Monthly Archives: October 2021

Messerschmitt Bf 109G-6: Loud & Clear?

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The Gustav-6 (W.Nr. 166133) flown by the irrepressible Capt. Constantin Cantacuzino to San Giovanni, Foggia (Italy) on August 27, 1944. He flew there to establish a fast “diplomatic contact” for the possible start of peace conversations between the Romanians and the Allies.
His Gustav wore these gaudy American-friendly “Don’t shoot, please” markings. Good ole “Bâzu” came back home with the news at the helm of a P-51(!). Such a character.

SAB AB-20: La Belle et la Bête.

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Built by the Société Aérienne Bordelaise, this horrendous four-engine night bomber was a development of the three-engine DB-70 airliner produced by the defunct Dyle et Bacalan company. The all-metal AB-20 inherited the use of a hugey thick wing centre section, a feature already used in previous models, and the DB-70’s basic twin-fuselage configuration. Powered by 493hp Lorraine 12Fb Courlis engines, the prototype made its maiden flight early in 1932. Soon after, its night bomber role was forgotten and the prototype was modified to test -unssuccefully- a side-firing 75 mm cannon. A sole cleaned-out refined example, the AB-21, was also produced. And that’s all.

French Beauty those interwar years.

Vought F-8E(FN) Crouze: La finesse de l’appontage.

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One of the forty-two “Crouzes” acquired by the Aéronavale in the mid-1960s ready to land on the Clemenceau aircraft carrier late in its operational life. The Foch and the Clemenceau carriers were relatively small and the French Cruzaders needed a better low-speed control. So their Crusader’s wing angle of incidence was increased, provided with slats and flaps with greater deflection angles, the latter equipped with a boundary control system, plus bigger stabilators. Avionics, radar and armament were also improved compared to the US. Navy plain vanilla F-8Es. The French got a good deal; the last was retired in 2000(!).

Superb bird eye view, tout simplement superbe.

Hispano Barrón Caza: Competencia desleal.

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This Caza (fighter), and a Recon biplane, were designed by Eduardo Barrón to take part in the Spanish 1919 “Concurso de Aviación” for military aircraft. It was an orthodox biplane, for the era, powered by the obvious 180hp Hispano-Suiza engine. Faced agaisnt the national products of Alfaro and Amalio Díaz, this purposeful fighter proved to be the cream of the crop. Regretfully, its possible production was killed by the humongous supply of cheap up-to-date war surplus fighters. The only prototype saw some use in aerial shows; later reengined with a 220hp HS 8Ba.

Consolidated XP4Y Corregidor: Just the wing, please.

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With company number 31, the Corregidor design started its life in 1938, with both civilian and military aplications in mind. First flown just before the start of WW2, the chunky flying boat prototype proved from the start to be a winner. Sadly, its civilian future was forgotten soon after Pearl Harbor. 200 were ordered as long-range patrol aircraft, yet it was not to be. That order was soon cancelled when their scarce Wright Duplex Cyclones engines were found to be needed on the more important, war-winning B-29.

The XP4Y’s main claim of “fame” here: it vindicated Davis’ elegant high-mounted, high-aspect ratio wing. A wing that worked so well on the Model 32, the Liberator.