Warbirds (Historical, Veteran & Vintage Military Aircraft)

At lakes

Well-Known Member
That diagram under the cockpit of the Corsair looks like a female I use to go out with whilst stationed at Wigram
 

ngatimozart

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That diagram under the cockpit of the Corsair looks like a female I use to go out with whilst stationed at Wigram
Well, that'll teach your for continuously breaking in to the Waafry.

The figure in white is a stylised Grim Reaper that was painted on all of that particular Sqn's aircraft during WW2.
 

ngatimozart

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This aircraft was broken up possible for scrap value. If the clowns in the local Government authority in the City of Irvine just a wee bit of market research they would have realized that they would have got more for a partially restored Ventura than a broken up pile of metal.
The idiocy of councils.

I think that there is still a PV-1 Ventura and a possibly a PV-2 Harpoon flying in the US.
 

At lakes

Well-Known Member

VH-USU replica fires up its engines after 11 years of restoration after an accident in Adelaide where one of its main wheels fell off and during the landing with one wheel missing it lost a couple of meter off its wing and according to ABC Australia Channel 24 continuous news feed it is to make its first official flight this afternoon. So at the time of this post unable to confirm if this took place. There are currently some nasty storms in NSW at the moment so it may not have happened yet.

That would be right I just noticed that link is two years old..... I give up

2nd edit
have just found the correct link looks like the flight went ahead

 
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Sandhi Yudha

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There are plans to build an airworthy replica of a Messerschmitt Me-163 ‘Komet’. The ‘Sippel Me-163’ is a full scale replica, with the exact dimensions of the original: 5,9 meters in length and with a wingspan of 9,3 meters. Unlike the original Me-163, Sippel, the man behind the project, has decided to use modern honeycomb and composite material for the construction of his new plane. This brings a gigantic reduction in weight: the original weighed some 1900 kilograms while the replica weighs only 240 kilograms.

This tremendous reduction in weight enables the replica to fly by the power of a normal jet engine, instead of a bi-propellant liquid-fuelled rocket motor, increasing the range and safe operation significantly.

 

At lakes

Well-Known Member
There are plans to build an airworthy replica of a Messerschmitt Me-163 ‘Komet’. The ‘Sippel Me-163’ is a full scale replica, with the exact dimensions of the original: 5,9 meters in length and with a wingspan of 9,3 meters. Unlike the original Me-163, Sippel, the man behind the project, has decided to use modern honeycomb and composite material for the construction of his new plane. This brings a gigantic reduction in weight: the original weighed some 1900 kilograms while the replica weighs only 240 kilograms.

This tremendous reduction in weight enables the replica to fly by the power of a normal jet engine, instead of a bi-propellant liquid-fuelled rocket motor, increasing the range and safe operation significantly.

The original was referred to as the Devils Sledge as I would imagine you join the devil if you stuffed up the landing.
I think his reproduction would required a wee bit of redesign, I am not an engineer but I suspect he would need some sort of air intake for the jet engine and the original aircraft was on a trolley arrangement which was jettisoned just after take off and the aircraft landed on a skid under the fuselage. So maybe some sort of improvement in the undercarriage may be required, and hopefully after that it may have a better range than the original which was 7.5 mins.
 
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At lakes

Well-Known Member
73 Years Ago Today: SAC Transport with Nuclear Secrets and Mysterious Cargo Crashes in Atlantic. Then it Gets Weird.

A very interesting story of the crash of a C124 in the Atlantic way back 73 years ago on the 25th of March 1951. It is alleged it was carrying a nuclear weapon of board but according to the article there appears to be no evidence to confirm this. Well none that has been released. The article also adds that there a number of survivors seen floating in life rafts by the SAR search aircraft but a shortage of fuel forced this aircraft to return to base for refuel. On return the survivors had disappeared and there was very little sign of wreckage. The author makes it sound like a James Bond plot.
 

At lakes

Well-Known Member

progress report on the P61 Black Widow restoration. All the internal electrical work and hydraulics and the cockpit is all but completed
One of the most important parts, the wings, are yet to be attached and they are searching for a new nose wheel, as one could imagine there not many in the local hardware these days. Apparently its the same size as the Connie and those owners appear to be reluctant in giving them up. there is an option to use a nose wheel from a B25 its a wee bit smaller but will serve the purpose.
As the owner said when he started this project "This beast is going fly, I didnt do all this work for it to sit in a show room" Well it appears that day is not far away.
 
Shocking warbird-related news from Chino:

The Lockheed Model 12A Electra Junior which crashed shortly after takeoff from Chino Airport last weekend was one of several Electra Juniors given the designation UC-40 after being ordered by the US Army Air Corps as utility transport.
 
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