Author Topic: Apophenia's Offerings  (Read 906605 times)

Offline apophenia

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Re: Apophenia's Offerings
« Reply #2475 on: March 16, 2020, 04:09:29 AM »
Thanks folks. I haven't worked out the details completely but the tbc Operation Henchman will be jumping forward in time. And I'll try to make the backstory a little more terse  :P

Robert: Not this time ... but that Lancaster mailplane project has to get done!

Small brown dog: Do tell!  ;D

Brian: On fictional characters, as Blackadder's Lord Melchett said: "As private parts to the gods are we: they play with us for their sport!"
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Offline Jeffry Fontaine

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Re: Apophenia's Offerings
« Reply #2476 on: March 16, 2020, 05:05:12 AM »
Off to a great start with this Appophenia!
"Every day we hear about new studies 'revealing' what should have been obvious to sentient beings for generations; 'Research shows wolverines don't like to be teased" -- Jonah Goldberg

Offline elmayerle

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Re: Apophenia's Offerings
« Reply #2477 on: March 16, 2020, 09:22:04 AM »
Most intriguing story and beautiful rendering; looking forward to more.

Offline apophenia

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Re: Apophenia's Offerings
« Reply #2478 on: March 29, 2020, 10:52:23 AM »
Inspired by Robin's One Wing Biplanes: http://beyondthesprues.com/Forum/index.php?topic=9060.30

Restored to Glory - The Sopwith Hound 'One-Wing Biplane' is Being Reborn

The last surviving Sopwith Hound is now being restored back to airworthy condition. If the restoration remains on schedule, the reborn aircraft will resume its flying career after a hiatus of almost exactly one hundred years. For those who are unfamiliar with the type, the Sopwith Hound was an intermediate type between the better-known [/i]Pup[/i] and Camel biplane fighters.

Like all production Hounds, D4198 was built by Whitehead Aircraft Ltd at their Richmond, Surrey works. [1] A late production aircraft, D4198 went first to No. 3 (Naval) Squadron RNAS based near Dunkirk. In July 1917, No. 3 began receiving new Sopwith Camel biplanes and the Hounds were withdrawn. Surplus to naval requirements, most of the RNAS Hounds were transferred to the Royal Flying Corps for training purposes - many being converted into dual-control two-seaters.

The fortunes of Hound D4198 were different. In a sense, she maintained her naval heritage. Assigned to No. 112 (Home Defence) Squadron, RFC, at Throwley in Kent. Although No. 112 was part of the London Air Defence Area forced intended for intercepting German heavy bombers, the Hounds also routinely engaged German seaplanes operating off the coast. After the Armistice, many Hounds were sold off to civilian interests. Most were converted into two-seat tourers, a fate D4198 avoided.

Top Sopwith Hound D4198 as it appeared as a civilian-operated aircraft in 1921. Note the new plating on the forward upper decking and faired turn-over pylon. New fabric covering has eliminated the service tail stripes but the roundel is retained (it seems that D4198 never had a civil 'G' aircraft registration applied).

The civilian career of D4198 was fairly brief. At the 1922 Aerial Derby over Hendon, the Hound 'turned turtle' on landing. Pilot, Lester Forestier-Walker, was unharmed - thanks to a recently installed turn-over pylon - but the Hound was considered a write-off. The remains of D4198 were collected and stored on her owner's property in Dorset. Post-crash plans to rebuild the airframe never came to fruition and the Hound's components were left disassembled in the dry loft of that Dorset barn for almost 90 years. In 2009, the remains of D4198 were sold to a warbird collector for daunting task of restoration.

The first order of business was cataloguing all of the preserved components and assessing their conditions. The original 80 hp Le Rhône 9C rotary engine had long since disappeared and a replacement was needed. The wooden components had mostly survived but the wing panels - having been stored in the rafters - had suffered most from the years. The fuselage and tailplane was judged restorable but new wings were required. With a substantial amount of work needed, progress on the Hound restoration has been slow.

By 2016, a restored Le Rhône 9C rotary engine [2] had been received back from Skysport Engineering and a set of restored cowling metal and a period propeller have been sourced to replace missing items. A replica Vickers aircraft gun has also been procured - the plan being to restore D4198 in its full wartime glory. Meanwhile, work is underway on a set of replacement wing panels is underway in a hangar at Tarrant Rushton. [3] As many original wing fittings as practical are being refurbished for installation on the new wing panels. It is expected that D4198 restoration work will be fully complete by 2022. Then, we will witness the first airworthy Sopwith Hound to fly for a century.

Bottom The still-incomplete Sopwith Hound D4198 restoration rolled out of its hangar at Tarrant Rushton in the Summer of 2019. Note the 'dummy' machine gun (connected to period Scarff-Dybovsky synchronization gear) and reconditioned replacement front-end sheet metal. The 'new' cowling (thought to come from a [/i]Pup[/i]) has had reinforcing strips added to it at some point.
____________________

[1] Having already license-built over 700 Sopwith Pups, Whitehead Aircraft was a natural choice to produce the Sopwith Hound.

[2] This rotary is actually a derated Le Rhône 9Ja - one of 953 built by W.H. Allen Son & Co. of Bedford - which originally powered an RAF Avro 504K biplane trainer.

[3] The hangars at newly re-opened Tarrant Rushton airfield were occupied by Flight Refuelling until that firm's move to Hurn in the late 1970s.
Froglord: "... amphibious doom descends ... approach the alter and swear your allegiance to the swamp."

Offline robunos

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Re: Apophenia's Offerings
« Reply #2479 on: March 29, 2020, 05:18:04 PM »
XLNT !! I love it . . .
Just one thing, though, as built, a production Hound would have been fitted with a 100 / 130hp Clerget 9b engine, rather than the Gnome ( Sopwith Triplane engine and cowling,  in real life ) . . .   ;)


cheers,
Robin.
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Offline Small brown dog

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Re: Apophenia's Offerings
« Reply #2480 on: March 29, 2020, 05:59:34 PM »
This got me wondering about adding something similar in my universe as the first Hound incarnation although, owing to power requirements, it would have failed.  Perhaps a late war/post war test bed or something which would have to be making use of EMFEM tech as no ELG is available as yet. The folding of Sopwith /creation of Hawkers would have been another reason to abandon it. Could be fun to muck about with.

Nicely done by the way :)
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Offline Brian da Basher

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Re: Apophenia's Offerings
« Reply #2481 on: March 29, 2020, 06:10:25 PM »
It's always a treat to see your latest artwork, apophenia!

I like how you kept the original flavor of the Sopwith Pup yet modernized it by making it a monoplane.

Your clear doped linen is rendered as expertly as your fine natural metal finishes!

Just wonderful!

Brian da Basher

Offline apophenia

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Re: Apophenia's Offerings
« Reply #2482 on: March 30, 2020, 02:09:12 AM »
Thanks folks.

Just one thing, though, as built, a production Hound would have been fitted with a 100 / 130hp Clerget 9b engine, rather than the Gnome ...

Always a challenge when one starts splashing about in totally unfamiliar waters  :-[
Froglord: "... amphibious doom descends ... approach the alter and swear your allegiance to the swamp."

Offline robunos

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Re: Apophenia's Offerings
« Reply #2483 on: March 30, 2020, 05:25:25 AM »
Hey, no worries, we can retcon things by stating that once the Hounds were withdrawn from the front line, their engines were removed for re-use in Camels, and substituted for 80hp Gnomes . . .


cheers,
Robin.
By the pricking of my thumbs, Something Whiff-y this way comes . . .

Offline apophenia

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Re: Apophenia's Offerings
« Reply #2484 on: March 31, 2020, 03:32:47 AM »
Cheers Robin. And that is the wonder of whiffery ... there's always a plausible AltHist work round  ;D
Froglord: "... amphibious doom descends ... approach the alter and swear your allegiance to the swamp."

Offline apophenia

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Re: Apophenia's Offerings
« Reply #2485 on: April 09, 2020, 04:18:21 AM »
Over on Secret Projects there was a thread speculating about Sea Kings for all branches of the Canadian Forces. So ...
Froglord: "... amphibious doom descends ... approach the alter and swear your allegiance to the swamp."

Offline Jeffry Fontaine

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Re: Apophenia's Offerings
« Reply #2486 on: April 09, 2020, 04:21:23 AM »
Over on Secret Projects there was a thread speculating about Sea Kings for all branches of the Canadian Forces. So ...
Makes you wonder why that particular version was not acquired in larger numbers than the few that were.  Great to see in Canadian markings!
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Offline apophenia

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Re: Apophenia's Offerings
« Reply #2487 on: April 09, 2020, 04:29:55 AM »
Makes you wonder why that particular version was not acquired in larger numbers than the few that were...

Good question Jeffry. Plenty in Italian service but it always seemed odd that - even with exposure to the USAF Jolly Green Giants in Vietnam - US Army Aviation showed no interest in the S-61R. Maybe seen as redundant with the Chinook in play?
Froglord: "... amphibious doom descends ... approach the alter and swear your allegiance to the swamp."

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Re: Apophenia's Offerings
« Reply #2488 on: April 10, 2020, 02:02:56 AM »
 :smiley:
All hail the God of Frustration!!!

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Offline jcf

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Re: Apophenia's Offerings
« Reply #2489 on: April 10, 2020, 03:00:29 AM »
The thin wing of the Hound would have required external bracing and wires,
there's no way it could fly without a support structure.

Maybe something DH.53 Hummingbird style, or Travel Air R?

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Offline robunos

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Re: Apophenia's Offerings
« Reply #2490 on: April 10, 2020, 04:51:13 AM »
Oh Damn !! I knew there was something I'd forgotten . . .   :(    :-[
Had One Wing Biplanes like the Hound really existed, they would have had wire bracing, from the top longerons to the wing, then down to the undercarriage. Have a look at the Boeing Peashooter for the idea. I did try building some models with struts as you've suggested, but they ended up being as fiddly as building the biplanes in the first place, so I didn't bother . . . and any way, this is Whiff World, and anything is possible . . .


cheers,
Robin.
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Re: Apophenia's Offerings
« Reply #2491 on: April 11, 2020, 01:29:28 AM »
Another one to look at for bracing guidance would be something such as the Ryan ST family:




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Offline apophenia

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Re: Apophenia's Offerings
« Reply #2492 on: April 11, 2020, 11:53:37 AM »
I like the Ryan ST approach of struts and wires - belt and braces  :D
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Offline jcf

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Re: Apophenia's Offerings
« Reply #2493 on: April 14, 2020, 01:54:18 AM »
Travel Air R is similar with two struts.




“Conspiracy theory’s got to be simple.
Sense doesn’t come into it. People are
more scared of how complicated shit
actually is than they ever are about
whatever’s supposed to be behind the
conspiracy.”
-The Peripheral, William Gibson 2014

Offline apophenia

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Re: Apophenia's Offerings
« Reply #2494 on: April 14, 2020, 04:04:59 AM »
Travel Air R is similar with two struts.

Very much so. Nice  :smiley:  I note that, in both cases, the struts tie in with undercarriage legs. Clever.
Froglord: "... amphibious doom descends ... approach the alter and swear your allegiance to the swamp."

Offline apophenia

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Re: Apophenia's Offerings
« Reply #2495 on: April 16, 2020, 03:39:59 AM »
Back in December last year, the the-roast mounted two WW2 Ecuadorian aircraft - an early series Fiat G.50 and a Blenheim Mk.I. http://beyondthesprues.com/Forum/index.php?topic=8689.msg163109#msg163109

The concept was too good not to steal ... so here's my take on the FAE Blenheims (called Busardo locally). Backstory to follow.
Froglord: "... amphibious doom descends ... approach the alter and swear your allegiance to the swamp."

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Re: Apophenia's Offerings
« Reply #2496 on: April 16, 2020, 03:47:13 AM »
 :smiley:
All hail the God of Frustration!!!

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Offline apophenia

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Re: Apophenia's Offerings
« Reply #2497 on: April 16, 2020, 08:52:04 AM »
As promised, the backstory for those Ecuadorian Blenheims ...

Latin Blenheims - The Busardos of the Fuerza Aérea Ecuatoriana

In 1938, Ecuador ordered new warplanes from Great Britain. In the early 1930s, this small South American country had shifted its preference from Italian- to US-made aircraft (ordering almost exclusively from Curtiss-Wright). In 1937, a second Italian aviation mission came to Ecuador. This resulted in the first combat aircraft order in some time - for eight IMAM Ro.37 [1] 2-seat reconnaissance-bomber biplanes powered by 560 hp Piaggio P.IX radial engines. Meanwhile, relations between Ecuador and the United States had begun to turn frosty.

In 1937, the government of Ecuador granted a large oil concession in the eastern, Amazonian part of the country. A subsidiary of Standard Oil of New Jersey (Jersey Standard or Esso) was in the running but, instead, the concession was granted to the British-Dutch oil company, Royal Dutch Shell plc. In early 1938, a British aviation mission arrived in Quito - with Airspeed (1934) Limited representing the interests of Dutch aircraft maker, Fokker. This resulted in firm orders for multiple aircraft types at very good terms. From the Dutch was ordered three Fokker T.VIII twin-float recce/torpedo bombers - a type which had yet to fly. [2] From the British, aircraft orders included no less than five airframe types.

The British types ordered were: 2 x Airspeed general crew trainers; 3 x Avro patrol/recce-bombers; 6 x Hawker recce-bombers; 12 x Gloster biplane fighters; and 6 x Bristol medium bombers. Of the latter - the Bristol 142ME Busardo (Buzzard) - the first three airframes arrived by sea in Ecuador in August 1939. Assembled in Guayaquil by seconded Bristol technicians, the model 142ME aircraft were all ex-RAF Blenheim Mk.Is with no changes to their onboard equipment. The second airframe shipment arrived in early October 1939 but the Ecuadorian side of re-assembly work had moved at a very leisurely pace. It was not until early 1940 that the 142ME Busardo fleet achieved full operational capability with the Escuadrillas de Bombarderos of Ala de Combate 14 and 16 of the Fuerza Aérea del Ejército Equatoriana (FAEE), as it was then. [3]

Although the British government was keen to develop a Pacific Ocean ally in Ecuador, wartime conditions made it all but impossible for the UK to properly support the Busardos. Over time, emergency modifications began to be made to keep the bomber fleet airborne. In some cases, Hawker Harpías were robbed of their 825 hp Mercury VIIIA radial for use as Busardo replacement engines. [4] Eventually, some Busardos were also robbed of some equipment to keep aircraft based close to the borders with Perú in top condition.

Top Bristol 142ME Busardo IA of Escuadrilla de Bombarderos, Ala de Combate 16, based at Base Aérea (BA) Portoviejo near the Pacific coast. Despite the 'Bombarderos' in the title, this unit primarily flew coastal patrol missions during the 'guerra del 41'.

The 'IA' designation suffix denoted an aircraft re-engined with Mercury VIIIA engines. This aircraft has been fitted with open dorsal position (freeing up its gun turret as spares for the bomber fleet). Note the Vickers GO nose gun fitted for maritime strafing. It would appear that '231' has also been robbed of its wireless set (the mast is still in place but is not strung with antenna wire).

In early 1941, an unexpected delivery of spares from Italy helped with the Fuerza Aérea Equatoriana's ongoing supply problems. As a result, a momentous decision was made. Most of the bomber fleet would be rebuilt to Busardo II standards with Italian engines. The twin-row, 870 hp Fiat A.74 radials were of smaller diameter than the original Mercurys which provided a bit more side view from the cockpit. But the Italian engines also weighed over 550 lbs more than a pair of Mercurys. In light of availability, this was seen as an acceptable trade-off and internal equipment could be shifted to re-establish the airframe's centre of gravity.

Bottom Bristol 142MF Busardo II of Escuadrilla de Bombarderos, Ala de Combate 14, based at BA in the Azuay highlands, late July 1941. Aircraft '215' was one of three Busardos brought up to model 142MF standards by the outbreak of the Guerra perúano-ecuatoriana. Note the 'gun troughs' in the Fiat cowlings.

The engines, cowlings, motor-mounts, etc. on the Busardo IIs had been intended for Fiat G.50bis fighters which were never delivered. As such, the slots in their cowlings for that fighter's synchronized gun armament. In one official photograph of the Busardo II prototype conversion, some wag propped muzzle flash suppressors from Breda-SAFAT machine guns in those gun troughs. Somehow this was taken seriously by the Perúvian air arm's Oficina de inteligencia - the OI-CAP. For the duration of the 1941-42 conflict, fighter pilots of the Cuerpo Aeronáutico del Perú were advised to avoid attacking the 'Busardo F' from the front to avoid this bomber's formidable 4-gun forward defensive armament!

(To be continued ...)
_____________________

[1] Invariably, these biplanes were referred to as 'Alfa Romeos' in Ecuador - the Naples-based Officine Ferroviarie Meridionali being owned by Nicola Romeo.

[2] The T.VIII W/E was to be essentially similar to the Netherland's T.VIII W/G but powered by the Bristol Mercury VIII engines akin to those intended for the enlarged T.VIII W/C model. Enquiries were also made about the Fokker G.1 heavy fighter but no order was placed.

[3] The Fuerza Aérea del Ejército Equatoriana (FAEE) was renamed Fuerza Aérea Equatoriana (FAE) in 1940.

[4] In most instances, the drop in horsepower from the Busardo's 840 hp Mercury VIIIs went unnoticed. Nevertheless, attempts were made to base the VIIIA-powered aircraft along the coastal plain rather than up in the eastern highlands.
Froglord: "... amphibious doom descends ... approach the alter and swear your allegiance to the swamp."

Offline GTX_Admin

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Re: Apophenia's Offerings
« Reply #2498 on: April 17, 2020, 02:26:55 AM »
 :smiley:

Maybe a whiff within a whiff could be a Ecuadorian CR.42... ;)

I can also see an interesting spin on the Ecuadorian–Peruvian War of 1941 coming.
All hail the God of Frustration!!!

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Offline Hardrada55

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Re: Apophenia's Offerings
« Reply #2499 on: April 18, 2020, 05:04:37 AM »
Buy the Ecuadorians some tanks!