Friday, June 28, 2013

Avro Anson

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ItUdTM0fhD4 .

The Avro Anson is a British twin-engined, multi-role aircraft built by the aircraft manufacturer Avro. Large numbers of the type served in a variety of roles for the Royal Air Force (RAF), Fleet Air Arm (FAA), Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) and numerous other air forces before, during, and after the Second World War.

Initially known as the Avro 652A, the Anson was developed during the mid-1930s from the earlier Avro 652 airliner in response to a request for tenders issued by the British Air Ministry for a maritime reconnaissance aircraft. Having suitably impressed the Ministry, a single prototype was ordered, which conducted its maiden flight on 24 March 1935. Following an evaluation in which the Type 652A bettered the competing de Havilland DH.89, it was selected as the winner, leading to Air Ministry Specification 18/35 being written around the type and an initial order for 174 aircraft being ordered in July 1935. The Type 652A was promptly named after British Admiral George Anson.

The type was placed into service with the Royal Air Force (RAF) and was initially used in the envisioned maritime reconnaissance operation alongside the larger flying boats. After the outbreak of the Second World War the Anson was soon found to have become obsolete in front line combat roles. Large numbers of the type were instead put to use as a multi-engined aircrew trainer, having been found to be suitable for the role, and became the mainstay of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan. The type continued to be used in this role throughout and after the conflict, remaining in RAF service as a trainer and communications aircraft until 28 June 1968.

During the post-war climate, the Anson was increasingly produced for the civil market, being used as a light transport and executive aircraft. By the end of production in 1952, a total of 8,138 Ansons had been constructed by Avro in nine variants; in addition, a further 2,882 aircraft were manufactured by Federal Aircraft Ltd in Canada from 1941. By the 21st century, the vast majority of Ansons had been retired from flying. However, a single Anson Mk.I, which had been originally manufactured during 1943, had been restored to airworthiness, having been refitted with later metal wings. On 18 July 2012, this restored aircraft performed its first flight.

Avro Anson pilot chat > .
Flying the Avro Anson
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ItUdTM0fhD4
Avro Anson bomber starts, taxis, takesoff
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zVKXSpEpiQ
Avro Anson - Tony
https://plus.google.com/103755316640704343614/posts/N1UCK3Sgsy9

Avro Tudor II - Britain's Biggest Aircraft (1946)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cyaBwt5cUVU
The Tudor Muddle (1948)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4MTlWmbMgs .




Avro Anson bomber starts, taxis, takesoff
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zVKXSpEpiQ
The Tudor Muddle (1948)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4MTlWmbMgs
Avro Anson – coastal patrols
https://youtu.be/uTE-jHVIKJU?t=17m11s

Flying the Avro Anson
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ItUdTM0fhD4

Two Avro Ansons landed together after mid-air 1940 (Wagga Wagga)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lp478Tgm5gg

Avro Anson
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3-mVPAvLos


WW2 Avro Anson Mk.1 > .

Avro 685 York


Hitler's Personal Plane > .
Gran Sasso 1943: The Raid to Snatch Mussolini > .
Hitler's Secret Mission to Free Benito Mussolini | The Gran Sasso Raid (1943) > .

The Avro York was a British transport aircraft developed by Avro during the Second World War. The design was derived from the Avro Lancaster heavy bomber, several sections of the York and Lancaster being identical. Due to the importance of Lancaster production, York output proceeded at a slow pace until 1944, after which a higher priority was placed upon transport aircraft.

The York saw service in military and civilian roles with various operators between 1943 and 1964. In civilian service, British South American Airways (BSAA) and British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) were the largest users of the type. In military service, large numbers of Yorks were used for air-supply missions during the Berlin Blockade 1948–49. A number of the type were used as air transports of heads of state and government; VIPs who flew on Yorks included British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, French General Charles de Gaulle, Indian Governor-General Lord Mountbatten and South African Prime Minister Jan Smuts.

Monday, June 24, 2013

Dornier Do 31 - 67-2-10


The Dornier Do 31 was an experimental vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) jet-propelled transport designed and produced by West German aircraft manufacturer Dornier.

The development of the Do 31 was motivated principally by heavy interest expressed by the German Air Force in the acquisition of short take-off and vertical landing aircraft (STOVL)-capable aircraft. Such ambitions received a further boost from the issuing of NATO specification NBMR-4, which called for a VTOL-capable tactical support aircraft that would be operated in conjunction with the EWR VJ 101, a West German VTOL strike aircraft designed under the NATO contract of BMR-3. A total of three [Do 31] aircraft, two flight-capable and one static airframe, were constructed and used for testing. On 10 February 1967, the Do 31 performed its maiden flight; the first hovering flight of the type took place during July 1967.

In addition to performing test flights, Dornier often demonstrated the Do 31 prototypes to officials and the general public, such as at the 1969 Paris Air Show. Several world records were set by the type during its limited flying career. When the high cost, technical and logistical difficulties of operating such an aircraft were realized, the German Air Force opted to cease trials involving VTOL aircraft, such as the Do 31, VJ101, and the later VFW VAK 191B. In the face of limited sales prospects and a lack of state support, the Do 31 and other VTOL projects lingered as research projects for a time prior to their manufacturers abandoning all activity. The Do 31 remains the only VTOL-capable jet-powered transport aircraft to ever fly.

Ekranoplan - ground-effect vehicle

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Sunday, June 23, 2013

Fieseler Storch - STOL


Senior WWII British commanders were much enamoured of the German Fieseler Fi. 156 Storch spotter plane, and many, including Field Marshal Montgomery, used captured examples, including Rommel's plane, throughout the war in North Africa and Western Europe.

Inside The Cockpit - mah >> .
Fieseler Storch take-off > .
Storch landing > .
1937 Fieseler Fi 156 Storch Demo > .


STOL - Fieseler Fi 156 Storch (Stork) >

Friday, June 21, 2013

Gliders


D-Day innovations ..
Logistics of D-Day ..  

Airspeed Horsa  


Airspeed Horsa Invasion Glider > .
Gliders - WW2 - tb >> .

The use of assault gliders by the British was prompted by the use by Germany of the DFS 230, which was first used in May 1940 to successfully assault the Eben Emael fort in Belgium. Their advantage compared to parachute assault was that the troops were landed together in one place, rather than being dispersed.

With around 28 troop seats, the Horsa was much bigger than the 13-troop American Waco CG-4A (known as the Hadrian by the British), and the 8-troop General Aircraft Hotspur glider which was intended for training duties only. As well as troops, the AS.51 could carry a jeep or a 6 pounder anti tank gun.

The AS.58 or Horsa II had a hinged nose section, reinforced floor and double nose wheels to support the extra weight of vehicles. The tow was attached to the nose-wheel strut, rather than the dual wing points of the Horsa I.

The Horsa was first used operationally on the night of 19/20 November 1942 in the unsuccessful attack on the German Heavy Water Plant at Rjukan in Norway (Operation Freshman). The two Horsa gliders, and one of the Halifax tug aircraft, crashed in Norway due to bad weather. The survivors from the glider crashes were executed on the orders of Hitler.

On July 10, 1943, 27 Horsas were used in Operation Husky, the invasion of Sicily. Large numbers were subsequently used in Operation Tonga and the American airborne landings in Normandy (Battle of Normandy), Operation Dragoon (southern France), Operation Market Garden (Arnhem), and Operation Varsity (crossing the river Rhine). In Normandy, the first units to land in France did so by Horsas, capturing Pegasus Bridge.

On operations they were towed variously by Stirling, Halifax, Albemarle, Whitley and Dakota tugs, using a harness that attached to both wings. The pilots were usually from the Glider Pilot Regiment, part of the Army Air Corps, although Royal Air Force pilots were used on occasion. The Horsa was also used in service by the USAAF. On June 5, 2004, as part of the 60th anniversary commemoration of D-Day, Prince Charles unveiled a replica Horsa on the site of the first landing at Pegasus Bridge, and talked with the original pilot of the aircraft, Jim Wallwork.

General characteristics 
Crew: 2 
Capacity: 25 troops 
Length: 67 ft (20.4 m) 
Wingspan: 88 ft (26.8 m) 
Height: 21 ft (6.4 m) 
Wing area: 1,148 ft² (106.7 m²) 
Empty weight: 7,500 lb (3,400 kg) 
Loaded weight: 15,250 lb (6,920 kg) 
Max takeoff weight: lb (kg) 
Performance Maximum speed: 127 mph on tow; 100 mph gliding (204 km/h / 160 km/h) 
Wing loading: 13.3 lb/ft² (64.8 kg/m²)
Pilots of a WACO glider named 'Voo-Doo' and her daring pilots undertook an incredibly dangerous transatlantic flight in 1943 in order to prove the notion of creating a glider air bridge between North America and Britain.
Red Devils of Arnhem - British Gliders Shot at by SS (1944) > .
British Gliders And Planes Landing (1943) - silent > .
Landing Craft - Gliders (1944) - British Pathé > .
Gliders Dakota (1944) > .

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airspeed_Horsa .

D-Day - tb >> .

US '43 - WACO CG-4 The Most Used Military Glider Of WW2 > .
3D cutaway - WACO glider > .

The WACO CG-4 was the most used U.S. troop/cargo glider of the World War II. The United States Army Air Force called it the CG-4A and the British military service called it Hadrian – however, it was known universally as WACO; which are the initials of the company that created it – The Weaver Aircraft Company of Ohio.

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Kirby Radar Kite

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Slingsby Kirby Kite prototype - Shuttleworth Airshow 2023 > .

Kirby Radar Kite

"Almost all the Kirby Kites still flying at the outbreak of World War II were impressed into the Royal Air Force for use as training aircraft for assault glider pilots. Kirby Kites were also used, along with other types of glider, to assess the ability of the Chain Home radar system to detect aircraft largely constructed of wood. These tests carried out over the English Channel were successful in showing that even gliders with very little metallic content could be detected, though the strength of return depended on how much metal was on board. After use by the Glider Training Schools the surviving Kirby Kites were passed to the Air Training Corps. Seven complete Kirby Kites survive, plus another that had no wings. New wings have been built for this Kite."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slingsby_Kite



Thursday, June 13, 2013

P-8A Poseidon

2022 P-8A Poseidon - RAF's submarine hunter - Forces > .
24-1-30 USAF replacing AWACS planes with Boeing 737 AEW&C - Binkov > .
24-1-26 AWACS: Modern Surveillance Aircraft Need Not be Stealthy - nwyt > .

The Boeing P-8 Poseidon (formerly Multimission Maritime Aircraft) is an American maritime patrol aircraft developed and produced by Boeing Defense, Space & Security, modified from the 737-800ERX. It was developed for the United States Navy (USN).

The P-8 operates in the anti-submarine warfare (ASW), anti-surface warfare (ASUW), and shipping interdiction roles. It is armed with torpedoes, Harpoon anti-ship missiles, and other weapons, can drop and monitor sonobuoys, and can operate in conjunction with other assets, including the Northrop Grumman MQ-4C Triton maritime surveillance unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV).

The P-8 is operated by the United States Navy, the Indian Navy, the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), and the UK's Royal Air Force (RAF). It has also been ordered by the Royal Norwegian Air Force (RNoAF), the Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF), the Republic of Korea Navy (ROKN), and the German Navy.

sī vīs pācem, parā bellum

igitur quī dēsīderat pācem praeparet bellum    therefore, he who desires peace, let him prepare for war sī vīs pācem, parā bellum if you wan...