Author Topic: Acree's Profiles  (Read 103358 times)

Offline Acree

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Re: Acree's Profiles
« Reply #250 on: November 24, 2012, 12:12:11 PM »
OK, Arc, how's this?  Small numbers of Farralonian Beta 3A's were sold on to Republican Spain, were they were adapted as light attack bombers.  At the same time, 15 Beta 3Ds were used as light fighters.  While fairly fast for the time, and nimble, they were not strudy and were easy prey for Nationalist fighters.

Feel free to change or add to the backstory!

Offline arc3371

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Re: Acree's Profiles
« Reply #251 on: November 24, 2012, 08:49:51 PM »
Thanks, they look good in that color scheme

Offline JP Vieira

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Re: Acree's Profiles
« Reply #252 on: November 25, 2012, 01:50:44 AM »
Great Betas

Offline dy031101

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Re: Acree's Profiles
« Reply #253 on: November 25, 2012, 08:01:42 AM »
Two more unusual variants of the Spearfish - the Jet Spearfish used the capacious rear fuselage of the standard Spearfish to house a jet engine,  whilst the AEW Sperarfish was a shipborne airborne early warning platform.

How long would the AEW Spearfish serve?

(I've been having a crazy imagination of AEW Spearfish supporting export Harrier GR.1/AV-8A, even Sea Harrier FRS.1 or production N-156NN; heck, the AN/APS-20 radar lasted into late '70s with Royal Navy......)
« Last Edit: November 25, 2012, 08:17:23 AM by dy031101 »
Forget about his bow and arrows- why wait until that sparrow has done his deed when I can just bury him right now 'cause I'm sick and tired of hearing why he wants to have his way with the cock robin!?

Offline Acree

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Re: Acree's Profiles
« Reply #254 on: November 25, 2012, 09:01:44 AM »
Two more unusual variants of the Spearfish - the Jet Spearfish used the capacious rear fuselage of the standard Spearfish to house a jet engine,  whilst the AEW Sperarfish was a shipborne airborne early warning platform.

How long would the AEW Spearfish serve?

(I've been having a crazy imagination of AEW Spearfish supporting export Harrier GR.1/AV-8A, even Sea Harrier FRS.1 or production N-156NN; heck, the AN/APS-20 radar lasted into late '70s with Royal Navy......)
The radar could certainly be upgraded and made to last into the 70s or beyond, but I'm a little dubious about the Rnager engine.  Perhaps a P&W engine swap could take the AEW Spearfish into the Harrier age...

Offline elmayerle

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Re: Acree's Profiles
« Reply #255 on: November 25, 2012, 09:33:03 AM »
Rather than the N-156NN, it likely would've been a later design development, the N-251B which had a raised cockpit compared to the N-156 and increased wing area.

Offline dy031101

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Re: Acree's Profiles
« Reply #256 on: November 25, 2012, 12:17:55 PM »
Perhaps a P&W engine swap could take the AEW Spearfish into the Harrier age...

Um...... turboprop AEW Spearfish?  ;)

Maybe from a modernised CVE or even...... a Skyhook battleship......

Okay I'll stop thinking out loud now......
« Last Edit: November 25, 2012, 12:39:44 PM by dy031101 »
Forget about his bow and arrows- why wait until that sparrow has done his deed when I can just bury him right now 'cause I'm sick and tired of hearing why he wants to have his way with the cock robin!?

Offline Acree

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Re: Acree's Profiles
« Reply #257 on: November 25, 2012, 02:57:50 PM »
Well, P&W COULD have meant PT-6A!!  Here is the dash-5 Spearfish AEW with P&W R-1340 Wasp (AT-6G installation).  THe strange nose shape was needed to keep propeller clearance over the float.  The Dash-5 was superseded by the Dash-7 with the aforementioned PT-6A.  Finally, three Dash-7s were leant to the British ROyal Navy during the Falklands crisis where they were used briefly to provide AEW coverage for the fleet.  Since there were no catapults available, the Spearfish were operated from the sea and serviced by crane.

Offline GTX_Admin

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Re: Acree's Profiles
« Reply #258 on: November 25, 2012, 05:49:04 PM »
When you said Spearfish, I picture something totally different:


« Last Edit: November 26, 2012, 05:50:43 AM by GTX_Admin »
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Offline Acree

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Re: Acree's Profiles
« Reply #259 on: November 26, 2012, 05:49:06 AM »
"When you sat Spearfish, I picture something totally different..."  Very true.  When I chose the name, I was looking for something aquatic that sounded a little like Kingfisher.  I considered that there might be confusion, but never thought "my" Spearfish would remain in service long enough to cause confusion.  Who knew?  In retrospect, I should have chosen "Swordfish" instead ;).

Offline dy031101

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Re: Acree's Profiles
« Reply #260 on: November 26, 2012, 06:12:34 AM »
A quick browsing on Wikipedia seems to suggest that a lot of US-made scout planes were named after birds (Kingfisher is one, to my uneducated surprises).
Forget about his bow and arrows- why wait until that sparrow has done his deed when I can just bury him right now 'cause I'm sick and tired of hearing why he wants to have his way with the cock robin!?

Offline Acree

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Re: Acree's Profiles
« Reply #261 on: November 27, 2012, 03:08:47 PM »
Here is Farralon's first line fighter thoughout most of the World War II era - the Northrop (later Capstan) Ninja.  Based on the unsuccessful Northrop 3A fighter prototype - in the real world, Northrop sold the plans to Vought who continued the development (unsuccessfully).  In my WHIF-World, they sold the plans to Capstan, who struggled to overcome the spinning problem and finally succeeded with a lengthened fuselage and anti-spin strakes.  You can see the whole development below:

Offline arc3371

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Re: Acree's Profiles
« Reply #262 on: November 27, 2012, 03:35:35 PM »
Great Ninjas, my favorite is the Alison engined version

Offline GTX_Admin

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Re: Acree's Profiles
« Reply #263 on: November 27, 2012, 06:36:35 PM »
 :)
All hail the God of Frustration!!!

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But you can make the Bastard work for it.

Offline Logan Hartke

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Re: Acree's Profiles
« Reply #264 on: November 27, 2012, 09:35:57 PM »
Very nice.  Always liked the Northrop 3A.  I like the float variants, particularly.

Cheers,

Logan

Offline Doom!

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Re: Acree's Profiles
« Reply #265 on: November 27, 2012, 11:50:20 PM »
I'm with Logan, the 3A hits the sweet spot.
Doom!
Jeff G.

Offline Tophe

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Re: Acree's Profiles
« Reply #266 on: November 28, 2012, 01:19:32 AM »
One more super-family, thanks! :-*

Offline apophenia

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Re: Acree's Profiles
« Reply #267 on: November 28, 2012, 06:11:50 AM »
I'm keenest on the bubble-topped Ninja with the radial  :)
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Offline Acree

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Re: Acree's Profiles
« Reply #268 on: November 28, 2012, 11:46:31 AM »
Yeah, Ap, I have to agree - it kinda has a Hayabusa/Hayate look without looking totally Japanese.  I like the Conqueror-engine version too, though.


Offline finsrin

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Re: Acree's Profiles
« Reply #269 on: November 28, 2012, 12:12:11 PM »
Betas and their spats exude style  :)
Like look of 3E Ninja VII  :)

Offline Acree

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Re: Acree's Profiles
« Reply #270 on: November 30, 2012, 05:24:11 PM »
In 1939, after placing 2nd in Bendix trophy race, Art Bussy, flying the Bellanca 28-92 attempted a crossing of the mid-Atlantic, coming up short and landing in Farralon.  Tha aircraft, having landed without permission, was impounded, and eventually purchased from the owner, Bellanca Aircraft.  The Farralonians converted the aircraft for long-range reconnaissance as the Bellanca Binturong.  Subsequently, Capstan purchased a license ot build further examples, and began a line of development.

The first development involved replacing the wing mounted Menasco engines with the same Rnager engine mounted inthe nose.  This gave a significant power increase and allowed greater load-carrying, range, and speed.  This became the Binturong II.

The Binturong III came when Capstan decided to replace the three engines with two, more-powerful Curtiss Conquerors.  This freed up the nose for armament, leading to the long-range attack variant armed with two locally desinged and produced 32 mm cannon and two .50 calibre machine guns.

In the Mark IV, the two engines were replaced by a single, even more powerful Allison V-1710 engine.  The former wing engine nacelles were retained to house the main landing gear and its retraction mechanism as well as additional fuel.  The role for the Mk Iv reverted to the original long-range reconnaissance.


Offline GTX_Admin

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Re: Acree's Profiles
« Reply #271 on: November 30, 2012, 06:06:45 PM »
 :)
All hail the God of Frustration!!!

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

Offline arc3371

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Re: Acree's Profiles
« Reply #272 on: November 30, 2012, 11:18:37 PM »
I like that!

Offline apophenia

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Re: Acree's Profiles
« Reply #273 on: December 01, 2012, 06:58:02 AM »
Nice Bellanca lineage :)  Is there a Binturong V? Cuz the Binturong IV's landing gear pods could probably accommodate some serious armament!
Froglord: "... amphibious doom descends ... approach the alter and swear your allegiance to the swamp."

Offline Acree

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Re: Acree's Profiles
« Reply #274 on: December 01, 2012, 03:28:50 PM »
Well, if you insist.  Actually I considered weapons and/or rafar in the pods, so here is one of each.  The NF.V had AI radar in the port pod, with six .50 caliber machine guns in the starboard pod. 

The Binturong VI was a heavily armed, dedicated ground attack version with two 32-mm cannons and one .50-caliber machine in each pod. 
« Last Edit: December 01, 2012, 03:31:10 PM by Acree »