Looks like it's a little slow here.....

[jetmex]

.....so here's a few more:

1. Name the only turboprop aircraft to see combat with the Royal Navy.

2. What aero engine was commonly referred to as a "corncob", and why?

3. Name the first all-composite aircraft to be certified in the US.

4. Why was one Sopwith biplane referred to as a "1 1/2 Strutter", and what was its official designation?

5. What is pinking (or pinked) tape used for?

6. Many WWI pilots carried a hip flask of brandy or whiskey aloft with them. Why?

7. Why was a silk scarf part of flying kit for many years?

8. Name the second very heavy bomber that saw service with the USAAF in WWII.

9. The Brewster Buffalo was considered a failure by the US Navy, but scored numerous kills in the service of what country? Who was the highest scoring ace to fly the airplane?

10. What type of aircraft was Douglas Bader flying in the accident that cost him his legs?

Bonus---The character played by Mickey Rooney in the movie "The Bridges at Toko-Ri)" was noted for wearing what unusual piece of clothing while flying what type of aircraft?

The Galvin Warning, as usual, is in effect.......... ;D

[Britbrat]

1. Westland Wyvern
2. P&W R 4360 -- called a "corncob" because it had so many rows of cyl that it resembled a corncob.
3. Burt Rutan's Voyager?
4. The Sopwith 1 1/2 strutter featured unusual wing bracing that lead to the nickname. It was a high performance 2-seat naval fighter & the first British AC to feature synchronized guns. I don't know what its official designation was.
5. Pinking tape is used on the seams of doped-fabric to prevent the seam edges from unravelling & to smooth the finished seam.
6. Brandy was carried to warm the pilots up -- they flew in unheated open cocpits in below freezing temps.
7. Silk scarves were used to "lubricate" the pilots necks -- to prevent chafing when they were constantly turning their heads to look around behind them.
8. Handley Paige O/400
9. The Buffalo was used with some success by the British & Dutch forces in the far east, where its lack of heavy carrier gear improved its performance. I don't know the name of the Buffalo Ace.
10. Bader was flying a Bristol Bulldog
Bonus-- A green top hat, while flying a Sikorski S-51 dragonfly

Galvin? Galvin who?

[RetNavySuppo]

4. The Sopwith 1 1/2 Strutter was a two-seat fighter AND a one-seat bomber. The official Sopwith drawing office nomenclature was the Sopwith LCT (Land Clerget Tractor). The RNAS official nomenclatures under RNAS General Memorandum 52 (dated June 14, 1916) were:

Sopwith, 9400S type 1 1/2 Strut, fighting type, short distance

Sopwith, 9400L, type 1 1/2 Strut, fighting type, long distance

Sopwith, 9700, type 1 1/2 Strut, bombing

9. The only real success with the Brewster Buffalo was during its service with the Finnish Air Force. The top scoring Finnish Brewster Buffalo ace was Hans Wind with 39 kills while flying this aircraft. What is interesting about this aircraft is that one individual Brewster Buffalo holds the distinction of being the single aircraft with the most air victories in the history of air warfare. Wind scored 26 of his kills while flying a Brewster Buffalo designated BW-393. Eino Luukanen scored 7 more kills with the same airplane. Other pilots flying this one airplane brought the total number of its kills to 41.

[Britbrat]

Well done RetNavySuppo. Where's Galvin?

[JimCasey]

3. Windecker Eagle
9. The Brewster Buffalo was successful witht he armed forces of Finland. A Finnish Brewster, recovered from a Russian lake, was recently delivered to the USNavy museum of aviation in Pansacola for restoration.

[jetmex]

I love it when there's trivia flying!! Having said that:

1. A Wyvern it is!

2. The P&W R-4360 was called the corncob for the reasons Patrick mentioned.

3. Jim got this one--an airplane made in Texas, to boot! Mr Windecker is in the Texas Aviation Hall of Fame for this one...

4. RNS and Patrick split this one.

5. Good answer, but there is one more reason.....

6. Again, a great answer, but there is another REALLY important reason.....

7. Kept one's neck from chafing against what?

8. I don't think the O-400 saw combat in WWII. Obsolete, perhaps? ;D

9. RNS and Jim got this one. I'm looking forward to seeing the Finnish Buffalo when they're done with her in Pensacola.

10. And our resident Anglophile gets #10!! And the bonus!!

Now let's see who can get my nitpicks......

[Dave Moffitt]

The REAL answer to No 6..
Why the brandy/whiskey ?.
It was supposed to ward off diarrhoea caused by sitting behind an engine spewing out large quantities of Castor Oil.

Dave Moffitt

[Britbrat]

7. chafing against the collar of the flight suit

8. Doh!!! WWII -- I got sidetracked by the WWI stuff. The Liberator was in combat from 1940 with the French & British forces but it was preceded by the Boeing B-17 in combat with USAAF. If you are looking for something heavier, the second really heavy bomber could be the Consolidated PBY4-2 Privateer, which saw service just before the end of the war, having been preceeded by the B-29.


Maybe we need Galvin after all.

[jetmex]

Dave got #6--castor oil does have rather unfortunate side effects, doesn't it?

Patrick, the airplane I'm thinking of in #8 is in the B-29 class. You list the manufacturer is in your latest answer.......

[Britbrat]

Ah yes, the Consolidated B-32 Dominator! It was built as an insurance policy in case the B-29 tanked. 15 of them were actually deployed to the Pacific in April 1945, but the B-29 was so successfull that the Dominator was cancelled at the end of hostilities.


Did we skunk Galvin?

[jetmex]

Well Patrick, it's good to see that you finally were able to escape the clutches of the evil time warp...... ;D

The other very heavy bomber was indeed the B-32. Do you ever wonder what would have happened if some of the what-ifs had made it into service?

BTW--the pinked tape also protects the rib stitching underneath from all the indignities perpetrated on it by mother nature and other forces.

Good job, everyone. Was that batch too easy?

[Britbrat]

We want more!!

[Galvin]

1.) Name the other turboprop aircraft to see carrier service with the Royal Navy and what were its most unusual features?

2.) How many plugs were required in a plug change for a C-124? A B-36?

3.) What is the most successful composite aircraft design in the U.S.?

4.) It was called the "1 1/2 Strutter" because the cabane struts with their distinctive W form were reminiscent of half-struts and also as a comment on its difference from the more common two-bay wing designs.

6.) Pinked tape is used over wing ribs to help insure that the rib stitching doesn't come adrift at higher speeds due to balllooning of the fabric. (Wrote this prior to seeing your answer.) What are "bays"?

7.) The silk scarf was necessary due to the fact that uniforms were made of wool and chafing was guaranteed if something wasn't worn between the wool collar and the neck. What is something you DON'T want to wear on your face if you fly at high altitudes in unpressurized aircraft?

8.) Some WWII aircraft had a small pipe mounted in front of the windshield to clear it if it became clouded with oil. What was the fluid usually made of? What other uses was this fluid put to? Caution: This may be a trick question.

9.) WHY was the Buffalo a resounding success with the Finns and rather a failure with most other air forces that flew it, including the U.S. Navy? There is more than one answer.

10.) What was Douglas Bader's most famous request and to whom was it made?

Bonus: What if the Hokey Pokey really IS what it's all about? What then?

(BTW: I don't mind batting cleanup. I think we all know how anal I am about airplane stuff. It's more fun now to see who the other Rain Men are.)

[Britbrat]

I wondered where you've been? Welcome back ;D

[Britbrat]

1. Fairey Gannet -- Twin Mamba tuboprop with counter rotating props

2. 224 plugs for a C-124, & 336 for a B-36 (not including combustion chamber ignitors for the jets)

3. Voyager

8. Methanol/water solution -- also used as an injection fluid on some supercharged engines, plus used as an intercooler spray coolant

10. Bader's most famous request, other than to be permitted to fly again, was for precedence in spares & tools for his Canadian Hurricane squadrons -- made rather pointedly to Air Marshal Sholto Douglas.


So -- ya goin' ta test the water in the other quiz? ;D

[RetNavySuppo]

9. What is interesting about the Finnish Brewster Buffaloes is that they received a less powerful engine than the U.S. Buffaloes. Yet, they still racked up a kill ratio of 26:1 against German and Soviet opponents (though predominately Soviet).

Reasons for this include:

a. A better gunsight .

b. Pilot seat armor.

c. Upgrade of armament. They originally came equipped with one .30 caliber MG. The Finns upgraded this to four .50 caliber machine guns.

d. The Buffalo did poorly in Allied hands against the Japanese. At the beginning of the war, the Japanese pilots were arguably the best trained and most experienced combat pilots in the world. They also had some of the best aircraft (performace and maneuverability) at that time. The Soviets, who fought the Finns, had an obsolete air force at the time and pilot skill was dismal.

[jetmex]

I think Bader's most famous request was for a pair of replacement legs to be delivered to him after he was shot down and made a POW. If I remember correctly, the request was made to Adolf Galland.

The Finnish Buffalos were also quite a bit lighter than their US counterparts, not having had all the mandated tailhooks, flotation equipment and other stuff installed that the Navy was so fond of. This made the airplane more manuverable, something the later models were sadly lacking. The Finnish machines and those that were later exported to the Brits were completely different animals!

[JimCasey]

3: what does successful mean to you?
The LancairIV is composite and has a better cruise speed than most WWII fighters with 4 times the power. That's success from a performance standpoint.
There have been eleventy-six bajillion Vari-Eze's built.
That's commetrcial success, but Burt Rutan still can't afford a razor to remove those 1972 sideburns.....

[Wayne]

but neither would survive a 20mm hit in the fuel tank.....or anywhere else for that matter.....



...what were we talking about again

;D ;D

[Galvin]

Well, here are the answers. Keep in mind that some of them were deliberately asked in a vague way because sometimes it is more interesting to see what comes up.

1.) Name the other turboprop aircraft to see carrier service with the Royal Navy and what were its most unusual features?

Fairey Gannet indeed. Two Mamba turboprops driving counterrotating props, either of which could be shut down to prolong endurance. Weirdest wing folding arrangement ever concocted also.

2.) How many plugs were required in a plug change for a C-124? A B-36?

Yep, 28 cylinders X 2 X number of engines. (But add one more of a different type if the putt-putt APU had to have a change too.)

3.) What is the most successful composite aircraft design in the U.S.?

Deliberately vague to see how you define success. The Rutan Varieze/Longeze/Defiant design and all its derivatives from other designers comprise the most in numbers built. The Voyager is definitely the most historically important and the Lancair series the highest performing and most efficient overall.

4.) It was called the "1 1/2 Strutter" because the cabane struts with their distinctive W form were reminiscent of half-struts and also as a comment on its difference from the more common two-bay wing designs.

No question here.

6.) Pinked tape is used over wing ribs to help insure that the rib stitching doesn't come adrift at higher speeds due to balllooning of the fabric. (Wrote this prior to seeing your answer.)

What are "bays" anyway?

"Bays" are the spanwise spaces between sets of struts and the word is, I believe, a term carried over from the classic bridge design conventions that formed the basis for stress analysis of such structures.

7.) The silk scarf was necessary due to the fact that uniforms were made of wool and chafing was guaranteed if something wasn't worn between the wool collar and the neck. What is something you DON'T want to wear on your face if you fly at high altitudes in unpressurized aircraft?

Anyone wearing an oxygen mask is cautioned against wearing chapstick, mustache wax, pancake makeup, lipstick or gloss, or any other greasy carbohydrate based material on the face due to the fire hazard it presents. (Most of us only have to worry about the first two.)

8.) Some WWII aircraft had a small pipe mounted in front of the windshield to clear it if it became clouded with oil. What was the fluid usually made of? What other uses was this fluid put to? Caution: This may be a trick question.

Some German aircraft later in the war had a nozzle in front of the windscreen to spray high octane fuel on it to clear it of oil. In addition to being used for motive power the fuel was also used to dilute the oil on cold days to facilitate starting. (U.S. aircraft primarily.) Alcohol is a very poor remover of oil.

9.) Why was the Buffalo such a resounding success with the Finns and rather a failure with most other air forces that flew it, including the U.S. Navy? There is more than one answer.

The Finnish Buffaloes were model 239/F2A-2 aircraft diverted from a U.S. Navy order. In fact, they had to have the life raft, tailhook, and other carrier equipment removed to make them ready for export. The usual procedure was to also substitute a remanufactured engine of the same type but often of a lower power rating. The R-1820 Wright Cyclones sold with the Buffaloes to the Finns were older models of a slightly lower power rating. (Most of the Navy's P&WR-1535 twin-row radials like the one that powered the Hughes racer were overhauled and wound up in Finland powering Fokker D-XXIs. The engine was regarded as at the limit of its development by the Navy and many of those remaining were sold to the Finns, who were only too glad to get them but preferred the Bristol powered versions.)

The lightening of the aircraft combined with the upgraded armament, gunsight, and armor noted by RNS made the airplane a lot better than its U.S. Navy F2A-2 counterpart, which Navy pilots still considered a great flying airplane. The Finns liked the design well enough to rip it off and copy it in wood. They later managed to get Messerschmitts from the Germans however, and the project didn't get past the resulting Huumu prototype which survives to this day in their air museum.

The F2A-2 airplane was a better performer than the F4F-3 Wildcat in U.S. Navy service but had a weak landing gear that deformed after several carrier landings, the resulting tweaking and filing done by onboard maintenance crews to get the gear to retract properly resulting in many cases of gear collapse.

The British and Dutch Model 339 C,D, and E aircraft also suffered from various problems, many connected with Brewster's seeming inability to produce an airplane on schedule. The British Buffalo Mk Is were 900 Lbs. heavier than their U.S. Navy counterparts, which were in turn heavier than the Finnish airplanes. Many of the Dutch airplanes suffered from not having self-sealing tanks and armor glass due to Brewster's bad management and general ineptitude.

Both the Brits and the Dutch used their aircraft more or less effectively at first but were greatly outnumbered and, as mentioned, up against some of the best airplanes and pilots the world had to offer. They also, unlike the Finns, were not fighting over their home territory where damaged aircraft could be readily retrieved, repaired and put back into the fight. Both the Brits and the Dutch were overwhelmed very quickly once the Japanese got rolling.

The biggest thing that ruined the Buffalo design was the introduction of an increase in motor mount length on the later F2A-3. The resultant change in the aircraft's CG combined with a large increase in gross weight ruined the airplane's handling and its other performance numbers also suffered. It was after this major and ill-advised change that the Navy finally gave up on Brewster and the Buffalo and concentrated on buying Grumman products.

My friend Howard Packard flew F2A-2 Buffaloes and later flew F4F-3 Wildcats in both the battle of Coral Sea and the battle of Midway as an enlisted pilot. He said he preferred the earlier Brewster over the Grumman for its dogfighting ability.

10.) What was Douglas Bader's most famous request and to whom was it made?

Asking for his spare legs to be sent over to him in prison was indeed unusual but he also was allowed to sit in a Messerschmitt by Adolf Galland when he was first captured and was being shown around his captors' airfield. He then asked with sincerety and a perfectly straight face if he could take it around the patch.

Galland said he wanted to let him but decided that it might create some problems, like an escape attempt, and so turned him down. They remained great friends after the war.


Bonus: What if the Hokey Pokey really IS what it's all about? What then?

I don't know about this but we could be in trouble if it is so.