It's Time To Play,"What's My Plane" !

[RAF_Louvert 101]

Way to go Gents. Dej, one point for you Sir for ID'ing the F.2B. rythalion, also correct Sir, and I am going to give you 2 points as you did give a bit more info, and as this is your first time competeing in the game. But please folks, if you are going for the second point I want to see at least 150 words of additional info on the plane or features shown in the photos. Thanks.

 

Also, you must both now wait 36 hours before posting an answer again in this group of photos.

 

Cheers!

 

Lou

[Luftace 0]

Photo 9 is a Fokker EIV. It was essentially an EIII lengthened a bit and powered by the 119 kW (160 hp) Oberursel U.III two-row, 14-cylinder rotary engine, a copy of the Gnome Double Lambda. The more powerful engine was intended to enable the Eindecker to carry two or three 7.92 mm (.312 in) machine guns, thereby increasing its firepower and providing redundancy if one gun jammed - a common occurrence at the time. This design was never truly successful as it was plagued with troubles such as a the synchronization of three MG08s as seen here, which in a demonstration by Anthony Fokker himself at Essen in September, 1915, failed and damaged the prop. The guns were also mounted at a 15 degree upward angle, but this idea too was also abandoned. The more powerful and heavier engine fitted to the aircraft caused it to be nearly uncontrollable by most pilots as the torque effects were to great for the small airframe. Only 49 such craft were built when it entered service in June 1916 and there delivery to units in December of the same year, as they were less affective as other aircraft available and also obsolute.

 

*sourced from en.wikipedia.org

[Red-Dog 3]

Is 12 a Gotha V which had 2 x mercedes 260hp engines and 2x parabellum mg's

[RAF_Louvert 101]

Sorry Luftace, you were pipped at the post by rythalion on #9 Sir. However, yours is a perfect example of the kind and amount of additional info wanted in order to earn the second point. And you noted your reference as I asked for in the rules. For those reasons I am going to make an exception here and award you a point even though I have already given the 2 for this photo. But I will not be making a habit of it.

 

Everyone, please look to Luftace's example here when providing the additional info on a plane in an effort to garner that second point. I am going to get a bit tougher on this as we are now into the third set of photos and most should have the rules pretty well sorted out by now. Yes? :yes:

 

Very good Red-Dog, and welcome to the contest. One point for you Sir.

 

Cheers!

 

Lou

Edited August 21, 2009 by RAF_Louvert

[Luftace 0]

Well, that's awful kind of ya Lou, thanx!

[RAF_Louvert 101]

My pleasure Luftace. Folks, we are stilling looking for the additional info on photos 10, 11, and 12. Three points still waiting for three lucky contestants.

 

Cheers!

 

Lou

[Tonyo - legion 2]

I'll give number 12 a go, but im probably wrong! :blush2:

 

I think its a Gotha G.V, due to the way the engines are supported in between the wings on the photo, plus, the oval shape of the engine cowlings suggest that theyre 260 HP Mercedes DVIa liquid cooled inline engines. the undercarriage is also of note, as the gothas were notoriously tail heavy & had to carry bombs under the nose to bring the centre of gravity forward they were very difficult to land especially if they had plenty of fuel onboard if a mission was aborted many crashed on landing due to the weakness of the undercarriage. also of note is the 7.92mm parabellum which you can see the gunner aiming downwards. there was no fabric covering underneath the fuselage which gave the gunner a good view of the blind spot below & underneath the aircraft. there was usually a second 7.92mm parabellum mounted in the nose. the lozenge canuflage was used later in the war on these bombers at the atart of the bombing offensive against london, they were usually painted a pale blue colour.

 

TonyO.

[Olham 164]

Lou, I want to say, that this is a great thrill of excitement here, and real fun, Sir.

My next answer, I'll try to undig some info about the subject.

But then, it may happen that someone else posts less info faster.

So I thought in this case today, go for one good point fast, and let the other point

for someone coming up with the details. Kind of a possible strategy, I mean.

So now, anyone can still make one point on the Dolphin.

[Tonyo - legion 2]

Red-dog pipped me to the post on that one! - i must type faster!!!

[RAF_Louvert 101]

No, no, TonyO, you get the second point for your additional information. Red-Dog only ID'd the photo for the initial point. Welcome to the game Sir. You are now on the board with your first point. And I was hoping someone was going to mention the gun tunnel as that was a major feature of the Gothas. You also mentioned how to properly ID this as a Gotha V by the engine mounted on stands to the lower wing instead of in a full nacelle attached to the wing. The nacelle housed the fuel tanks in the earlier Gothas, and it proved to be a deadly location as a hard landing, crash, or gun fire could cause the tanks to leak onto the hot engines, and...well, the end result can be guessed. The Gotha V moved the fuel to a large tank mid-ship in the fuselage.

 

Olham, I'm glad you are enjoying it Sir, I know I am. And I am learning a lot too.

 

Cheers!

 

Lou

[Bullethead 12]

If it's still available, I'll try for the 2nd point on #10.

 

The Dolphin was Sopwith's 1st inline-engined fighter, using the same 200+hp Hisso as the SPAD XIII. It had back-staggered wings with the interesting feature of the pilot's head sticking up above the upper wing. This offered excellent forward and upward view, but at the risk of smashing the pilot's skull in a nose-over on landing. Note that there was no crash pylon to take the impact, as there was on the Roland. Squadrons in the field typically fitted these themselves in a field expedient manner. The most interesting thing about the Dolphin, however, was its factory armament of 4 MGs: the 2 Vickers through the prop and 2 Lewis guns firing up at an angle. This made it the 1st 4-gun fighter in service. However, in the field, many units removed the Lewis guns because they also tended to kill pilots in nose-over landings. However, 85 Squadron instead mounted the Lewis guns in the lower wing fixed firing ahead, making this truly a 4-gun fighter.

[RAF_Louvert 101]

Excellent Bullethead! Another point for you Sir.

 

That leaves only the F.2B in this group to provide further information on. A point still out there for someone.

 

Cheers!

 

Lou

[Rickitycrate 10]

Photo 11: In early summer of 1917 the first F.2B's appeared. The petrol tank was made larger and the lower wing center section was covered in. Except for the first few all F.2B's had radiator shutters. The first 150 F.2B's had the 190 h.p. Rolls-Royce Falcon I engine, the next fifty had the 220 h.p. Falcon II. Thereafter it was hoped to fit the 275 h.p. Falcon III to all the F.2B's, but there was eventually a shortage of this superlative engine.

source; Fighter Aircrft of the 1914-1918 War by W.M. Lamberton

[RAF_Louvert 101]

And there we have it. Final point in this set goes to Rickitycrate, who while giving a rather brief report, was none-the-less concise. He also quoted one of the books on my shelf that I turn to fairly often when I need this sort of info PDQ. And I use Lamberton's Reconnaissance and Bomber Aircraft of the 1914-1918 War as well.

 

 

OK everyone, here are the current standings after round 3:

 

Rickitycrate, 6 points

Olham, 5 points

Bullethead, 3 points

Dej, 3 points

Duce Lewis, 2 points

Luftace, 2 points

rhythalion, 2 points

JohnGresham, 1 point

Red-Dog, 1 point

Shrikehawk, 1 point

TonyO, 1 point

 

 

Well done! I'll be posting the next group in several hours, and I will let you know when.

 

 

Oh, and keep an eye open for those Wild Card photos. You never know when one of those might pop up.

 

 

Cheers!

 

Lou

[Bullethead 12]

Well done! I'll be posting the next group in several hours, and I will let you know when.

 

I hope the forum's down for maintenance tomorrow, because I have to work

[RAF_Louvert 101]

I hope it's not, because I don't.

[RAF_Louvert 101]

DING DING DING !!! WILD CARD PHOTO !

The first to correctly identify the engine shown by name, model number, and horsepower rating, and list at least five aircraft it was used in as the standard powerplant will be awarded 2 bonus points. You must be spot on with all the information to win the points.

 

 

 

Good luck.

 

 

Cheers!

 

Lou

[Duce Lewis 3]

That's a Clerget Type 9 or 9B of 110 or 130 HP respectively

It powered the Camel, Snipe, 1 1/2 Strutter, Tripehound, and Pup

[RAF_Louvert 101]

Oh Duce Lewis, I am sorry, but the Pup was powered by either the Le Rhone 9C 80hp or the Gnome Monosoupape 100hp. Better luck next time Sir.

 

Anyone else want to try a stab at it?

[Duce Lewis 3]

OK Lou, I was guessing on the Tripe and Pup so I'm not surprized

Good Luck Guys!

[Olham 164]

This should be a Clerget 9-Cylinder Rotary. Here's some info from Wikipedia:

 

The Clerget was an early rotary aircraft engine. Manufactured in both Great Britain (Gwynne Limited)

and France, it was used on such aircraft as the Sopwith Camel.

What distinguished the Clerget from its rivals (Gnome and Le Rhône) was the Clerget had normal intake

and exhaust valves unlike the Gnome, and the connecting rod arrangement was much simpler than the Le Rhone.

A source of failure among the Clerget engines were the special-purpose piston rings, called obturator rings.

These were located below the wrist pin to block heat transfer from the combustion area to the lower part of

the cylinder and overcome their subsequent distortion. These rings were often made from brass and only had a

lifespan of a few hours. The Clerget engines were considered reliable but they cost more per unit to produce

than their rivals. Unlike other contemporary rotaries in which the ignition system was either switched on or

off to provide a rudimentary form of engine speed control, the Clerget featured a throttle.

 

The Clerget was an air-cooled rotary engine with nine cylinders. It was fitted with a double thrust ball race,

which enabled it to be used either as a pusher or as a tractor.

The engine worked on a four-stroke cycle. Its chief points of difference from other rotary engines were:

 

* The pistons were of an aluminium alloy.

* The connecting rods had a tubular section.

* The inlet and exhaust valves were mechanically operated by means of separate cams, tappets and rocker arms.

 

The direction of rotation was counter-clockwise as seen from the propeller-end of the engine. Like many other

radial engines it was made chiefly of steel, for strength and lightness. Between any two consecutive explosions,

the engine turned through 80 degrees.

 

PS: This rotary had 130 hp

Edited August 22, 2009 by Olham

[Dej 17]

Clerget Rotary Engine (Type 9B)

 

Date: ----------------- 1917

Cylinders: ------------ 9

Configuration: ------- Rotary, Air cooled

Horsepower: --------- 130 (96 kw)

R.P.M.: --------------- 1,250

Bore and Stroke: --- 4.7 in. (120 mm) x 6.3 in. (160 mm)

Displacement:------- 992 cu. in. (16.3 liters)

Weight: -------------- 381 lbs. (173 kg)

 

Used in Sopwith 1 1/2 Strutter, Sopwith Camel, Sopwith Triplane, Avro 504K, Nieuport 17bis. Also used in Armstrong Whitworth F. K. 10, one of the few production quadraplanes.

 

Source: Various

[RAF_Louvert 101]

Very well done Dej, precisely correct, you have the two points for this Wild Card photo Sir. Olham, you gave outstanding info as well on the 9B, but you did not list at least five aircraft that used the engine. Sorry Sir.

 

I will be posting the next set of photos in just under one hour from right now, so be prepared.

 

Cheers!

 

Lou

[RAF_Louvert 101]

OK everyone, here are the current standings after the second Wild Card photo:

 

Rickitycrate, 6 points

Dej, 5 points

Olham, 5 points

Bullethead, 3 points

Duce Lewis, 2 points

Luftace, 2 points

rhythalion, 2 points

JohnGresham, 1 point

Red-Dog, 1 point

Shrikehawk, 1 point

TonyO, 1 point

 

We have ourselves a nice competition going here Gents.

 

Cheers!

 

Lou

[Olham 164]

Oops - I overlooked that. First think - then act. Lol!