Gaëtan Marie's Aviation Blog

Aircraft recognition theory

2008-02-29T17:15:00.002+01:00

While the Normandy landings were underway, the Luftwaffe was totally absent from the skies. Allied air forces achieved not just air superiority but air supremacy. German soldiers took to saying:

If an airplane is silver-coloured, it's American. If it's camouflaged, it's British. If there is no airplane, it's German.

History Channel Dogfights: the Grumman F6F Hellcat

2008-02-25T10:42:00.003+01:00

The Hellcat was arguably the most important US fighter in World War II. It was the top "ace-maker" and had a record 19:1 kill ratio, the best of any fighter in history.

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The indefatigable DC-3

2008-02-24T22:29:00.005+01:00

The Douglas DC-3 was arguably the most important airliner ever built. In 1938, the type was responsible for 95 % of all commercial traffic in the U.S. and its military version, the C-47 Dakota, was so important that Eisenhower said it was "one of the four machines that won World War II, along with the bulldozer, 6x6 truck, and the landing craft. “

The DC-3 was reliable and solid, and is still used today.

In 1966, North Central Airlines retired one of the most used DC-3s ever : N21278. It had logged 83,033 flying hours in 9 years and used up 136 engines, but 90% of all its components were still the original, factory-built, ones.

A Row of Idiots

2008-02-22T14:03:00.004+01:00

At the beginning of World War Two, RAF fighter pilots flew in combat in tight "Vee" formations. This formation was completely inadequate for modern air combat. It had initially been thought that it would allow for greater firepower against enemy bombers, but mostly proved to be unflexible. The German tactical formation, the Schwarme, was much more fluid and efficient but early in the war British pilots kept flying that way as there was no time to re-train young pilots to better tactics. German pilots dubbed the RAF formations Idiotenreihen ("rows of idiots") because they left squadrons so vulnerable to attack.

Defection to the West

2008-02-21T22:02:00.003+01:00

One of the characteristics of the Soviet MiG-15 fighter was its wing fences, designed to minimize airflow running down the wingspan and off the wingtips, which reduces the effectiveness of the control surfaces. In fact, Soviet designers became very fond of wing fences, and used them on a large number of aircraft designs. To such an extent thay some Western observers claimed they did so to prevent the airflow from “defecting” over the ends of the wings.

On this picture, the inboard wing fence is clearly visible, but the outboard one is harder to see. You might also notice that on this specific MiG-15, the airflow did defect to the West, along with its aircraft and North Korean pilot.

Airmail Pilot

2008-02-20T13:33:00.000+01:00

Johnny Kytle was an airmail pilot in the 1930's, delivering mail from Atlanta to New York City. One moonlit night, as he was flying over North Carolina, Kytle spotted a freight train below and came up with an idea.

He flew well ahead of the train, then turned around and flew towards the train, a few feet above the perfectly straight, single-lane, railroad. A couple of miles out, he turned on one of his million-candlepower landing lights. The result was instantaneous, as he confided to a friend: “I lit the fuse on the biggest sparkler you ever saw! Within ten seconds, every wheel on every freight car was flat. I'll bet they still haven't found the engine crew. When I went over, they were all jumping and running.” He then added: “Strangely, nobody ever reported the incident to the Interstate Commerce Commission.”

Source: Frank Kingston Smith in Legacy of Wings, via www.aerofiles.com.

Dammit, General, ground him for five days!

2008-02-18T09:31:00.003+01:00

As the battle for Guadalcanal raged, two US Marine Corps fighter pilots – captains John L. Smith and Marion E. Carl – became friendly rivals, struggling to achieve as many aerial victories as possible. Marion Carl was leading the contest when he was shot down by the Japanese. Fortunately he survived, and spent 5 days with the natives before finally making it back to Henderson Air Field, the Guadalcanal Island airstrip.

Upon his arrival, Carl was told that Smith had caught up and was now ahead of him in the race for aerial victories. Carl was so infuriated that he told Marine Air Commander Geiger: “Dammit, General, ground him for five days!”.

Dogfights: Art Friedler in the P-51

2008-02-17T19:30:00.003+01:00

These videos are from the History Channel's famous "Dogfights" series and relate Art Friedler 4th and 5th kill. It's an interesting fight, with a somewhat harsh ending.

Flying Ape

2008-02-16T10:15:00.003+01:00

The Bell P-59 Airacomet was America's first jet fighter and, as such, was considered top-secret. Initial flight testing of the jet took place at George AB, Ca, by Bell personnel whose distinctive sign (for what reason?) was a black derby hat. Despite the shroud of secrecy and restricted airspace around George AFB, US Army pilots from a nearby field often came flying in, trying to get a glimpse at what was going on.

During a test flight, Bell test pilot Jack Woolams spotted one of the intruders approaching his aircraft. He had been waiting for this moment. He bent down and pulled out a rubber gorilla mask he had taken along. Putting it on, he then put his derby hat, lit a huge cigar and let the P-38 intruder catch up with him. As the Army pilot pulled alongside, Woolams looked at the stunned Army pilot who quickly broke off and disappeared.

There was no Army feedback on the encounter, but Bell employees had a great time talking about the pilot who'd intercepted a propellerless airplane flown by a cigar-smoking gorilla wearing a derby hat!

from K. O. Eckland via aerostories.org

The Gutless Cutlass

2008-02-15T10:42:00.009+01:00

Chance-Vought designed the F4U Corsair which was one of the best piston-engined fighters ever created. However, the transition to the jet age proved something of a challenge for Chance-Vought engineers. Their first jet aircraft, the F6U Pirate, was so unimpressive that most pilots seemed to find it boring. The Navy described the F6U as “so sub-marginal [sic] in performance that combat utilization is not feasible.”.

Their next aircraft proved much less boring and even, some would say, something of a challenge. The F7U-1 Cutlass was an innovative design, a bit ahead of its time. All three prototypes were destroyed in crashes, and meanwhile the design was declared unfit for combat by the Navy. The 14 preproduction aircraft that had been ordered by the Navy were thus relegated to training duties, where they achieved such an impressive accident rate that two aircraft are reported to have crashed before delivery from the manufacturer.

The main reason for the F7U's lack of performance was that it was underpowered. Its Westinghouse J46 engines were designed to deliver up to 10,000 pounds of thrust per engine. However, their actual thrust proved to be a mere 60% of that, making the Cutlass seriously underpowered.

One particularly disappointed test pilot, referring to the fact that Westinghouse also manufactured household appliances at the time, declared that “the Westinghouse J46 engines generated about as much heat as their toasters.”

Chance-Vought eventually redesigned entirely the aircraft and the new version, the F7U-3 entered USN operational service in 1954. It still remained unimpressive enough for its pilot to change its name from “Cutlass” to “Gutless”.

WIP: P-51D Mustang

2008-02-15T09:59:00.002+01:00

Currently, I'm working on the P-51D for the Mustang! website.

I still have to create the underwing tank/bomb rack, and then the landing gear, and the template should be ready.

Bf or Me?

2008-02-15T09:37:00.001+01:00

Most people are confused by the revised designations of Willy Messerschmitt's airplanes. For example, is the Messerschmitt 109 a Me 109 or a Bf 109? The answer is... both.

The original “Bf” prefix stood for Bayerische Flugzeugwerke Allegemeine Gesellschaft (BFW), the company of which Messerschmitt was co-manager and leading designer until late 1938, when he completely acquired BFW's stock.

According to Luftwaffe documents, BFW planes built after Messerschmitt's overtaking were designated with the “Me” prefix instead of "Bf". The old prefix was to be used only for the Bf 108, the Bf 109B to D and the Bf 110A and B. All posterior models were to be designated using the Me prefix. Which is why the Bf 109D's successor is the... Me 109E.

In practice, however, even German official documents seem confused with the designations, and one can find examples such as Bf 109K or Me 109D. While using the prefix as indicated above would be strictly correct, it can't be said that using a different designation is totally wrong.

Heavy Bombers of World War 2

2008-02-14T22:46:00.000+01:00

This is a summary of heavy bomber operations in World War II. Of course, it's rather simplified, but there is some interesting video footage and I thought it would be a good first introduction to this blog.