G
Guest
Guest
Some names, before I forget them again:
Gerry Pentland - WW1 Ace, also served famously in New Guinea during WW2. Australian.
...... Schute, or Shute. WW1 Ace. Flying school still at Moorabin (Harry Hawker) Airport. Aust.
Tony Gaze. Famous fighter pilot, WW2. Aust. Post-war was a well-known and respected racing car driver.
All the above had autobiographies, and good reading, too.
Claire Lee Chenault - famous for leading the Flying Tigers, China, WW2. American. Buried at Arlington, as is another genius, Orde Wingate.
It was Chenault and his ace mechanics who assembled one complete Zero from various crashed machines, tried and tested it, measured it etc, and reported back on its phenomenal range of 1500 miles, among other things, only to be laughed at. Their first one crashed on landing, because a small stone had lodged in and jammed the landing gear of one wheel. They had to assemble another one. Apparently the carrier-based aircraft could run tighter tolerances than the land-based. The stone would not have jammed the gear of the latter plane. BTW, his chief mechanic, a German chap, later rose to become head of General Electric - Jet engines.
Ah! Just got it - his name Herman....his book - Herman the German. Galland's book was good, but not quite in the class of the others, IMO.
It's gotta be remembered that the Zero was virtually an Acrobatic aircraft. Plus, the weight had to be kept down, otherwise it would have been under powered. e.g. no armour plate anywhere, no self-sealing fuel tanks, etc. etc. As with the ME 109, there was no second generation of aircraft - these were developed too late to be of any use. Well, there were some ME 163's and 262's, but, too late, and wrong stategy.
I wonder if perhaps we ought to take this topic off-list, or start a 'warbirds forum'? Admin. has been very tolerant, but then, boys will be boys
I read somewhere that there were some 7/8 scale Zero replicas flying in the U.S. Probably scaled down to suit the flat-four Continental engine.
I thought Chuck Yeager was of the Korean War. Hey - he used to drink at the bar of a certain famous establistment next to the airport, run by a very accomplished woman, an experienced pilot in her own right. Of course I've forgotten her name, she had a book out too, and there was a film about her on the goggle box some years ago. She used to fly for Howard Hughes, back in the barnstorming days.
Bike content: Didn't the early aircraft use spoked wheels? Maybe heavier duty? A British firm developed a landing strut, or leg, which had adjustable air pressure on top of hydraulic fluid, for the damper. Oleomatic was the name. Later made telescopic forks for motorcycles like Velocette and some Panthers. Lately used of bicycles, rear suspension, the unit somewhere behind the seat. Reminds me of a funny bike with small wheels which has front and rear suspension. In a class of its own, from what I hear.
I just gotta get some sleep!
Later.
Gerry Pentland - WW1 Ace, also served famously in New Guinea during WW2. Australian.
...... Schute, or Shute. WW1 Ace. Flying school still at Moorabin (Harry Hawker) Airport. Aust.
Tony Gaze. Famous fighter pilot, WW2. Aust. Post-war was a well-known and respected racing car driver.
All the above had autobiographies, and good reading, too.
Claire Lee Chenault - famous for leading the Flying Tigers, China, WW2. American. Buried at Arlington, as is another genius, Orde Wingate.
It was Chenault and his ace mechanics who assembled one complete Zero from various crashed machines, tried and tested it, measured it etc, and reported back on its phenomenal range of 1500 miles, among other things, only to be laughed at. Their first one crashed on landing, because a small stone had lodged in and jammed the landing gear of one wheel. They had to assemble another one. Apparently the carrier-based aircraft could run tighter tolerances than the land-based. The stone would not have jammed the gear of the latter plane. BTW, his chief mechanic, a German chap, later rose to become head of General Electric - Jet engines.
Ah! Just got it - his name Herman....his book - Herman the German. Galland's book was good, but not quite in the class of the others, IMO.
It's gotta be remembered that the Zero was virtually an Acrobatic aircraft. Plus, the weight had to be kept down, otherwise it would have been under powered. e.g. no armour plate anywhere, no self-sealing fuel tanks, etc. etc. As with the ME 109, there was no second generation of aircraft - these were developed too late to be of any use. Well, there were some ME 163's and 262's, but, too late, and wrong stategy.
I wonder if perhaps we ought to take this topic off-list, or start a 'warbirds forum'? Admin. has been very tolerant, but then, boys will be boys
I read somewhere that there were some 7/8 scale Zero replicas flying in the U.S. Probably scaled down to suit the flat-four Continental engine.
I thought Chuck Yeager was of the Korean War. Hey - he used to drink at the bar of a certain famous establistment next to the airport, run by a very accomplished woman, an experienced pilot in her own right. Of course I've forgotten her name, she had a book out too, and there was a film about her on the goggle box some years ago. She used to fly for Howard Hughes, back in the barnstorming days.
Bike content: Didn't the early aircraft use spoked wheels? Maybe heavier duty? A British firm developed a landing strut, or leg, which had adjustable air pressure on top of hydraulic fluid, for the damper. Oleomatic was the name. Later made telescopic forks for motorcycles like Velocette and some Panthers. Lately used of bicycles, rear suspension, the unit somewhere behind the seat. Reminds me of a funny bike with small wheels which has front and rear suspension. In a class of its own, from what I hear.
I just gotta get some sleep!
Later.
