Aircraft Trivia Quiz

Wild guess:

 It flew a mission to the South Pole?

Trexx - remember the old joke about how many penquins can a polar bear eat? The answer is none, as the two creatures do never meet in the real world as they are from opposite poles.

MIkeT. 

Lot's of penguins hang out at the South pole, Dudes!

Messerschmitt, the company that designed the Me 264 Amerika also was responsible for the initial design (Bf 108) of an airplane known as the SNCAN Pingouin (Penguin).

Also, as everyone knows, the Me 264 was the first (and only) aircraft to run Linux on its flight computers.

cardshark_14 wrote:

Messerschmitt, the company that designed the Me 264 Amerika also was responsible for the initial design (Bf 108) of an airplane known as the SNCAN Pingouin (Penguin...

 ...I have known it as the, "Taufin" (Trexx wonders what kind of critter that is?)

cardshark_14 wrote:

Messerschmitt, the company that designed the Me 264 Amerika also was responsible for the initial design (Bf 108) of an airplane known as the SNCAN Pingouin (Penguin). Also, as everyone knows, the Me 264 was the first (and only) aircraft to run Linux on its flight computers.

That's the link, Shark! Well done! Your turn.

Did you notice that the pengy had a French word, bissous (hugs & kisses), on his belly? Taifun, btw, is German for Typhoon. BUt the Eurofighter, in German service, is called the Typhoon, not the Taifun. Go figure...

Cheers,

Chris.

BTW, I always thought that the reason why polar bears don't eat Penguins is because they're paws are too big for them to be able to remove the wrappers...

Great question, Chris!

Aircraft 1 was designed in country A, but was never put into production. Country B bought it, and used a derivative of it, aircraft 2, in a war against Country A. Country A retaliated by ordering a long range bomber, aircraft 3, to be used against Country B that used many of the same designs as aircraft 1. Country B developed a counterpart, aircraft 4, that looked very, VERY similar to Country A's long range bomber.  I haven't found any proof that aircraft 4 is based on aircraft 3, but at a glance they appear much the same.

What are these 4 aircraft?

cardshark_14 wrote:

Great question, Chris! Aircraft 1 was designed in country A, but was never put into production. Country B bought it, and used a derivative of it, aircraft 2, in a war against Country A. Country A retaliated by ordering a long range bomber, aircraft 3, to be used against Country B that used many of the same designs as aircraft 1. Country B developed a counterpart, aircraft 4, that looked very, VERY similar to Country A's long range bomber.  I haven't found any proof that aircraft 4 is based on aircraft 3, but at a glance they appear much the same. What are these 4 aircraft?

Could Aircraft 1 be the DC-4E? It never entered production, but it was sold to the Japanese (Country B) who used it as the basis for a bomber design, the Nakajima G5N. Aircraft 3 is, I believe, the B-29. Aircraft 4 I am uncertain about, but I did some research and I think it's the Nakajima G10N heavy bomber. It looks a lot like the B-29 but it has 6 engines. 

Great question! 

Hey Matt, you're definitely on the right track.

You nailed the DC-4E and the G5N Liz.  Aircraft 3 and 4 aren't what I'm thinking of, but I'll give it to you, since your guesses look even more alike than what I had in mind:

The front end of the XB-19 and the G8N are very very similar, though the XB-19 has a wing and fuselage that more closely resemble the G5N, and dwarfs both aircraft. 

You're up.  

Really good question, again! Took me a few days of thinkin' and about an hour of lookin' to get it.

 How about another guess the cockpit question? This should be pretty easy.

Too easy (count the throttles)! The Penguin will sit this one out.

Cheers,

Chris.

Its B-36 Peacemaker's cockpit.

Mike T.

Correct! It's a B-36 cockpit!

O/T: Thanks for the PM, my bad I'll remember next time.  

chris hall wrote:

Too easy (count the throttles)! The Penguin will sit this one out. Cheers, Chris.

I counted six throttles, but I still figured it was the B-36. The view forward did it for me, rather than the instruments and controls.

Here's my question:

During WWII there were two bombers that saw active service with two different tail arrangements (single tail and divided tail). One aircraft flew for the Allies and one flew for the Axis. What aircraft are they?

Bonus question is, what association did the maunfacturer of the Axis bomber have with the Allied country?

Mike T.

Technically, there were 2 Allied bombers that had different tail arrangements (to stretch the definition).  The Liberator, of course, which also came in the Privateer arrangement.  The other was the Lysander, which carried bombs, and was tried out in this arrangement.  It was a success, but not put into production.

Was the Axis aircraft the Junkers JU88 family?

Those were not the aircraft I was thinking of. The Privateer was considered a new aircraft. With the two aircraft I was thinking of, they saw active combat service, and only had a different model number to designate the tail arrangements. Engines and other aspects of the two models were basically the same and in some cases both versions flew in the same units. In both cases the change to a twin tail was for better lateral stability.

Mike T.

Allied: PZL P.37A/B Łoś & Amiot 354

Axis: Cant Z.1007 Alcione

Another great question!  

cardshark, you got it! I was going for the PZL P.37A/B Los (elk) for the Allies

and of course the Cant Z.1007 Alcione (Kingfisher) for the Axis.

The Bonus question's answer is that Cant sold at least two Z.506 Airone (Herons) to Poland. One was delivered prior to hostilities and was destroyed on the lake were it was being hidden by German aircraft.

All yours Cardshark!

Mike T.

I hadn't heard that about Cant supplying Z.506s to Poland.  Was this before Italy and Germany were allied?  You gotta wonder what Germany thought about all that.  

I'll post a question as soon as I can come up with one.

Cheers,

Alex 

The Axis alliance was kind of loose in what was going on with combatants. When Italy attacked Greece, it didn't bring Germany into the battle, that wouldn't occur until after Yugoslavia was invaded. German officers from the Embassy in Athens would walk around gathering intelligence which irratated the Britsh troops in the city to no ends. The British forces were warned not to attack or disturbed the Germans as Greece was not technically at war with Germany and these officers were protected by diplomatic immunity.

The Cant Z.506 was delivered to Poland in late August 1939. I don't know if it was in Polish colors or not. It could have been delivered in the Italian Metropolitan colors of dark olive over light blue-grey but it is assumed that Polish national markings were applied to it.

Mike T.

Huh.  Learn something new every day...  Thanks for the details.

Question sooner or later... 

I am glad to help!

Here's a drawing of the presumed airplane, the comments there mention 18 were ordered, the first was delivered on August 27 and was destroyed on Sept. 11. They assumed a bare metal finish. Armament might have been added later. The Poles would use either the Vickers "F" or "K" (which the Italians also used) or the PWU wz.37 which was a Polish variation on the Browning .30 skirting some of the restrictions on their license agreement.

I think that's the only Polish floatplane I've ever seen...Very cool!

On a related note, the following is part of a phrase. Tell me what the phrase is, how it relates to aviation, and what celebrity it is related to.

H_misp_e_e    D_nc_r

Cheers,
Alex

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hemisphere_dancer

I know, I'm a jerk. But I did have to figure out the wheel of fortune deal...