Picture of the day

I always thought the Battle was a good looking kite. A shame they were such abject pigs, and grossly outclassed by most everything else by 1939.

They were used locally in the BCATP. Here we see one embracing the good soil of Manitoba:

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A sister ship in the same affectionate state:

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Better they should be placed gently on Canadian dirt than smeared across some Euopean landscape.

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"Dear Mom - having a wonderful time. All is well. Look what I did!"

A waste of an excellent engine.
 
That's a very interetsing experiment. Wonder what the additional drag did to the top speed.

Ultra-clean engine installations are always a treat. There are a lot that come close, but I don't think anyone could beat the Westland Whirlwind:

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An interesting design, to bad about the poor engines.

From = https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westland_Whirlwind_(fighter)

Protracted development problems with its Rolls-Royce Peregrine engines delayed the project and few Whirlwinds were built. During the Second World War, only three RAF squadrons were equipped with the Whirlwind but despite its success as a fighter and ground attack aircraft, it was withdrawn from service in 1943.
 
Westland Whirlwind: What an aircraft!!! Love it.
Never did read why it was withdrawn from service (1943) before the war ended.
You take the Whirlwind + Mossie = The best fighter of all DH Hornet...
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View attachment 279088

Can't prove it though...war ended before it went into full service.
Wish there was more info out there beside a few vids....
 
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From what I have read Westland Whirlwind was gone for 3 reasons-serviceability/availability of engines(not so good), excessive stress on critical parts of airframe leading to cracking,Hawker Typhoon and Mosquito coming in ever increasing numbers.
 
Westland Whirlwind: What an aircraft!!! Love it.
Never did read why it was withdrawn from service (1943) before the war ended.
You take the Whirlwind + Mossie = The best fighter of all DH Hornet...
View attachment 279086

View attachment 279088

Can't prove it though...war ended before it went into full service.
Wish there was more info out there beside a few vids....

What is that little dorsal blister?
 
What is that little dorsal blister?

"The Hornet NF.21 was designed to fill a need for a naval night fighter. Special flame-dampening exhausts were installed, and a second basic cockpit was added to the rear fuselage, just above the wing trailing edges. ASH radar equipment was placed in the rear of this cockpit, with the radar operator/navigator seated facing aft.[7] To gain access, a small trapdoor was provided in the lower fuselage; a fixed, teardrop-shaped bubble canopy, which could be jettisoned in an emergency, provided a good field of view. At the front of the aircraft, the nose underwent a transformation with the small rotating ASH radar dish being housed under an elongated "thimble" radome.[7] The horizontal tail units were increased in span. The effect of these modifications on performance was minimal; about 4 mph (6 km/h).[7]"
 
Bucker 181.

Not a bad looking aircraft, for a twin-seat trainer. Primary fighter trainer from 1939 on, some 4000 were made.

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And it actually saw combat - in the last two weeks of the war. With no-one left to train, a number of senior instructors (records and accounts vary), strapped 4 panzerfaust - 2 to each wing - and went looking for trouble. They managed to destroy a number of Soviet transport trucks. Their most succesful mission, was against an abandoned German aerodrome, in order to destroy German aircraft, rather than let them fall into the hands of those pesky communists.

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After this last mission, they flew west, as a group, to surrender to American forces.

About a dozen or so remain in flyable condition to this day.

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75 years ago at 07:49 GMT the Royal Winnipeg Rifles land at Mike Green and Mike Red beaches - they are among the first Canadian troops to land at Juno on D Day in Normandy
 
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