FSM Aircraft ID Quiz #6

I know 4 out of 5... Gonna need some researching on this one...!

Hehe!

I like to keep folks busy!


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Four of the five were easy, fifth one I had to dig for cause I had seen pictures of it before but couldn't remember who made it. Think I finally got It though.

Any idea when and where picture was taken?

Man, i've got 4 out of 5 too! Ugh...!

The fifth one is tricky. I think I got it , though.

Count me in on this one! i think i just identiied the 5th one, though there is another tricky one because you can't see very much of it....

Okay, so far, everyone's doing fairly well. A comment was made in one of the emails that one of these may not have an official nickname, which could very well be the case. Although, my Grandfather (who worked for the company that made this aircraft) seems to have referred to it by the name more often than not and that's what I've come to know it as. In light of this, for that particular bird, the name is no longer required.

BTW, I've gotten a few responses saying that the aircraft are hard to see. For those who don't know, FSM Forum has an automatic resize feature for photos, so you can click on them and they'll come up full-size. I'm sure most of you know this, but the newbs on the forum may not. And with the comments I've been getting, just thought I'd pass it along.


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Just a wonderin'.... What happened to Aircraft ID Quiz #5?? You seemed to have skipped that one.

HAHA! Was wondering when someone would notice or mention it...


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I got all five. The SUPPOSEDLY iffy one doesn't have an official nickname, according to my reference book. Only three were built. The one in the picture is number two. The first one crashed on 8 May 1945. Hope this isn't giving anything away........

As far as enlarging the pictures, they are still grainy even after enlarging them. I could barely make out the first single-engined plane's version in large format.

yep you just gave it away to me!! now if I could figure out the others......

ID Quiz #5 must have been the Stealth aircraft, or one with some REALLY good camo !

Hey, Pixilator, you need to give a class on airbrushing German camouflage. Mine NEVER comes out looking as good as your Me-262 does. Mine looks like I TRIED to airbrush it, if you know what I mean. What's your secret?

Gary - if I told you, it wouldn't be a secret anymore. Just kidding.
I use Model Master enamels, thinned almost 50:50 (probably 52:48, paint/thinner). I spray at about 5-7 psi, with minimum paint volume (dual-action airbrush-Badger 150), 1/2 to 1/4 inch from the surface, at a 45 degree angle with a fine needle/nozzle. I can outline the "spots" & fill them in this way. I do this v e r y s l o w l y freehand. Practice on some scrap to get the hang of it.
Hope this helps you.

QUOTE: Originally posted by garydmason The SUPPOSEDLY iffy one... As far as enlarging the pictures, they are still grainy even after enlarging them. I could barely make out the first single-engined plane's version in large format.

Geez, I only say that one of them may give some folks fits because since I've been frequenting the forums I've been reminded in a big way that not everone is a walking military aviation encyclopedia like myself. At least, that's a label some have pasted on me! Dunno if it's a good thing...

So, I have to keep in mind that there are folks who, although they may have a great interest, don't know that much about this stuff. I try to cater to all.

And aren't we PICKY about grainy photos! Whaddya think, I meant you to be able to read the serial number on the tail? I didn't post the full size image because alotta folks are on dial up and a one and a quarter meg image may take awhile to load for some. But, if you want it here it is...

BIG Image :P

And if you notice, it's still "grainy". That's the nature of photographs, especially when they're put on the web. They usually turn to crap. That's why I hate grabbing stuff off the net sometimes. Alotta GREAT photos which turn into bad images.


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As far as grainy photos go, I wasn't complaining, just stating a fact. I meant it to be slightly humorous, but I guess it didn't come across that way. Sorry. I do realize that OLD photos are gonna be grainy - the technology that we have today just didn't exist back then. I don't think it has anything to do with the internet; if you post a 5 megapixel image, you should be able to get back a 5 megapixel image. The reason you get bad images from the internet is because most people upload low resolution pictures in the first place. Most are below 1 megapixel. And this is usually because there are space limitations set by the domain servers. Sorry - I'll get off of my soapbox now.

I really enjoy these aircraft quizzes. Very enjoyable. I've got a great book called "The Complete Book of Fighters", and it lists every fighter ever built, experimental or otherwise, up to the year 1994. Kinda helped me on quiz #6.

Pixilator,

You just clued me in to what I've been doing wrong!!! It's the AIR PRESSURE!!! I'm usually spraying at about 20psi. I had never considered going lower. DUHHHHH!!!! That explains why I get great large area paint jobs, but detail work comes out not-so-great. I can't wait to get started on my next German aircraft now!! Thanks for the tip!!!

Well, I think I'm staying out of this one. I'm 100 percent on 3 of them, 75 percent on one, and have no clue on the last. This is a bit of a toughie Steve, I can't wait for the answer on it.

I'm fairly confident I got all 5. One gave me a hard time since I never did find a nickname for it.

Great contest Blackwolf...keep 'em comin'

Hey all,
Well Steve, I see finally my pix got some exposer. Nice touch
Flaps up, Mike

QUOTE: Originally posted by garydmason ...but I guess it didn't come across that way...

I guess the same could be said of me! I wasn't blasting you, just having fun with your remarks. (Hence the smilies and all...) And I tend to over-explain myself sometimes, as well, as evidenced by the fact that, in a way, I was also poking fun at myself with one comment.

Oh well, typical online forum misunderstanding I guess. Sarcasm, tone of voice etc. doesn't translate too well. And my sense of humor is hard to understand sometimes...

Hey Butz! Yeah I shoulda given you credit for the original photo. Sorry, M8! I've got so much of this stuff I forget where alot of it comes from...

As to the quiz itself, I was beginning to think that it was easier than I had initially thought, although the number of responses is down so far. So, balancing it all, perhaps it is 'tough' for some after all.

I will say this, however; to now all who've responded are correct. Although one of you made what I think may be a funkified typo or an early-morning-drowsiness-induced something or other. So I'm debating whether or not to let it go or what. Hmmm, decisions, decisions...


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Okay, this was a strange one. Although we only had eight replies, all were correct. (One had a typo I think, but I counted it as A-O-K)

The eight:

qmiester
Pixilater
shrikes
garydmason
salbando
djmodels1999
philp
GARYSCHURR


The answer?

From front to back:

PB4Y Privateer
P-47 Thunderbolt
XF15C-1 Stingaree
SB2C Helldiver
C-46 Commando

Some thought that the Privateer may have been an experimental version. Could be, but I doubt it. The Jug is a 'Nan'. And one thing which I thought fersher someone would notice is the fact that the Helldiver has no wings. But no one mentioned it.

The Curtiss XF15C does, in fact, seem to have no official nickname. I've always known it as the Stingaree because that's what my Granfather called it in his notes from work. Almost everywhere I look, though, folks spell it as 'Stringaree' with an 'r' and I'd like to know how that started. The aircraft was named Stingaree after a family of Ray, which was a departure from previous tradition, as almost all Curtiss aircraft were named after birds of prey; specifically the Hawk and the Shrike.

Here's a shot of the Stingaree:




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This one was really pretty tough, I was right on the ones I knew for sure, but had no idea about the Stingaree. Never heard of that one before, neat looking though.

The stingaree was easy... It was the helldiver that was tough or me... A thought that the XF15C was covering it up so i couldn't see the wings or any other detail... turns out it didn't have any wings! (thought those white bits were the wing tips) I almost labeled it as a Kingfisher w/o the float! What was this a picture of anyway? Some guy's collection maybe?

I'm sorry to say I didn't respond to this one. I had them all but the X15C, and I had seen the PB4Y as both the Liberator and the Privateer. I meant to research these more and submit a reply and just forgot... hopefully the next one. I hope we can do another creative captions this week too. I'm still laughing over some of those!

Yippee! First contest for me and I got them right.
Hey Blackwolf,
I feel like a moron, but what exactly is a "nan". The other thing that really threw me at first was the lack of upper turrets on the Privateer. Was this common, or was the pic taken after the war, and they removed them for some reason?

Oh, sorry!

Well, the P-47 in the photo is a P-47N.

Using today's military phonetic alphabet (otherwise known as the NATO phonetic alphabet) one might refer to the 'N' variant of an airplane as the 'November'. The 'A' the 'Alpha', 'B' 'Bravo', etc.

Seeing as it's a bird from the 40's, I used 'Nan'. That was 'N' in the US phonetic alphabet which was in use back then. (otherwise known as the 'Able-Baker' alphabet, or whatever else someone wants to call it...) Although back then, more often than not, they woulda just called a P-47 a 'Jug', no matter what the variant!

This kinda stuff is just second nature to me and I sometimes ramble on without even considering that some may not know what I'm talking about!

If any of you don't know much about phonetic alphabets just do a search on the net, I'm sure there's plenty out there.

Added: hence...

MAN! Got so involved in writing all that, I forgot your second question!

The top turrets were removed from some Privateers after the war in order to improve their range and speed.

By the way, if anyone's interested in Privateers and Navy Libs, here's a cool site:

NavyLib.com

This is the most comprehensive site I've yet to come across for info and photos pertaining to Navy Liberators & Privateers. There's even a section dedicated to turrets! LOL Check it out, lotsa groovy stuff here.


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I knew all but the F15. I tried several searchs but couldn't come up with anything. I thought it might be Grumman since you said your grandfather was around it and you are in New York. Which brings me to my question. What we you use to search for this airplane? Maybe the answer will help me with research on some of the kits I'm doing.

Thanks

Blackwolf,
You're the heat buddy! One of the things I love the most about being a member of this site is that even though I'm a fairly knowledgable military history buff (especially aviation), I'm constantly learning new info. It also gives me the chance to inform others on the info I know. I guess it goes along with the territory for modelers.

Cheers, and waiting for the next contest. I might even give you a few ideas for future quizes down the road.