Apophenia's Offerings

[Volkodav]

Sweet, another thought I had was a dedicated low altitude tactical attack version powered by non-afterburning Olympus or Conway that should be able to supercruise.

[apophenia]

One that missed the Extended Service GB ...
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Belated Boomers -- the Export CAC CA-22 Boomerang IIs

The first export of Boomerang IIs came in early 1947 as part of Australian support for British rehabilitation of occupied Siam. Refurbished ex-RAAF Boomerang IIs, the CAC-22S served primarily as lead-in trainers for Spitfire fighters.

After wartime leader, Field Marshal Phibun, was restored as Prime Minister in 1948, the Chifley Government withdrew Australian military support for the now-renamed Thailand. With no access to spares, the CAC-22S fleet fell into disrepair and was out of RTAF service by 1951.

[Top] CA-22S (designated BKh.14 in Thai service) in typical RTAF finish. These aircraft retained their overall silver finish from RAAF service. The Thai flag formed a rudder stripe with an individual aircraft number on the fin. An RTAF pennant below the cockpit shows this to be a squadron leaders mount. Red spinner and wing tips were typical and, as a 1 Wing aircraft, '17' wears a red-outlined white stripe around its rear fuselage.

Another SE Asian recipient of ex-RAAF Boomerang IIs was South Vietnam. The Menzies Government began supplying training aid and equipment to Saigon in 1954, including Boomerang IIs rebuilt as CA-22Vs in 1955. These aircraft flew in the Army Co-operation role. To lay smoke target-markers, triple-tube M9 rocket launchers were carried on modified wingtips.

[Bottom] A late production CA-22 (revealed by its wing armament of four .5" Browning guns) in VNAF markings. Note that this aircraft features both the 'concentric circle' roundels it was delivered with (under wing) and the new 'stars-and-bars' marking (on the rear fuselage). The South Vietnamese flag is displayed on the vertical tail (as is the 1st FS flash, which is repeated on the cowling).
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[lauhof52]

Nice work and story on the CA-22! :)

[Tophe]

I also like the CA-22 of yours, as a radial Mustang egg-plane somehow!

[apophenia]

The Fokker Ontwerp 203 or 'D.XL' was a special presentation aircraft designed specifically for Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring. The 'D.XL' was redesigned to suit the Reichsmarschall's physique - including a widened fuselage, specially reinforced pilot's seat, and extra hand-holds for entry and egress.

Other differences from the Great War Fokker D.VII fighter included the substitution of a modern, air-cooled Argus As 10 inverted V-8 engine. Pneumatic tires and wheel brakes were also added.

The finished 'D.XL' was presented to the Reichsmarschall at Schiphol in September 1940 but, alas, this aircraft never flew. As Göring familiarized himself with the 'D.XL' on taxiing trials, the main undercarriage struts collapsed. Insufficient hardening of the metal tubing was blamed although the Reichsmarschall's over-hardy luncheon likely put the 'D.XL' beyond structural tolerances.

[Volkodav]

Love your work!

[apophenia]

This is a follow-on from the Westland Westmorland done for the Vertical Takeoff GB:
http://beyondthesprues.com/Forum/index.php?topic=5634.0

UH-34M Pensacola and CH-126B Huron -- Sikorsky's Westmorlands

By 1965, Westlands had finished with its WS.58N demonstrator. To avoid paying UK import taxes on this converted Sikorsky-made airframe was stripped of its engines and returned to the US. Sikorsky had already assessed the Westmorland and concluded that there was no US market for a Nimbus (or Turmo) powered helicopter.

Sikorsky had been working on upgrade concepts for US military S-58s, the UH-34 series, and the WS.58N airframe added another wrinkle to those proposals. Sikorsky concluded that the best solution was a 'remanufacturing' scheme whereby US military S-58s would receive a Westmorland-style nose and the S-61 Sea King's twin General Electric T58 turboshafts (which, for this application) could be down-rated to improve TBO).

The US Army had a number of concerns about the layout of this proposed Westmorland derivative. The US Marine Corps, on the other hand, could see many advantages. Accordingly, in May 1966, Naval Air Systems Command recommended the trade-in of USN HSS-1s Seabats and USMC HUS-1 Seahorses for rebuild into T58-powered UH-34M utility helicopters for the Marine Corps.

Although initially dubbed 'Turbine-Seahorse', NAVAIR eventually approved the name Pensacola for the 'new' UH-34Ms (this name had strong US Navy connotations but Pensacola was also a Muskogean tribe name as was Choctaw, the US Army name for the UH-34). The first unit to receive rebuilt UH-34Ms Pensacola was Marine Medium Medium Helicopter Squadron 162, the 'Golden Eagles'.

HMM 162 had deployed to the Republic of Vietnam in Jan 1963, flying their UH-34Ds from Danang until June 1965 (when their Seahorses were turned over to the VNAF). Squadron members were returned to MCAS New River, NC, to retrain on the UH-34M Pensacola. In April 1967, HMM 162 re-deployed to Danang via MCAS Futenma on Okinawa. Other Marine Helicopter Squadrons followed, trading in piston-powered Seahorses for turbine Pensacolas.

In the meantime, Sikorsky was marketing the UH-34M to export markets as their S-58M. The first response came from Canada. The RCAF had bought six UH-34As back in 1955. The newly unified Canadian Armed Forces wanted to trade in the 'A models in exchange for purchasing a larger number of remanufactured UH-34Qs (the DOD's export designation for the UH-34M). The Canadian Armed Forces UH-58Qs were locally designated CH-126B Huron. Intended for the general utility role, the CH-126Bs were finished in all-over green. The aircraft shown here is the sole training machine of the type assigned to No. 403 Helicopter Operational Training Squadron at CFB Gagetown.

The CAF CH-126Bs served only until 1974. Caught between the CH-118 Iroquois and CH-147C Chinook, the CAF found themselves with surplus utility helicopters that could do little that the Chinooks couldn't do better. In 1975, the US approved transfer of the Canadian UH-34Qs to the Fuerza Aerea Argentina.
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[finsrin]

Just discovered "Sea Hustler" which deserves a styrene build and is way cool

[LemonJello]

Of all the fantastic profiles and artwork on this site, this UH-34P/CH-126B is the first that has me checking Sprue Bros for possible donor kits to turn into a physical model, in 1/48. 

Would a Huey nose be suitable?  I could procure a Revell Huey and UH-34 at reasonable cost (less than getting the Kitty Hawk Sea Sprite by itself). 

Definitely something to ponder for a future acquisition.

[apophenia]

Thanks guys! No higher praise for a whif profile than breaking out the styrene 

LemonJello: I've tried a few quick paste-ups to see what RW noses would suit. KiwiZac suggested a Seasprite. The SH-2 nose is really deep but sectioned horizontally will work, I think. I'm pretty sure that's what I'll be going with for the next incarnation.

For the Westmorland and UH-34M/CH-126B (sorry, UH-34P was a typo), a lash-up Huey nose was too 'short'. I had the Westland 30 in mind when I did the artwork ... but no kits of that, AFAIK. So, I tried a Lynx AH.7 nose. Its a little shallow but with a little padding top and bottom, might work?

[jcf]

The Huey fuselage is quite a bit wider than the S-58.

[apophenia]

Yep, width is going to be a problem for any donor kits. Here's some sizes ...

UH-34 - Width 1.737 m; cabin width 1.20 m

UH-1C - Width 2.62 m; cabin width 2.43 m
Lynx -- Width 2.175 m (over skids); cabin width 1.78 m
Kaman - Width [unknown]; cabin width 1.76 m
Puma -- Width 5.14 m (over wheels); cabin width 1.65 m*
 -- * Poss. averaging, some sources say 1.80 to 1.60 m

The closest I could find to the UH-34's cabin width is the Kiowa (bang on at 1.20 m) but the OH-58's nose is far too shallow 

Pushing pixels is sooo much easier than scratching styrene 

[jcf]

Bell 222 cabin width 1.46m.

[Kerick]

A Huey nose and cockpit would look more period. I think the Lynx is too many modern for the timeframe. This looks so build able and would look great finished. Then there would be the gunship version.......

[apophenia]

Westmorland Outgrowths - The Sikorsky 'UH-34X' studies

The US Army saw the value in 'recycling' its aging Choctaw airframes but was not completely satisfied with the S-58M development as operated by the US Marines as their UH-34Ms Pensacola. Busy with other projects, Sikorsky offered the Army a few potential improvements in a desultory fashion but gained no interest.

The surprise came in late 1967 when the US Army Aviation Branch announced that it would open a contest to all American suppliers to upgrade the Choctaw fleet - the 'UH-34X' competition. Sikorsky was stunned as submissions to upgrade their helicopter were submitted by potential rivals. Bell declined to participlate in the 'UH-34X' program and offers from Brantly and Fairchild Hiller were quickly dismissed. But US Army Aviation took submissions from Vought/Sud-Aviation and Kaman Aircraft quite seriously.

Facing a PR crisis, Sikorsky pulled out all the stops. A quick submission to the 'UH-34X' program was made consisted of adding the Army's preferred crew entry and port side doors to the S-58M airframe. This concept, Model S-68 (I) was demonstrated using a UH-34D airframe as the basis for a mockup. The Army was pleased with what it saw but concerns were voiced about potential nose-heaviness -- especially with a nose-mounted armament (as exhibited on the mockup).

Sikorsky had anticipated the nose-heaviness problem and addressed this is the second part of their submission. The Model S-68 (II) was presented on paper. This concept involved substituting a S-61 main rotor hub (with S-58 length blades) as well as the Sea King's 5-bladed tail rotor. This was to take advantage of the greater power available from a completely reorganized drivetrain.

The Model S-68 (II) drivetrain was, in a sense, a miniaturized S-65 Sea Stallion layout. The Sea King's more powerful GE T58s were used but were now mounted alongside the main gearbox in S-65 fashion. The Model S-68 (II) retained the S-68 (I) crew doors but eliminated the post side door to reduce overall rebuild costs. The Model S-68 (II) was declared winner of the 'UH-34X' contest but on the understanding that Sikorsky would substitute the turbine engine of the Army's preference.

To be continued ...
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[GTX_Admin]

 :)

[CiTrus90]

 

[apophenia]

Sikorsky's concept for their S-68 series bifurcated at an early stage. The original S-68 (II) emerged as the pre-series YUH-34S Muskogee. [1] There was no actual prototype of the Muskogee since Sikorsky had already modified an S-58M to test the revised S-68 (II) engine installation.

Using modified S-58M tooling, 'production' UH-34S followed from the newly-established Sikorsky Conversion Center at Tucson, AZ. Aircraft from the first batch were dispatched to Vietnam for trials with the 174th Assault Helicopter Company at Duc Pho in Quang Ngai province. With no shortage of targets in this Viet Cong stronghold, the UH-34S fleet were soon engaged in combat. Results were mixed.

Compared with 174 AHC UH-1C Hueys, the Muskogees provided the VC with a larger target. On the other hand, despite being more powerful, the 4-bladed UH-34S were slightly quieter than the 2-bladed UH-1Cs. However, any tactical advantage was seen to be offset by the Muskogee's inferior flexible-gun weapon installation (in contrast to the large, twin sliding doors of the smaller Bell helicopter).

Fortunately, Sikorsky was already addressing a revised design as a dedicated weapons carrier. Earlier, Sikorsky had embarked upon an S-61 based helicopter gunship design study -- the DS-531 Blackhawk. When the US Army offered to fund an S-68 (II) drivetrain demonstrator, Sikorsky was able to immediately substitute its private venture modified S-58M. It was then proposed that US Army funding be applied instead to an 'armed attack' variant of the S-68 (II), substituting the tandem-seat nose devised for the DS-531.

Sikorsky's 'armed attack' proposal was accepted. To speed conversion work, the dynamics from a YAH-34S were transferred to an H-34A airframe which was in the process of having the new, tandem-seat nose grafted on. The result was the S-68T (for 'Tactical' or  'Tandem' depending upon source) demonstrator aircraft which then became the YAH-34T.

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[1] The name Muskogee followed the US Army pattern of applying Muskogean tribal names to Sikorsky utility helicopters (eg: H-19 Chicasaw, UH-34D Choctaw, and UH-34P Pensacola).
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[LemonJello]

Oh, my. And the hits just keep on coming!

[Tophe]

The Apalachee (like a Mi-24? with tandem cockpit and central passengers?) is impressive! Thanks!

[Old Wombat]

The UH-34X must have been built/design in cooperation with Bell because it has that Bell look rather than Sikorsky to me.

[apophenia]

Thanks folks!

Old Wombat: The forward fuselage of the 'UH-34X' (and later UH-34S) have a vaguely Bell-ish look about them. It may be the lower nose windows that gives that feel. The actual canopy glazings are taken directly from the S-58 ... they've simply been move forward and down to the new nose.

The S-69 (I) proposal (the upper image) also mounts a M5 nose turret for the M75 40mm grenade launcher -- just as some of the Vietnam-era UH-1C Hueys did.

The Apalachee (like a Mi-24? with tandem cockpit and central passengers?) is impressive! Thanks!

Tophe: Quite right, the Apalachee is just like the Mi-24. In the 'Real World', though, it might be more accurate to say that the Mi-24 is just like Sikorsky's S-67 Blackhawk concept. 

[apophenia]

Choctaw Reborn - the Sikorsky AH-34T Apalachee into Service

As with the UH-34S Muskogee, the full 'production' AH-34T Apalachee conversions lost their S-61 hubs and returned to refurbished and strengthened Choctaw dynamics. The T58 turbines were also slightly derated to spare those rebuilt gearboxes. As a result, the operational AH-34T Apalachees tended to carry rather less armament than the YAH-34Ts.

A case in point is 'Voodoo Chile' of the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment's Air Troop. In contrast to the trial YAH-34Ts, this 'Blackhorse' Apalachee has dispensed with side-mounted turret systems in favour or the more reliable 'Fixed Fifties' belly armament. As shown on this 'Appy', 11th ACV's AH-34Ts usually had their split side doors removed to allow a great field of fire for their side guns (in this case, single pintle-mounted M60s).

'Voodoo Chile' retains the YAH-34T's TK-1 style pylon supports. Here a single M157 2.75" rocket launcher pod is mounted per side. This 'Appy' was probably on 'red' target/destroy missions. When flying escort for 'blue' Aerial Rifle Platoon insertions, paired rocket pods were more common.

The YAH-34X was the second YAH-34T returned to Sikorsky for experimental use. After brief use on armament installation trials, the folding tail section of this aircraft was removed. Sikorsky provided an entirely new tail unit complete with a 'fenestron' style tail rotor. The purpose of this experiment was to prove the optional fenestron tail for Sikorsky's proposed DS-531/S-67 Blackhawk attack helicopter.

The YAH-34X was intended as a one-off but did prove the fenestron concept. With trials complete, the airframe was refitted with its original tail and returned to the US Army. However, following the US withdrawl from Vietnam, the AH-34T was an aircraft without a mission. The small Apalachee fleet was withdrawn from US Army service and sent to AMARC for storage and disposal. West Germany purchased twenty-three of these aircraft.

Paid for by the German government, the three YAH-34Ts and 20 AH-34Ts were transferred to Israel in return for the trade-in of an equivalent number of UH-34A/H-34G IIIs. These aircraft entered IDF service at Palmachim in 1978. In 1985, it was decided to rebuild the surviving 21 'Nachash' ('Serpent') airframes to YAH-34T standard. Sikorsky supplied the new main gearboxes and S-61 components along with details on the YAH-34X.

Project 'Nachash 90' was completed by late 1988 with these 'fenestroned YAH-34Xs' equipping 114. tajeset at Tel Nof (AFB . Ironically, IDF Nachash 90s always operated in concert with 'Tzefa' ('Viper') escorts -- the Apalachee's more successful rival, the Bell AH-1 Cobra.

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[Tophe]

The brand new YAH-34X is my favourite, thanks!

[M.A.D]

The Kosher Hustler - the B-58i Ariyyáhu, my entry into the Extended Service Life and/or Back dated GB:
http://beyondthesprues.com/Forum/index.php?topic=5433.0

For those interested, there is also the B-58A Hustler armed with the British Blue Steel missile:
http://beyondthesprues.com/Forum/index.php?topic=5345.msg90554#msg90554

Wow apophenia, very impressive indeed!
Any chance of a depiction of the Convair B-58 Hustler offered to Australia, as a English Electric Canberra replacement, with a full complement of iron bombs and SEA camo scheme?

M.A.D