Apophenia's Offerings

[Small brown dog]

Yeah, works for me - nice  one 

[apophenia]

Cheers 'dog. Here's another GTX-inspired PZL pair ...

Two Romanian PZL P.11F-derived projects. The IAR P.11FM was a scheme for an interim aircraft between the IAR 9K Mistral-engined P.11F and the more powerful IAR P.24E model. To that end, designs were drawn up to install the P.24E's 930 hp IAR K14-I C32 twin-row radial into a modified P.11F airframe.

The twin-row IAR K14 engine precluded the use of synchronized guns which reduced the P.11FM's armament to two rifle-calibre wing guns. Substantial rebuilding and strengthening of the P.11F's forward fuselage would also be required. In light of this, the FAR concluded that IAR's time would be better invested in speeding production of the cannon-armed P.24E.

The IAR P.11S was an Hispano Suiza 12Y-powered P.11F modification designed by Elie Carafoli. In effect, the P.11S placed existing P.11F wings and rear fuselages onto a new central fuselage section. The engine drove a 3-bladed Ratier metal propeller with a hollow boss allowing a 20 mm Oerlikon shell gun to fire through the hub. Below the HS.12Y and central fuselage sat a large radiator bath for the ethylene glycol-cooled engine.

A half-dozen P.11S pre-production conversions were created from P.11F spares for operational testing. Due to difficulties encountered by IAR in manufacturing the French engines at Brașov, most P.11S were actually fitted with Avia-built HS.12Ycrs engines imported from Czechoslovakia. The FAR's choice of main armament also proved poor - the Oerlikon FFS gun being inferior to the more powerful French HS.404. Wing guns were twin 7.9 mm FN-Brownings.

A handful of P.11S survived in to the early war years. Shown here is P.11S '​alb 57' which was flown by IAR in defence of the Brașov factory until late 1943. Although shown here fitted with its 20 mm gun, the factory defence P.11S were usually flown without their Oerlikons to reduce weight and nose-heaviness. (To address the latter problem, a proposed second run of P.11S was to have their radiators positioned further aft beneath the cockpit. However, these were never built due to IAR P.24Es dominating the lines.)

BTW: I've based these two on a P.11F profile signed "Bogdan 03". I'm thinking that may be for Bogdan Patrascu, but I'm not sure ...

[Small brown dog]

I can be a daft old bugger when it comes to creativity and my own work. I like it to be my concepts and my models but, this PLZ float job may well be the final push I need to bash out something of yours.

I have access to a pretty good PLZ model and could modify my S5 floats and it would be done.
Attached is  your Harrier image (not forgotten that masterpiece) with the MK1 Hound cowling. That and the Hound MK 4 fuselage mated together with some serious modding and Fury like crap slapped on would see that off.

With those out the way that leaves me your superb S6/Spitfire land plane mash up which, not to put too fine a point on, is as horny as hell.

With your permission I think the new year could see some stuff and I would be happy to post WIP as I go along and for your feedback as work commences ... or am I being a cheeky bugger ?

[GTX_Admin]

Cheers 'dog. Here's another GTX-inspired PZL pair ...

 

[raafif]

I do like the Harrier, rather like a post-war racer     Still waiting for a replacement for the Pond Racer 

[apophenia]

... or am I being a cheeky bugger ?

The world need more cheeky buggers, 'dog 

Seeing any of these profiles get the full SBD treatment would be an absolute honour! But the Harrier would be a real treat 

[apophenia]

-- https://beyondthesprues.com/Forum/index.php?topic=402.msg213762#msg213762

Greg suggested a French Spitfire development with an HS 12Y. I'd done a similar thing with the Defiant so I decided to make it an Hispano-engined RAF Spitfire instead.

Here, I present the HS 12Y-powered [1] Supermarine Spitfire Mk.III - both the prototype Mk.I conversion and an operational model just in time for the Battle of Britain. The cannon-armed Mk.IIIs acted as 'bomber-killers', usually escorted by Mk.Ia Spitfires.

_____________________________________

[1] I remember a snippet from Flight Archives from 1935 or 1936 announcing that some new London-based consortium was seeking British licence rights to the HS 12Y. Alas, I cannot unearth my file and the online Flight Archives are long gone 

[GTX_Admin]

 

I was also thinking of them in French production/service

[Old Wombat]

That was my thought.

An Armée de l'Air contract, specified by the British to use French engines, so that Rolls-Royce Merlin production could be prioritised for RAF contracts.

France supplies the engines, Supermarine slaps them on the front of modified Spitfires, & over to France they go.

[apophenia]

... France supplies the engines, Supermarine slaps them on the front of modified Spitfires, & over to France they go.

Hmmm ... we may have this back-to-front. IIRC, it was the Armee de l'Air who were trying to source foreign supplies of HS 12Ys - like Avia-built engines. Part of the difficulty was, before building licensed HS 12Ys, foreign firms had to procure all of the part-specific tooling and machinery that Marc Birkigt had designed in to his engine. As a result, their were few foreign supplies to choose from and the AdA had no choice but to pursue alternative powerplants - those including Allison V-1710C-15 V12s, radials like the GR 14N or imported American equivalents, etc.

Meanwhile, the French government had unfounded faith in Birkigt producing a more powerful Type 89 (later HS 12Z). But that programme would drag out for a decade. Hence dire moves like the Dewoitine D.521 - plonking a Merlin into an under-armed D.520.

[apophenia]

These sideviews are based on a British patent application (873,236A) by Boulton Paul from 24 March 1936. Assigned to BP's chief designer, John Dudley North, this patent was published as 515,992A in September 1937. With figure keys edited out, the introduction to that patent goes as follows:

"515,992. Arrangement of guns on aircraft. BOULTON PAUL AIRCRAFT, Ltd., and NORTH J.D. March 24, 1936, No. 8732.. [Class 4] [Also in Group XXI] Guns are mounted on a member projecting a considerable distance from the aircraft body, the member being rotatable about an axis fixed relatively to the body and carrying at the end remote from the body a support for a gun or guns. Further, the gun support is rotatable on the member about an axis at right angles, the arrangement being such that the gun or guns are aimed in elevation and azimuth by a gunner situated within the aircraft body. Fig. 1 shows the mounting arranged at the tail for covering a rear hemispherical field of fire with limited forward fire clear of the fins and rudder [...]"

This patent is better known for its 'dumbell' variation to arm bombers with 4-gun tail turrets. Illustrated here is the original single-gun variant. The 'dumbell' mounted 4 x .303-in Browning guns. The single gun type is not specified. The gun itself is overscale if meant to represent a .303 weapon. Since the BP patent application 873,236A predates the RAF's 1937 adoption of the .303-in Browning as standard, it is possible that the drawing is meant to represent a larger weapon - eg: the Vickers .5-inch aircraft gun.

In the patent illustration, the BP remotely-controlled single-gun mount is shown attached to a rear fuselage and tail which vaguely resembles the forthcoming Defiant ... and so that is how I have rendered it. In reality, I have no clue what type of aircraft J. D. North actually had in mind for this armament. Nor is any mention made of whether the system was to be semi-retractable. I have made that assumption based purely on the awkwardness of landing an aircraft with such a 'stinger' without retracting the gun.

Assuming that this gun system was workable at all, I would see it as better-suited to a modest extension of a more finely tapered rear fuselage - ie: in form, more like the Gloster F.5/34 - to get around the need for such a long tubular mount to clear the empennage.

[apophenia]

This is a retouch I did for a thread on SPF. I'm calling Michael Gregor's second take on his fighter the Can-Car FDB-2

[perttime]

This is a retouch I did for a thread on SPF. I'm calling Michael Gregor's second take on his fighter the Can-Car FDB-2

It looks small!
Yep. The FDB-1 was way smaller than something like Gloster Gladiator.

[robunos]

This is a retouch I did for a thread on SPF. I'm calling Michael Gregor's second take on his fighter the Can-Car FDB-2

HEY !!  One Wing Biplanes are MY thing . . . !!          


cheers,
Robin.

[robunos]

This is a retouch I did for a thread on SPF. I'm calling Michael Gregor's second take on his fighter the Can-Car FDB-2

It looks small!
Yep. The FDB-1 was way smaller than something like Gloster Gladiator.

Looks like an early Grumman Wildcat . . .


cheers,
Robin.

[apophenia]

perttime: Quite so. And the RW FDB-1 was truly tiny compared to the Wildcat.

Length: 6.6 m (8.76 m for F4F)
Span : 8.50 m (11.58 m for F4F)
Height: 2.858 m (3.61 m for F4F)
Empty weight: 1,306 kg (2,226 kg for F4F)
Gross weight : 1,860 kg (3,367 kg for F4F)

Not too surprisingly, the biplane had more wing area: 30.6 m2 versus 24 m2 for the F4F.

Looks like an early Grumman Wildcat . . .

Yep, there's a bit of an XF4F-3 vibe going there.

But your domination of one-wing biplanes remains unchallenged, Robin 

I reckoned that I was safe with one-winging the Gregor FDB-1 ... unless you are willing to sacrifice one of those bare-bones and hen's-teeth Can Vac Models vacuform kits 

[apophenia]

Another one based on SPF discussions. This time, it is CCF-built Grummans for the FAA - in this case, fitted with bubble canopies.

These sideviews are based on F6F Hellcat artwork for Eduard (but I'm not sure who the original artist was).

[robunos]

. . . willing to sacrifice one of those bare-bones and hen's-teeth Can Vac Models vacuform kits 

I didn't even know such a thing existed, so I think I'll pass on that . . .   


cheers,
Robin.

[apophenia]

. . . willing to sacrifice one of those bare-bones and hen's-teeth Can Vac Models vacuform kits 

I didn't even know such a thing existed, so I think I'll pass on that . . .   

Oh go on ... you know you want to! 

[kim margosein]

I built the Can=Vac back in the day.  I just used the fuselage and canopy, and everything else out of the spares box.   The Hisso engined Spit intrigues me.  I am planning an Estonian Supermarine type 332 which was a Spitfire with somewhat different armament.   The Hisso engine would be intriguing.

[robunos]

. . . willing to sacrifice one of those bare-bones and hen's-teeth Can Vac Models vacuform kits 

I didn't even know such a thing existed, so I think I'll pass on that . . .   

Oh go on ... you know you want to! 

Of course I want to . . . I just haven't seen one for sale anywhere . . . and probably couldn't afford it if I did . . .   


cheers,
Robin.

[GTX_Admin]

This might be of interest:  https://dingeraviation.net/gregor/gregor.html

[apophenia]

This might be of interest:  https://dingeraviation.net/gregor/gregor.html

Indeed ... in fact, that's where I stole the vacuform sheet image from 

Dinger's description of his gull-wing section replacement solution is the perfect argument for a one-winged Gregor 

[apophenia]

I know that Xmas comes early to the Antipodes, so ...

2023 S.L.E.I.G.H. Delivery System

We might as well address this straight away. The 2023 S.L.E.I.G.H. DS is just as controversial as North Pole Enterprises (NPE) delivery systems always are. Well, at least since the bygone days of manually-controlled, reindeer-drawn sleds!

As a direct evolution of the 2021 S.L.E.I.G.H. drone, this year's model continues to rely upon electrical levitation and EMFEM weight-compensation technology created by Aero Electric Ltd. (supplied and supported through SBD Industries). [1] Held over are the carbon-fibre integrated body/frame and INS ('Icy Nose Sensor'). The rear parcel drop system has been tweaked but the forward-mounted (and longer-ranged) Vertical Pressie Launcher (VPL) deployment system has been completely redesigned (after last Season's series of embarrassments).

Some elves continue to object to the overall-grey stealth scheme. Modest red 'Candy Cane' stripes on the upper surfaces of the horizontal spoiler have done little to raise approval ratings. And the less said the better about those new, lo-viz NPE icons on the spoilers' vertical tips. Even less popular is the switch from red to 'slime green' hazard panels. Carbon fibre stealthiness may aid in keeping the Santa mystique alive for another year ... but you'll find few who will agree with that approach in the Elves' Canteen!

Image: Seen here is S.L.E.I.G.H. 07 in its natural habitat - the maintenance bay, where last minute VPL gremlins are holding up operations ... again.

Here's hoping that the S.L.E.I.G.H. delivers everything that your were hoping for! Happy Christmas folks 

______________________________________________

[1] SBD (Santa's Bad Deer?) assists customers like NPE with design integration but no physical changes are made to the AEL tech.

Advanced apologies to both Small brown dog and Renault for my shameless pilferage.

[GTX_Admin]