Trimotor Identity
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It is very possible. It looks like the Ju-52 but there is a lack of quite charcteristic flaps and ailerons. Also I can't see the tail wheel. These parts of the kite should be seen well in the pic because of the angle the shot was taken with. I would say it could be a SM.81 Pipistrello or something like that. However I agree it looks like a model .
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buffnut453
Captain
Looks like a model to me - the props have the appearance of thin Perspex circles. I suspect it's "trying" to be a Ju52...it's just not a particularly accurate model/representation.
Airframes
Benevolens Magister
It might well be a recognition model, posed for a photo, possibly for a pamphlet during WW2.
mikewint
Captain
Terry, did you consider the Italian SM-79? Still a tail-wheel but recessed, maybe not visible??
SM.79..? No it is not the plane. The bomber had the main landing gear retractable. Possible it could be the SM.73. As I have mentioned it above it could be the SM.81 Pipistell as well. However it seems the Pipistrello doesn't fit too because it had the rounded windows on the fuselage sides and two struts for the vertical stabilizer
SM.73..
SM.73..
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mikewint
Captain
Wojtek, from what I can see on line the SM-79 had retractable gear
vikingBerserker
Lieutenant General
That actually looks like the early bomber version of the Ju-52.
Just said that in my post above. The kite in the first post has it fixed like the SM.73 or SM.81.
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mikewint
Captain
Ok, I see that now, however in looking at post #1 it appears that the wheels are angled inwards as if they are beginning to retract.
What do you guys think?
What do you guys think?
Airframes
Benevolens Magister
The undercart has spats over the wheels, and is definitely the same configuration as an early, or civilian, Ju52/3m.
Having now seen the full photo, I'm fairly sure it's either a recognition model, or a poor, and poorly retouched image of a real one, which, for whatever reason, has been montaged into the main image.
Having now seen the full photo, I'm fairly sure it's either a recognition model, or a poor, and poorly retouched image of a real one, which, for whatever reason, has been montaged into the main image.
Jimbob
Airman 1st Class
It is a recognition model. I have many original German photos showing the same cheesy models that they used for training. As to why it was added to that photo, who knows?
I reckon it is a Wibault 280.
Wibault 280 - Wikipedia
Look at the funny nose and the square windows.
And every single plane seems to have had different wheel trims!
Wibault 280 - Wikipedia
Look at the funny nose and the square windows.
And every single plane seems to have had different wheel trims!
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Airframes
Benevolens Magister
I don't think so, it more closely resembles a Ju-52/3M, and if it is a recognition model, and I'm fairly sure it is, then it will have been made from solid wood, carved to the approximate but relatively accurate shape, and be finished in overall black paint, or perhaps varnished wood (normally overall black on recce models).
The 'windows' might have been included, as painted rectangles, but it's more likely they were added to the photographic image.
It's very typical of WW2 recognition models, used by most air forces, but whether it is of German or Allied origin is difficult to tell.
The 'windows' might have been included, as painted rectangles, but it's more likely they were added to the photographic image.
It's very typical of WW2 recognition models, used by most air forces, but whether it is of German or Allied origin is difficult to tell.
fubar57
General
Very similar. I found a larger photo and the original doesn't have the finlets(red) on the stabs and the tail is round not triangular(yellow) as in the 280
Yep.. also the landing gear is different because the Wibault 280 didn't have such spats. Additionally the tips of the horizontal stabilizer and rudder had different shape. What is more the Wibault 280 had there small "fins" attached at the top of the stabilizers.These would be seen clearly in the pic of the model. The next difference are the windows on the fuselage sites. The Wibault 280 had them with the rounded front and back rectangle sides. So the windows are of the different shape. And the mast above the cockpit at the front area of the cockpit roof.
If you google Wibault 280 images you can see that there are a whole series of spats, trousers etc. Also the fin profile varies a lot, with and without extra fins on the stabilisers.
But, I still think that nose profile is very distinctive.
If you want weird trimotors 1930's France is the place to look - Couzinet 20 , Dewoitine 338 etc.
But, I still think that nose profile is very distinctive.
If you want weird trimotors 1930's France is the place to look - Couzinet 20 , Dewoitine 338 etc.
What do you think I have done firstly? However I could have omitted the image that showed the Wibault 280 with the same kind of spats for the landing gear the kite in the first post had . Would you be so kind and post the picture here?
The nose of the model seems to be shorter and more squat while the Wibault 280/283 had it longer and more streamlined. I would say it looks more like the Ju-52 nose though. Also the windows aren't square but rectangular with rounded sides for the Wibault kites.. But the Ju-52 had them just of the rectangular ( square ) shape like the model has.
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