Aircraft Trivia Quiz

You got it Brews! And here are some pics, the first two are the prototype

Man that`s an ugly bird, but after all it served well!

It bears at least a passing resemblance to the Westland Lysander.

My question is this:

During which military operation was the last success of a Lavochkin machine over a Grumman fighter?

Too far east, and too early.

Hint: The Lavochkin was faster. 

Brews wrote:

My question is this: During which military operation was the last success of a Lavochkin machine over a Grumman fighter?

Hi Bruce,

I'm thinking that the SA-2 Guideline SAM system was based around the Lavochkin  S-75 Dvina missile. Among the operators of this system was Iraq, under Saddam. In Desert Storm, on 21st January 1991, the USN lost Tomcat Bu/No.161430 to SAM-2 fire over Iraq. Both crew ejected safely, with the pilot being recovered by US special forces and the RIO being captured by the Iraqis and held as a POW.

The S-75 is capable of Mach 3 at burnout, while the maximum speed of the Tomcat is only Mach 2.34 at high altitude.

The Colony were up all night researching this one!

Cheers,

Chris.

The colony deserve a Mass of gin for their efforts.

I was, indeed, thinking of the Lavochkin S-75 / SA-2 Guideline, and the Operation was indeed Desert Storm.

Over to you. 

Brews wrote:

The colony deserve a Mass of gin for their efforts. .... Over to you.

Thanks Bruce. That would be a Mass each, I assume?  With lunch?

Right:

1) Which aircraft currently has the most wheels in its undercarriage?

2) How many wheels is this?

3) how many more wheels does it have than the previous holder of the record for number of undercarriage wheels?

Cheers,

Chris.

Mass ... yes. I just unpacked my four Loewenbraeu steins in preparation for starkbierfest.

My initial stab at this question would be the Antonov 225, with perhaps the An 124 or Arado Ar 242 being the previous holder. I have no clue!

Of course - you're north of the 49th Parallel - otherwise a Starkbierfest would feature watered down British Heineken, at best!

Anyway, your first answer is right - the An.225 has 32 undercarriage wheels. However, the An.124 has only 24, and the aircraft I'm thinking of, which was much smaller than the An.124, but still quite big for its day, had more than this.

Cheers,

Chris.

cardshark_14 wrote:

Ar 232 had 25...two rows of 11, a nose wheel, and two main gear

'that's gotta be it.

chris hall wrote:

Of course - you're north of the 49th Parallel - otherwise a Starkbierfest would feature watered down British Heineken, at best!

Off-topic, but there are PLENTY of good beers in the US ... mainly from micro-breweries, and Seattle is a beer-Mecca.

trexx wrote:

cardshark_14 wrote: Ar 232 had 25...two rows of 11, a nose wheel, and two main gear   'that's gotta be it.

That's the one I was thinking of, but if it's right, congratulations.

Hey Brews,

I figured as much.  If its right, go ahead and take the question, as I don't have anything ready, and I don't want to be poaching... 

1) An-225

2) 32

3) C-5 Galaxy (1968 / 28 wheels)

Weather 3) is correct or not, here is an interesting fact (sorry to say its straight from Wiki);

The volume of unusable space in a C-5's tail assembly (aft of the ramp) is larger than the available cargo space of a C-130 Hercules

Cheers;

This aircraft is an advanced (for its day), twin seat, twin engine, supersonic attack aircraft which first flew in the 60s. Its engines suffered not inconsiderable problems early in early flight, these problems would eventually be resolved & the engine would become the basis of the powerplant for a unique aircraft.

The aircraft bore a certain rather obvious similarity to the ill fated XB-70, although the particular similarity did not serve the same purpose.    

Correct, its all your.

The afterburning Olympus (modified) was later to find use in Concorde.

The similarity was the downturned wing tips, used in the XB-70 to generate compression lift, but in the TSR.2 to avoid main wing anhedral, to give smoother airflow over the tailplanes.

Pictured here beside the inferior machine that it was cancelled for, which was in turn never purchased;

Probably. I couldn't find anything with a radial that might suit. The closest seemed to be an SB-2M or something.

congo79 wrote:

Yeah, i forgot to mention the wingtips, but the difference between the XB-70 and TSR.2 was that TSR`s tips were fixed, while XB-70 where moveable and if i`m not mistaken, they were activating at high speed to increase the stability.

Yes. The outer wing panels of the XB-70s could be drooped downward. It was to increase lift and thus overall range. Air was scrunched between the wing tips and engine nacelle. The idea existed only in theory previously.

congo79 wrote:

OK, sorry for the delay, but i just came home, so here`s the question. This fighter was designed in 1937 and can be accepted as a predecessor of a famous WW II bird. One of the prototypes was tested in the USSR in 1938-39 as a competetor to the famous I-16. Even though it proved to be superior than the Rata /with almost identical engines/ he didn`t won. Oh and the big clue - it was two-seated. Name that plane

Seversky P-35?

congo79 wrote:

Close, but not close enough. You got the manufacturer but not the bird.

Seversky 2PA ?