# La France ! greetings from l'Omnivore



## l'Omnivore Sobriquet (Jun 16, 2013)

Salut à tous.

I've been browsing this website for quite a long time now, and it is fine, and it is rich.
Jumping in.

I'm 47 and have been an aviation enthousiast all the way from childhood. Learned English at school, but practiced it reading aviation books and magazines.

I have a special like on WWII aviation, or "of the 1937-1946 era" as I say. Classic, from DC-2 first line schedules to 1st flight of the F-84.
I'd define myself as 'quite knowlegeable' on the topic, with good overall judgment, but certainly no expert. Every country, any kind of airplanes. A lot of love and interest, best garantees for renewed culture there.

Not too bad on the Nachjagd vs Bomber Command issues, and have an automatic like of late-war American production. Also keeping a decent book on everything French, which could be handy, here, apparently a guns 'n banana-hamburger dominated forum...
If you want to spice your interest in French aviation, i'd strongly advice the 1946-1958 'rebirth' period, with quite a lot a free creativity, and a definite flavour of 'sky high optimism' similar to late war Germany's "fuite en avant." (i.e. "flee from the front end", a gamble to outsmart opposition by over-playing the innovation card, or simply overdoing one's current trend beyond reasonnable limits.)

I'm no 'internet ranting rat', like surprises, and appreciate to be proven wrong eventually.

Current avatar is a mid 20th century picture from Parisian painter "Mathieu". It has no tittle as far as I know.

Don't like afaik, imho ... acronyms, and profoundly hate smileys.


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## Lucky13 (Jun 16, 2013)

Welcome, to our ever so slightly dysfunctional family mate!

Looking forward to some French aviation, love them Mirage III's!


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## parsifal (Jun 16, 2013)

Hi and welcome aboard. nice to make your acqaintance. My name is Michael. 

Hope you enjoy the forum and all that it has to offer


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## Marcel (Jun 16, 2013)

Bonjour, monseigneur,

Saw a display yesterday od two Mirage 2000's of the French airforce. Great aircraft, and quite impressive.


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## Wurger (Jun 16, 2013)

Welcome to the site...


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## Njaco (Jun 16, 2013)

WElcome to the forum! Don't like smileys? Well, that just won't do. Smileys are very....theres one now!.... ...they are very easy .... ....ok and another one......very easy in trying to.... ...ok, thats nice but..........wait, its getting a little bit........ok stop it now..... ....just stop........I SAID STOP IT!!!.........you're right, I hate smileys!....


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## l'Omnivore Sobriquet (Jun 16, 2013)

Ah ah !

@ Lucky Treize : ".., love them Mirage III's!"
Love the Draken too !
(In my book, the one successful 'volksjäger' of all times..)


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## vikingBerserker (Jun 16, 2013)

Welcome aboard!


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## Lucky13 (Jun 16, 2013)

l'Omnivore Sobriquet said:


> Ah ah !
> 
> @ Lucky Treize : ".., love them Mirage III's!"
> Love the Draken too !
> (In my book, the one successful 'volksjäger' of all times..)



True! One of my alltime favourite jets! One thing that sparked my love and interest in the Mirage III, is the French, I think it was, comic....three or four friends and pilots, in the French Air Force....can't remember the name now....


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## Readie (Jun 16, 2013)

Bonjour mon ami.
Welcome aboard from another EU member country. 
We love France and will be travelling to the south in a few weeks time.
Can't wait
Cheers
John


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## Lucky13 (Jun 16, 2013)

Bring back a Mirage IIIE!


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## Torch (Jun 16, 2013)

Bonjour, Most Mirages are "lookers"


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## l'Omnivore Sobriquet (Jun 16, 2013)

Lucky Treize : "Tanguy et Laverdure."

In cartoons, but there was a 60's television serial as well, popular and spanning a few years. I even saw some 'rediffs' as a boy. ("Les chevaliers du ciel" it was then called, i.e. "sky knights.")

Wouldn't dare to imagine what name they inflicted on them in Swedish, though...


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## Lucky13 (Jun 16, 2013)

Will have a look when visiting my family in July/August mon ami!
Not sure if they were in Swedish or English....
Would have loved to see TV series!


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## l'Omnivore Sobriquet (Jun 16, 2013)

Lucky13 said:


> Will have a look when visiting my family in July/August mon ami!
> Not sure if they were in Swedish or English....
> Would have loved to see TV series!



A votre service : 
_View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vID8NYQYP0I_

And another one : 
_View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1sSs_1nr0A_

Not very good though... They're split in 2 parts. Make sure you watch the final ones with Johhny Halliday's loud singing of the closing tune (...)

Typical De Gaulle, pre-1968 France...


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## Lucky13 (Jun 16, 2013)

Wonder if one can find them on DVD?


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## l'Omnivore Sobriquet (Jun 16, 2013)

No idea...
But a new serie was done recently and also a motion picture. This one should be on Dvd. Same title "Les Chevaliers du Ciel". Simply spot whether it is MIII or M2000...

Some comics : Tanguy et Laverdure : BD sur Coin BD


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## Lucky13 (Jun 16, 2013)

8)


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## Marcel (Jun 16, 2013)

Tanguy et Laverdure, read those books as well. Don't have them anymore, though.

Here the French airforce on Dutch soil, eh air this weekend:


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## Gnomey (Jun 16, 2013)

Welcome.


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## l'Omnivore Sobriquet (Jun 16, 2013)

Thank you all.


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## Airframes (Jun 16, 2013)

Welcome from England - and I hope you like bacon - it seems to be popular here lately!
Nice pics Marcel.


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## GregP (Jun 21, 2013)

Welcome and please add some French WWII stuff. I have long been interested in French aviation and have sondered if there was ayone else out there who was. I've always thought the Swiss Doflugs (3802 / 3803) were the last logical developments of the Morane-Saulnier line. Wonder how they would have done with a late-model Merlin instead of a Saurer?


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## Matt308 (Jun 21, 2013)

Bonjour! Welcome from the beautiful Pacific Northwest.


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## l'Omnivore Sobriquet (Jun 21, 2013)

"I_'ve always thought the Swiss Doflugs (3802 / 3803) were the last logical developments of the Morane-Saulnier line. Wonder how they would have done with a late-model Merlin instead of a Saurer?_"

Sorry to everybody I'm having troubles with the right-button mouse click, which doesn't operate.
Letting you imagine all the incoveniences.. Especially for copying and pasting all those WWII French beauties !, I know you're all longing for.
Should be coming in soon enough.

@ GregP : the really exciting last-and-best Morane 406 development is the Finnish "Mörkö Morane", a 1941-42-43 field conversion using 'collected' russian Yak aero engines, which, as the whole world so obviousy knows, were fine Russian developments of the original Hispano-Suiza engines. Freely given to the Ussr by the newly elected lefty 1936 French government. Very likewise the 1946 British Labour one, which gave 'em those RR Nene prototypes and plans, with similar results (i.e. excellent Russian copies + massive serial output, + further home developments.)

Those Mörkö-Morane (mörkö means reborn in Finnish, I'm told), in the hands of motivated F. plots, really did wonders ; the engines were perfect fit for the cell, it fit fine all the "ferrures" without an inch out, plus the many (tens and hundreds of) extra horsepower.. Some were equiped with the excellent 'imported' American 12.7 (mm) browning M.gun, centraly mounted as always, picked from 'russian' stock ; others where lucky enough to get the Mg-151 15 or 20 mm auto-canon replacing in good shape the original Hispano 20mm gun, allready a good thing (it served the whole British war built under licence over there ...) ; they all did very good, even against Yak-9s. 
Mörkö Morane !

Remember, the Morane 406 was not so bad an aerodynamic cell, and it was one the tightest turning fighter-plane : in the Hayabusa-Oscar and P-36 'world beaters' category ! 
It was in the mean time an exceptionnally stable gun platform.
Add then the centrally mounted 20mm auto-gun, and the extra-power from the M-105 engines...

See all those 'phoney war' MS-406 vs Bf-109 D duels above Alsace during many months, with one-to-one lasting statistics, yes !. To get a proper feelling about this 'looser' Morane, or his Mörkö Finnish astonishing "truc" (i.e. 'thingy".) Morane-Saulnier MS-406 and Bayerishe Flugzeugwerke Bf-109 D : two very nice early-war dogfighters.

A tight-turner, the MS-406 was in same time an extraordinary stable shooting platform, overally effective. The 1939 brand had showed quite well, if anyone cared to check the records. As power mattered, the Bf-109 D dueled throughtout the 'Phoney war' above Alsace wasn't such a superior fighter compared to the Morane, and clearly inferior on armament. They ran their confrontations downwards from hight up down to the deck. And generally, often , separated on even terms to their home base. 
Also, seasonned French pilots weren't dead at the time, but showing off and fighting, while the young Luftwaffe was buisy in Poland gaining some 'first affairs'. Seasonned F. pilots, of course would stop being alive, and fighting, some months later : being bounced by strictly hit-and-run Bf-109 Es with their Db601s and double Mg-Ff 20mms... as everybody should know.
In late 1942 Mörkö Moranes wouldn't be facing such a behaviour from Russian Yaks and Laggs..., and indeed showed all their qualities again, for a last time. A plane to be remembered fondly.
(Oh, do you wan't drawbacks on the MS-406 ? It was awfully expensive (with ivory gas-handles, artisanal workmanship etc.), and it took two years to make production aircrafts simply work .)


Without the slightest cell or radiator modification (a simple fixed 'artic field' fit was decided upon, there in Finland, instead of all those silly French and Swiss semi-retractable speed-'altituded'-driven academic wonders...)

It beat all those Swiss attempts, Daimler-benzed or whatever, cheaply and by far.

So forget about mounting a RR Merlin on a MS-406 cell, beuark ! Much better was provided by the Russian 'help' ! 
(all developpemnt was stopped in France since the summer1940 catastrophe, yet plain full gas was given in Russia ever since 1937 on the original Hispano-Suiza _developpement_.) (sorry can't spell this islandish word..)
However a RR Merlin equipped Dewoitine did exist, a prototype called D-550 (from memory) in 1940, and it was good. (yet Spit II was better.)


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## wad59 (Jun 22, 2013)

Bonjour, Monsieur de la deep France !
Gérard de la France du nord !


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## michaelmaltby (Jun 22, 2013)

".... all those WWII French beauties !, I know you're all longing for."

   .... like_ these_ beauts 1939 and post war.....?

Or _this _Canadian .... french Canadian, peut etre ... beaut ..?

Bienvenue, M l'Omnivore, 

MM
Proud Canadian


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## yulzari (Jun 22, 2013)

Bonjour l'Omnivore 

Greetings from another aviation enthusiast buried in the countryside of La Limousin.

Good to see you. Maybe we can hear more of the air battles of 1939/40; Moranes and Curtiss Hawks in action!


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## Lucky13 (Jun 22, 2013)

Never mind those, more colourful Mirage III's! 
The Mirage F1 wasn't all that bad looking either!


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## Airframes (Jun 23, 2013)

Love to see some pics of Mirage IIIs from the 1960s, in bare metal - lovely!


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## Thorlifter (Jun 23, 2013)

Welcome to the site


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## Lucky13 (Jun 24, 2013)

Airframes said:


> Love to see some pics of Mirage IIIs from the 1960s, in bare metal - lovely!



Totally agree old boy, very colourful!


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## wheelsup_cavu (Jul 3, 2013)

Welcome to the forum. 8)


Wheels


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