World War One Whifs

[jcf]

Very nice.

An underslung radiator ala the Bristol F.2B and DH.9A aircraft modified for use in the Middle East and South Asia (Afghanistan, NW Frontier etc.) would also be a possibility.


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[zenrat]

Is the Ninak carrying a spare wheel?
Full size too, not a space saver.

[NARSES2]

Is the Ninak carrying a spare wheel?
Full size too, not a space saver.

Yup, they quite often carried them in some of the farther slung reaches of the Empire. Just in case they needed to land for something and damaged a wheel on a rock or similar.

[stevehed]

While seeking inspiration I discovered that Pfalz had not used the thirteen designation. A little thought came up with a possible candidate. At the beginning of 1918 the Pfalz DXI was tested but failed to obtain a production order. It was later described as a Pfalz DIII fuselage with wings which resembled those of the Fokker DVII. Unlike the Fokker the wings were not cantilever and were wire braced. The Pfalz DXII was ordered into production and was a two bay wire braced machine. The DXIV was a DXII with a 200hp Benz engine which did not enter production while the Pfalz DXV possessed cantilever wings and entered full production in the last weeks of October. It would have replaced the DXII and was to be powered by the much sought after BMW engine. In this time line the war continues into 1919 and the DXII's are being returned to the training units. Still a capable fighter it was felt that some of these machines could be used to bolster the Turko-German units in the Middle East.

These units were already receiving tropicalized examples of the Albatros DVI, Fokker DVII and Fokker CI. While the DVI was a standard wire braced machine, the Fokkers were cantilever and sported very little bracing. It was felt that the twin bay Pfalz DXII might not be the best aircraft to send into the high temperatures of the Middle East where there was already a shortage of trained ground crew such as riggers. The Pfalz DXIII came about as a potential solution to the need to maintain supplies to Germany's allies. Pfalz engineers suggested replacing the lower wing with a cantilever version based on the Fokker DVII. The earlier DXI upper wing had a wider chord and could be used to complement this new wing with added lift.  The twin interplane struts were replaced by wireless V struts in a Warren truss arrangement and extra lift was sought by the addition of a Fokker type axle wing. My degree in aerodynamics was achieved by an afternoon's study at the University of Wikipedia and this design could be described as semi-cantilever. The type flew in November 1918 and was declared fit for operations by January 1919.

Pfalz were fully engaged with production of the DXV so Idflieg needed a company that could convert DXII's to the new DXIII configuration.  Eyes fell on the LMA company that was using Albatros DV airframes to produce DVI aircraft. This involved the construction of new wings which the Pfalz DXIII would also need. Their near neighbours at Avia were refurbishing Argus engines for the German airforce and had capacity to take on more work. Idflieg needed upgrades to the latest specs to many Mercedes engines and Avia had geared up to take on this work. LMA agreed to manufacture the new wings and were allocated new Mercedes engines for the completed DXIII's.

The first batch were sent to Istanbul for assembly and flight testing. It had been expected that the larger capacity radiators fitted as standard to the Pfalz would suffice in the hotter climate but overheating soon became an issue. As a temporary fix two sections of the radiators fitted to the Fokker machines were installed on the sides of the fuselage. This fixed the cooling problem but German designs had not been allowed to incorporate this method since Nov 1916. Damage sustained could drain all the water from the system and cause permanent damage to the engine. However, the Turkish authorities decided to override these objections and the first batch of twelve machines were converted with side radiators with the following aircraft to be fitted with leading edge types as per the Fokkers. The first Pfalz DXIII's were sent to the Caucasus Front to support an Ottoman advance towards Baku.

Mention has already been made in this thread of Dunsterforce. When the Russian revolution brought about the collapse of the Tsarist armed forces, British forces in Mesopotamia, advanced through modern Iran, and took control of the Russian area of influence in the north of the country. Turkish units had taken advantage of the withdrawal of the Russian army and were occupying the land east of the Caucasus Mts towards the Caspian Sea and the strategic oil fields. Dunsterforce was ordered to Baku to prevent the Ottomans gaining control of this asset. In this time line, the British force is reinforced by units from India. A flotilla of small gun boats is transferred overland to the Caspian by the Royal Navy and soon makes its presence felt. The Turkish advance on Baku is stymied but the Russian revolution has created four factions which are in a state of semi-permanent confrontation. With the Dardenalles still resolutely closed, the Entente sees the Caspian route as a means of getting supplies to the White Russian forces who are fighting the Bolsheviks. Since mid 1917 the British had seen the advantages of a railway connecting the Arabian Gulf to the Caspian Sea via Tehran. Post-war , they intended to make British influence permanent and were actively building a modern railway line. From Bandar-e Anzali shipping would transfer supplies and equipment to Baku and the Russian ports of Astrakhan and Petrovsk Port to the White Russian forces. To this end, a united Russian force capable of participating in the defence of this supply line had to be created. With British aid an unholy alliance was created whereby the Tsarist, Social Democrats and the Anarchists joined forces with Indian forces and attacked the Bolshevik faction. The local revolutionaries were part of a culture that had been fighting the Ottomans for centuries and were quick to change sides but the more idealogical cadres from the northern cities were rounded up and shot in typical Russian fashion. By the end of 1918 this hodgepotch force had managed to halt the Turks while the reinforced Dunsterforce attacked the flank from the south which resulted in a rapid retreat west.

One of the reasons for the success of the attack from the south was the total dominance of the air by the allied forces. The Ottoman air force on the Caucus' front had been decimated by a lack of spares and replacements. What aircraft remained in 1918 had been made good use of during the advance towards the Caspian Sea but by September only four early C types remained airworthy. The Russians had managed to keep a small unit of Voisin type pushers airworthy and another larger squadron comprised a dozen Farman F30's, another pusher design, with about 4-6 Nieuports as escorts. The British had two flights of RE8 reconnaisance aircraft, a third flying DH9's and a mixed fighter squadron flying Spad VII, Bristol monoplanes and a couple of Martinsyde Elephants. The Ottoman air units were knocked out within a couple of days and the allied aircraft ran riot with strafing attacks and information which allowed the Ottoman forces to be constantly out-manoeuvred in the field. It was into this scenario of total allied dominance that the newly formed Jagd Gruppe Kaucus was introduced during the early months of 1919.

As the re-equipment of the Ottoman air forces in the Middle East continued apace the older aircraft were sent to air parks in the rear. Those deemed suitable were refurbished and destined for training purposes or re-issue to other fronts. In the latter category, twelve Albatros CIII's and twelve Albatros DIII's became the core element of the new Kaucusus air units. Complemented by another flight of Albatros DVI fighters the Gruppe was despatched to the city of Van. Additional aircraft in the form of Pfalz XIII fighters and two captured DH4's supplemented by another two SE5a's were sent to Yerevan. Jagd Gruppe Kaucus began working up in preparation of the Spring offensive aimed at taking Baku. The Turkish commanders had appreciated the benefits the Anglo-Russian forces had gained by their total aerial supremacy and were determined to prevent such domination this year. To this end, they had requested a bias towards fighter aircraft within the air units to take on the allied reconnaissance machines which were in greater preponderance. When the offensive began the Ottoman units took a toll on these machines. The Russian Voisins had been replaced by British RE8's and operated along side the pusher Farman F30's. Both units suffered losses as did the RAF units. The British response was the Bristol Fighter which had been successfully employed in Palestine and helped to level the playing field. The Turkish offensive failed to reach Baku and the sides faced off for the final months before the war came to an end.

The Pfalz XIII is a conversion of the Classic Planes Pfalz X11 vacform. It's an early issue and lacking the now customary extras of strut material or such essentials as engines, machine guns and wheels.  I've already built the Eastern Express DXII and noticed that the vacform upper wing was slightly wider in chord. Which is right I don't know but I thought this would compensate for the narrower chord new wing, in effect it was going to be much like the Fokker DVII set up. So I used the vacfrom upper wing with a 10thou backing of card and increased the length of the surviving bits of lower wing from the Esci Fokker kit from the above posts. The vacform card has the Pfalz struts and undercarriage within it to use as templates and 20x30thou Evergreen strip was used for the struts. The kit fuselage was used as standard with a couple of card bulkheads to help solidify the halves when joined. Undercarriage is 35thou rod with resin wheels from the spares. Machine guns were leftovers from the Fokker Esci with the engine and exhaust combination another refugee from Fokker. The side radiators are from the same Heller sprues as the Fokker with the transfers representing the 2 staffel, number four aircraft with Balkan crosses and Ottoman black squares.

















The initial equipment of the Jagd Gruppe Kaucus Jasta unit was comprised of the tropicalized Albatros DIII. This kit is real world but fits in nicely with this back story. The kit is an Extravac vacform which was issued by Hannants. It was obtained as part of a job lot of vacforms from eBay. There were eight kits and I already had two of them and there was this kit. As there are several good injection kits available I never envisaged building this type as a vacform. But I fancied a twin radiatored Middle East version and decided to experiment with the vacform wings. I also noticed that this kit had one of the best slab sided DIII fuselages I had seen so far. So, after creating a twin radiator centre-section from spare Roden parts to replace the vacform part, I continued building the rest of the kit. Hannants provided a resin engine, wheels, machine guns and an exhaust. There was no strut material but I had spare cabanes and interplanes from Roden kits. The prop was another spare from Roden but the spinner was cut from the card. Undercarriage was made from Evergreen rod and the axle spreader was a remnant from Airfix. The insignia are a mixture of Ottoman squares and Maltese crosses with the black stripe being the unit marking.

[NARSES2]

Fantastic back story for a terrific little model   

[zenrat]

  
 

[Dizzyfugu]

Nice. The wood structure reminds of a Jaguar dashboard!

[stevehed]

Thanks Gentlemen, appreciated.