Gunship ideas

[tigercat]

what about an Avro York

[raafif]

Another idea - what about a gunship Zeppelin in WWI?

Regards,
Greg

-- well, you need to armour it like the Russian idea but with much heavier plate  

[rickshaw]

The ZMC-2 was an airship which was made of metal:



However, its envelope would have been still very thin and offered little resistance to a rifle bullet.

What you need is either a cloth or metal armour many times harder than the equivalent in steel.

Perhaps if glass-cloth and nylon or even more exotically, carbon-fibre had been invented earlier?

[GTX]

 

[chrisonord]

Hmm? I like that, that could work on a Dash 8
Chris.

COOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL 
Chris.

[Weaver]

If the RAF had been involved in Vietnam, what might they have used as a gunship? Yes I know that in all likelihood they'd have bought the USAF types, but where's the fun in that?

Possibilities and limitations:

HP Hastings (no kit AFAIK)
HS748/Andover (Vacform 1/144th kit only)
HP Herald (no kit AFAIK)
DH Heron (bit small and old, but possible, and Airfix kit available)
Skyvan (been done to death)
Argosy (Vacform 1/144th kit only)


Hmmmm - not easy, is it?  

[kitnut617]

HP Hastings (no kit AFAIK)
HS748/Andover (Vacform 1/144th kit only)
HP Herald (no kit AFAIK)
Argosy (Vacform 1/144th kit only)

In 1/72
Hastings was done by Formaplane and Aircraft in Miniature, can be found on eBay
Andover was done by the same people, now done by Rugrats
Herald done by Frog and any Frog Spawn
Argosy done by Magna and Transport Wings [Aircraft in Miniature] (different versions)

[chrisonord]

I built a Handley Page Dart Herald not so long back in 1/72nd scale it is a copy of a Frog kit I think, and is boxed/made by Maquette.
Looking at it, a gunship version is possible as there is a big loading door at the rear, and the wing is high so you could poke some hardware out of the windows too.
Chris.

[Weaver]

I built a Handley Page Dart Herald not so long back in 1/72nd scale it is a copy of a Frog kit I think, and is boxed/made by Maquette.
Looking at it, a gunship version is possible as there is a big loading door at the rear, and the wing is high so you could poke some hardware out of the windows too.
Chris.

Doh! So you did...

That's a very likely candidate then - cheers! In size/performance terms, the Herald is almost perfectly a high-wing 748.

[apophenia]

How about an updated Herald sans Darts? Go back to four smaller engines (PT6As?) with multi-bladed props for stealthier approaches.

[Weaver]

How about an updated Herald sans Darts? Go back to four smaller engines (PT6As?) with multi-bladed props for stealthier approaches.

Interesting idea: the original Herald had four Alvis Leonides radials, so that could be an alternative development path.

[tigercat]

What about something from the DHC stable as a gunship.

How about a Twin Otter

[Weaver]

A BN Islander would make an interesting light gunship, and would be very easy to kit out with all those side doors.

BTW, the ex-FROG Herald was also available from Eastern Express.

[Weaver]

What about a Bristol Freighter? Malaysian timeline!

Knew somebody had mentioned it. You could get a progression going here: Bristol Freighters are used in Malaysia then put back to transport configuration once it's over. When Britain gets involved in Vietnam, they're hastily re-converted and show their worth, but by now they're out of production and the Hercules (engine) is getting long in the tooth, so they start shopping for a replacement. A turbo-Freighter is mooted, but the RAF order is only for a few and Bristol can't see a civvie market for the now-obsolete transport configuration, so it doesn't happen and Herald is chosen instead, thereby giving a boost to strugging Handley Page.

[The Wooksta!]

Not quite a gunship but I've a stalled project involving a Percival Protor and several Bren or Vickers K guns - do I win £5?