Dink's day in the aeroplanemuseum
Discussion
Did anyone notice the Grumman Tracker in full KLM livery?
It looks very odd. The Trackers used to operate off the Dutch Navy's only carrier, the Karel Doorman.
I always prefer aircraft to carrier colour schemes appropriate to the type and their service life. It needs to be repainted in "Konmarine" colours.
It looks very odd. The Trackers used to operate off the Dutch Navy's only carrier, the Karel Doorman.
I always prefer aircraft to carrier colour schemes appropriate to the type and their service life. It needs to be repainted in "Konmarine" colours.
Eric Mc said:
Did anyone notice the Grumman Tracker in full KLM livery?
It looks very odd. The Trackers used to operate off the Dutch Navy's only carrier, the Karel Doorman.
I always prefer aircraft to carrier colour schemes appropriate to the type and their service life. It needs to be repainted in "Konmarine" colours.
Apparently it was used by KLM for training purposes.It looks very odd. The Trackers used to operate off the Dutch Navy's only carrier, the Karel Doorman.
I always prefer aircraft to carrier colour schemes appropriate to the type and their service life. It needs to be repainted in "Konmarine" colours.
Klassiekerrally said:
About the 'Spitfire': why didn't I think of that!
The Antonov is a very impressive plane. And I very much like the looks of it.
It's a true gas-guzzler too: I'm told it uses 200 litres of expensive fuel per hour
I flew an An-2 in Cuba once. It was about 45USG/Hr in the cruise so thats about 170L/Hr the climb was much worse.The Antonov is a very impressive plane. And I very much like the looks of it.
It's a true gas-guzzler too: I'm told it uses 200 litres of expensive fuel per hour
I've never flown on an An-2 but I did get to look around one at RAF Odiham about 14 years ago. I was surprised to see that the rudder cables run along the ceiling of the passenger cabin. In theory, a passenger could reach up and yank on the cable and cause the plane's nose to swing about.
Eric Mc said:
I've never flown on an An-2 but I did get to look around one at RAF Odiham about 14 years ago. I was surprised to see that the rudder cables run along the ceiling of the passenger cabin. In theory, a passenger could reach up and yank on the cable and cause the plane's nose to swing about.
I'm sure the one I flew had a passenger cabin with some kind of cabin roof. I was allowed to pole it around for a bit which can't be legal, even in Cuba.It was all very basic and agricultural , aparently 'unstallable' too.
There used to be a couple of AN2's parked at White Waltham - fantastic landmarks, you could see them from miles away. One was cut up and shipped out to Spain, the other one ended up at Popham, I think. Pretty sure this is the one you can arrange to fly in the UK...
http://www.an2club.info
There is also one at Tatenhill that a couple of likley lads have decked out inside with a full-on executive jet/gin palace/shag-pad interior. Still only does about 95kt at three gazillion litres an hour though.
A completely hatstand bit of kit - the finishing touch being the flap controls designed by a complete sadist. I once watched a mate (CPL with a few thousand hours) doing a few circuits for currency in the flyable one at WW - on the climb out from 29, the thing just appeared to stop in mid-air, and then start slowly rising almost vertically - the bastard flap controls at work - instead of selecting the flaps *up*, he'd selected flaps fully *down*. Nasty. As I recall, the mixture control also worked in the reverse sense to practically every other one in the world as well.
http://www.an2club.info
There is also one at Tatenhill that a couple of likley lads have decked out inside with a full-on executive jet/gin palace/shag-pad interior. Still only does about 95kt at three gazillion litres an hour though.
A completely hatstand bit of kit - the finishing touch being the flap controls designed by a complete sadist. I once watched a mate (CPL with a few thousand hours) doing a few circuits for currency in the flyable one at WW - on the climb out from 29, the thing just appeared to stop in mid-air, and then start slowly rising almost vertically - the bastard flap controls at work - instead of selecting the flaps *up*, he'd selected flaps fully *down*. Nasty. As I recall, the mixture control also worked in the reverse sense to practically every other one in the world as well.
Ironically, torpedoes were not the best weapon against U-Boats. The weapon of choice was the depth charge. Most U-Boats sunk in WW2 were caught on the surface and were sunk by a combination of bombs, machine gun fire and depth charges.
The Swordish's air dropped torpedo was best used against surface vessels.
The Swordish's air dropped torpedo was best used against surface vessels.
Eric Mc said:
Ironically, torpedoes were not the best weapon against U-Boats. The weapon of choice was the depth charge. Most U-Boats sunk in WW2 were caught on the surface and were sunk by a combination of bombs, machine gun fire and depth charges.
The Swordish's air dropped torpedo was best used against surface vessels.
As the Italian Navy found out in Taranto.The Swordish's air dropped torpedo was best used against surface vessels.
As the Italian Navy did indeed find out at Taranto - not to mention the Imperial Japanese Navy who decided to go ahead with their attack on Pearl Harbor after seeing how effective some lumbering old biplanes could be if the element of surprise was total. You could say that the Swordfish was instrumental in bringing America into the war.
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