Funny thing that John.
i have my Brother in Law staying for a couple of weeks as his birthday is also on the 31st Dec. I never thought it would take so much of my WoG time out.
Have a good Christmas.
Rob.
Funny thing that John.
i have my Brother in Law staying for a couple of weeks as his birthday is also on the 31st Dec. I never thought it would take so much of my WoG time out.
Have a good Christmas.
Rob.
"Courage is the art of being the only one who knows you're scared to death."
Mine isn't a guy who is easily impressed. When I took him to the FLGS he kept going on about the number of game stores they have in Seattle. When we left the FLGS, he said, "That might be the best game store I have ever been in."
And sad to say, even though I showed him my Shapeways and Ares/Nexus planes, we didn't find time to actually play WoW/G.
I've started work on a Star-Strutter (or set thereof), but it's kind of complicated figuring out which variants to offer:
- There were four series (65.5, 65.7, 28(Ph), and 28.5(Ph)), all with subtle differences. For instance, the wings on the 28.5 series were .5m wider chord and they all had the tail with the fin and larger rudder (which were later refit onto 28's). The 65.7's had a front-mounted radiator (instead of wing-mounted) and the 65's all had a shallower fuselage.
- Add to that: they frequently removed the engine cowling during the summer for better cooling, so you could create variants of some of these with the engine-top exposed.
- For armament, some had the gun canister, some had a top-wing unsynchronized gun, some had a deck-mounted synchronized gun, and there doesn't seem to be any mapping of this-series had this-gun.
Doing all the combinations (series, cowling, gun) would result in 24 variants, which I'm sure is overkill. :-)
I'm sure many of us think of Lohner as an important producer of flying boats for the Austro-Hungarian Empire, but they produced a few land planes for it as well. Not bad for a carriage manufacturer . This is a request for the Lohner B.II or preferably the later B.VII/C.I , which was modified (as the C.I )and armed with a machine gun for the observer. As early war A-H planes, the markings are very colorful, and since their wings were swept (especially the B.II's), their nickname amongst their pilots and observers was 'Arrow.' Recently finished John Biggin's The Two Headed Eagle; Otto Prohaska doesn't encounter any B.IIs or VIIs when he gets seconded from the KuK U-Boat service to the air arm, but I can imagine his comments if he had.
B.II:
B.VII / C.I:
[QUOTE=DarrylH;392448] Recently finished John Biggin's The Two Headed Eagle; Otto Prohaska doesn't encounter any B.IIs or VIIs when he gets seconded from the KuK U-Boat service to the air arm, but I can imagine his comments if he had.[QUOTE=DarrylH;392448]
Otto is my hero!
I agree Ken.
I thoroughly enjoyed the book. Why don't you write it up for the Book review section?
Rob.
"Courage is the art of being the only one who knows you're scared to death."
I like that Lohner B.VII -- very distinctive, and here's a start on it:
... (and finished: )
According to Grosz, Haddow, and Schiemer's Austro-Hungarian Army Aircraft of World War One, the B.VII was built in two series (plus one limited run of refits), and they served pretty widely. They were unarmed from acceptance in August 1915 until some of them were retrofitted with an observer's machine gun on a simple pivot in early 1916. By the time the C.I's were produced in mid-1916, they were hopelessly behind the ubiquitous Brandenburg C.I's, and all the Lohner C.I's were relegated to training.
Last edited by ReducedAirFact; 06-11-2016 at 23:37. Reason: Added finished version too
So, will we see some soon over Shapeways way?
Hi Gents
My latest Shapewys order has arrived - Darryls Hansa-Brandenburg G1 and late model KD-1 "StarStrutter"
Both are excellent models (Shapeways managed to bend the front MG on the G1 but I think its fixable)
The bracing on the G1 engines is particularly well done - partly helps to explain why this was such a poorly thought of airplane, and the positioning of the pilot behind the main wing so zero visibility forward cant have helped
Thanks, Ken! And as I've done more and more Austro-Hungarian planes lately I'm seeing a lot of planes that have a high-mounted Hiero or Daimler engine, in a way that would make it very hard for the pilot to see forward (e.g. Oeffag C.II and Lohner B.VII). It makes me scratch my head....didn't their designers think that forward visibility was an important thing to preserve? Even putting aside the need to see what you're shooting at (with the armed planes like the D.I), you would think that forward visibility would be a huge advantage when landing on primitive airfields.
Hmm - if John Biggins is correct I can sort of understand it in a perverse way- in the Austro-Hungarian airforce the pilot was not the ranking officer - the observer was. he pilot was expected to fly the plane under direction, so his view may be a secondary consideration. No wonder they lost :-)
I think on reflection the A-H war effort has some far more serious problems to face than class distinctions.
One little-known fact about the SPAD 13 is that they were originally produced with rounded wing tips rather than the squared-off ones we're all familiar with. In fact, all of the SPAD 13s produced in 1917 (including all of those used by the RFC) had the rounded wing-tips, and I'm working on a model of that plane for Shapeways. Even less well-known is that the French produced a retrofit kit of thin ply that they could sew to the wing of a round-tip SPAD 13 to convert it to a more-square profile, improving the maneuverability. The resulting plane 'round-wing + retrofit kit' was not the same as a factory square-wing SPAD 13 -- it has a wider wingspan with a rounded leading edge tip but squared-off trailing edge tip.
My question is whether anyone would be interested in a Shapeways model of the SPAD 13 with the round wings and the retrofit kit. Or is that too esoteric?
Probably a step too far for me, but the rounded wing one would be of interest - as you say, it's essential for 19 and 23 squadron.
I wasn't aware that the RFC used SPAD 13s; SPAD 7s I knew about. I'm surprised that British aircraft production wasn't up to need by 1917, that they needed to import any.
Karl
It is impossible for a man to begin to learn what he thinks he knows. -- Epictetus
Rounded wing tip I would definitely get a few.
Karl, they were just at the cusp of the Brits finishing using French aircraft - half of the SPAD XIII order was cancelled as no longer required, and the squadrons earmarked for them got Sopwith Dolphins, but 23 squadron was fully SPAD XIII equipped from January to early May 1918, seeing a fair bit of action. (Indeed, my Avatar is a 23 Squadron SPAD XIII, hence my interest.... )
Dollies - SPAD squadrons were moved onto Dolphins as similar inline-engined energy fighters (indeed Hispano-Suiza engined, making the transition a hell of a lot simpler for the mechanics), while the handful of Snipe squadrons converted from Camels, so they had rotary engine experience - a rare example of RAF common sense....
Last edited by Dom S; 04-20-2016 at 18:47.
Thanks Dom; every little bit of info adds to the mosaic
Also, if I get around to Plan 1919
Karl
It is impossible for a man to begin to learn what he thinks he knows. -- Epictetus
Now that is one that I have been waiting for Daryl.
Rob.
"Courage is the art of being the only one who knows you're scared to death."
Damn! Don't want any more float planes..................except that one............and then maybe some others.
You're leading me astray again!
I laugh in the face of danger - then I hide until it goes away!
Here's an obscure but interesting Imperial Russian aircraft for our Shapeways designers to consider. The Mosca MB 2bis was a smaller version of the MB two-seater. It was fitted with a more powerful engine, and armed with a single machine gun. It also had a folding wing that functioned in the same way as on its predecessor. The Mosca MB 2bis performed well in combat, despite the fact it was not equipped with synchronizer gear. Some Mosca MB 2bis had the gun installed to fire above propeller arc, while on others, the propeller blades were protected by bullet-reflectors similar to the ones used on the Morane Saulnier N. The aircraft was in production for more than two years; 50 planes were built until 1918, and some were even built after the Russian Revolution.
Last edited by DarrylH; 06-18-2016 at 21:48.
Ever time I start working on these I start scratching my head and wondering if they have three fins or four.
I'm thinking three, but could be wrong. Not a lot of good pics on the web for these
Karl
It is impossible for a man to begin to learn what he thinks he knows. -- Epictetus
Last edited by Dom S; 06-20-2016 at 06:33.
Thanks Dom; excellent picture.
Karl
It is impossible for a man to begin to learn what he thinks he knows. -- Epictetus
Thanks! That's answers that. I have a 3d file somewhere, I'll see if I can find it. But first, I must finish that Sopwith Cuckoo.
Wouldn't mind seeing a Rumpler 6B done. Much like the Albatros W.4 and Hansa-Brandenburg W.9, the 6B was an adaptation of an existing landplane design (in this case, the two-seat Rumpler C.I reconnaissance aircraft) to meet a 1916 Imperial German Navy requirement for a seaplane fighter. The modifications included adding a forward stagger to the wings, removal of the second (observer's) cockpit and fitting a larger rudder to offset the increased side area caused by the addition of floats. In the production aircraft, the area of the horizontal tail surfaces was also slightly reduced. . A total of 39 of the initial 6B-1 version were produced , followed by a new version of the basic design, the 6B-2, which was introduced in October 1917. These aircraft retained the Mercedes D.III engine, but otherwise they were based on the C.IV, with larger dimensions and more rounded horizontal tail surfaces. The Rumpler 6B was mostly employed at German seaplane bases at Ostend and Zeebrugge. Some were also sent to the Black Sea to fight the Russians.
Last edited by DarrylH; 07-11-2016 at 01:22.
You must have somehow guessed that I recently picked up Herris' Rumpler Aircraft of WWI!
While I haven't yet looked at the floatplanes, I did finish up the design on a Rumpler G.III bomber (now in beta). I'll add the 6B1 & 6B2 to the to-do list. (Though who knows when they'll "float" to the top of the list. )
Zoe requested this long ago, but only recently did I pick up Datafile 106 and actually get it done! It's probably been overlooked for too long -- it was a very important two-seater in 1916.
Now in beta...I'll post to the releases thread once I've got a test print. I've got one with a Mercedes D.III engine and the other with the Benz Bz.III. I didn't do a model with a synchronized gun, but it would be easy to add if anyone's interested. (Roughly 200 of 726š built had a gun for the pilot.)
š = not counting 300 trainers built in 1917-1918.
Request - Manfred Von Richthofen's first aircraft, the AEG G.II
I don't have a 3-view to hand though, and have no idea if it was the 3- or 1-rudder variant.
As an exercise in '1919 What If,' this is a request for the Packard-Le Pere LUSAC L 11. Designed by a French engineer in the United States, the LUSAC L 11 was a high performance two-seater, initially designated as an escort fighter by the Army Air Service. While the initial aircraft sent to Europe before the war's end were described as 'unsuitable for combat,' this probably meant that they had teething problems and comparatively minor issues that needed to be ironed out before series production began. If the war had continued, the L 11 would have been produced in vast numbers. As it was, the thirty or so actually built were used for research and development, and one set altitude records in the early Twenties.
Yeh, I think I mentioned this one a couple years ago
I still haven't gotten a good set of Plan 1919 flights in the air yet, but I'm working on it.
Karl
It is impossible for a man to begin to learn what he thinks he knows. -- Epictetus
I believe this plane has been mentioned by forum members before, and Dave (Clipper) might have already scratchbuilt it, but the Otto C.I reconnaissance biplane still might be of interest to our Shapeways designers. A twin-boom pusher reconnaissance biplane, built by Gustav Otto in 1915, with box-shaped booms and fuselage gondola, it was powered by a 165 hp Benz Bz.III pusher engine. The design was apparently highly thought of for its stable and reliable yet nimble behavior and good handling characteristics, both on the ground and in the air. Thirteen Otto C.I 2 seat twin-boomed biplane bombers (150 hp) were delivered to Bulgaria in the spring of 1916 and used in the bombing and reconnaissance roles. They were still used at the start of 1917 for reconnaissance but soon withdrawn in favor of the Albatros C.III. Information on the C.I and even Gustav Otto's company is pretty hard to come by on the web, so I don't have a three-view of the aircraft, just these photos and renditions.
Very nice!
Good work on those, Daryl. Are the prototypes ready yet?
They're available for sale now. But I only ordered a copy yesterday, so I can't be 100% sure that Shapeways won't find some obscure reason not to print them. They pass all the automated checks.
Now, in truth, I can't be sure that Shapeways won't find some obscure reason not to print any particular design. Last week they rejected an Albatros B.I that had been printing okay since 2013, so I had to redesign the model. But they tend to reject things for arbitrary reasons much less often than they used to, and the quality of prints is much more consistent. (I can't remember the last time I ordered one that had serious stepping problems.) I think my major complaint these days is that they sometimes overpack the shipping box and put strain on the models.
I guess that's a pretty long answer to say "yes". :-)
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