Model airplane auction - ends Sunday

[lowend1]

https://societyofsalvage.hibid.com/catalog/425990/massive-model-airplane-auction---this-sunday---bid-now-/?fbclid=IwAR0yfiPXVN4CObJC53a5LjyyvUbNpYCEJUeTS_pr_4CTcLbmwg-kMG_kPNw

[uwe]

Hey, I had that way back in the 70ies! Was one of my favorites in my collection.



Always liked the look of that plane though it looked a bit outdated already at the beginning of WW II (otoh, the fate of the Bismarck reminds us that old-fashioned torpedo bombers can do a whole lot of damage to modern state-of-the-art battleships). Had a Junkers 52 vibe with that 3-engine-set-up - minus the non-retractable landing gear that always dated Tante Ju so badly.

[TBird1958]

One of these is needed.

[uwe]

Ok, not exactly a Ferrari of the skies. Moroni(c) alright. The lack or armament makes sense for an Italian fighter plane though - that way it can surrender faster. (Forgive me all Italo-Americans in this forum, that was of course a w(h)opping unwokeness just now, but I couldn't resist!)

Who came first I wonder? The tandem engine front & rear prop concept was favored very much by Dornier as early as WW I and in their Flying Boats; as WWII was drawing to an end and the Third Reich was throwing anything against the writing on the wall to see what would stick, the concept was applied to a fighter. Unlikely as it seems, the Do 335 Pfeil (Arrow) heavy fighter even saw (limited) operational use in the last two months or so and acquitted itself well. It was too fast for any Allied fighter to catch up with it, even at tree top altitudes.



Those Do 335s were friggin' huge in comparison to regular WW II fighters (especially German ones), just look at how they compare with people around them.

[Pilgrim]

In touring various air museums, I have always been surprised that WWII-era fighters and bombers were actually pretty similar in size.  Before seeing them in person, I always thought the bombers would be at least 2x the size of the fighters, but nope. 

[TBird1958]

Ok, not exactly a Ferrari of the skies. Moroni(c) alright. The lack or armament makes sense for an Italian fighter plane though - that way it can surrender faster. (Forgive me all Italo-Americans in this forum, that was of course a w(h)opping unwokeness just now, but I couldn't resist!)


Who came first I wonder? The tandem engine front & rear prop concept was favored very much by Dornier as early as WW I and in their Flying Boats; as WWII was drawing to an end and the Third Reich was throwing anything against the writing on the wall to see what would stick. Unlikely as it seems, the Do 335 heavy fighter even saw (limited) operational use and acquitted itself well. It was too fast for any Allied fighter to catch up with it, even at tree top altitudes.

   


   The Caproni was something from Playboy magazine in my childhood IIRC.....
Aardvark was a big, strange plane!

     



Those Do 335s were friggin' huge in comparison to regular WW II fighters (especially German ones), just look at how they compare with people around them.

[uwe]

It does look like something from MAD magazine. You half-expect Alfred E. Neuman smiling out of the cockpit. Come to think of it I should have read the spoof text of the description first! 

Pilgrim, if size matters to you, have a look at the reassembled Spruce Goose at the Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum in McMinnville, Oregon, when you get the chance. Un-be-liev-ab-le!

[TBird1958]

Much silliness here....  For us WWII buffs its a good chuckle..

http://discaircraft.greyfalcon.us/Major%20Howdy%20Bixby.htm

[uwe]

The Septum looks just great!

[TBird1958]

The Septum looks just great!

The last line in it's description "we are lovers, not engineers" 

[uwe]

All the standard German twin engine bombers didn't exactly look great. The Ju 88 was a real ugly utilitarian bird (Junkers was never about looks),



the Do 17 had some design elegance, but could never belie its civil aviation origins,



only the Heinkel 111 workhorse had a somewhat sinister, yet stylish look to it.




Well, Lemmy certainly liked it enough (he insisted the plane be German for 1979's BOMBER sleeve because: "The bad guys make all the best shit!"), though those Allied style lower ball turrets seem to fall under poetic license for me!

[TBird1958]

I think the English and the French ran a dead heat for ugliest aircraft post WWI, the HE-111 only appears to be conventional, it is quite lopsided as this nose on view shows.

Rather a strange looking fellow!

[uwe]

I don't think that all the Heinkel 111 model types had that offset canopy bomb aimer bubble. It was most likely done to give the pilot a better view.


Of the Brit four-mot bombers (all three looked pretty similar, as a German night fighter you probably had a hard time telling them apart), I wasn't too excited about the Short Stirling




or the Handley Page Halifax,



but the Avro Lancaster was cool, the way those engines protruded aggressively from the wings, a phallic design! 

[Pilgrim]

Hmmm...

Is that an airplane fuselage in your pocket, or are you just glad to see me?

[godofthunder]

  How did I miss this? Probably the best looking German bomber of the war was the FW 200 Condor ( developed as a airliner pre war but pressed into service as a maritime recconaissance bomber) Another beautiful bomber is the jet powered Arado 234, beautiful simple lines.