Tophe -- are you watching this build, a Twin Mosquito ?

[kitnut617]

Over on the Airfix Tribute Forum they are running a 'Special What-If' GB (seems to be all the rage on other forums right now), anyway, there's a guy who's building a Twin-Mosquito:

http://airfixtributeforum.myfastforum.org/about12244.html&highlight=

[upnorth]

I think I can agree with Wooksta here.

There's just no forthought in that particular whiff. I like my whiffs with some degree of plausibility in them, even if its plausibility at a very long shot.

Good luck to whoever is doing that twin Mosquito. I just hope they'll go to the work of a plausibly reworked centre wing section rather than just smack two Mossies together as we see them in the three view.

[PR19_Kit]

AFAIK most real world twins were done for economic reasons. In theory it should cost less to re-engineer a twin than to start a new aircraft from scratch.

The He-111Z was done because a brand new big glider tug would have cost a fortune that the Luftwaffe's suppliers didn't have. As it was all they had to engineer was the centre wing section, check the stresses and do a small amount of wind-tunnel work. Lots cheaper than doing it all from scratch.

I'm not sure the P-82 Twin Mustang is a good example here, as it wasn't what it looked like. Only about 20% of the original Mustang was used in the P-82, but I guess that NA must have made some substantial savings in the aerodynamic calculations and wind-tunnel stuff. Even one of the engines had a reverse rotation to the other, but perhaps things like the cockpit area were broadly similar.

My whiffed Twin Spitfire started from the premise that the RAF would have needed an escort fghter for the Tiger Force operations over Japan, assuming they operated from mainland China or even India. The Mosquito may have been a logical choice from the performance point of view, but the weather conditions out in the Far East didn't suit the Mossie's wooden construction at all. In reality the Tiger Force was going to operate from Okinawa with escorts from the USAAC or the RAAF.

That guy's later version Twin Mossie, with the eight push-me/pull-you Merlins, would have had a range of at least 5 miles I would think, looking at the size of the wings to contain the fuel tanks....... 

[HOG]

Nice idea but with only three engines would look tidier

[John Howling Mouse]

Link sent to Tophe's e-mail.
There's also a very interesting Spitfire conversion on that page.
So, what is our sorry lot going to do when "Whiffery" finally becomes the norm in scale modeling everywhere?   
Heh, heh, reminds me how the Punkers felt when mainstream places like Sears starting carrying lines of "punk-inspired" clothing!

[PR19_Kit]

I wonder what the "real" modeling community thinks about the what-if modelers?

While many of us are members of both communities, viz the number of mentions on here about building a particular kit in 'RW' (Real World) mode, it does seem as if the more conventional modelling world views us as madmen, or women....

The secretary of my local model club, fully accredited as an IPMS Branch even if it isn't one, plainly thinks I'm totally deranged when I produce one of my spoofs. Even the Boeing 767-200DD, a bona fide Boeing project which I built with the aid of a real Boeing marketing pamphlet, is termed 'That green and white thing' by him!

To my mind we of the whiffing community show a greater knowledge of the aviation world and aeronautics than many 'conventional' modellers, if we follow a logical and thought-out approach to making our models. It's perfectly possible to build an 'OOB' model without having the faintest idea about the subject other than that derived from the instructions provided in the box. We can't do that by just sticking the odd wing and tail on any old fuselage to make something that original manufacturers forgot to build in reality, because there aren't any instructions, it all goes on in our heads. Thus the whole process is a lot more of an intellectual exercise than conventional modelling.

I rest my case...... 

[B777LR]

Interesting. Would have done a few minor modifications, than just graft them together:

[gunfighter]

The mosquito-lightning looks cool!

[PR19_Kit]

The mosquito-lightning looks cool!

But it could only be a fighter version as there's nowhere to put the bomb bay any more.

It would have been interesting to compare the performance of that version to a P-38. Wikipedia would have us believe that a P-38 was superior in every aspect (Max altitude 44000 ft? ? ?) but I'm not so sure........

[B777LR]

Wikipedia would have us believe that a P-38 was superior in every aspect (Max altitude 44000 ft? ? ?) but I'm not so sure........

I have my doubts on wikipedia too.

Anyhow, here is the P-38 "mosquito version":

Early version



Late version, now with nacelles for landing gear. Top view



Side view



Nacelle outlined with red




And some zwillings of it:

[Captain Canada]

I agree...the Lightning Mosquito looks really cool !

[kitnut617]

It would have been interesting to compare the performance of that version to a P-38. Wikipedia would have us believe that a P-38 was superior in every aspect (Max altitude 44000 ft? ? ?) but I'm not so sure........

I read in one of my reference books that the Mosquito that was tested against the P-38 was a 'war-weary' example that had been taken out of squadron service and also that the pilot (who was RAF) had been told to 'hang back a bit' while doing the test.  The reason explained was at the time there just wasn't enough production to supply the USAAF with Mosquitos should the Mosquito appear significantly superior than the P-38.

[kitnut617]

Interesting. Would have done a few minor modifications, than just graft them together:

Could you do the XXL with just one engine in-between the fuselages please, and also add the High Altitude wing-tip extensions.

[McGreig]

Interesting. Would have done a few minor modifications, than just graft them together:

Ii wasn't that taken with the original Britmodeller vesion, but that XXL looks much more plausible, if a bit over powered. I agree with Kitnut that a three engined version would look good (or you could extend the fuselages of the XXL to give a bit more aircraft for those four engines to pull around).

And I really like your original "Mosquito-Lightning" in post 12 - I'll have to add that to my (very large) list of potential builds.

[Martin H]

The mosquito-lightning looks cool!

But it could only be a fighter version as there's nowhere to put the bomb bay any more.

It would have been interesting to compare the performance of that version to a P-38. Wikipedia would have us believe that a P-38 was superior in every aspect (Max altitude 44000 ft? ? ?) but I'm not so sure........

Oh i dunno Kit.  Just extend the pod a bit beyound the trailing edge, and im sure u could get a bomb bay in there......

Hmmmmm Im now getting those evil ideas again