Mystery Aircraft

[Lordflasheart]

Is that the same chauffeur from post 17, who was being 'monitored' by the little spook with the big 'piece' ? LFH

[MReyn24050]

sillhoed:-

So what do you think.....DH4 on floats?

Not a DH4 but a Curtiss R-6 I think.

[India Four Two]

ed,

It's not so much a "trained eye" as it is familiarity. I'm sure that you don't recognize another nearby aircraft by it's individual features. You automatically assess the overall picture and say that's a 737 or DC-9 or Cherokee or 172, etc.

Your Camel/SE5 photo was a difficult one, but if it was viewed on a video or in real life, the identification would be immediately obvious as the aircraft rolled upright.

Simon

[sillohed]

Same or Different

Thanks Mel, I think you are probably right. I did see a picture of a Curtiss that seemed to match but I couldn't put it together with the rest.

I am going to post two pictures of what I think is the same plane but I am not sure.

[sillohed]

Same?

This is the second.

[sillohed]

Look Different Now

Ok, so now that I look at them, they don't look the same at all. Shows you how much I have learned. By the way, I only have a few more to go of this group of photos and it has certainly been an education. The mystery will still remain "where were they taken?" perhaps. The Jenny's appear to be a U.S. Army or Marine training unit since the planes just have numbers on the sides and no unit decal. The army did training in the U.S. as well as France so it still leaves it up in the air. The individual that gave me these pictures lived in Washington State and there is plenty of water and float planes there but none of the background looks much like Washington to me.

Again, many thanks. I plan to mark these photos properly and put them on photobucket or some other site. I will do my best to acknowledge you all for the help you have been.

Regards,
ed

[Noyade]

First photo looks like a Standard Caproni.
Second looks like a Gallaudet Pusher.

Amazing photos mate.

[MReyn24050]

As Graeme says amazing photos. The one you post at post# 45 I would agree that it is possibly an example of the Gallaudet D-1

Gallaudet D-series, produced by the Gallaudet Engineering Company, Norwich, Conn. This featured the power plant amidships driving a geared-down propeller mounted on a ring encircling the fuselage. The D-1 (A59) was powered with two 150 hp Dusenberg engines mounted side by side. Following delivery of the D-1 in January 1917, the firm reorganized as Gallaudet Aircraft Corporation, and moved to Greenwich, Rhode Island. Two D-4s, powered with single Liberty engines, were then produced for the Navy (A2653, A2654). D-1 specifications: span, 48 ft; length, 33 ft; gross weight, 4,604 lb; max speed, 90 mph.

The original tri-motor twin-boom aircraft was the Caproni Ca-3 from which a number of aircraft were developed. One being the Caproni Ca-36:-



Another development was the larger Ca-42 of which 3 examples were sent to the USA:-


The construction of the aircraft in Post #44 is very different. It is a very interesting series of photographs. Many thanks for posting them.

[MReyn24050]

One thing about Aviation History and Nostalgia one learns something everyday. Doing further digging on the mystery aircraft posted at Post #44 and Graeme's comment that it could be a Standard Caproni I found the following photograph:-



This aircraft is reported to be a Caproni ca.5, or Caproni 600 hp, was designed in 1917 as a replacement for the old and effective Ca.3 bomber. I have also discovered that

A large quantity of Caproni 600 were produced for the US Navy and in late 1918 they were ferried by American pilots from Milan to Northen France, suffering severe mishaps. Their use by the Northern Bombing Group was minimal.

The aircraft in ed's photograph may well be a Caproni Ca.5 if so I would say it is a very rare photograph.

[Noyade]

What made me think of the Caproni Mel, was this illustration. Not exactly the same as Ed's photo but the struts around the engine and on the fuselage under the wing looked remarkably similar...

[MReyn24050]

Good find Graham. It looks a very interesting aircraft. I am not sure I would have liked to be the gunner standing in that "basket" affair right above the engine and propeller.

I believe this aircraft was also known as the Caproni Ca-44

Very interesting story included in this article regarding the delivery of the Caproni 600
World War I: American Caproni Pilots in Italy

[sillohed]

Last Two Of the WW1 Series

Looking at this aircraft plus some of the descriptions of others it makes me wonder where they found people with the courage and skill to actually fly some of these airplanes. They all just look like little box kites compared to what even I flew which now look pretty primitive.

[sillohed]

Last One

This shows how diverse the field was at the time. What an exciting period.

[sillohed]

Thanks to You All

I still have a couple of old photos that I am going to post here because I need a little help with them but this is the last of the WW1 series that were given to me by my friend. I have searched through everything I could find to identify the unit or location of the Jenny's but have so far come up empty handed.

Everyone who has helped me and contributed to this conversation are certainly welcome to use these pictures as you see fit with no credits to anyone. The photographer is in all likelihood deceased long ago and my friend would be proud to have them exposed to anyone interested.

Regards,
Ed

[Noyade]

Great photos Ed!

New one on me...the monster in your first photo....The 1920 Johns Multiplane?

15 Early Aeroplanes With More Wings Than A Bucket Of Fried Chicken | Gizmodo Australia

Cheers
Graeme

[sillohed]

Thanks Mel

Very interesting story included in this article regarding the delivery of the
Caproni 600
World War I: American Caproni Pilots in Italy

Very interesting story indeed, considering the type of aircraft and the objects in the way. Many thanks for bringing it to my attention.

[India Four Two]

The 1920 Johns Multiplane?

It certainly looks like it, Graeme.

I'm envisaging the following conversation:

"Chief, she's not flying straight. Could you check the rigging?"

"Yes, Sir. It might take a couple of weeks, though".

[sillohed]

Roundup

Here is the link to the pictures. It seems like such a small collection considering all of the work that I put you all through! I am sure that you will find some errors so don't hesitate to call me on them.

Regards,
Ed

Aircraft of WW1 by sillohed | Photobucket

[nacluv]

I don't know if aircraft have published coefficients of drag, but I would love to see the figure quoted for that Johns Multiplane.

I42 - it appears that question was asked on several occasions already, the difference being that each previous answer was "Let's try adding another wing".

[Allan Lupton]

Quote:
I don't know if aircraft have published coefficients of drag, but I would love to see the figure quoted for that Johns Multiplane.

if you remember that calculating non-dimensional drag coefficients involves the wing area as a divisor, you'll easily understand that huge drag would, in this case, nevertheless give a very low Cd.