P_7878

The Sopwith Aviation Company was a British aircraft company that designed and manufactured aeroplanes in the First World War, most famously the Sopwith Camel. Their Sopwith range of biplanes have interesting names (Sociable (sometimes called "Churchill" or "Tweenie"), Baby, Sparrow, Pup, Bee, Camel, Hippo, Rhino, Dragon, Dolphin, Cuckoo, Snail, Grasshopper...among others...). I came across "Dolphin" and "Cuckoo" in the Library uploads toady...I'd "Camel" before. So, please find below, one image each of Dolphin, Cuckoo, and Camel in that order...Enjoy...! Notes: "Dolphin proved to be a formidable fighter...The pilot sat with his head through the frame, where he had an excellent view. This configuration sometimes caused difficulty for novices, who found it difficult to keep the aircraft pointed at the horizon because the nose was not visible from the cockpit...The cockpit was nevertheless warm and comfortable, in part because water pipes ran alongside the cockpit walls to the two side-mounted radiator blocks..."... "Cuckoo (originally T.1) was was the first landplane specifically designed for carrier operations. Because it was designed to operate from carrier decks, its wings were hinged to fold backwards. It could take off from a carrier deck in four seconds, but it was not capable of making a carrier landing. It was, however, capable of carrying a 1,000 lb torpedo..."...Notice the Torpedo underbelly, in the Screenshot, in the Bluegrass Airlines Mail Service...Hmm... "Camel (main variant F.1) became known as one of the best known fighter aircraft of the Great War...Though difficult to handle, it was highly maneuverable in the hands of an experienced pilot, a vital attribute in the relatively low-speed, low-altitude dogfights of the era..."....

Fantastic shot, filou...!! Loved the hazy DHL birds in the background...!!

Beautiful ensemble...!! Loved the frontal swept-wing shot (#1)...!!

I know this airport well, Andy, virtually...🙂...I've Orbx Shoreham (FSX/SE)...Orbx did a great job... Thanks for the re-visit of this historic (one of the oldest, if not the oldest, purpose-built commercial) airport in the world... Your pictures are all excellent with parts of this locale, I'd not seen before...

Lovely pictures...!! The complexity and, yes, those Sky colors....just marvelous...!!

Les, Alaska738, Adam, crosswind, Alan: Much appreciated the comments...!! Les, thanks for a great reminder...in fact I dug up the book just now (I'd read it once long ago)...and holding it in my hands now...🙂...the paperback is full 342 pages thick...should be worth giving it another read, I think,...and, yes, I recall the movie too...agree, probably not the best CRM, but, compared to that on "Airplane!",..oh well...and, I noted a connection today, I'd missed, "Stack (Robert Stack)'s role as the captain who loses his nerve in one of the earliest airline "disaster" films, The High and the Mighty (1954), is spoofed in Airplane!.."...both good films... Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder, maybe, Alan...eh...I mean "Chock"...🙂...Expert job on the repaint, btw...! More seriously, the ATL Carvair in the (FR) Package looks quite interesting too...need to fly it sometime....that peculiar shape always had piqued my curiosity. If I may, I show just one from FR, here, the Ansett ATL98, and, the BAF livery is also there, by default, as you well know, and had posted...

Anyway, our virtual vacations (like my recent visit to the beautiful Corfu island, soaking in the Mediterranean sun there...🙂..., or, having just landed my DC-4 into KSJC...)...somehow...don't feel like the real thing...🙂... Great set of pictures, here..! Very nice shot of KSBA terminal building and arrival, btw...!!

Lovely repaint of this classic, Alan, and, thanks for not forgetting FSX/P3D...🙂...! It sure looks much better, here, of course...!

[Note: Prompted by Chock's (home-grown) excellent repaint and a couple of recent DC-4/C-54 posts, I, finally, succumbed to the temptation of the (FR) DC-4 package. And, note, though this repaint is marked for FSX/P3D, it's portable for MSFS 2020 (and, of course, looks much better in MSFS 2020, see Chock's screenshot). The upload file is now sticking to the top 2 of the top 50, and who knows, might even reach #1 in the chart by the end of this weekend...🙂...] I've known and been flying the DC-4/C-54 freeware since my very first FSX days...thanks to JBK/CalClassic. The DC-4 was the first Douglas propliner, after the illustrious DC-3, that was not a "tail-dragger", so, it must have been nice that the cabin was level when the DC-4 was on the ground. It was the interim Douglas Classic between the well-known DC-3 and the (later) marathoner DC-6 (Side Note: There was also a (short-lived) DC-5 variant, but, it entered commercial service at such a time that it was overwhelmed by world events. Only 5 civilian DC-5s were built for a total of 12, including military variants). The (un-pressurized) DC-4, played a significant role in history (military and commercial), but, it was soon superseded by the DC-6, post WWII. Regarding DC-4, Delta pilots had this to say, "For the first time we had on the airline, an airplane that we didn't have to worry about fuel. We always had enough fuel on that DC-4 to go 2,000 miles,...the DC-4 was very dependable airplane, had very dependable engines, had adequate anti-icing..." The DC-4 commercially flew first on March 6, 1946, but, it's the C-54 Skymaster (military) variant that actually did its first flight, much earlier, from the Clover Field Airport in Santa Monica, California, in February, 1942, barely two months after U.S. entered WWII. Of course, Santa Monica also remains famous as the site of the original home of the Douglas company founded by Douglas Sr. in 1921. Please note, per the Readme, of this repaint, "It was painted to represent the real C-54 Skymaster registered 44914, which is undergoing restoration in the UK. The livery the real aeroplane wears is of another Skymaster of the Air Transport Command Atlantic Division, with the serial 56498." The C-54, marked for restoration, left military service in 1973 and was then flown as a sprayer from 1975 to 1985. She was resigned to a boneyard until a group called Atlantic Warbirds rescued and restored her in 1995. Then, after sitting in a lonely airfield since 2002, it came to the attention of the "Save the Skymaster Society" that embarked on an ambitious initiative to save it from being turned into scrap. Their plans are to eventually fly it in airshow circuits and other flights, and, also to use it in film and television as well as for training pilots on such skills as Astro Navigation...etc...This is the only C-54 Skymaster in the UK, and the intent is to "...return this historic Wartime aeroplane to the skies where she belongs"...! For more information, please read on-line articles, e.g. one titled "Saving a 74-year-old aircraft - the story of one C-54 Skymaster". Its remarkable story is told in a readable Q/A format from an interview with the Chairman of the Save the Skymaster Society. So, below, please find this C-54 Skymaster, lifting off Santa Monica Airport (KSMO), where the very first C-54 Skymaster had also lifted off, on its maiden flight, ~80 years ago, on 14 February 1942. For this post, I've flown it, symbolically, from Santa Monica to San Jose (KSJC), along the Pacific Coastline, to roughly mimic a road-trip I'd taken along the Coastal highway, years ago, but, in the opposite direction, southward, from San Francisco to Los Angeles... Hope you enjoy the set of pictures of this Classic Douglas plane....!! [FR (DC-4/C-54), C-54 Repaint (Chock), REX]

Trevor: Thanks for trying...🙂...and, so, hereby, I just gave you the maximum reward that I'm authorized to give you around here...🙂... Thank you, Alaska738...! And, folks: The primary difference between the two liveries in the first 2 images is in the size of typography of "AIR FRANCE". In the 2nd image, the size of the text is larger. That's why you will also notice that the letters "AIR FRANCE" are much closer to the row of windows...🙂...compared to that in the first image. This font size change (along with a few other changes) in the livery has been already introduced by Air France in some of their current aircraft, I believe, e.g. 777-200, A380, A320....

Folks: I came across the (below) two (similar looking) Air France Boeing 777-9 repaints, in the library uploads, today... Images #1 and #2, below, are both for (future) Air France Boeing 777-9 Rollout liveries. Could you spot the difference between the two liveries...? Besides the Registration Numbers.... [And, in the #3 image, notice how the (mythical) famous Winged Seahorse (colloquially referred to as "la crevette" or “the shrimp”) is placed on the Engine covers, where, normally, you would see the engine supplier's symbol (PW/RR/GE etc.), e.g. here "GE" for these "GE9X" engines. Such alternate marking, btw, would be a continuation of the Air France practice from their current fleet of 777 -200s/300s into the 777-9s... Hope you enjoy these couple of pictures...! Good day...!

Succinctly put, Patrick,...marvelous shots...!!

Alaska Airlines visiting so far to the Strip...sounds good...and looks nice...!!

Like this, not usually seen, (subtle) light green paint...on this Corsair...lovely shots...!!

pmplayer, Alaska738, Adam, jankees: Much appreciated the comments. Glad you liked these "engines" and the planes...🙂...!!