for one person, nothing good came of it and my homeland paid a terrible price for it and my countrymen were left with a great sense of shame.

I had to shake myself from that line of thinking, this was a very different time and place; the people were gathering for very different reasons. I decided to stop looking at the crowds and focus on the formation.

We kept formation until we had cleared Buenos Aires completely. The Yarara III formation was the first to break off and then we parted ways with the Meteors about halfway to La Pampa."

The rest of the flight to La Pampa was uneventful though one of the FMA test pilots noticed that Marseille was not his usual talkative self after they landed. He recalled several years after the events of the day:

"I could tell as soon as we were out of our aircraft and on our way to the company offices that Jochen was in a difficult state. I could see he was nervous and I decided perhaps we should go to the nearby pub and talk; by that time we were friends as well as colleagues.

He ordered a double of the strongest whiskey they had and his hand was shaking like crazy as he lifted it to his lips for the first time. After a couple of sips, he opened up.

I had learned very early on in our friendship that Jochen hated large crowds, but he would never really say why. Up to then, I thought it ironic that such a normally outgoing man with such good social skills would have problems in crowds.

After he finished explaining, I was speechless. However, I could understand much better why he always had an excuse not to attend a live football match at a stadium despite his love of listening the sport on the radio."
« Last Edit: August 17, 2016, 02:23:38 PM by upnorth »
Pickled Wings, A Blog for Preserved Aircraft:
http://pickledwings.com/

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Re: Stealing the Stuka
« Reply #172 on: August 11, 2016, 09:26:28 PM »
Thanks.

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

Offline upnorth

  • Distorting a reality near you.
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Re: Stealing the Stuka
« Reply #173 on: August 23, 2016, 09:08:37 PM »
I've done up a sketch of the Yarara IV that I'm reasonably happy with. It's quick and dirty, so don't mind the screwy perspective in places:



The engine is a front intake type with a single exhaust port on the left side of the fuselage just ahead of the cockpit.

The two place cockpit is equiped with ejection seats, raised slightly from previous versions and covered by a blown canopy similar to the Lockheed T-33's

The vertical tail is a bit taller and the wings are a bit thinner in cross section.
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 #174 on: August 24, 2016, 01:18:54 AM »
  Nice.


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