Acree's Profiles

[Acree]

OK, apparently not a lot of interest in profiles right now (or maybe just my profiles).  Either way, I am not deterred...

Here is the whole line, begininng with the Dornier Do Y imported from Germany.  Barbary designated the Do Y as the Ba 14 for maintenance and modification support purposes, so their first development became the Ba 114 - replacing the 3 x 500 hp radials of the original with 2 x 1000 hp Piaggio IXs.  With a 33% increase in power and a reduction in weight and drag, Barbary was able to add manually operated turrets.  The Ba 214 deleted the nose turret and installed more modern control fittings, eliminating the external servos of the Do Y. 
The Ba 314 lowered the wing to a mid position and included an enclosed compartment for pilot, copilot and radio operator.  It also exchanged the single fin and rudder with twin fins and rudders, to provide a better field of fire fo rthe dorsal gunner.
The Ba 414 added retractable landing gear.  The Ba 515 was a projected four-engined development that never left the drawing board, but the Ba 614 was a flying boat, development which raised the wing above the original shoulder-mounted position and added a planing bottom and hull. 

[Logan Hartke]

OK, apparently not a lot of interest in profiles right now (or maybe just my profiles).  Either way, I am not deterred...

There was interest from me, but I actually thought you might have started with a biplane seaplane like the Stranraer.  Also, when you left the country name blank, I thought maybe it was going to be something other than the usual suspects of Germany, Italy, and Yugoslavia for Barbary, so I just didn't have the time to go sifting through all the options.  I knew that the tail was the key, but I couldn't find an exact match.  When I ran out of flying boats to look through, I thought you probably converted a landplane into a seaplane or even a floatplane into a flying boat.  Considering that it could have been a landplane I was looking for and it could have been a transport or a bomber, I'd had enough.  Then I decided, 'screw it, this'll take forever' and let you reveal it.

Not for lack of interest, though.  Next time narrow the field a bit (rather than all aircraft of any country of all time), and you'll probably get more participation.

Anyway, don't assume that no response means no interest.  Carry on.

Cheers,

Logan

[Acree]

Good points, Logan.  I wasn't actually offended or anything... just noticed a general slow-down of posts on this particular board.  I posted the way I did because, when I had completed this whole line, I was shocked at how much te Do Y was transformed.  For me the Ba 414 was the most surprising - looks remeniscent of a Martin B-10 (which the Do Y defiitely did not).  Anyway, all fun!

Chuck

[Logan Hartke]

For me the Ba 414 was the most surprising - looks remeniscent of a Martin B-10 (which the Do Y defiitely did not).  Anyway, all fun!

Very much so.  It has the big curved belly and the semi-recessed wheels that do that.  I love the way some of your aircraft transform.  While most aircraft didn't do that, it is sometimes helpful to remember things like the Supermarine Swift was the last in a long line of evolution from the Type 224, though not too much carried over sometimes.  The XP-72 was basically the last of the SEV-3 line, for example.

Cheers,

Logan

[apophenia]

Love the Do Y lineage but, oddly, the Ba 614 has a French feel about it  :)

Ooo, and fab work of the He 70s! Love the floatplane but the turreted guy makes perfect sense out of the Blitz' rather wide fuselage 

[Logan Hartke]

You know what the Farallon Air Force needs?  A Travel Air Mystery-based fighter.

Cheers,

Logan

[arc3371]

Interesting stuff, love that you are chosing some less travelled paths

[apophenia]

You know what the Farallon Air Force needs?  A Travel Air Mystery-based fighter.

Maybe an unsuccessful competitor to the Capstan Wedell Wasp?
http://beyondthesprues.com/Forum/index.php?topic=1494.msg20357#msg20357

[Logan Hartke]

Yes, or an even earlier line, since it debuted years sooner.  It was the Wedell Wasp that made me think Acree might enjoy just that sort of whiffery.  I had been looking at pictures of the Travel Air Mystery and thinking how it was about 10 years ahead of its time compared to what some countries were building.

Cheers,

Logan

[Acree]

Well, I kinda agreed with Apophenia that the Farallon Air Force didn't "need" a Travel-Air based fighter, with the Wedell Wasp.  BUT, I thought, why not.  Here is the story (thanks to Apophenia for the inspiration):

When Lance Margon approached Jimmy Wedell about adapting the Wasp racer as a fighter, he had already had some experience with this process.  Three years earlier, Margon's predecessor, Francois Pickering, had negotiated the purchase of three Travel Air R Mystery Ship racers from the USA.  These had been used for experimental purposes mostly, but were used in a major propaganda campaign to try to fool the Tripolitans into believing the Travel Air P (as it was designated) was in wide spread service replacing the Capstan-Boeing Bullocks.  In reality, only the three were ever in service, and one of these was destroyed within a few months. Lance Margon had been the pilot of that P, and had lost his left foot in the crash!  The Travel Air P's each had one .30-caliber machine guns installed in a pod under each wing, with 210 rounds per gun.  The Travel Airs were never very popular, being considered fast but fragile.  This reputation was partly responsible for the strengthening program of the Wedell Wasp, to avoid a similar reputation. 

Shown below is the second of the three Travel Air P's, 3-F-55.

[GTX_Admin]

 :)

[apophenia]

Love the Travel Air P  :)  I can imagine this aircraft as a float fighter (although it sounds like the structure may not be up for the job.)

Logan: I assumed that the Mystery Ship and Wedell-Williams were comtemporaries. That Travel Air really was ahead of its time!

[Acree]

Hmmmmm.... me too>

[Logan Hartke]

Very nice, Acree!  I've always loved the Travel Air Mystery ships.  Gorgeous.  I've seen the real one on display in Chicago and the replica at Kalamazoo.  Gorgeous aircraft.  To think that it was constructed just one year after the Spirit of St. Louis, for instance (a very advanced plane in its own right) shows you just how rapidly things developed back then.

In many ways, it was the inspiration for the Wedell-Williams and Gee Bee racers that came after it.  The Italians bought one and developed a fighter inspired by it, the Breda Ba-27.



Cheers,

Logan

[apophenia]

Love the floaty Travel Air  :)

Logan: Now I've learned something else new. I'd read that the Ba.27 was inspired by the P-26. That Breda based their concept on the Travel Air is waaay more plausible!

[Logan Hartke]

Yeah, though they took their time getting around to it.  The Ba-27 as really a year late to the party.  The fact that it was still relevant at all is more a testament to Travel Air than Breda!

Cheers,

Logan

[Acree]

All true, though I'd think it a stretch to call the Ba 27 "relevant."  Interesting, even cool, but hardly relevant. 

I'm away for a while, so no new work for a week or more, but my next project has to do with the Boeing Monomail - a fascinating aircraft to me.  I see the Farallonians developing it along the lines of the Wellesley, but maybe adapting it for an inline motor (Conqueror and/or V-1710).  Hope that intrigues... 

Chuck

[apophenia]

Looking forward to that. I vote for a V-1570 in an A-8 Shrike style cowling  :)

[Acree]

I was originally planning a V-1570 in an O-25C-style cowling (similar, but not as rounded).  However, I like the A-8 idea, so I think I'll go that route.  Maybe the Farallonians need some A-8s too!

[Acree]

In 1933, the Farralonian Air Force created the Extreme Range Research Flight (ERRF) to help extend the state of the art with regards to extreme long range and high altitude.  The ERRF continued to function into the mid-1950s.  The first aircraft to equip the ERRF were two Boeing 221A Monomail mail and passenger planes purchased in the United States after their retirement from United Airlines service.  The aircraft were given individual numbers "3" and "5" in an attempt to obscure the actual number of aircraft the ERRF operated.  Aircraft number 3 was painted in the new colors of the ERRF (red engine cowl and tail with diagonal white stripe) and operated in "stock" condition.  Although it's range was not strikingly great by world standards, the Farallonians got a lot of experience in learning techniques for long range flight.  Ultimately the aircraft was equipped with fuel tanks in the mail compartment which increased its range to over 1200 nautical miles (over double the standard 221A). 

The low-powered engine of the 221A was it's weak point, so aircraft number 5 was taken to the Capstan Aviation shops to be re-engined with a Curtiss V-1570 Conqueror engine making 675 hp (a 17% increase over the 221A's Pratt and Whitney Hornet).  Though maximum speed increased to 188 mph, the main intention of re-engining was to allow a heavier fuel load to be carried.  This gave the new aircraft (now designated Capstan 321A Barracuda) a range 0f 1400 miles.  This was sufficient to interest the FAF in converting the 321 as a strategic bomber.  Carying a bombload of 1000 pounds (comprising two 500 pounders or four 250 pounders suspended vertically in the mail / passenger bays), the 321's range was reduced to under 1000 miles.  Production of the 321 was limited to 12 units and they equipped one flight of the 4th Bomber Squadron. 

The Capstan 421 was the 9th production 321 used by the ERRF to evaluate another more powerful engine, in this case the 1400 hp Pratt & Whitney R-2180 radial.  Load carrying capacity and range were further improved - the ERRF managed to eke out 2250 miles of range. 

The final development of the line was the most unusual of all.  In 1942, a Capstan 321 was taken into the experimental shops to be extensively modified for high altitude research.  The highest powered engine available to Farralon at the time (the Allison V-1710) was installed, and the wingspan was increased by 12 feet (to 71' 1").  Most significantly, a second engine was installed just aft of the pilot.  This was a 125 hp Menasco C-4 whose purpose was to provide power needed to pressurize Farralon's first pressure cabin.  Built into the former mail and passenger compartment, this pressure cabin included a pilot station for use at high altitude.  The regular (unpressurized) pilot's cabin was used for takeoff and landing, but the pilot entered the pressure cabin as altitude increased.  With these modifcations, the 521 was able to reach an altitude of 31,000 feet, but the Allison engine prevented better altitude performance.  Another development - inspired by German developments - was planned with a second Menasco engine provided supercharging for the Allison, but this was not proceeded with.

[raafif]

Beautiful monomails Acree !!

[Acree]

Thank you very much, Raafif

[Daryl J.]

The Monomail is one of my favorite aircraft.   Seeing it in the whiffverse is great!

[Acree]

Since lack of power was the issue, and single-engine reliability was always a question - how about a twin-engined modificaiton? This was the question the engineers at Capstan asked - and they answered their own question with a Twin Barracuda of sorts, called the Capstan Manta.  Equipped with two Curtiss Conqueror engines, the new bomber included a bomb-aimers station in the nose, greatly increasing th accuracy of high altitude bombing. 

[finsrin]

The monomails and now dualmail knock it out of the park 
Fine designs calling to be kitbashed.  Love em