Just to keep you on your toes - what aircraft is this?

[+elephant]

It's a Nord 1002 Pingouin II

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nord_Pingouin

[JimAttrill]

Correct. So you win a

[Hauksbee]

It's a Nord 1002 Pingouin II  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nord_Pingouin

Thanks elephant. So it's an Me-108, but not an Me-108. I guess that certainly qualifies as a trick question. I was especially surprised reading the  specs.: Crew 1, Passengers 3. So it's a four-seater after all. 'Cannot for the life of  me see where there's room for them. The original 108 had seats side-by-side, two rows. Are the seats in this version a single file of four?

[Olham]

Hauksbee, the Germans were just much more modest in those days.

Here is a HEINKEL Kabinenroller from the 50s...

 

 

 

 

 

[UK_Widowmaker]

You're very close Jim..it's a Varsity :)

[JimAttrill]

Damn.  I worked on Varsities in 1968-9 at 115 Squadron flight checking.  Even flew to Gibraltar in one via Porto.   Loved working on them - big radial engines with 28 spark plugs and lots of oil inside and outside!   Of course it was hard to see that it was a Varsity and not a Valetta in the photo as the nosewheel and the bomb bay could not be seen.   It was fun to fly in one lying in the 'bomb aimers' position underneath - we even used to stay there on landing which was quite frightening with the runway so close.   This was 'illegal' but we all did it.  Happy days! 

 

Oh, and I didn't have a Heinkel or Messerschmitt bubble car but I did have a BMW Isetta 3-wheeler!   It had a 250cc four-stroke engine and the front opened just like the Heinkel.   There is a bubble car club here and I sometimes see them all on a Sunday going somewhere.  Worth lots of money I think. 

Edited May 24, 2016 by JimAttrill

[Olham]

A bubble car club - in South Africa???

 

 

 

Edited May 24, 2016 by Olham

[Hauksbee]

Hauksbee, the Germans were just much more modest in those days.

Olham: not sure how you're using the word "modest". Can you explain a bit.

[Olham]

What is there to explain??? Is "humble" better?

They made do with less. The common people had no money for big cars in the 50s.

So they managed to stuffed themselves into these little cabin cars.

[Hauksbee]

Aha! That 'modest'.

[Olham]

Okay, I see in my dict that "modest" has many meanings - I learnt something.

[Hauksbee]

And I learned that the Isetta was made by BMW. I remember them and somehow I always thought they were made in Italy. Surprise!

[Olham]

Haha, yeah, sounds more Italian: "Isetta"...

 

The most famous 50s and 60s Italian car here was the FIAT "Goggomobil".

Here is a 4-seater version - they dared call it a "limousine"!

Modest humble days...

 

 

 

[JimAttrill]

I do remember the occasional goggo as they were called.   Looking it up, they were not made by FIAT but were a purely German vehicle.  Quite advanced in design I would say.   Here is something from Wiki:

 

"Goggomobil was a series of microcars produced in the Bavarian town Dingolfing after World War II by Glas.

Glas produced three models on the Goggomobil platform: the Goggomobil T sedan, the Goggomobil TS coupé, and the Goggomobil TL van. The engine was an air-cooled, two-stroke, two-cylinder unit originally displacing 250 cc, but later available in increased sizes of 300 cc and 400 cc. It had an electric pre-selective transmission built by Getrag and a manual clutch. The engine was behind the rear wheels. Suspension was independent all round using coil springs with swing axles.

214,313 sedans, 66,511 coupés, and 3,667 Transporter vans and pickups were built from 1955 to 1969.

 

I suppose you could get four rather modestly sized people in one! 

 

If you click on the Glas URL above you will see the whole history of the plant.   They now make bodies for Rolls-Royce, they say. 

Edited May 29, 2016 by JimAttrill

[Olham]

Glas? I think they even worked with BMW - didn't they produce a sportscar with them?

 

I got the "Goggomobil" mixed up with the FIAT 500.

 

Edited May 29, 2016 by Olham

[JimAttrill]

[Burning Beard]

Looks like a 1917 Really Sturdy

 

Beard

[JimAttrill]

No banana for you! 

[Olham]

Is it possibly an airworthy WW1 toy that an incredibly rich sheik gave to his son for his birthday?

(Never seen THAT craft!)

[JimAttrill]

It's American and made by a famous car company .....   I think something like 1 500 were ordered and then that order was cancelled due to Nov. 11th.   In 1922 a turbo-supercharged version held the world height record.

[JFM]

LUSAC-11. According to American Military Aircraft 1908-1919, that plane SC 42133 belongs to the USAFM today.

[JFM]

Here's a better photo:

 

Another:

 

[JimAttrill]

It's a good looking aeroplane with those streamlined struts and with the connected aeilerons.   I suppose I saw it on my visit to the USAF museum back in 2012, but saw so much that I can't remember it. 

[Olham]

It does look like an extremely sturdy build. Wonder what it might have weighed...

[JFM]

Empty weight including water, 2,561.5 lbs. Loaded weight, 3,746 lbs.

I don't remember it in Dayton, either. I'll be there in September and look for it.