3 hours ago, Chock said:

If you like big radials, FFWD this video I took at the AVRO museum to about 3.33 and enjoy, and notice all the oil which ended up on the camera lens:

 

 

good video 😄  some nice engines in there

 

this is prob my favourite radial video ...

 

 

 

 

Won't somebody please warn Lady Liberty ???!

There weren't enough of these I guess when Robert Conrad made his Pappy Boyington tv series called Blacksheep. So they used Corsairs instead.

2 minutes ago, Fielder said:

There weren't enough of these I guess when Robert Conrad made his Pappy Boyington tv series called Blacksheep. So they used Corsairs instead.

You are joking right?  Please don't tell me that you have no clue about Pappy Boyington and the Black Sheep Squadron.  

ok, I won't tell you that.

For anyone interested in radial engine videos, on Amazon Prime you can watch 6 full seasons of Ice Pilots: DC3 DC4 C47 and others in the far north. With Amazon Prime you add IMDB subscription (free). Free but IMDB has commercials scattered throughout the programs.

It is also possible to subscribe to IMDB other places (free), if you don't have Prime already. But there will be adds in the middle of the episodes no matter the provider.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1542981/reviews?ref_=tt_urv

 

4 hours ago, Blueline308 said:

You are joking right?  Please don't tell me that you have no clue about Pappy Boyington and the Black Sheep Squadron.  

I think the reference is to the fact that until 1942, Boyington was part of the AVG in China, flying the P40, and it is alluded to in the series although it's a long time since I watched it, but they probably could have made more of those combat origins if there had been enough P-40s available, and the inclination to do so. Because although Boyington was officially credited with two air victories during that time, plus some ground strafing kills, he himself claims it was as many as six air victories.

Knock off 'zeros' and other contemporary Japanese types can easily be stood in for with radial-engined types such as the T6, and frequently are in many movies, but the Flying Tigers really need a P-40 to look convincing, although I guess it could be a later variant and still look reasonably okay. These days you could do it with CGI and possibly even with a flight sim, but back then it was either models or the real thing.

So yeah, strictly speaking, the Black Sheep squadron (VMF-214) were flying the F4U, but the TV show was basically a fictionalised drama, only vaguely based on the real events, such that many real-life members of the squadron were scathing about it in fact. But Boyington himself, who did appear in the show with a cameo as a General, was always quick to say that the show was 'enjoyable hogwash'; something which took his exploits, both genuine and embellished by him in his book, and ran with them, rather than a documentary. After all, it was created by Steven J Cannell, who also did The A-Team, and that was loosely based on the notion of them having been a real A-Team in Vietnam, although it hardly stuck to the facts either if you know anything about what A-Teams did in 'Nam, rather it was just a fun show and that was a good name for the show.

Thus there would be plenty of scope for a lot of AVG stuff in there as well as stuff with the F4U, because those AVG guys really were a bunch of mavericks and adventurers, which does lend itself to good drama, especially if you don't worry too much about factual accuracy over a good yarn.

Edited January 31, 20215 yr by Chock

On 1/31/2021 at 3:54 AM, Chock said:

I think the reference is to the fact that until 1942, Boyington was part of the AVG in China, flying the P40, and it is alluded to in the series although it's a long time since I watched it, but they probably could have made more of those combat origins if there had been enough P-40s available, and the inclination to do so. Because although Boyington was officially credited with two air victories during that time, plus some ground strafing kills, he himself claims it was as many as six air victories.

Knock off 'zeros' and other contemporary Japanese types can easily be stood in for with radial-engined types such as the T6, and frequently are in many movies, but the Flying Tigers really need a P-40 to look convincing, although I guess it could be a later variant and still look reasonably okay. These days you could do it with CGI and possibly even with a flight sim, but back then it was either models or the real thing.

So yeah, strictly speaking, the Black Sheep squadron (VMF-214) were flying the F4U, but the TV show was basically a fictionalised drama, only vaguely based on the real events, such that many real-life members of the squadron were scathing about it in fact. But Boyington himself, who did appear in the show with a cameo as a General, was always quick to say that the show was 'enjoyable hogwash'; something which took his exploits, both genuine and embellished by him in his book, and ran with them, rather than a documentary. After all, it was created by Steven J Cannell, who also did The A-Team, and that was loosely based on the notion of them having been a real A-Team in Vietnam, although it hardly stuck to the facts either if you know anything about what A-Teams did in 'Nam, rather it was just a fun show and that was a good name for the show.

Thus there would be plenty of scope for a lot of AVG stuff in there as well as stuff with the F4U, because those AVG guys really were a bunch of mavericks and adventurers, which does lend itself to good drama, especially if you don't worry too much about factual accuracy over a good yarn.

Since you seem to be very knowledgeable on warbirds, would you happen to know of an iconic flight thats been done with P-40B's that would translate well into an Msfs BushTrip? 🙂

They delivered P-40s to Russia through the Alaska-Siberia trail during WW2. The Allies portion was the Northwest Staging Route and terminated at Fairbanks where the aircraft were inspected and then ferry regiments would fly them over to Russia. Some of that NW Staging Route could make for a good historical run re-creation through some nice looking scenery.

 

Edited February 1, 20215 yr by Tektolnes

1 hour ago, leprechaunlive said:

Since you seem to be very knowledgeable on warbirds, would you happen to know of an iconic flight thats been done with P-40B's that would translate well into an Msfs BushTrip? 🙂

There may also be something could do in the Darwin/Port Moresby and New Guinea Highlands area.

https://www.warhistoryonline.com/history/p-40-warhawk-australia-new-guinea.html

I would perhaps suggest flying in and around the areas such as New Guinea, or in the China-Burma-India WW2 theatre, where P-40s and the less well-known Republic P-43s would attempt to cover C-47s and C-46s flying 'the hump' supply route through mountainous eastern Himalayas and the Burmese jungles. Chenault's AVG P-40s were among the very few fighter aeroplanes covering these routes in the early part of WW2 in the Pacific theatre. Seems like an obvious suggestion of course, but it is visually more pleasing and probably navigationally more challenging than the desert theatres of North Africa where the P-40 also operated a lot.

For info on specific locations, check out the history of various RAAF squadrons and the AVG to find the places they operated from, as they were in all of those places and right on the tip of the sword much of the time. As noted, you might also look at RAF P-40 ops in North Africa, which is another place where the P-40 did better than most people imagine and frequently operated from very rough forward bases, since it was able to engage at low altitude, where its lack of a supercharger made less difference against the bf109, but visually this might be a bit less compelling in MSFS.

There are a number of small airfields in New Guinea which would be fairly challenging to fly from, not least in poor weather because of the mountainous terrain; many of those airfields which are there today originated in WW2 as part of that campaign against the Japanese, so you need to keep in mind that we might look at these places today and think 'what sort of a crazy b******* would build an airfield here?', but a lot of the time they were subject to the requirements of the operation.

It's beautiful terrain, but it was unpleasant for the pilots stationed there in the war, who were frequently battling sickness and fairly horrible conditions as well as battling the Japanese pilots. It's one of those places where people would shake out scorpions from their boots in the morning and sometimes fly in spite of having malaria and/or dysentery, but it's also the one of the places where the P-40 cemented its legendary status. Of course you don't have to fight the scorpions when flying in your sim, so you can simply enjoy the beautiful terrain, and it really is nice in MSFS. 

The P-40 was a very good choice for an aeroplane in such rough conditions, it is extremely rugged, much more so than most other WW2 aeroplanes - the wing is one piece, and it has five spars in it. This means it can really take a beating and that includes with fairly rough landings. At speeds over 270 mph, the P-40 could easily out-roll a Mitsubishi A6M 'Zero' because of that very strongly constructed wing, so if pilots kept the speed up when engaging Japanese adversaries, they would usually do well. And of course being able to maneuver at those kind of speeds meant they could often engage or disengage at will so long as they picked the right altitude to fight at.

Contrary to what many believe, the P-40 was not inferior in turn rate to the Mitsubishi A6M 'Zero' either; it was only inferior to it in a turn at low speeds which in itself is usually a defensive maneuver rather than aggressive one. So at high speeds, those five spars in the P-40's one-piece wing meant that it could pull a significantly higher G-load than the A6M or most other WW2 fighters for that matter and out-turn pretty much anything, but especially the A6M, which was very lightly-constructed in order to meet its original design requirement for extremely long range in order to be able to conduct long patrols off a carrier. Pilots who knew how to exploit this would often find themselves racking up their personal victory tally, since their P-40 was very well armoured too, meaning it was actually one of the more survivable combat aeroplanes statistically,

The facts back this up too. A quick check of wartime combat records will show there were well over 40 US P-40 aces, and well over 40 Commonwealth P-40 aces too, and of these, many were double-aces with over ten victories. The P-40 itself was responsible for nearly 70 percent of all air victories in the China-Burma-India Theatre, where it was all over Japanese fighters and bombers like a cheap suit in most engagements.

The P-40 was eclipsed in range by other types later in the war such as the P-51 and the P-38, but so long as it could make it to a forward field to operate from, it was well able to compete right up until the end of WW2, so that's why you see many pictures of them on PSP matting and its all-metal construction (including the control surface coverings), meant that it was fairly resilient to the conditions in such theatres which would see other aeroplanes start to rot, most notably the deHavilland Mosquito and the Hurricane with their primarily wooden construction. This is where your 'bush trips' will come in, because the P-40 would have been the choice to operate from forward rough fields, not least because of its suitability as a close air support fighter bomber as well as its rugged construction. 

Be careful taxying the P-40 on rough ground however. It's not known for great forward visibility and it has a fairly narrow track landing gear as well which means it can potentially tip a wing in a tight turn. You will see a lot of WW2 pics of P-40s taxying with a guy sat on the wing; he's there to guide the pilot!

Edited February 1, 20215 yr by Chock

On 1/30/2021 at 2:56 PM, Glenn Fitzpatrick said:

this is prob my favourite radial video ...

Love the scrolling commentary at the bottom of the screen! 

thanks a lot. @Chock, i'll read all that when i'll get home 🙂

On 1/29/2021 at 10:08 AM, Glenn Fitzpatrick said:

 

The B17 had four 1823 cubic inch Wright R-1820-97 "Cyclone" at 1200 HP each. 

 

There are plenty of aircraft with bigger engines.

• the Corsair, P47 and quite a few others used the  2800 cubic inch Pratt & Whitney R-2800 Double Wasp. 
• The B29, the Bearcat, the Super Constellation and the Sky Raider all had the 3348 cubic inch Wright R-3350 Duplex Cyclone
• The Tempest and the Sea Fury used a 3,270 cubic inch Bristol Centaurus
• The Convair B36 Peacemaker and also Howard Hughes Spruce Goose used the 4360 cubic inch Pratt & Whitney R-4360 Wasp Major

Then there was the 7750 cubic inch 5000 HP Lycoming XR-7755 designed to power two contra-rotating propellers but as far as I know it never got past the prototype stage as the jet was taking over and funding was cut and it never flew.  The Smithsonian has one.

 

So yes lots of things had bigger radials than a B17  .

 

 

 ... and I want all of them  😄

The Yakovlev M-501 was even bigger than the Lycoming XR-7755. A water-cooled, diesel, four-stroke, aircraft engine with 42 cylinders and 8760 cubic inches. It produced 4760 HP without and 6205 HP with turbocharger. It was intended for long-range strategic bombers, but its development was cancelled in 1953, in favour of the upcoming jet engines. Its basic configuration was used for the marine-engine Zvezda M503.

Yakovlev M-501 and Zvezda M503 and M504 Diesel Engines | Old Machine Press

5 hours ago, Tektolnes said:

They delivered P-40s to Russia through the Alaska-Siberia trail during WW2. The Allies portion was the Northwest Staging Route and terminated at Fairbanks where the aircraft were inspected and then ferry regiments would fly them over to Russia. Some of that NW Staging Route could make for a good historical run re-creation through some nice looking scenery.

 

oh that looks really good, great terrain to fly over. thanks!