Winged Heroes

[Stanley]

I had an idea that the 'scimitar' blades were a distortion of the camera lens Peter. Never seen vapour trails like that. I suppose they're related to the vapour trails you see from the wig tips of low flying aircraft sometimes.....

[Tizer]

This web page is from 2005 when the first pics were released of the scimitar bladed prop for the A400M: Scimitar blades

This shows Airbus A400M prop blades on an aircraft taxiing where the outer set is feathered, and the inner applying thrust.

[Stanley]

The blades of propellers on ships like submarines were modified to scimitar shapes as well.....

[Tizer]

Thanks for pointing that out - there's plenty of info on the web about those, although some secrecy too.

[Stanley]

I know that the big problem in water is cavitation, the forming and subsequent collapse of bubbles that are actually vacuums as they are a product of the propeller tips moving faster than water can move. You get the same phenomenon in centrifugal pumps. One of the things I found out about corrosion is that a corrosion cell in the metal of the pump impeller or body can be triggered by the collapse of these bubbles (in a centrifugal pump it is evidenced by a crackling sound.). This can result in erosion of the impellers and worm holes in the body of the pump. In marine propellers it evidences itself by erosion of the tips of the blades which get bad enough to spoil the efficiency of the propellers and become a source of sound by which the submarines can be detected. I suspect that in the case of the aircraft propellers the impairment is the formation of vacuums and vortices at the tips of the blades and this is what causes that distinctive screw pattern of condensation. But what the hell do I know about it.....

[Tizer]

This really is a winged heroes story...
`World War Two: When 600 US planes crashed in Himalayas' LINK

The Curtiss C-46 Commando plane was new to me but I found this web site useful: Air Vectors

[Stanley]

First I have ever heard of it Peter. Thank you!

[Whyperion]

Sky via MSN The last surviving Battle of Britain pilot John 'Paddy' Hemingway has died aged 105.

[Stanley]

This is the Handley Page Heyford in service with the RAF in 1938. I tripped over it on the web and was surprised to see that something as antiquated as this was in service well into WW2.

[Tizer]

It was being phased out at the start of WW2. My father joined the RAF just before the war started and was posted to RAF Manston briefly before going on to Catterick. He recalled standing at a window in the barracks at Manston as he heard the announcement that we were at war with Germany. All he could see was Heyfords and other old aircraft in long lines and he wondered how we were going to win a war with those against Hitler's modern aircraft. Fortunately he moved on to a station operating Blenheim night fighters. On the day the war ended he was at RAF Bourn in Cambridgeshire, and looking out over a very different scene: Lancaster bombers and Mosquitoes lined up in readiness to fly if necessary.

[Stanley]

See THIS Wikipedia article on the Tupolev TB3 Soviet bomber which was in service well into WW2. I tripped over a video yesterday on YouTube. I had never see it before. (LINK TO VIDEO

[Stanley]

And then I found this!

[Stanley]

and this......

[Tizer]

Showing off in Rome!...
`Red Arrows stun crowds during Rome flypast' BBC video

[Cathy]

Thanks Tize, that was exciting

[Stanley]

Morning Cathy! They're pretty good aren't they....

[Tizer]

`UK defence secretary warns Putin: 'We're watching you'' LINK
Defence Secretary John Healey has a message for Russian President Vladimir Putin: "We're hunting your submarines." There has been a "30% rise in Russian vessels threatening UK waters", he says. This, according to Healey, is evidence of increased "Russian aggression right across the board" which he says is impacting Europe, not just Ukraine. The Ministry of Defence says Russian submarine activity in the North Atlantic is now back to the same levels as the Cold War era. The RAF and Royal Navy have been stepping up their watch of the North Atlantic, where Russian submarines are most active. The RAF is flying missions most days, sometimes around the clock and often reinforced by other Nato allies. BBC News joined the defence secretary on a flight on one of the RAF's new P-8 aircraft - the first media to be allowed to observe an active mission....

For more on the Poseidon Maritime Patrol Aircraft (MPA) this RAF web page has the data and viewer which allows you to move the aircraft image continuously to show all angles. Poseidon

[Stanley]

I didn't know about that Peter. Impressive, I am partially reassured about our readiness!

[Whyperion]

There are times when WW2 movies come on the TV, Easter Holidays, D-Day and VE Day anniversaries , and the Christmas Film Schedule.
Today was Operation Crossbow , looking at the bombing of the V2 and other rocket launch test and production sites.
I went off on a little look on a question and got this rather interesting paper from a 2024 presentation documented earlier this year
https://www.aerosociety.com/media/26133 ... kearse.pdf
127 pages of information and commentary
The author
Arthur Kearse started work in January1975 at the Royal Aircraft Establishment at Farnborough.
Initially working on helicopters and aircraft auxiliary power systems he moved onto work on an experimental fly-by-wire aircraft and then air launched weapons in early 1982. He has been in involved in weapons ever since in a wide variety of technical and managerial roles, retiring in Spring 2018.
After retirement from full time work he volunteered as a Civilian Instructor with his local Squadron of the RAF Air Cadets, retiring from this role at the start of January 2025. He is a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society and a Chartered Engineer. ISSN 2753-3786 (Online)
Journal of Aeronautical History Paper 2025/01
My queries were two fold. Why did the UK not consider building V1 type unmanned aircraft to target military sites in Germany , etc (a couple of reasons - manpower - which could have been contracted in part to Canada or similar I guess ) another could be but less mentioned an effective failure or attrition rate of 50percent which could have been more given the strength of German air defences.
One could ask why Hitler did not instruct the aiming of the V1 and V2 toward the Normandy invasion forces - perhaps it was thought existing tanks would stop the land invasion and an insistence of thought of "vengence" was key forward in mind. This too impacted defence against incoming Soviet Forces - it seems strange in thinking after the event that the German Command could have expected for Germany a better outcome letting the US/UK/France "Win" while holding out to protect the eastern front. Again we dont really know all the thinking (which by late 1944 would be turning to panic).