WWII War Birds - pics and video
- Thread starter Sharps '63
- Start date
- Location
- chilliwack BC.
Ahh, TA152, so cool.
love those one offs from the end of the world, from everyone
love those one offs from the end of the world, from everyone
I'll have to add that one to my " to read " list for future reference, thanks.
... and how did it compare, performance-wise?
The aircraft was a failure for several reasons. It was designed to use a fairly powerful engine which never did become available so a less powerful one was used which hindered performance from the get go. The aircraft was also built from plywood because it was to hard to get aluminum at the time and to again replicate the British Mosquito. The Germans never did develop a decent wood glue at the time however and the aircraft kept delaminating. They also had trouble with undercarriage failures that caused several prototypes to be written off. If this would
have been built with the designated power-plants and Kurt Tank would have had the time to work out the bugs that come with any new design I think they very well could have had a very good and capable plane. The aircraft looked good at least and the one with the raised canopy which gave better visibility particularly to the rear I think was very striking. But the Germans where getting in a bad way by this time and trying to design put a new anything into production was getting impossible given the constant bombing creating a shortage of everything needed and the German command changing the specks every other week on what the design should be from high altitude interceptor to bomber to night fighter. As far as the Allies went that was probably a good thing given the potential of the FW Ta 154 Moskito.
Jim
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Thanks, Halfton! I recall reading that Geoffrey Dehavilland was concerned about delamination occurring on Mossies as well, particularly on those serving in Burma under monsoon rains. I believe he is on record as sawing through the mainspar of one aircraft because he was so concerned for the safety of the aircrew!
The pilots stopped him from further such actions as they did not consider that the dangers outweighed their overall operational effectiveness.
The pilots stopped him from further such actions as they did not consider that the dangers outweighed their overall operational effectiveness.
Yes Mosquitoes coming unglued in the tropical theaters did become a problem after several of them did break up in mid-air killing their crews, resulting in them been withdrawn from the theater if my memory is right. A new and stronger glue that resisted the moisture/heat/mildew and humidity solved the problem in very short order. I think it only took a few months and I am not sure if all the new Mossies where built with it or just the ones send to the tropical theaters but it did prove effective and worked.
Jim
The early Mossies had a casein based glue and all production changed to a formaldehyde based glue after the structural failures. Until inspections and testing were completed in the field Mossies were grounded.
Interesting to speculate, but the Ta154 lacked a number of things which gave the Mosquito its versatility and performance. An aircraft that scared a lot of Mossie crews , especially the night ops, was the He219 Uhu.
Interesting to speculate, but the Ta154 lacked a number of things which gave the Mosquito its versatility and performance. An aircraft that scared a lot of Mossie crews , especially the night ops, was the He219 Uhu.
- Location
- chilliwack BC.
yes, stunning shots Dave Cheeseman!! Very very nice!
- Location
- anywhere but here
Wow...almost forgot about those, but yes, both great books.
And there's "Duel of Eagles" by Group Captain Peter Townsend...
- Location
- West Quebec
Love those pics well done
Dark Alley Dan
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Darkest Edmonton
Nice pix, Dave. Well done! 
Dryfire's pictures of the Skuas reminded me of the uglier sister, the Blackburn Roc:
Aesthetically displeasing from any angle, an entirely graceless object:
Bizarrely enough, it looks OK to my eye as a floatplane:
They must have been making tea in a lead-lined pot over at Blackburn's design department. They came up with a series of horrible-lookin' contraptions over the years:
Look at the enormous ass on this one. And everything else is quite acceptable. It's like a plus-plus size underwear model:
Seriously, Blackburn, what the hell were you thinking? What a homely herd of cows.
Dryfire's pictures of the Skuas reminded me of the uglier sister, the Blackburn Roc:
Aesthetically displeasing from any angle, an entirely graceless object:
Bizarrely enough, it looks OK to my eye as a floatplane:
They must have been making tea in a lead-lined pot over at Blackburn's design department. They came up with a series of horrible-lookin' contraptions over the years:
Look at the enormous ass on this one. And everything else is quite acceptable. It's like a plus-plus size underwear model:
Seriously, Blackburn, what the hell were you thinking? What a homely herd of cows.
Donny Fenn1
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- East Kootenays
yep, me too
as for Mosquitoes delamming in the tropics if you see any silver painted Mosquitoes they are probably from warmer climes.
It was found that camo or black painted aircraft got so hot that the glue degraded causing delamination (often at critical moments)
painting the birds a different lighter color solved the problem
Dark Alley Dan
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Darkest Edmonton
Y'know, compared with the others, yeah. But I can't get past the big feckin arse on 'er.
Overheard in the drafting room @ Blackburn c. 1944:
"Well, Master Draftsman sir, the new Firebrand is pencilled up, and if I don't mind sayin' so, sir, she's a beaut!"
<<Master Draftsman chokes, spits tea across several blueprints>>
"A WHAT? A BEAUT? Where the bloody 'ell do you think you are, Junior Draftsman? Supermarine? Fairey? Fancy yourself a bleedin' artiste, do ya? Lookit the bloody sign on the bloody door! This is Blackburn Aircraft, Bridge, and Locomotive works, my son! We make 'omely aeroplanes 'ere! Now go nasty that thing up before the old man sees. Throw a great 'orrid vertical tail on it. Make it disproportionate, like a great big warty nose on a passably attractive girl. No curves, mind, just a great feckin plank of a thing. Go! Bloody go now!"
"'A beaut', 'e says. Bloody wanky git."
Thanks gents, I have been very for fortunate to be able to be around these historic beauties. Also watch the video's I posted, some pretty good footage. The BF109E4 sounds awesome, and I'm a Merlin guy LOL.
Ill do some more digging.
Ill do some more digging.
Aside from the overly large rudder, it's reminiscent of the Hawker Fury. The nose isn't as disproportionately large as that of the "long nose" Focke-Wulf.
