The Mystery Aeroplane Quiz With No Pictures

[LowNSlow]

Ok Ppruners, here's the rules:

I start with a clue and then you ask a question and I answer Yes or No.

Here we go with an easy one:

I flew during WW1

[treadigraph]

Were you a monoplane?

[JDK]

Are you brown on top?

[LowNSlow]

treadders - no

JDK - yes

[John Farley]

Were you a biplane?

[LowNSlow]

John F - yes

[treadigraph]

Were you powered by a rotary engine?

[JDK]

Gosh, what fun Caruthers!

Did Tommy S make you?

[PPRuNe Radar]

Did you carry a single crew member ??

[DeepC]

Did you have an RAF 4a, 150 hp 12 cylinder air cooled inline V engine?

[foxmoth]

Were you British?

[PPRuNe Pop]

Which year(s) did you fly?

[LowNSlow]

Treaders - yes

JDK - no

Pprune Radar - no

Deep C - no

foxmoth - yes

Pprune pop - sorry, yes / no answers only

[treadigraph]

Were you a "pusher" (in the non-drug scene sense!)?

[Say again s l o w l y]

Are you a 'Fee'?

[LowNSlow]

treaders & say again - both no

[PPRuNe Pop]

Were you made in Somerset?

[LowNSlow]

Pprune Pop - no

[Tim Inder]

Are you an Avro 504?

[LowNSlow]

Tim Inder you've got it :ok: :ok: Do you want to do the next one?

[Tim Inder]

Heh! Check ME out! :cool:

Ok, what to give as a clue....

I'll just check up on a couple of facts, brb

Here we go -
I first flew in 1938, and had been retired from service by the end of 1943.

p.s. no 'Googling' please!

[LowNSlow]

Are you a Blackburn Botha?

[Tim Inder]

LnS - No.
lalalalala - happy song to make up my character limit :)

[LowNSlow]

Ok, no more stabs in the dark, are you twin engined?

[treadigraph]

Are you four-engined?

[Tim Inder]

LnS - Yes
Treadigraph - err, no!

[LowNSlow]

Do you have tricycle undercarriage?

[treadigraph]

I have a feeling that LNS and I are now possibly thinking of the same type...

Did you see service with the RAF?

[Tim Inder]

No, what were you thinking - something from the A-W stable perhaps?

Treadigraph - yes to the RAF service - coincident posting I think!

[treadigraph]

That was what I was thinking - but I'll leap in with an early off the top of me head guess:

Westland Whirlwind?

[Bus429]

Treaders - you beat me to it!! Whirlwinds had RR Peregrines. Looked nice but under-performed.

[Tim Inder]

Congrats Treadders!
It looks like it's your turn now - I reckon we might be ready for something a little more obscure now, those last two fell pretty quickly...

[LowNSlow]

Are you an Albermarle? Woops, bit late there.

C'mon then treaders, anorak on and give us a tough one!

[LowNSlow]

Treadders has obviously fallen foul of work or drink so I'll slip a quick one in, Oooh errrr missus.

I entered service in 1942.

[George Bush's Brain]

Are you British?

[Bus429]

Are you a bomber?

[CoodaShooda]

Are you a Hawker Typhoon?

[Bus429]

Maybe we could organise a chat session to make these more immediate (might please PPRUNE Towers, too!)

[treadigraph]

Spot on LowNSlow, both as it happens!

Do you have four engines? (Didn't I ask that before...?)

[LowNSlow]

GBB - no

Bus - no

Cooda - no

Treaders - no

Bus 429 I can't access chat through my office PC

[Bus429]

L&S
You should be working, not PPRUNING!

Are you a North American P51 Mustang?

[LowNSlow]

Bus - no

[Tim Inder]

Are you German?

[LowNSlow]

Tim Inder - Ja

[Feather #3]

Do you have two jet engines?

[Tim Inder]

Are you thinking of a He177?

[LowNSlow]

Feather - nien

Tim Inder - nien

[Tim Inder]

Does it have more than one engine?

[foxmoth]

Are you a fighter?

[LowNSlow]

foxmoth - nien

Tim Inder - ja

[CamelPilot]

Are you a transport?


(And it's 'Nein' - just thought you like to know that!) ;)

[LowNSlow]

Camelpilot - ja, danke

[karrank]

Are you a Messerschmitt Me323 Gigant?

[LowNSlow]

karrank are you telepathic? I was expecting a few more on numbers of engines etc. Spot on. :ok:

Your turn to give us a Mystery Aeroplane now.

[LowNSlow]

I'm not sure I understand you Bus

[Tim Inder]

Is that a cryptic clue, Bus?

[Bus429]

LowNSlow and Tim -
Sorry, it was a bit too cryptic - it confused me!!

Try this one:

First flew in 1939

[Tim Inder]

Is it a civilian aircraft?

[Bus429]

PPRune doesn't like one liners

Tim - Yes

[PPRuNe Pop]

Is it the Albatross?

[Bus429]

PPrune Pop - No

[seacue]

Is it the DC-5?

[Tim Inder]

Is it the Sikorsky VS-300 Helicopter?

[Bus429]

Spot on, Seacue - did my earlier, deleted clue give it away?

[seacue]

I don't think I saw the deleted clue. It's just that the DC-5 was a "Might Have Been" great plane if production hadn't been ordered closed by the AAF in order to concentrate on the DC-3 / C-47 / etc. Somewhere I saw that Wm Boeing had one as his VIP transport!

Oh, my, I was going to do the DC-5 myself as the next picture quiz. OK:

Next no-picture quiz.

I first flew in 1929.

SC

[Bus429]

Are you a Do X?

[seacue]

Bus429 - no
---- for fill ----

[Bus429]

Are you multi-engined...................?

[seacue]

To Bus429 - yes, but not as many as the Do X.

[CamelPilot]

Were you built by Fairey?

[Bus429]

Are you a Grumman?

[seacue]

CamelPilot - no

Bus429 - no

[Bus429]

Are you a Sikorsky.................?

[seacue]

Bus429 - no, not one of them.

Were any Sikorsky models first flown in '29?

[Bus429]

Yes, the S38 amphibian.



Are you a Junkers G38?

[seacue]

Bus429 - my book says the S-38 first flew on 25 June 1928. Perhaps the first S-38A flew in 1929.

No, it isn't the Junkers G38.

[Tim Inder]

Are you equipped to land on (and take off again!) water?

[Airbedane]

1929 and multi-engined..........hmmmmmmmmmmmmm........Handley Page?

[Woomera]

Wild guess ..... Ford Trimotor?

[seacue]

Tim Inder - yes, I can operate from water.

Airbedane - no, not HP

Woomera - not a Ford. The Ford first flew in '26, from what I can tell.

[Tim Inder]

were you built in the usa?

[seacue]

Tim Inder - yes, I'm 'Murican

[karrank]

Are you a Consolidated Commodore?

Erm, wasn't I supposed to get a go?

[Tim Inder]

Is it a Boeing S-80A?

[seacue]

And the WINNAH is karrank !!!

So it's your turn to start the next no-picture quiz.

But first - here's a picture of the Commodore. About 14 were built. Most served with the New York, Rio, Buenos Aires NYRBA airline which Trippe forced into PanAm. A point in their favor was long range. At least one survived well into WW2 if not later even though obsolete by then.

http://users.erols.com/rcarpen/cc3.JPG

SC

[LowNSlow]

C'mon Karrank or you'll miss your turn again............

[karrank]

Nice pic thanks CQ,

I first flew in 1958! (Which, by coincidence is the first time "I" flew, just before I was born.)

[LowNSlow]

Are you a turboprop?

[karrank]

Lownslow: No I'm not a turboprop.

:D

[Woomera]

Whilst Karrank is thinking....... Here's a quick twist - I'm looking for an original G registration.

Designed as a light bomber for the Iraqi Air Force, the prototype first flew in 1932. My construction number was 6025 and I became the first "Royal Flight" aircraft, later owned by Lt Shuttleworth.

I was impressed into the RAAF during the war, worked in Papua New Guinea post war and ended my life in the 1950's as an aerial seeding aircraft in Queensland, Australia.

That has to be easy. :}

[LowNSlow]

Are you a jet airliner?

[karrank]

Lownslow: I am not a jetliner

Woomera: Erm, you're not quite on the right track, but far from it for me to criticise a moderator...

:D :D :D

[LowNSlow]

karrank, are you Russian?

woomera, are you a de havilland Rapide?

[Woomera]

Ooops. Sorry. Where did those posts come from..... :} Hopeless Moderators!

LowNSlow. Not a Rapide but very close.

Karrank. Are you a British twin turboprop which originally flew two years earlier with four Alvis Leonides Major radial piston engines?

[karrank]

LowNslow: I'm not Russian

Woomera: I'm not a British twin turboprop which originally flew two years earlier with four Alvis Leonides Major radial piston engines, or (to be fair) any of those individual items...

:D :D :D :D :D

[LowNSlow]

karrank - are you American?

Woomera - are you a Dragon Rapide?

[karrank]

LowNSlow: No, I'm not American.

(Thinks: American = "Of or relating to the United States of America or its people, language, or culture.")

:D :D :D :D :D :D

[LowNSlow]

karrank - are you an Aussie aeroplane?

[karrank]

LowNSlow: No, I'm not an Aussie, mate.

:D :D :D :D :D :D :D

Woomera: Is your royal-connected thing a DH Fox Moth?

[LowNSlow]

karrank - are you Canadian perchance?

[karrank]

LowNSlow: YES, I'm Canadian!

:D :D :D :D :D :D :D :(

(Thinks: Curses, gave the game away with my umurican pedantry...)

[LowNSlow]

Would you be an Avro CF-100 perchance?

[Tim Inder]

C-102 Jetliner?
(edit - should not forget previous answers- doh!)

[karrank]

Getting warmer, Avro Canada is on the right track.

Lownslow: No, I'm not the CF-100

Tim Inder: No, I'm not the C102 jetliner

:D = 9
:( = 1

[Aerohack]

Woomera: I think you are D.H.84 Dragon G-ACGG/VH-AAC/A34-10. But you've confused your provenance. You were fathered (by the inestimable Arthur Hagg) to meet the requirements of Edward Hillman of Hillman's Airways & Saloon Coaches Ltd, to whom your first three siblings were delivered before you were equipped with a mid-upper gun and went off, eight-strong, to Iraq.

[BEagle]

karrankk - your first flight was on 25 Mar 1958 and you are the Avro CF-105 Arrow.

woomera - you were G-ACGG and crashed in 1951.

[karrank]

Yes BEagle, I am the legend-in-my-own-lunchbox Avro Canada CF-105 Arrow! Your turn.

:D = 9
:( = 1
:{ = 1

Arrow 104 (http://1000aircraftphotos.com/Contributions/Johannesson/2969.htm)

[Woomera]

Aerohack and BEagle, you are correct. However I would be interested in where you obtained the 1951 crash date as I never could find the date AAC pranged for the final time. It was one of two DH84's (the other was VH-AON which still exists) acquired to start Territory Airlines in 1952 and I found pilot records of it having operated in PNG in 1953 or 1954. VH-AAC finally disappeared in Queensland but I can't trace when or where (the final owner appears to have been "Queensland Air, Air Planters".

VH-AON was the last PNG Dragon, being ferried back to Australia in 1958 by Dick Cresswell.

Aerohack. My research (30 years ago) also indicated Hillman Airways may have established the original requirement, however over the years I have found a number of references to an Iraqi Air Force requirement (or inquiry) which may have pre dated the Hillman requirement:

"The Dragon was created by De Havilland' chief designer A.E. (Arthur) Hagg, in the early 1930's. Hagg and his team had been working on a light bomber for the Iraqi Air Force, and this was modified in response to operator demand (particularly charter companies like Hillman Airways) for a twin engine airliner, to produce the DH84. The prototype flew on November 12, 1932, and the aircraft went into production the following year. "

That too seems to confirm the Iraqi requirement pre-dated Hillman's request.

There is a great photograph of G-ACGG with the Duke of Windsor (Edward VIII) at the controls in the fronticepiece of either "Balus" I or II by Jim Sinclair.

[BEagle]

My sources indicate:

1933 The aircraft was registered as G-ACGG and became a VIP aircraft for the Prince of Wales.

1937 The aircraft was shipped to Australia.

1938 The aircraft was re-registered as VH-AAC.

1941 The aircraft was acquired by the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) and re-serialed as A34-10.

29 Aug 1944 The aircraft was re-registered as VH-AAC.

29 Jan 1951 The aircraft crashed at Slate Creek, New Guinea .


Next turn I donate to whoever wishes to submit another puzzler!

[Bus429]

Can I have another go? This one is a bit cryptic....

On occasion, I could lose a propellor

[LowNSlow]

Bus are you a motor glider?

[Bus429]

LowNslow - no.....................

[BEagle]

If you lost your propellor, would you have a jet instead?

[Bus429]

BEagle - no........................

[Aerohack]

Woomera:

Most likely Hillman's request that DH design him a 'twin-engined Fox Moth' was coincident with the Iraqi Ministry of Defence's 'expression of interest' in an aircraft of the same general size and configuration. Hillman gave DH his performance parameters, and a price limit (no more than £500 per seat) and got the first off the line, but the Iraqi machines followed close behind, so they probably do deserve joint credit.

According to John Hamlin's book 'The de Havilland Dragon/Rapide Family', the remains of VH-ACC were storted at Lae pending rebuild before being sold to Territory Airlines in 1952. The rebuild never took place, and parts of it were incorporated into the rebuild of Territory's Australian-built Dragon VH-AIA.

Bus 429:

On those occasions when you lost a propeller, did you have others left?

[sycamore]

B429,
Were you a late-model Spitfire, or a Stratocruiser?

[BEagle]

B429 - are you a Fairey Gannet?

[Bus429]

Aerohack - yes
Sycamore - no
BEagle - no

[LowNSlow]

Bus are you American?

[Bus429]

LowNslow - no.

I'm just off round the corner to get a baguette for dinner. Back soon.

[BEagle]

Bus, when you 'lost' your prop, was there any asymmetric effect?

[LowNSlow]

Bus would you be German perhaps?

[Bus429]

Back from baguette shop so..

BEagle - no asym
Low - Yes

[BEagle]

Bist du ein Dornier 335 Pfeil?

[Bus429]

Ach, BEagle - schon!

May I, at this point, say how much I enjoy this exercise?
The only thing that would make it better on an afternoon like this (I'm in the Nordic regions and it it is currently raining/snowing and +0.5C) would be sitting in a pub 'round a table with you lot doing the same thing face to face. It would be even better if it were your round, BEagle!;)
Bit long-winded but you know what I mean.

[BEagle]

So what's in the baguette? Reindeer meat or herring?

And the next next one please....

[Bus429]

BEagle - I'm a veggie, so it's sun-dried toms.
Your go...

[BEagle]

How do they dry tomatoes up there at this time of year?

OK - With my one engine I could take off with 1 pilot and 4 passengers in less than 100 yards. And no, I'm not a space shuttle!

..and I used to do it over 50 years ago!

[Aerohack]

Did you come from north of the border?

[BEagle]

I did!



.

[PPRuNe Pop]

Scottish Aviation Single Pioneer..............

[BEagle]

Yep - you win the deep-fried Mars Bar!!

[PPRuNe Pop]

Ugh! Thanks but no thanks.

Ok here goes. I was built in 1945/6...........

[BEagle]

Were you a military aircraft?

[PPRuNe Pop]

BEags - yes.........

[BEagle]

Were you British?

[PPRuNe Pop]

Yes sir we were...........

[BEagle]

Did you have a single piston engine?

[PPRuNe Pop]

Another yes..............:)

[Bus429]

Are you a Martin Baker MB 5?

[BEagle]

Well you can't be a Spiteful and Seafang, because they were slightly earlier. Nor a Balliol or Athena as they were later.

Would Luton be a clue?

[PPRuNe Pop]

You posted as I did BEags but as you see....................;)


Absolutely Bus! I foolishly thought that one would ride for a time - ah well! :{

[BEagle]

You can't be a Martin Baker MB5 as that flew in 1944:

The M.B.5 (serial number R2496) flew for the first time on May 23, 1944. The performance was superlative, the Armament and Aircraft Experimental Establishment raving about the general design and layout of the aircraft. All pilots who flew it praised its qualities, and it is a mystery why this excellent aircraft was never put into production, even though there would have been enough time for it to have entered squadron service before the end of WW2.

The M.B.5 was armed with four 20-mm British Hispano Mk. II cannon in the wings. Maximum speed was 395 mph at sea level, 425 mph at 6000 feet, 460 mph at 20,000 feet. Initial climb rate was 3800 feet/minutes. Climb rate at 7000 feet was 4000 feet/minute. The aircraft could climb to 20,000 feet in 6.5 minutes, and could reach 34,000 feet in 15 minutes. Service ceiling 40,000 feet. Weights were 9233 lbs empty, 11,000 lbs normal loaded. Wing area was 262.64 square feet.


I thought you were the far less glamorous Percival Prentice!

[Bus429]

'Ere, BEagle - don't split hairs (or years). PPRUNE Pop has spoken - I've won.
You seem to have an awful lot of knowledge to hand...

[BEagle]

"Percy - who's Queen?"

Google!

Anyway - go ahead, you're next!

[Bus429]

Single engined and German...

[PPRuNe Pop]

No, no, let us be fair. The MB 5 did fly in 1944 but only flew 40 hours between then and early 1946 when it was sent to Boscombe where it received what was then a 'unique report.'

Later in 1946 at F'boro it was flown by the great "Zura" is an apparently breathtaking display - but too late for an order to be placed.

[BEagle]

So "I was built in 1945/6..........." was so much bolleaux then?;)

Bus429 - was your Tcherman engine a piston engine?

[Bus429]

BEagle - no.....

[BEagle]

Vos it ein Jet?

[Bus429]

Ja!.......................

[BEagle]

Did you first take to the air when the monotesticular moustachioed one was still alive?

[Bus429]

Yes (and hurry up, I've got a book to read.)

[BEagle]

Vos you ein Messerschmitt?

[Bus429]

Nein.....................

[BEagle]

Vielleicht das He 162 Salamander oder "Volksjaeger"?

[Bus429]

Night night! I'll try to dream up something more difficult.:zzz:

[BEagle]

Enjoy the book!

I don't know why they didn't want me - I didn't swing about on take-off! Not even from carriers.......

I retired towards the end of the 1950s.

[PPRuNe Pop]

Never mind BEags, you had Google to help and had "Test Pilots" to help. They can't always be right can they? ;)

[BEagle]

What is 'Test Pilots'?

I wasn't wooden.....

[Woomera]

Aerohack & Beagle. Don’t want to divert the thread…… but here’s an interesting story as an aside.

Aerohack, you are correct. I called Tommy Leahy who was gold mining at Slate Creek on the Upper Watut (near Bulolo) the day DH84 VH-AAC pranged and was first to the site. The aircraft belonged to Mandated Airlines (MAL), pilot was Tommy Lumb on his first flight in PNG and the sole passenger the Matron of the Bulolo Hospital. Lumb landed ok but taxied into a very deep and wide ditch, 50 yards off the runway. The Matron was assisted out and gave Lumb a very thorough tongue lashing!

The aircraft was disassembled and carried to Bulolo, where it was taken by road to Lae and was eventually bought by Ray Harris of Territory Airlines.

Lumb was sacked by MAL and got a job with Gibbes Sepik Airlines. On his first check flight between Madang and Wewak with Bobby Gibbes in a Norseman, the engine quit resulting in a forced landing.

Lumb gave up flying and started a photographic business in Lae.

Interesting enough, “VH-AAC” appears in a TAL pilot log book in 1953, so whilst the aircraft never flew again, the data plate may have briefly taken to the air again – a not uncommon occurrence in those days.

[PPRuNe Pop]

BEags

A book by Don Middleton. A great read from the first days of test flying to 1984.

[LowNSlow]

BEagle are you a Westland Wyvern?

[BEagle]

Nope - sorry! .

[LowNSlow]

BEags, back to the simple questions instead of the ' shot in the dark' variety. Are you British?

[Bus429]

Are you American?

[BEagle]

Nope! Keep trying...



.

[Airbedane]

Ach Zo! Not British or American, retired at the end of the 50's, didn't swing, not even on Carriers, not wooden.........Zut alors!..........T'es Francais, mon vieux?

[BEagle]

Merde alors! Sorry, LowNSlow, I missed your second question at the bottom of the page. I am indeed British!

[LowNSlow]

Beags does one have folding wings?

[BEagle]

One does...........

[LowNSlow]

Would one be quite Short as in Seamew?

[BEagle]

One is not a Seamew!

[Tim Inder]

'Ast tha' got more'n one o' them hengines on tha?

[LowNSlow]

BEags are ye a noisy jet powered thing?

[Airbedane]

Sea Hawk, perchance?

[BEagle]

Tim Inder: 'appen so, tha' knows. I 'as mor'n 1 engine!

LowNSlow: Not a jet

Speechless Two: Verily I say unto thee, one is not a Sea Hornet

Airbedane: One is not a Seahawk

[Airbedane]

Got it - don't swing - not a jet, therefore, must be contra-rotating - Fairy Gannet

[BEagle]

Not a Fairey Gannet - but your non-swinging assumption is a correct bit of bait to put on the hook;)


...and Gannets were still on active service long after the 1950s!

[Airbedane]

"........and Gannets were still on active service long after the 1950s!......"

Rats, 'should have remembered that - I did some TASMO ops with them in the 70's when I was flying Jags with the mighty 'Cinquante Quatre'.


Lets go back to basics. Not a jet, so how about a turbo-prop?

A

[treadigraph]

Contra-rotating Seafire?

[BEagle]

Not many multi-engined Seafires that I know of, treadders old bean!

Not a turboprop, Airbedane....

Multi-engined, not a jet or a turboprop....and didn't swing.

Not a helicopter either!

[Airbedane]

Built by Short Bros?

[BEagle]

Yes!!




.

[LowNSlow]

Would you be a Short Sealand by any chance?

[BEagle]

I would not!

Can't really see a flying boat operating from a carrier!

Nor am I a Sperrin!

[LowNSlow]

Then you are a Sturgeon sir!

[BEagle]

TADA!!

Yes indeed! I nearly told Airbedane that the reason he probably thought I was French was because the Sturgeon TT2 had a very De Gaulle like snout!

Here's a piccy of a model of the Short Sturgeon:

http://www.fortunecity.com/meltingpot/portland/971/Reviews/raf/sturgeon.htm

[Bus429]

Another cryptic clue...

I stopped it going quiet.

[treadigraph]

That'll teach me to read the previous posts correctly!

[Airbedane]

Many thanks LowNSlow, at last I (and my Ops Room) can get back to work!

Good one Beags, BTW.

A

[LowNSlow]

Bus are you a Polikarpov Po-2 as flown by The Night Witches?

Good choice BEags

[Bus429]

L & S - No

I'm part of the whole....

[Tim Inder]

Are you a Lightning?

Wild stab in the dark there!

[BEagle]

Were you a single engined aeroplane?

[Bus429]

BEagle - I'm part of a single engined aircraft

[Bus429]

I am part of a vital part of the engine........

[BEagle]

Are you a wholly internal part of a piston engine?

[Bus429]

I'm a component part of a larger component mounted on a piston engine.

[BEagle]

Are you electric in nature?

[Bus429]

Look at the previous clues....

I stopped it going quiet...
...and I only cost 5 pence (I've given it away!!!!)

[BEagle]

You are Mrs Shilling's famous orifice! Put there to stop Merlin carburettors rich-cutting when chasing the dastardly bunting Boche with their injected DBs!

(For younger readers, 5p = 1/-)

[BEagle]

Oi!!

Etiquette requires that the previous puzzle is completed first, then the person who solves it may either pose another puzzle or throw it open to the floor...

But WTF. Were you British?

[Airbedane]

Well done L&S, you've certainly struck gold with this one!

Single engine?

[Airbedane]

Jet..................?

[Airbedane]

Zo....new page, a review is required:


- There were 5 of me, but only 4 flew. I started with a bang and stopped with a hook. I retired in 1952, aged 7.

- British, single piston.


Hmmmmmmmmmm..........................Blackburn?

[Airbedane]

Hawker....................................?

[BEagle]

You were the Fairey Spearfish!

And here's some info for those who've never heard of you: http://www.fleetairarmarchive.net/Aircraft/Spearfish.htm

[Airbedane]

Rats again, and I was just begining to enjoy myself.

Veron did a free-flight rubber powered scale model of the Spearfish of about 24" span. I've got a plan somewhere. It flew quite well too, if the example made by a colleague a few years ago was anything to go by.

OK Beags, what's next?

[BEagle]

I thought that the bang was the pneumatic catapult....

OK - Here's another:

In the 50s we both had five times as many engines as pilots! And one of us was 10 times the size of the other....

[Airbedane]

Short SC1........?

(Quick edit - I missed the '10 times as big as the other' bit!)

[BEagle]

Note that there were 2 of us......different types, that is!

But yes, there were 2 SC1s - so you're partly right!

[Airbedane]

10 times as big - you've got me there, BEags?

Didn't Shorts build a smaller scale version of one of their bombers at some time?

Lets go for basics again:..American?

[BEagle]

Shorts built a baby Stirling once - the half scale S31/M4 in 1938 powered by 4 Pobjoy engines - have a look here: http://www.xs4all.nl/%7Etropics/proto.htm

And yes, my second was Amuuuuuurican!

[Airbedane]

Four Pobjoys - that must have sounded interesting..............;) ;)

So was your first British?

[BEagle]

Yes - you got it first time - 'twas the SC1 with 5xRB108s and 1 pilot.

But there was another, ten times bigger aeroplane with the same 5:1 ratio.....

[Airbedane]

The Do31 fits - 10 engines, two pilot's, and it's a lot larger than the SC1, but it was German, not American.

PS - are we talking V/STOL here?

[BEagle]

Short SC1: 1 pilot and 5 engines. 23ft wingspan. British.

Convair B-36: 2 pilots and 10 engines. 230 ft wingspan. American.

Quite correct, Speechless Two! Sorry, Airbedane, but I don't think that the Do-X was still airworthy in the '50s!

Now there was a Bristish ac 10 times the size of the SC1 in the 1950s, but it only had a mere 8 engines.....

[Aerohack]

The Do 31 (which was what Airbedane actually cited) wasn't — yet — airworthy in the 1950s, either. I think it flew 1967-ish. Remember seeing it at the '69 Paris Air Show. Also remember as a kid seeing a Spearfish at either Gosport or Lee-on-Solent — and I had that Veron model, Airbedane, but never built it. Wish I had one now!

[BEagle]

They would indeed!

I remember that Paris Air Show. The 10-engined Do-31 was unbelievably noisy, the Russian Mi-12 Homer was unbelievable. Both Concordes apperaed together for the first time, the B747 was astonishing - and Bob Hoover's Shrike Commander display was truly outstanding!

I was wrong - the Do-X had 12 engines. All 3 retired a mere 70 years ago!

[treadigraph]

I'll have a quick go, make up for missing out last week! Think the experts will find this quite easy... see what you make of it, and I'll check back at 0730 tomorrow!

I had one engine less than the B-36...

[BEagle]

...et vous etes le Dassault Balzac V avec 8xRB108 et 1x Orpheus!

Formidable!!

Ou peut-etre le Dassault Mirage III V avec 8xRB162 et 1xSNECMA TF-104, TF-106 ou P&W TF30. Mach 2.04 et V/STOL...zut alors!

[karrank]

Which B-36?

Early models had 6 engines, minus one is 5 = Heinkel He-111z plus He-290 (?)

B-36D - J had 10, minus one is 9 = erm, dunno. Well obviously I know now coz I've read BEagle's post:\

An interesting snippet I read about the V/Balzac said it must be the only aircraft to kill two pilots in two separate crashes.

[BEagle]

But which 7-engined aeroplane design was cancelled during engine testing before it ever flew?

[LowNSlow]

BEags - was it a combination of jet & turboprop power?

[BEagle]

It was jet only!


.

[Airbedane]

Thanks anyway Speechless Two, but I think I'd better forfeit the honour as it looks like I missed the boat.....or aeroplane......there's two others on the go already now!

Beags and Treaders: British?

[BEagle]

Airbedane - nein!

And I claim the 9 engine answer with both Balzac and Mirage IIIV..

[Airbedane]

Too quick for me at this time in the morning, and I stacked early last night!

American?

[BEagle]

NEIN!!




.

[Airbedane]

German?.......................

[BEagle]

JAWOHL!!



.

[LowNSlow]

Are you 1939-1945 era?

[BEagle]

Nein!

[treadigraph]

Morning chaps, sorry logged on at 0730 and was immediately clobbered by them who make me work... just drawing breath now...

BEagle - correct - coudld it be anything else!

Now, seven engines hmmmm... 1930s?

[BEagle]

1930s? Nein...............

[Tim Inder]

Some sort of v-stol design?

[LowNSlow]

Would we be a 1914-18 war era bomber perchance?

[Tim Inder]

'14-'18? That'll be why it never flew then - they hadn't invented the jet engines forrit! :E

[LowNSlow]

AAAArrrgggghhhhh I forgot to take my 'thicky hat' off from a previous post on the Mode S thread on the Private Flying Forum. :\ :\

How about the 1950's then?

[BEagle]

Not 1950s...........

Not 14-18!

One of you is pretty close......I was indeed supposed to be V/STOL!!

[Tim Inder]

Ha Beags, may be we can 'ignore' the answer out of you!!
I'll be a bit stuffed if it's German, the only 'sausage-speak' I know is 'Acthung, Spitfeuer!' and 'Aiiieeeee! The Tommy has got me!' - Courtesy of those little 'Commando' comics they used to make! ;)

I've looked all over and found amny fascinating facts and conjectures regarding V/STOL projects, but none of them seem to have SEVEN engines. Six, eight, ten and more, but NOT BL**DY SEVEN!!

OK, Are you a fixed-wing craft?

[BEagle]

Ach so, Tommy! Ve did haff ein Flugzeug design mit 7 engines....but as I haff written, mein engines were tested but I never flew.

Now, I ask ze qvestion. "Vot voss my name?" If you do not tell me, zings could become very uncomfortable......

Und Ja, mein wings were fixed!!

Do you surrender now, Englander Schweinhund?

[treadigraph]

I have to admit to a little cheating, er googling, but haff not found zer answer!

Did think VAK-191 - no... The German Flying Bedstead (don't expect me to remember how that was spelt...!)

Next question: Were you 1960s?

[BEagle]

Ja - I voss ordered in the 1960s....

But I voss cancelled during engine testing - as I haff said!

Vertical-Aufklaerungs-und-Kampfsteiner 191 voss won by das 3-engined VFW 1262. I am thinking that the Russians based the Forger on its design!

So, Englander, let me know venn you give up und all ziss unpleasantness vill be over for you......

[Airbedane]

................................EJ101....................... .......?

[BEagle]

EJ101? Vot is diss? Es gibt ein Auto called Mugen-Honda EJ101 - aber kein Flugzeug!!

Ach Himmel! Close enough. It voss das VJ 101D vot I voss called:

The supersonic VJ 101C, built by the German EWR ("Consortium") of Messerschmitt, Heinkel and Bölkow, employed a lift plus lift/cruise propulsion concept, powered by six Rolls-Royce/MTU RB.145 turbojet engines. Two of these engines were mounted in tandem aft of the cockpit; the other four engines were in pairs in wingtip swivelling nacelles. On the second of the two experimental aircraft, the VJ 101C X2, the wingtip mounted engines were equipped with afterburners which increased their available thrust from 2,750 to 3,650 pounds each. The first VJ 101C hovering flight occurred on 10 April 1963, and the first horizontal takeoff was accomplished on 31 August 1963. A double transition (vertical takeoff through conventional flight followed by a vertical landing) was achieved on the sixth flight on 20 September 1963. The non-afterburning X1 became the world's first supersonic V/STOL aircraft in July 1964 when it broke the sound barrier in a shallow dive. This aircraft was lost in an accident on 14 September 1964. This occurred when the aircraft became uncontrollable immediately after a horizontal takeoff. The pilot ejected at an altitude of ten feet during an uncommanded roll. He survived but suffered crushed vertebrae. The accident was found to have been caused by a roll-rate gyro which had been installed with reversed polarity. Prior to its loss, the VJ 101C X1 had completed 40 aerodynamic flights, 14 full transition flights and the Hannover Air Show presentation on 3 May 1964. The VJ 101C X2 flew its first hovering free flights on 12 June but did not attempt to use its afterburning capabilities for vertical takeoffs until 10 October 1964; within two weeks, the VJ 101C X2 demonstrated complete transitions from vertical to horizontal flight and back to a vertical landing using afterburning. It suffered from high temperature and erosion issues, and crashed when it ingested hot exhaust gases and suffered a significant thrust loss while attempting to land on an elevated platform. The rotating nacelle design was abandoned, and the proposed follow-on, the VJ 101D, dispensed with the wingtip-mounted engines but retained the lift plus lift/cruise propulsion concept. Its use of RB.162 five lift engines and two aft fuselage RB.153 lift/cruise engines (with internal thrust deflectors) was very complex and the VJ 101D was cancelled after engine testing had begun.

VJ 101 D: 5 lift RB.162 +2 lift/cruise RB.153 = 7 engines!!

[sycamore]

As the thread`s gone quiet, past Airbedane`s bed-time, try this;

Al was the inspiration,
Ed did the numbers,
I was "girlie" powered at the start, but was given something more Dependable,
I had strong legs, and I could take you to Heaven in 3 mins,
My nickname would have made Henry happy,
But I really was the prettiest, and certainly very snappy........

[treadigraph]

******! Looked at the VJ-101, and thought "naaawwwww!" No tech details


Errrr... Douglas Skyhawk? If that's right, sorry for the premature whatsit...!

Ed? Heinemann...

Henry? Ford... (F4D)

I'd have to research the rest...

[LowNSlow]

treadigraph I would have said that as well. It's nickname was initially Heinemann's Hotrod I think. Later nicknamed the Flivver?