Airborne Oddities of WWII

[the lancaster kicks ass]

the already strange looking Do 335

the Do 335 is a very good looking plane.....................

 

[JCS]

None were built, but this thing is still odd:

 

[cheddar cheese]

Thats that flying tak thing aint it?


Ooooooo lanc, do you have any pics of that "invisible plane" the Germans were designing?

 

[the lancaster kicks ass]

None were built, but this thing is still odd:

actually they were, i have a picture of one in flight in a book................

Ooooooo lanc, do you have any pics of that "invisible plane" the Germans were designing?

sorry CC, my only pic's in one of my books.................

and that may sound strange to some of you, an "invisible" plane, but it's true...........

it was a Luftwaffe development during WWI, the entire rear half of the plane, from aft of the wings to the tail section were covered in cellon, a transparent material, the idea being it would appear invisible, i doubt it would have worked, the front half including the bi-plane wings were still visible it never entered service.............

Linke Hoffman R1.

Crew: 6
Gross weight: 19,845lbs
Span: 105ft
Length: 51ft
Powerplant: 4x260hp Mercedes engines internally mounted supplying power to two propellers
Armament: 5x7.92mm machine guns
Payload: up to 2,000lb
Speed: 87mph
Ceiling: 12,200ft
Endurance: 4hrs

sorry i don't have any pics but it's damned ugly, bloody tall as well, it doesn't give a height though....................

 

[cheddar cheese]

Ladies and Gentlemen, I give yiou the Linke Hoffman R1

 

[the lancaster kicks ass]

you see what i mean?? it works on the rear half but it's pointless because you can see the front half................

 

[lesofprimus]

Invisible my ass!!!!!!!

 

[the lancaster kicks ass]

well in the air i'll admit the rear half would be hard to see.................

 

[lesofprimus]

It was WWI... I dont think that being 1/3rd invisible is gonna make that much of a difference over the battlefield...

And besides, surely u wouldnt send up that monstrosity without a fighter escort....

 

[cheddar cheese]

And even if it was invisible, I dont see the advantage cos its so damned slow anyway

 

[JCS]

actually they were, i have a picture of one in flight in a book................

Well, according to one of mine, the project was abandoned and was never built:

 

[the lancaster kicks ass]

well i meant it was made, i didn't mean it'd entered service...................

 

[JCS]

i didn't mean it'd entered service...................

I know. I was just saying that a full size one was never made, which i just found out was wrong when I searched around for info on it before.

 

[the lancaster kicks ass]

it was a good idea though...........................

 

[cheddar cheese]

I wouldnt say good, but it was certainly original. It would have probably needed several years of development for it to become effective.

 

[cheddar cheese]

Have a look at these P-38 developments I just found.

I like the floatplane

 

[the lancaster kicks ass]

Lockheed P-38 Lightning. The greatest plane ever.

you seriously believe that?? you think it's a better combat plane than modern fighters or concorde even.................

 

[cheddar cheese]

Greatness cannot be quantified with statistics. Look at the land rover - on paper its dreadful. And yes, Concorde was damn great, but the P-38 looks better and has Internal combustion engines

 

[HealzDevo]

What about the Polikarpov I-16? I think that was a biplane and the fastest one ever. Flown by the Soviets, against the German Luftwaffe, the Germans were forbidden to engage this plane in combat as too many pilots were lost to this fighter. Anyone got any photos of it please? Not quite a weird plane but still worth a mention as a speed freak for the image of a biplane.

 

[the lancaster kicks ass]

the I-16 was a monoplane, the chances are you're fering to the I-153, and i beleive the Italain Fait Cr.42 Falco was the fastest combat Bi-plane, also i've heard of german pilots being told to keep away from I-16s in the spainish sivil war, but not I-153s..................