Saturday 30 November 2013

Fiat-BR-20-Cicogna - Ebay photo find #19








The BR. 20 “Cicogna” (“Stork”) was designed by Celestino Rosatelli (BR = Bomber Rosatelli) to a 1934 specification for a twin-engine medium bomber for the RA. Although barely in service with the Regia Aeronautica in 1937, the Fiat BR. 20 was pressed into combat service with Spanish Nationalist forces in the summer of 1937 which is where it saw the majority of its combat service. Deployed to counter the growth of the Republican Air Force, the type also saw action when Mussolini invaded southern France.

http://www.ebay.de/itm/1x-Foto-Fiat-BR-20-Cicogna-Staffelwappen-Tarnung-Flugzeug-sehr-selten-/400616219181?pt=Militaria&hash=item5d4696622d

Fokker Eindecker victory Tournai Belgium 1916 - Ebay photo find #18





Seller's caption reads "1.WK deut. Flugzeug in Tournai auf Feldflugplatz Belgien Wallonien Hennegau 1916" - German WWI aircraft on a Belgian airfield, Tournai 1916. Fokker Eindecker responsible for the downing of an RAF type. Note the German fighter in the background in the last image. Click on the images to view large.






http://cgi.ebay.de/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=231104543345&ssPageName=ADME:B:SS:GB:1120


Thursday 28 November 2013

SNCAC 150 rare French prototype captured by the Germans - Ebay photo find #17 -Rare Birds (3)






Another unusual French type on ebay.de - obviously a prototype I imagined. I suspected the CAO 700...but that's got a big round nose and four engines....as 'Gastounet' on ww2aircraft.net  pointed out it is the " SNCAC 150, prototype of a high altitude bomber, destroyed when France was invaded..  "

The SNCAC or "Société Nationale de Constructions Aéronautiques du Centre " was established in the mid-1930s during the French aircraft indutry rationalisations in the merger between Farman Aviation Works and Hanriot. The new company inherited Farman's experience in high-altitude research, and this research continued. In 1937, it proposed a pressurised transatlantic mailplane derivative of the Farman F.223.3 bomber, this being developed into the unpressurised NC.223.4 transport, of which three were built for Air FranceSNCAC continued work on high-altitude aircraft, proposing two pressurised bombers in 1938. The first, the NC.140, was a four-engined bomber using the wings of the Farman F.223.3 but was quickly abandoned in favour of the smaller, twin-engined NC.150. The NC.150 was a mid-winged monoplane with a retractable tailwheel undercarriage which was designed to make maximum use of non-strategic materials such as wood. The wings were of mixed construction, with a metal centre-section, and wood outer wings that had metal spars, wooden ribs and plywood skinning. Similarly, the fuselage had wooden forward and aft fuselage section connecting to the metal centre section, while the twin tail was of wooden construction with plywood skinning. It was to be powered by two Hispano-Suiza 12Y V12 engines, with power being maintained at high altitudes by using a single three-stage supercharger driven by a separate Hispano-Suiza 12X engine mounted in the fuselage.SNCAC began work on two prototypes as a private venture in 1938. These two prototypes were not to be fitted with cabin pressurisation, although this was planned for a third prototype. The French Air Ministry placed an order for the two prototypes on 24 April 1939, with the second aircraft to carry full armament. The first prototype, designated NC.150.01, made its maiden flight from Toussus-le-Noble on 11 May 1939.Meanwhile, the French Air Ministry had become worried about possible delays to the  Lioré et Olivier LeO 45 and Amiot 354 twin-engined bombers which were planned to re-equip the medium bomber squadrons of the Armée de l'Air caused by shortages of light alloys, and after successful testing in early 1940, ordered a change of plans. Pressurisation was to be abandoned, and the unusual central supercharger with its dedicated engine (known as the "bi-tri" concept) was to be replaced by individually supercharged engines. Two production versions were planned, the NC.152, powered by Hispano-Suiza engines, and the NC.153, with imported American  radial engines.Development was stopped, however, by France's surrender to Germany in June 1940, both the second and third prototypes being abandoned before completion.

Wednesday 20 November 2013

Sukhoi T-50 walkaround -Soviet fifth generation stealth in new colour scheme






Arrival of the fifth flying prototype T-50 serial '055' in Gromov Flight Research Institute (November 20, 2013) wearing new non-splinter camo scheme. Stills from video footage posted on youtube, double click to view here...











Sunday 17 November 2013

Beute French types Dewoitine D.520 & Caudron C 445- Daily Ebay photo find #15




http://www.ebay.de/sch/k100702/m.html?item=141117797584&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l4064

The Caudron C.440 series or Caudron Goeland was a 1930’s twin engine monoplane used as a small passenger aircraft and by the military for liason and communications.






Lovely desert scheme on this Goeland in Luftwaffe service

http://cgi.ebay.de/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=200989581159&ssPageName=ADME:B:SS:GB:1120



Caudron C 445 A-1 "CD+KC" liaison aircraft with III./JG 51 Russia, autumn 1941


http://cgi.ebay.de/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=380765958003&ssPageName=ADME:B:ONA:GB:3160

and, below, a captured Amiot  (354?)


Saturday 16 November 2013

Soviet DC -3 in Berlin 1940 - Ebay Daily photo find #14








" Arrival of the first Russian aircraft - a Douglas DC-3 - in Berlin after a test flight (Probeflug) Moscow to Berlin during January 1940.."  Aeroflot DC-3 seen on arrival in Berlin after a Moscow-Berlin route proving flight in early 1940

http://www.ebay.de/itm/FOTO-FLUGZEUG-1-Russischer-Flieger-Douglas-D-C-3-in-Deutschland-8-1-40-/190966963435

Thursday 14 November 2013

French types captured during the Westfeldzug (campaign in the West) at Rochefort - Luftwaffe Hs 126 pilot's album - Daily Ebay photo find # 13



great photo album from a Luftwaffe Hs 126 pilot here covering the campaigns in Poland and the West including France. The album sold for 2,770 Euros (55 bids). 

Top Foto Album Flieger 2.WK Polen, Belgien, Russland usw. viele Flugzeuge !! | eBay


If you missed it or if the pictures are no longer available to view , here is a small selection of the French types that appear in the album, photos taken in Rochefort on the French Atlantic coast (south of Nantes), currently home to the French Naval Aviation Museum. Some of them I've had problems identifying - SNCASE Romano 82 anyone?  - and had to enlist some help over at the ww2aircraft.net forum..


The SNCASE Romano 82 (below) was a twin-seat pre-war biplane trainer, privately designed and developed before the French aviation industry was nationalised in 1936. Some 150 examples were delivered to the French Air Force and Navy.
Second picture down may well be a Schreck F.B.A. ( Franco-British-Aviation) Type 293 seaplane according to at least one French correspondent , while the third image shows a Levasseur PL. 10

















Currently on special offer (-45%) at the Avions website; " La Débacle - May-June 1940". A 96-page A-4 softback devoted to wrecks and relics of the French campaign by Denes Bernad, comprising some 150 original photos taken by German soldiers during the Westfeldzug - the campaign in France during May and June 1940, including many previously unpublished. Includes detailed English-language captions by this blog author.




..another view of the Schreck FBA Type 293



Macchi C.200 Eastern Front colour - Daily Ebay photo find #12



among a selection of colour slides from the Eastern Front these two nice images of a Macchi C.200, almost certainly one of the 51 Macchi's from the Gruppo Autonomo Caccia Terrestre comprising the Italian Expeditionary Corps. The first C.200s arrived at Tudora near Odessa during August 1941..click to view full screen. At the time of posting these images were still on offer here





Monday 11 November 2013

Vought OS2U Kingfisher - "Avions" magazine issues 195 & 196

The Vought OS2U Kingfisher was a US catapult-launched observation and rescue floatplane, a compact mid-wing design with a central float and small stabilising floats. Performance was modest, because of its light engine. The OS2U could also operate on fixed, wheeled, tail dragger landing gear. The OS2U was the main shipboard observation type used by the US Navy during WWII and 1,519 of the aircraft were built. It served on battleships and cruisers of the US Navy, with the US Marine Corps in Marine Scouting Squadron THREE (VMS-3), with the US Coast Guard at coastal air stations, at sea with the Fleet Air Arm of the Royal Navy and with the Soviet Navy. US Navy Kingfishers based in Alaska were regularly deployed on dive-bombing or low altitude bombing sorties carrying 159 kg bombs due to lack of more suitable types in this theatre during the Japanese landings of June 1942. On 15 July 1942 two Kingfishers of VS-9 participated in the sinking of U-576 off Diamond Shoals, North Carolina.

Issues 195 & 196 of leading French aviation magazine "Avions" feature an extended two-part series on the Vought OS2U Kingfisher by Rene Francillon, chock full of fabulous colour photos and artwork by Thierry Dekker. A selection of the photographs in the articles courtesy of editor/publisher Michel Ledet. Click to view large..




Below;   about to embark for a training sortie from the Pensacola NAS training school during 1942. Note the adhoc boarding 'plank'. The pilot, left, is in full flying kit, while the ground crews are more appropriately attired for the hot Florida sunshine. Note the two Consolidated P2Y-2 of VN-4-D8 in the background - USN photo via RF


Corpus Christi (Texas) NAS Kingfisher in the standard camo scheme circa 1942 (Blue Grey and Light Grey) with areas of orange yellow on the wings denoting training aircraft. Note the wingtips in blue-yellow-red. Just visible is the red safety stripe on the central float to highlight the passage of the prop blade...



Above; OS2U-2 "32" preparing for a training sortie from the Pensacola NAS training school during 1942. The instructor crouched on the wing gives his final instructions to the student pilot.

Polikarpov R-5 Daily ebay photo find #11



courtesy of Ebay.de seller Marco (koelsch333), these images appear to depict an enclosed passenger cabin variant of the Polikarpov R-5 (ARK-5), note too the underwing containers or Kassetta. These images are taken from the album of a veteran of the (German) 254th ID, see the link below if contemplating a bid.

The R-5 was a 1930's Soviet biplane in the Wapiti mould, an unequal-span two-seater constructed largely of wood with fabric covering. The R-5 reconnaissance light bomber first flew in prototype form in 1928. Pilot and observer/gunner were seated close together in tandem open cockpits - the pilot beneath a cutout in the upper wing trailing-edge. The type saw action in Mongolia against the Japanese, fought with the Republicans in the Spanish civil war and against the Finns during the Winter war. Service continued well into WWII where it was employed as a night time nuisance raider. Click on the images to view large.



http://www.ebay.de/itm/Foto-russischer-Doppeldecker-Polikarpov-Beute-Flugzeug-Nebel-Raketen-254-ID-/310792366731?pt=Militaria&hash=item485cab2a8b

 The BMW VIb in-line engine of the prototype was replaced by the 507kW Soviet-built M-17B in production aircraft. The R-5 could operate on skis or twin-floats (the latter designated R-5A or MR-5), as well as on the more normal axle-type fixed undercarriage. Standard armament was a fixed 7.62mm PV-1 machine-gun and a DA-1 weapon of the same calibre operated by the observer. Up to 250kg of bombs could be carried on underwing racks.
Many variants of the R-5 were used in the Soviet Union. These included the single-seat R-5T torpedo bomber; the heavily armed R-5Sh ground-attack aircraft; and the SSS of 1934 with 533kW M-17F engine, spatted landing gear and new ShKAS machine-guns. Civil versions were the P-5 and P-5A, the latter with cabin accommodation for four passengers, and an enclosed pilot's cockpit.
Some 7,000 of all versions of the R-5 were built. Military operations included the Spanish Civil War (31 R-5s serving with the Republicans), the campaigns in 1938-39 against the Japanese in the Far East, the 'Winter War' against Finland, and the fighting against Germany from 1941. At the time of the German invasion most R-5s had been relegated to training and liaison duties, but several hundred returned to first-line duties to equip light night-bombing 'nuisance raid' units alongside the ubiquitous Polikarpov U-2.