Bristol Freighter

[Weaver]

Okay, it's a thread for anything about Bristol Freighters, but you may notice a theme developing in my thinking here......

How about helicopterizing one of these? With a huge single rotor and engines on short pylons, it would look like a giant CH-37 Mohave......

[kitnut617]

Not a whiff or anything close to a whiff, but I converted this Airfix Super Freighter back into a RCAF Mk.31

[pyro-manic]

I'm going to do one as a gunship at some point, with a socking great turret in place of the nose doors. Probably Khormaskar-based...

[JayBee]

A less ambitious project might be a straight turboprop Freighter conversion.
[/quote]

Hey that was suggested out in Oz but came to nothing.

[GTX]

Turbo-prop???!!! Where is your ambition - go straight jet!

Regards,

Greg

[deathjester]

Okay, it's a thread for anything about Bristol Freighters, but you may notice a theme developing in my thinking here......

How about helicopterizing one of these? With a huge single rotor and engines on short pylons, it would look like a giant CH-37 Mohave......

Very nice idea!! I might just have something available soon as a suitable escort for this, the very machine you so generously contributed to....more soon!!

[Weaver]

A 216-style conversion of the original aircraft, with turboprops and nosewheel gear for a flat cargo floor would be a very sensible move.

[NARSES2]

I flew in one of the car ferry ones out of Southend once - does that me old ? 

The Freighter is one of those aircraft begging to be wiffed and the Airfix kit is not bad for it's age

[jcf]

A 216-style conversion of the original aircraft, with turboprops and nosewheel gear for a flat cargo floor would be a very sensible move.

Good idea, as the 216 was sort of a cross between the the original freighter concept and the Bristol 179A.



Jon

[Ed S]

What about the Bristol 216 project?

http://www.secretprojects.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,7063.0.html

Granted, the 216 was a might-have-been rather than a What-If. A less ambitious project might be a straight turboprop Freighter conversion.

This one looks a lot like a Budd Conestoga. 
http://www.microworks.net/PACIFIC/aviation/rb_conestoga.htm

Ed

[PR19_Kit]

I flew in one of the car ferry ones out of Southend once - does that me old ? 

Yes! 

[jcf]

Maybe a combo of the ramped 179 and Dart 216 (with a swing-nose for good luck -- early VFW style).

Which basically gets you a swing-nose H.P. 124. 

http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1961/1961%20-%201862.html

http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1961/1961%20-%201863.html

[McColm]

As far as I'm aware Airfix released a plastic 1/72 kit of the Bristol MK32 Superfreighter.
Magna still do the resin and vacform parts for the MK21 and MK31 conversions.
The Wayfarer was the passenger version and the Freighter a combination of three cars and passengers. Powered by two Bristol Hercules 734 engines as an air ferry.

Various Whiffers have come up with their own ideas over the years, due to the shoulder mounted wing. The Gunship version or adding a pair of floats and turning into a seaplane or a pair of skis with J/RATO assistance.
I once changed the wings with those from a old C-130 kit and stretched the fuselage. Having done a bit of research I've discovered that the Type 216 was to be fitted with a pair of RR Dart engines and the Type 179 would have a twin boom tail. Maybe parts from the Heller Noratlas could be used. Another thought was to use RR Griffons with the Viper jet from the Shackleton MR3 kit. Or an auxiliary jet pods above the wings or below as on the AC-119K .

Sometimes the kits go for silly prices on a certain auction website whilst other outlets are more conservative.

Another idea of mine was to kitbash it with a Wessex HAS.1 into something resembling the Rotodyne. Ramp at the front for loading. Rotors for vertical take off/landing and turboprops for forward flight.

Interestingly that the RR Dart engines were also considered on the unbuilt Carvair 7, an extended programme to convert the DC6 and DC7 into Carvairs.

[McColm]

If the twin boom tail was Whiffed and the tail from the Airfix kit removed you could have a rear loading ramp or tail ramp fitted. Doors could be sourced from the Airfix Rotodyne kit as the dimensions are similar in the boxed fuselage.

[jcf]

Some previous discussion here (original Freighter thread):
http://www.whatifmodelers.com/index.php/topic,25034.0.html