dogfight

wrote in news:4a4b3843-18c7-4881-b8b8-
:



I don't know if there were any higher performance versions of the
ME-109,


There were. there were long wing variants built later in the war
specificially for high altitude ops.

but the TA-152 could outperform the Mustang. It was a souped
up version of the FW-190.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Focke-Wulf_Ta_152


Well, the figures don't tell the whole story. while speed and rate of
clinmb certainly would have given an advantage, as a package, though,
it's much harder to define what makes one airplane superior to
another.Performance can be a lot more than numbers at the end of the
day...


For instance, there was a loonie Swedish count in the 1960s who
symathised with the Biafrans in their war of secession from Nigeria (
the short story here is that oil was discovered in Biafra and they
diecided to take the money and run, having been a seperate nation inthe
first place, only paired up with the rest of Nigeria by arbitrary
colonialist redefintion of nations)
Anyhoo. this guy and some of his buds gathered up the best airplanes
available to the, the Bolkow Junior, manufactured in Sweden as the Malmö
a midget little box of a thing with a Cont A75 in the nose,put some hard
points on it and off to Biafra they went. They proceeded to decimate the
Nigerian Air Force, which at that time had the very latest Russian
stuff, Mig 21s, 17s, etc by flying at treetop level to their bases and
launching their little match head missiles at them while they were still
on the grond. they'd then race back to their own lines at treetop level
at 75 knots and any Migs that got airborne found it impossible to get a
bead on them.
Eventaully, all of these mercenaries were killed (IIRC, there were
another half dozen airplanes and pilots brought it over time, also lost)
but the damage they inflicted on the vastly superior forces of the other
side were astonishing.
Just as well the NAF didn't have 150s, eh?

OK, this is an odd example, but it goes to show in a bizarre kind of way
that numbers in a performance column don't tell the whole story.


Bertie

Bertie the Bunyip wrote in news:Xns9A089F62B1341****upropeeh@
207.14.116.130:


Here's a pic of the Junior/Malmo
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:B...d-edna.arp.jpg

I couldn't find any site with the whole story of this troup of adventurers
and it's years since I read the story, so my account mightn't be 100%..

Bertie

On Dec 16, 10:03 am, Bertie the Bunyip wrote:
Bertie the Bunyip wrote in news:Xns9A089F62B1341****upropeeh@
207.14.116.130:

Here's a pic of the Junior/Malmohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Bolkow.junior.d-edna.arp.jpg

I couldn't find any site with the whole story of this troup of adventurers
and it's years since I read the story, so my account mightn't be 100%..

Bertie

Now that's airpower!

wrote in
:

On Dec 16, 10:03 am, Bertie the Bunyip wrote:
Bertie the Bunyip wrote in
news:Xns9A089F62B1341****upropeeh@ 207.14.116.130:

Here's a pic of the
Junior/Malmohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Bolkow.junior.d-edna.ar
p.jpg

I couldn't find any site with the whole story of this troup of
adventurers and it's years since I read the story, so my account
mightn't be 100%..

Bertie

Now that's airpower!


Yeah, it's a great Davey and Goliath story. Another would be the story of
Faith Hope and Charity.. Three old Gloster Gladiators on Malta. The Flying
Tigers were boxed in and outclassed in experience and equipment, but made
the most of what they had as well. History is full of these stories and it
always seems to be the guys who throw the rulebok out the window who
prevail..


Bertie

On Sun, 16 Dec 2007 09:40:10 -0800 (PST), wrote:

On Dec 16, 10:03 am, Bertie the Bunyip wrote:
Bertie the Bunyip wrote in news:Xns9A089F62B1341****upropeeh@
207.14.116.130:

Here's a pic of the Junior/Malmohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Bolkow.junior.d-edna.arp.jpg

I couldn't find any site with the whole story of this troup of adventurers
and it's years since I read the story, so my account mightn't be 100%..

Bertie

Now that's airpower!

A short account of the aircraft itself is at:

http://www.vectorsite.net/avsa105.html#m5

Ron Wanttaja

"Bertie the Bunyip" wrote in message
.. .
Bertie the Bunyip wrote in news:Xns9A089F62B1341****upropeeh@
207.14.116.130:


Here's a pic of the Junior/Malmo
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:B...d-edna.arp.jpg

I couldn't find any site with the whole story of this troup of adventurers
and it's years since I read the story, so my account mightn't be 100%..
That looks sorta kinda like the capro, (capra, capo, something like that)
Italian made planes of late, with the shoulder mounted wings.

I have often wondered why that configuration is not more popular. I've not
flown one, but it would seem like the visibility while flying level, turning
or anytime would be superior to high or low wings, than either upward or
downward views, depending whether it is high or low wing.
--
Jim in NC

"Morgans" wrote in
:


"Bertie the Bunyip" wrote in message
.. .
Bertie the Bunyip wrote in
news:Xns9A089F62B1341****upropeeh@ 207.14.116.130:


Here's a pic of the Junior/Malmo
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:B...d-edna.arp.jpg

I couldn't find any site with the whole story of this troup of
adventurers and it's years since I read the story, so my account
mightn't be 100%..
That looks sorta kinda like the capro, (capra, capo, something like
that)
Italian made planes of late, with the shoulder mounted wings.


You don't mean the little Macchis from the fifties, do you? They were
high wing but kind of swept forwards.
Might be one of the new ultralights, Might even be a warmed over version
of the Malmo.
I know someone with a Bolkow built one he has been rebuilding for years
now, so I'll eventually get to fly one. his has an O 200 in it.
It, or a derivitive, was kitted in the UK as the ARV, I think, and was
available with a Wankel/Norton rotary engine. Don't know what became of
that, though.

I have often wondered why that configuration is not more popular.
I've not flown one, but it would seem like the visibility while flying
level, turning or anytime would be superior to high or low wings, than
either upward or downward views, depending whether it is high or low
wing.


It's a clever looking little airplane. I'd say it would e cheap enough
to make and might be a perfect LSA these days..


Bertie

"Bertie the Bunyip" wrote

You don't mean the little Macchis from the fifties, do you? They were
high wing but kind of swept forwards.

Nope, and I'll be darned if I could find it, even with a while searching for
it. I remember it from an article in AOPA, I think. It was probably 5-7
years ago. On the cover, as I recall.

It looked a lot like this, but it was not this one:

http://www.ldap.cz/en/mfi.htm

I could be all wrong, but I thought it was an Italian design, that had been
certified for a while in like form, anyway. I thought it had a name like
Cappra, or something.
--
Jim in NC

"Morgans" wrote in
:


"Bertie the Bunyip" wrote

You don't mean the little Macchis from the fifties, do you? They were
high wing but kind of swept forwards.

Nope, and I'll be darned if I could find it, even with a while
searching for it. I remember it from an article in AOPA, I think. It
was probably 5-7 years ago. On the cover, as I recall.

It looked a lot like this, but it was not this one:

http://www.ldap.cz/en/mfi.htm

I could be all wrong, but I thought it was an Italian design, that had
been certified for a while in like form, anyway. I thought it had a
name like Cappra, or something.

Don't remember seeing it though I'm sure it's in my sport aviation pile
somewhere.
The link you posted above *is* the Malmo as it was modified in the UK as
the ARV, I'm pretty sure. Nice to see it being mae still. Should be a
pretty good LSA. If I were in the market for something like that the
simplicity would appeal to me in a big way.

Bertie

On Sun, 16 Dec 2007 15:07:48 -0500, "Morgans" wrote:

Here's a pic of the Junior/Malmo
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:B...d-edna.arp.jpg

I have often wondered why that configuration is not more popular. I've not
flown one, but it would seem like the visibility while flying level, turning
or anytime would be superior to high or low wings, than either upward or
downward views, depending whether it is high or low wing.

Cockpit access issues and CG, would be my guesses. Kind of an awkward clamber
into the cockpit, without even a wing to stand on and nothing above you to grab
onto. Imagine trying to get into the cockpit while wearing a skirt...that was a
consideration, back in the '50s and '60s. Then again, I thought this was once
produced in Scotland, too...:-)

CG-wise, it lacks growth capacity. If you hang a bigger engine on the front,
you can't balance it by shifting the cabin back slightly because the wing spar
passes directly behind the pilot's shoulders.

Years and years ago, I looked into a VW-powered homebuilt with a similar
configuration, the HAPI Cygnet SF-2A. Geeze, I still even have the info pack.
It says, "The Cygnet is designed to use a 60HP VW engine. Anything larger will
weigh too much..." Of course, HAPI was also in the VW engine business.

Back to my first point, the brochure show a woman...in jeans...climbing in. No
way she could do it in a skirt; the cockpit side rails is pretty high.

Ron Wanttaja