Stik, you at it again with these knowledge box rashers!!![t$t]
[6][;)][whstl] yes… but people are on the right path… [^o)]
The Ju-88 was mostly designed by an American design team, but I believe they did their work at Junkers in Germany.
Bill
OK, lets try the Yokusuka D4Y-1 “Judy” dive bomber. Single engine, its design was based heavily on the German Heinkel He-118 dive bomber, two of which were given to Japan by Germany.
The plane first went into service as a recon plane, and it first served at the Battle of Midway in June 1942. The one design departure was that it did not use a radial engine, like nearly every other Japanese plane of the war. It instead used a Japanese version of the DB601 German inverted V12 engine. Later variants reverted back to a radial engine because of the many problems with the inline engine’s reliability.
It was fast–actually faster than the Zero fighter. It was the last dive bomber to enter service for the Japanese Navy, and was supposed to replace the D3A Val…but it never was as successful in its intended role. It flew right up to the end of the war, but mostly in recon, night fighter, and kamikaze roles.
F8F has it! With all the correct info on its use and highlights, save one- it’s late war major successes. Judy’s scored the last Dive Bomber successes for the IJNAF in WWII. A single Judy dropped the bomb which led to the loss of USS Princeton, the last US carrier sunk by conventional air attack in WWII during the Battle of Leyte Gulf. A second Judy came close to doing the same with USS Franklin a few months later during the Tokyo Raids of Feb 1945. Only superb damage control would enable her to survive. The Judy’s one major battle as a carrier based dive bomber was at the Phillipine Sea/Mariana’s Turkey Shoot where they were decimated by the US fighter screen.
Over to you F8F[;)]
No offense, but I’m glad someone finally saved us from that brain crunching question.
[;)] Next time I’ll ask something easy that won’t be considered trivia…[whstl]
yeah right…[6]
OK…
I am looking for an airplane. This plane was designed to use large piston engines, and was in use at a time when pure-jet aircraft were the norm. Still, it was almost every bit as fast as the others. It was built in three major versions, one of which was a recon platform. In this role, the plane carried nearly 20 cameras at once. It served with nine squadrons, but today only one survives. Name the plane, and also what one feature of this plane was quite distinctive…
Bear?
Forgive me if I overstep myself by giving a hint. There’s not been much movement on this question. I believe that it shares something with an aircraft produced by Ryan.
Best wishes,
Grant
I had though of the bear, but it’s turboprop.
Shackleton? It was a prop/jet mix
thought about the shack as well, but the squadron numbers quoted dont match & all versions were recce ones of some sort.
Why yes, Grant, it does actually.
Here’s another hint–this aircraft was hated by its country’s air force, even though they never flew it or used it in any capacity. The reason for this hatred was not the plane itself, but it’s originally intended mission.
I’m thinking a post war bomber / recce aircraft, probably with 4 engines, possibly tasked with something like a one way nuclear mission, B-36 - something like that, but nothing fits.
Here is a SWAG… the TU-4 Bull…
I’m going to take a SWAG here too, the AJ Savage?
You got it!
The AJ Savage was designed to use two large R2800 radial engines, plus a jet in the tail. That was the unique design feature–compound power. It could top over 450 mph at altitude. It flew in three versions–nuclear attack bomber, photo recon, and later as an aerial refueling plane. More than a hundred were built and the only one that survives today is at Pensacola, at the Naval Aviation Museum. The USAF hated it because they felt that the nuclear strike mission should be theirs alone, and any Navy program for a nuke bomber, in their eyes, only took money that they could use to develop their own planes.
Didn’t expect to get that one!!
Ok, for the next question:
What aircraft was the first cantilever monoplane with retractable undercarriage to enter service?
just a stab here but is it the Boeing Model 200 Monomail?