Aircraft Trivia Quiz

I was just wondering, do you happen to know if there is there a kit of this aircraft?

Tom

Wasn't that the cockpit used to test ejecting seats? I remember reading an article about it if Blue Rider magazine.

Edit:

Blue Rider Decals/Insignia Magazine

Gloster Meteor Mk. 7/Mk. 8
Serial no. WL419, Chalgrove Airfield, 1989. Aircraft is Gloss Silver-Grey overall with Fluorescent Red high visibility panels in three areas - on the forward fuselage, under the rear cockpit and on the vertical tail area. Test symbols are Black and White. Serial number, in Black, appears on the tail only. Ejection seat warning triangles are Red and White. RAF roundels are in six positions. Step markings and anti-dazzle panel are Black. 'Asterix' figure on port fuselage half is Black with details in Red and Blue. 'Asterix' lettering is White with Black outline.

These illustrations, taken from Issue 8 of Insignia Magazine, are from a heavily illustrated article on this experimental Meteor by Graham Napper. This aircraft is also the subject of Issue 8's FREE decal sheet.

Mike T.

Oh wow!  Hmm, just finished an excellent book: Fighting Cockpits 1914-2000 by LFE Coombs.  In it was a picture of an unusual Meteor:

The British tested a Meteor with 2 cockpits.  What was the parasite cockpit used for testing, and where was it placed on the aircraft?

osher wrote:

Messerschmitt 323 Gigant Edited to add Define largest?  Length?  Wingspan?  Weight loading capacity?

Sorry Osher, don't need to , you got it straight up!

You got the next one.

Tom

Messerschmitt 323 Gigant

Edited to add

Define largest?  Length?  Wingspan?  Weight loading capacity?

You know how I hate hard questions.

So what was the largest transport aircraft used in WWII?

Tom

P.S.

There is a scale model of it.

Dooooooooohhhhhhh!

Now I gotta come up with another question. Oh Well.

The ace thing is funny, since it seems to go from not quite five to over twenty or so.

If you look at the records of the higher scoring aces, most of their kills were of a purely preditory nature, that is overwhelming an under-equipped and/or under-trained enemy with superior equipment that ranged from better armament to vastly superior aircraft.

As I pointed out before, the Navy's PB4-Y gunners had some of the highest ace scores in the war, since they were armed with twin 50's in each turret and the Japanese were generally undertrained crews flying unarmored fighters without self-sealing gas tanks, or worse still the "flying gas can" Betty Bomber.

The Tuskeegee guys were generally kept out of the main action until nearly the war's end, and thusly had little opportunity to engage a lot of enemy fighters, and then they were relegated to escorting bombers, which pretty much kept them tied to the formation instead of being free to engage German aircraft like the P-47's on strafing missions were.

Tom

Tom,

You got it.

It was James Lincoln Holt Peck. He was a controversal figure. His claim to have had 5 aerial victories in the Spanish Civil War has been disputed. This would have made him the first Black American Ace. The records were lost and proof cannot be found to justify his claim. His further work in aviation shows that he had a full life in the field.

http://aces.safarikovi.org/victories/usa-sp.html

http://nullspace2.blogspot.com/2007_01_01_archive.html

Mike T.

Wouldn't be a fellow from Pittsburgh, who had the same last name as a famous film star (I am just "pecking around" the subject here), would it?  

Tom

Thanks all,

I knew a B-29 pilot who was training up for the atomic squadron. Before going to bombers he had trained on P-38's and his instructor was Tom Lamphier.

Anyway to the question:

This black american aviator flew in the Spanish Civil War. There are claims that he was an ace, but the proof was lost. Being involved in the Spanish Civil War he was black listed and not able to participate in WWII. During this time he furthered his education and received advanced degrees in avionics. Later in his life he worked on the Gemini project and the B-1. At the time of his death in 1996 in San Diego, CA he was working on a book about the B-1. Who was this pilot?

Mike T.

I've had a little paperback titled "No High Ground" since 1962, when it was published, which is a very detailed account of the Manhattan Project and the bombing mission, and that is where this answer comes from.   Fletcher Knebel and Charles Bailey II are the authors.

There were actually seven B-29's involved in the first atomic bomb mission.  Three flew together:  the Enola Gay with the Little Boy; The Great Artiste, flown by Charles Sweeney, carrying instrumented packages to drop over the target and radio receivers and recording devices to measure blast pressures; and No. 91, flown by George Marquardt and carrying special camera equipment in place of the bombsight to photograph the detonation. 

A fourth B-29, flown by Charles McKnight, flew to Iwo Jima where it waited to take over the Enola Gay's job if a mechanical failure made it impossible for the Enola Gay to complete it.  The bomb would be transferred from the Enola Gay to the McKnight B-29, which was named Top Secret, and I believe is the airplane name Tom is looking for.  The reason the Top Secret was flown to Iwo to wait was the risk on an explosion in the case of a landing accident, which it was expected would reduce Tinan to rubble.  It was decided to risk Iwo instead.  In order to protect Tinan further, as it held the only other ready bomb, Fat Man, the Little Boy device was, as a result of a last minute decision, armed after takeoff by Deac Parsons.   The in flight arming was done after the Enola Gay levelled off at 4,000 feet on departure from Tinian and took 25 minutes. 

The other three B-29's were weather aircraft and preceded the three primary aircraft to the possible targets.  The B-29 of Claude Eatherly, Straight Flush (not the card game, the bathroom fixture) flew to Hiroshima.  Ralph Taylor's Full House flew to Nagasaki, and John Wilson's Jabbit III went to Kokura Naval Arsenal.  

Was it "Top Secret"? Here is a link that shows the seven B-29's involved with the Hiroshima bombing.

http://www.mphpa.org/classic/STORE/12-PHOTOS/IMAGES/CPP-CG-001.jpg

Mike T.

Further hints:

The answer to this question is in a special issue of WWII magazine titled Iwo Jima.

The name of this ship was literally the common military term for the protection of special information regarding either a mission of high importance, such as the dropping of the atomic bomb, or information gotten from a discrete source, such as special military intellegence or from a spy working for the allies, by limiting it to only a very few people who "needed to know", usually at the top.

Tom

I can posit the next question if you like:

As we know the world's first atomic bombing of a hostile nature was done by the B-29 Enola Gay.

Often the narritive reads about the "lone B-29 flying over Heroshima".

In fact the Enola Gay was not alone.

Tibbits picked other escorting B-29's at Iwo Jima, two with special instrumentation to record the effects of the blast. This is often known but what is rarely known is that also there was a fourth B-29 that joined the group.

So here is the question:

What was the name given to the fourth B-29 by its crew?

Hint:

Still today, the pupose of the fourth ship is not known, and appearantly is not available to the general public, so that makes it a true "Mystery Ship", it's name reflecting this fact.

So how's about a few wild guesses, eh?

If you think about common terminology given to situations like this in WWII, the answer to this one should be a "no-brainer", as the crew's name for this ship was not an innovative nor an inventive one.

Tom

Mike,

NP. Go for it

cheers

David and Phil;

If you don't mind, I'll put up the next question instead of letting this thread die away.

Mike T.

Sorry for the delay. I am struggling to come up with something worthy of this thread. If Phil would like to set us a challenge I would gladly pass over the baton.

I'm chomping at the bit awaiting the next question!

Mike T.

Phil_H wrote:

Lol - I guess my last post was somewhat oblique...

I wanted to give it to you, Phil as it seemed you were trying to say the right thing, but the actual name wasn't there.  Maybe you could negotiate with davros over who gets the prize...

You've got it, David.  Although the US claimed the F-100 was operationally the first supersonic fighter, the MiG 19 got there first and with higher performance.  More were built in China than in the USSR, because the Soviets went on to the MiG 21, leaving the 19 as really an interim design.  The Chinese and the USSR had their rift at that time, and the MiG 21 was not shared, though the Chinese did later copy the airplane.  The MiG 19 served in Viet Nam, but the F-100 did not go north and the MiG 19 didn't go south. 

I have read different numbers of production for both countries, and no exact numbers, but it seems that China did build more of the MiG 19/J-6 and its variants than the Russians. 

The Mig-19 fits most of the criteria. It's Chinese copy, the Shenyang J-6, may have been built in larger quantities but I am not sure.

wdolson2 wrote:

The main Chinese aircraft today is a home built copy of the Mig-21.  They have built lots of them.  Though I don't see where it meets the other criteria.  Between the Mig-15, 17, and 21, the only one that had  a much touted western adversary was the Mig-15 vs. the F-86 in Korea.  Bill

Poor Farmer Ivan... Always the forgotten member of the family. He did have two engines though, and claimed to be the first supersonic fighter, though the F100 would argue with that...  Not sure about the production numbers though.

osher wrote:

Hmmm, this is intriguing. In the jet age, it's rare for an aircraft to be built in another country.  Of western aircraft, I can't think of anything British (which it's not anyway), European, or American which qualifies, except some American types built by the Canadians, and the Mirage III copy built by the Israelis.  There have been some CKD kits sold on, but even they're not so common, except maybe the F-5, but even then, home production is higher.  This means, it must be a Russian design, copied by the Chinese, North Koreans, etc.  As the Russians and Chinese broke off relations in the 1960's (if memory serves), I believe it would be one of the older MiG designs.  It's opponent would be the F-84B or C Thunderjet, which was a lot of talk, but had some serious flaws.  The later ones met the MiG-15, but was beaten by it (but did meet it, removing it from this answer).  Maybe the F-84F, the first swept wing, which I believe was in Korea, but didn't meet the MiG-15?

The main Chinese aircraft today is a home built copy of the Mig-21.  They have built lots of them.  Though I don't see where it meets the other criteria.  Between the Mig-15, 17, and 21, the only one that had  a much touted western adversary was the Mig-15 vs. the F-86 in Korea. 

Bill