Been going through the collection of kits.

[maxmwill]

Like a lot of other modellers, I have a few kits in the queue for future building projects.

One of the kits I've been looking at is an AMT Hs129B kit. This is a basic kit, kind of old(in a new box), and would need more than  a bit of work to bring it up to snuff(the scheme I have in mind is of one of the 129s that flew for the ARR, and specifically, the one that was dubbed Lulu, because when I first saw the yellow cross on the fuselage<I think that it is called St. Michael's Cross>, I knew that that was what I'd be painting on it), but in the kit, there is a reasonably nice rendition of the PaK 40 75mm cannon that the 129 and Ju88P-1 were supposed to have.

So I've been thinking, what else could have carried this?

I don't mean in reality, but what else could have.

After all, I'm sure some or more have seen the first installment of the Expendables movie, with a cannon equipped Grumman Albatross(and, in the first few minutes of the movie, an aft entrance that the heroes on jet skis were able to board the boat in order to get away from the bad guys. I know, and it gave me a spot of heartburn, that in reality, there is no flying boat or amphib with has a real loading hatch, or even a 3 or 5 inch cannon in the nose, but, wth, it was Hollywierd magick, (and y'know, that in itself might be kind of interesting to model, if only the ridiculously detailed paint scheme on the fin), but, then, there ya go.

[PR19_Kit]

They can load stuff through the rear ramp of a Chinook when it's floating on the water, so why wouldn't it be possible with a flying boat or amphibian?

Some of the PBY Catalinas who take passengers have a narrow folding stairway/ramp that hinges down from behind the step as well, I've actually been aboard one by entering via that route.

[maxmwill]

While it might be nice to have a rear loading ramp in a 215 or an Albatross, they both would have to have the after parts of their hulls redesigned to resemble something along the lines of a Herky Bird, or any other large Antonov design efforts, that is, a high-mounted tail, something the Chinook(not sure if it'd be allowed, but, while I know the name "Chinook" is universally accepted, a long time ago, I became very familiar with the  name the crews and soldiers gave it, which began with an "s", and ended with a "hook", and my having the basic nature of a smart a**, the name sometimes slips out even when I am in socially acceptable company, such as when I was discussing that and other designs with my new(for me) father in law, and my mother in law was in earshot  ) has, because whatever is loaded on to be offloaded out the back has to be able to clear the tail.

Something like this:

http://atomictoasters.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/C130-Seaplane-2.jpg

And, y'know, something like this, an amphibious Herky Bird, even if it had to be done with CGI in one of the upcoming Expendables movie, or even another movie altogether, this would look, and probably would sound awesome, mebbe recording a Shinmeiwa PS2 or a Beriev Tchaika starting, taxying, and taking off.

[sandiego89]

Lockheed developed a C-130 on amphibious floats, plenty of google images. It was for an unspecified customer, undoubtedly special operations in mind.

As for earlier flying boats that were good for cargo, with large cargo hatches (granted not a stern ramp) I offer the Blohm Voss 222 which had a large flat floor, and large hatch amidships. Also the Convair tradewind in both versions had good cargo characteristics. Most Other larger flying boats used for or pressed into cargo operations had doors more designed for watertight integrity, or multi level/segregated compartments making cargo ops difficult.

[maxmwill]

I think the thread is starting to go off topic a bit, so I'd like to drag things back to the original question, what aircraft, other than the Hs29B3 and the Junkers Ju88P1 models, could have carried the PaK40 aircraft modified cannon?

[maxmwill]

A pair of DB605s, or mebbe late model BMW 801s?

Then there was the FW187 and 189.

Wasn't there a 189 mark that had a really small but heavily armored central fuselage pod? A C model, if memory serves me correctly.

[PR19_Kit]

Wasn't there a 189 mark that had a really small but heavily armored central fuselage pod? A C model, if memory serves me correctly.

There certainly was, ugly as sin, but as mean as they come I expect. I've got a resin conversion kit for one somewhere, no idea why, I'm not really a Luftaffe fan.

[NARSES2]

Wasn't there a 189 mark that had a really small but heavily armored central fuselage pod? A C model, if memory serves me correctly.

There certainly was, ugly as sin, but as mean as they come I expect. I've got a resin conversion kit for one somewhere, no idea why, I'm not really a Luftaffe fan.

Yup and the Special Hobby stable do a kit of it - had one in the stash until recently sold

[maxmwill]

I've always wondered about that little thing. The first time I saw something on it was in Green's big book on War Planes of the 3rd Reich, and to me, it nearly cried out to be modelled, if only because of the microscopic appearing center fuselage.

Ugly? I suppose, but to me, "challenging" is what comes more to mind.

And, since coming here, I've also been wondering off and on just how big the engines could get(with suitable structure modifications, of course) to turn it into something really nasty(enter the PaK 40 with enough ammunition to make taking it up in the air worthwhile), although maneuverability might be somewhat lacking.

One question I've always had, however, is how effectively could the pilot fly given the even smaller windscreen to look out of?

[pyro-manic]

I do like the '189, but the engines are tiny Argus inlines. I'm not sure how much realistically they could be uprated or upgraded, if the airframe was only designed for low power and the resultant slow speeds. That might limit the prospect of fitting a big cannon.

There were B-25s fitted with 75mm guns, and the Mosquito "Tsetse" variant had an autoloading 6-pounder (57mm). So perhaps look at some of the German twin-engine bombers - Ju88, Do17, He111 might all be suitable. Replace the glazed ventral gondola with a solid gun pack?

[jcf]

According to various sources the He 177 was mooted to carry the Pak 40,
evidently it was not built but they did field a few of a field-modded anti-tank
version equipped with a KwK-39 based 50mm cannon.

Matt Swan built a Pak 40 equipped He 177:
http://www.swannysmodels.com/He177.html

[maxmwill]

I wonder how that would fly when the cannon is firing, or would it be a single shot at a time.

And if it were flying at night, the flash from the muzzle must have given a pilot pause.

[rickshaw]

I'd be more worried about flying a large, lumbering bomber low enough to make it a useful tank buster.  IIRC, it was actually intended for use against Soviet railways a long, long way behind the front, where AAA was less of a problem than trying to shoot individual tanks over the battlefield.  If the Hs129 could fire the beast and keep flying, I hardly think a He177 is going to have many problems absorbing the recoil.

[maxmwill]

Ok.

Didn't know that.

But the previously mentioned He111 sounded intriguing

[maxmwill]

I just looked(Wikipedia), and found only two rockets at all that the Germans used as anti-tank weapons, and neither of them were aircraft mounted.

They are this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panzerschreck

And this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/8.8_cm_Raketenwerfer_43

These could possibly be a whif, if you go the route that the Iranians are with the drone they just unveiled as a dogfighter, which appears to be something that has a couple Stinger-type weapons. Here is the article:

https://medium.com/war-is-boring/iran-has-a-dogfighting-drone-e083c57440a8