WW2 Spooky

[tigercat]

I was pondering a WW2 spooky as the original aircraft was a DC3 there's obviously the aircraft  around for conversion from the DC3 to the JU 290 and Avro York

Now i see the main issue being finding a compatable weapon to replace your mini guns. Now from the German perspective  they have a nice range of 20mm Flak which could possibly fitted in a 290

A quad 20mm on the back ramp of the 290 is going to give  any attacking fighters a nasty shock.

[darthspud]

Maybe the Cannon that was used on the Henschel 129(?) on the eastern Front.

How about a POM-POM set on a York firing vertically up?
or  a long barrelled 3.7inch Howitzer for the Spooky derivative?

[rickshaw]

The Cambodians converted several C-47s with .30 cal MGs, instead of Miniguns firing out of the port side windows of the cabin in the same manner as Spooky.   However, you have to remember, converted transport gunships really only work in conditions of total aerial superiority where the enemy lacks any real air-defence assets.  As soon as those conditions fail, the gunship becomes very vulnerable.

[The Wooksta!]

I've an old Frog Proctor somewhere that will eventually have a pair of either Vickers K, Lewis or Bren guns sticking out of the windows, being used as an improvised gunship at Habaniya.

[PR19_Kit]

I've an old Frog Proctor somewhere that will eventually have a pair of either Vickers K, Lewis or Bren guns sticking out of the windows, being used as an improvised gunship at Habaniya.

I like that idea, it would have been very handy during the Siege too! 

A Vickers Valentia armed in similar fashion would have been even more useful, and they had a couple of them at Habaniya at the time, one built from spare parts!

[The Wooksta!]

Try getting hold of one!  The only kit I know of is an obscure, long out of production Contrail vacform.

Handly Page Harrow or a Bristol Bombay (both used in and around the middle east) may be a better bet.  At least you can get hold of them - or will when the Valom kit comes out.

[jagdverband_44]

A WW2 Spooky? I remember an alt-history trilogy in which the 2nd book depicted a resurrected Operation Sealion involving multiple SS and Fallschirmjager drops across across England, with one landing zone being annihilated by C-47s fitted with primitive miniguns in true AC-47 fashion.

I wonder if a couple of 20mm Oerlikons and a 40mm Bofors hanging out the loading door of a Dakota firing sideways might work...

[tigercat]

You could probably make up  something similar from a Scalorama Airship for the fuselage  (it looks a bit like a gasbag)  plus wings and tail from say a Stranaer.

[The Wooksta!]

The Ju 290 is unsuitable for use as a gunship due to it's size and the small numbers produced.  You'd be better off with an Arado Ar 232 or Ar 432 (wooden version of the Ar 232 that was never built) which had a high wing.  Failing that, the Go 244 but with better engines than the French rubbish they were fitted with. Smaller and cheaper.

20mm flak?  Sod that.  A 20mm Mauser Mk 213 revolver cannon with a 1,300 rpm fire rate would be far more effective.  Half a dozen mounted along the fuselage.  Simples

[tigercat]

Mausers  I like how you think .

The 290 does make kind of a big target

[Alvis 3.14159]

I think this is a simpler, and more readily available option, as well as a slightly more survivable concept:
http://1000aircraftphotos.com/Contributions/Braas/4080.jpg
Tandem wing Lysander, packing 4 guns in the rear turret, Trainable gun, firing arc that's fairly wide, the only disadvantage is that it's out the rear arc, so you have to fly over the target, or at least at it, then turn to achieve the firing solution. Alll that said, I'd think a low flying aircraft like a Lysander, combined with its' size, would allow it to live longer than a big plane like a Dakota or a Valentia/Valentine/Valeria/Whatever.

Plus you could have a lot more of them in service, taking up less materials. If you fixed the guns to fire at an agle, you could simplify the setup, lose a crewman, and achieve even more economy.

Plus, they actually made one too. So nyah.

Alvis 3.1

[famvburg]

  For Germans, I'd think the Ju 352 would be OK, about the size of the C-47. I have a Williams Bros. C-46 in my stash with plans to make a VN era AC-46. it's already got an appropriate nick-name, "Commando". Anyway, it could be used in WWII as well. For that matter, the C-82, forerunner to the C-119/AC-119, could be used, as well as the C-54, C-69 & C-97, as all three of their later developments, the C-118, C-121 & later C-97 versions were considered in the USAF's 'Project Gunboat' gunship study which culminated with the AC-130. I think maybe Consolidated R2Y & C-87 could be considered, as well as any number of seaplanes & flying boats. 

[darthspud]

How about a Short Sunderland/Sandringham?
3 decks to use for weapon systems, massive long range, able to turn on a sixpence and take massive amounts of damage.

[kitbasher]

I'd toyed with the idea of a Spooky Wellington (SEAC markings of course) for a while but the ex-FROG kit ended up as the bottom half of my Wellington/Hurricane 'Operation Misteltoe' composite.

[kitbasher]

I've an old Frog Proctor somewhere that will eventually have a pair of either Vickers K, Lewis or Bren guns sticking out of the windows, being used as an improvised gunship at Habaniya.

Now that is a good idea.  The prototype was apparrently tested as an emergency bomber during 1940 but this idea was abandoned as the invasion threat receded, so your idea has precedent of sorts.