Aircraft Trivia Quiz

You mean I finally got one? Awesome! Oh wait, now I have to come up with one, don't I?

Okay, I like the riddle style ones, so here goes. This is a WWII plane that appears to have a rather normal planform, belying its prototype's roots. There are two distinguishing things about the prototype, both of which have to do with its engine nacelles. One of these features also appeared on an Axis plane of similar planform, the other had never been done before, or since to the best of my knowledge. Though effective in its intended roles, in which it saw only limited action, it is best known for transporting a fiery 'drink' of sorts from one Allied capital to another far away.

I imagine we could use a few "clues".

I tend to add at least one per day if the question seems to have caused a "stalemate".

Tom

Okey dokey, clues it is.  Sorry for posting a stumper...

Clue #1: This airplane appeared to have fewer engines than it actually had. 

Oooh, good guess, but I don't think one ever famously flew from one allied capital to another.

So, new clue...it has more nacelles, and engines than a Greif. 

??????????????????????????

OK, this is a non Axis airdraft from WW2, with 4+ engines????????

Is this the Tupolev ANT-20, or a family member? Simply cant find anything on the "fiery" drink - so assuming it is Vodka - hence the Russian connection?

Let's see if i can help out- the Pe-8 which never really succeeded as a bomber -

and you can pick up the kit on e-bay for $67 bucks

Nuts!  Somebody sniped the answer while I was at work!    I seriously spent about two hours today trying to figure out what this answer was.  The sad thing is, I knew about the Pe-8 beforehand, ALONG with the fifth engine.

Ah, well.  You win some, you lose some.  (BTW, that new 1/72 kit, either Amodel or Zvezda, looks sweet.  If only I had a larger disposable income...)  

Perhaps next time... 

cardshark_14 wrote:

Yeah, sorry about that. My goal was to come up with one that wasn't just something that could be looked up on Wikipedia. Hopefully Hudskit gives us an easy one...

Actually a "brain-teaser" like this one is quite good as long as you provide clues as you did.

I thought you did quite well.

No one is limited to "one guess only" here.

  Tom

Hi all

I simply could not pass by and not comment on this. The Pe-8 was actually a very good aeroplane, and (by some accounts that I have read) was ahead of its time when it was first developed, in 1940, posessing altitude and speed at altitude performance in excess of most fighters of the time (quite something for a heavy bomber). The reason why it was not a success is because it was never manufactured in any numbers (from what I understand, something like only 70 or 80 of these were ever made, compared to the thousands of B-17's, for example), mainly due to interference and shortsightedness by Uncle Joe (Stalin) and his croneys. 

The sources that I am referring to are all russian, a biography of Tupolev, the designer of the Pe-8, for example (it is curious that the airplane is designated Petlyakov-8, even though Tupolev was the chief designer). So, the facts could have been bent a little in favour of the Soviets, I admit. However, I though some of you here might find this interesting...

Hi all,

Let's see if I can make it an easy one- during WW2 I can think of at least three training aircraft that ended up also being used as combat aircraft as well. I'm sure I haven't thought of all of them- but the first three wins the prize...

Regards all, Keith

Hmmm, let me try on this one. No.1 the good old "Texan" - there`s no doubt about that one; No.2 the good old Polikarpov U-2/PO-2 - man, did the germans hated it oor what? No.3 I`ll try the Bucker Bu-181 Bestmann - i just can`t get out of my mind dose pics of that little bird with Panzerfausts on the wing ! Oh and lets not forget all of the Jap trainers used as Kamikaze /well i`m not sure if they will qualify/ like Ki-55, Ki-79 a/b and so on and so on.

P.S. Did i get it right?

Congo-

I like 2 of the choices you made- the Po-2 was definately one of the planes I was thinking of- and the Bestmann is a great choice- I had forgotten about the panzerfaust version- but I'm not sure the Texan falls into that category during WW2- post war definately- it was an assault aircraft in at least a half dozen "bush" wars not to mention use by some of the larger powers as a "COIN" aircraft- but I'm happy to admit I'm wrong if you're sure you're right on the Texan.

Regards, Keith

The Australian Wirraway was essentially an AT-6.  There were some modifications, but it wasn't too far removed from the original.  One even managed to shoot down a Zero once.

 Bill

Great point- that was a liscanse built bt-9 and the wirraway was indeed one of the ones I was thinking of. Perhaps also the Yak-7?

Either way he did indeed get them right -it's Congo's turn now.

Cheers all,

Keith

Thx hudskit, i was refering for the Wirraway but, how stupid of me, i forgot the name of the bird /all that i actually remembered was that the ausies built it by license and the Boomerang was actually based on it but i just couldn`t remember how they named it down under/. As for the YAK-7 i didn`t mension it because it was just a training version of the YAK-1, so it`s actually a fighting bird turned in to a trainer and then back to a fighter, in that category also goes the UTI-4, the two-seater, training version of I-16. But i think that all Jap trainers are fitting the requirements when used as Kamikaze.

OK enough about the trainers, but what should i ask this time? Hmmm, here it goes. This plane`s first flight was in the summer of 1939 /26th of June to be exact/. It was a refinement of the previous model and was already fitted with retractable gear. Ironically, although it was a good starting point, the outbreak of the WWII put an end to the constructors efforts to make it better /mainly it was underpowered/. The other interresting fact is that it never served in it`s own country but a small batch of 12 birds were sold to a "fellow" country and were actually credited 1 aerial victory. Name that plane.

P.S. I hope this won`t be hard for you guys!

OK, this obviously turned out ti be a tough one, so i`ll give a few hints. This was a fighter aircraft built by Avia and served in the Bulgarian airforce as advanced trainer. It was also supposed to be build by license in the DAR /Dargavna aeroplanna rabotilnica/ factory but that never happened. So the answer is ......

...I wanna say......

Avia B.135?

Alright, let's see if we can get something interesting......  This one's a bit obscure, so I'll give as much info as I can without totally handing it to you.

This was a British aircraft, first flown in 1928.  It was fitted with three Rolls-Royce Condor II engines, but probably should have been fitted with four, as it was extremely underpowered.

There were a few notable characteristics about this aircraft.  First were the extreme-high-aspect ratio wings, second being two mainwheels each almost seven feet in diameter.  But the most interesting thing was its construction, which employed a method which, at that time, was completely revolutionary.

Only one of these aircraft were build, but it's unfair to call it a prototype, as it was never intended to serve any role, be it bomber, transport, or likewise.  It was simply a test-bed for this new construction method.  Performance history was nothing to write home about, although it did fly at the 1928 Hendon RAF display bearing a large number 9, used for identification.

It was dismantled in 1930 and the airframe was used to test corrosion.

Finally, and Here's the Kicker:

Despite it's name, the airplane flexed quite a bit.

There.  Hopefully it's not too easy! 

One or two things, yes.  But the Inflexible was their first monoplane, I believe.  And the largest one in 1928, at that!  Here's something that suprised me- a youtube video!

http://youtube.com/watch?v=R5TUpaxw4ME 

Nice job cardshark.  The floor is yours! 

Doh!  I did it again!

Okay, here goes...

This was a small WWII era amphibian, designed by a German company in Switzerland.  It had 1 engine, and a very distinguishing characteristic about the prop.  It sort of flew once, with the help of a much bigger flying boat.  It has been kitted in at least 1/72 scale.