Raafif's profiles

[raafif]

upgraded.

[raafif]

Ravings on another forum re the Bugatti Racer being a fighter inspire me to actually re-design it into a proper fighter.  Note the slightly forward sloped wing.

[Frank3k]

The Bugatti would be buildable by rescaling the 1/72 kit to 1/144, or maybe the 1/48 kit to 1/72.

[perttime]

What engines would be a good size for a fighter-size Bugatti?

https://bugatti100p.aero/history/bugatti-100p/

[raafif]

Two V-6 Renault engines or maybe V-6 Mini-Merlins or one W-24 !  Simplify driving the prop with a single shaft aka P-39 ?

[perttime]

I wonder if a drive shaft in the center would fit. Looks as if the pilot sits pretty low in the cockpit.

[apophenia]

I wonder if a drive shaft in the center would fit. Looks as if the pilot sits pretty low in the cockpit.

Indeed. The pilot of the Model 100 sat virtually on the floor (hence all those JV joints to 'bend' the extension shafts on the racer).

I've seen suggestions that the unbuilt Model 110 fighter proposal might originally be powered by a single HS 12Y. If that approach was taken, I'd suggest reversing the engine to drive pusher props. That way, you can keep that lovely, streamlined nose. I suspect that a fighter Model 100 would also need more tail area ...

[raafif]

With no gearbox in the nose it would enable some (4?) 20mm cannon up front.

[perttime]

Two 20mm guns might fit on the bottom, below the pilot, on an enlarged one. The Bf 109 did fine with just one. Maybe .50 machineguns near wing roots, in addition.

[apophenia]

Two 20mm guns might fit on the bottom, below the pilot, on an enlarged one. The Bf 109 did fine with just one. Maybe .50 machineguns near wing roots, in addition.

Since the fuselage had a slightly 'squashed' section at the leading edges, you could mount those HS 404s to either side of the pilot. The Armée de l'Air would probably want 4 x wing-mounted 7.5 mm MAC 1934s but, by 1939, the French were looking at FN's 13.2 mm Mitrailleuse d'avion Browning.

[Frank3k]

Indeed. The pilot of the Model 100 sat virtually on the floor (hence all those JV joints to 'bend' the extension shafts on the racer)

I wonder how much power they wasted with those joints, plus the maintenance nightmare.