Wooksta's brainwaves

[Weaver]

Ta for that.  So, Hurricanes for defence in a nightfighter scheme is perfectly plausible.

Sounds spot on - just the sort of thing they'd have in a backwater that didn't get priority for the latest stuff.

I've got Norman Hanson's Carrier Pilot. He was with an RN liason outfit in the Middle East for a while and they had a complete smorgasbord of leftover aircraft: everything from Fulmars to Gladiators....

[NARSES2]

Danish Fairey Battles.  They were interested in the one that got cancelled but was reworked into the Fulmar, so they get Battles or Blenheims instead?  I'll also throw out the possibility of Belgium getting Blenheims instead of Battles.

Must admit I've had thoughts in the past of a Danish Battle (to go with my Danish Hurricane) and may yet get around to it as I still have an Airfix kit in the stash. Hadn't though of a Belgian Blenheim, but it's a good idea 

[The Wooksta!]

Few other things to chuck out there.

Dambuster Lancs - but with Hercules engines rather than Merlins.  That subtlety factor at work again...

Looking at D.Womby's P.82 derived Isreali beast* - has anyone considered a turboprop F82?  Or a turboprop version of the single fuselage one?  Those longer wings mean more hardpoints for lethality.

Licence built Blenheims in the Commonwealth.  I've been toying with Australian Blenheim I's for a while but a Canadian production one in yellow training colours? 
And whilst I'm talking of Blenheims, Finnish or Rumanian ones re-engined with Jumo 211s?  Complete power egg from a Ju 88A.  Or possibly Bramo 323s.

*Didn't Van do something similar a few years back?

[kitbasher]

Dambuster Lancs - but with Hercules engines rather than Merlins.  That subtlety factor at work again...

Dambuster Halifax IIIs

[The Wooksta!]

The design of the Halifax ensures you can't fit it with Upkeep.  Avro designed the Manchester to meet a requirement to carry two torpedoes internally, so it had a big weapon bay that carried forward into the Lancaster, Lincoln and Shackleton.  Halifax was designed differently and wasn't futureproofed in the same fashion when bombs got bigger.

[PR19_Kit]

*Didn't Van do something similar a few years back?

Yes, Van did a USAF P-51 that was half a P-82B, but with standard length wings.

It looked VERY convincing and it took some time to figure out what it was. 

[zenrat]

...Avro designed the Manchester to meet a requirement to carry two torpedoes internally...

Thats interesting.  And it may come in useful soon.

[The Wooksta!]

On reflection, it's given me an idea of what to arm my Coastal Command Lancaster GRII with...

[The Wooksta!]

Something I've just thought up - a single boom Lockheed P38.

Everyone with little or no imagination who jumps onto the what if bandwagon goes for bloody Zwillings, so much so that even the good ones are boring me to tears and have done for at least a decade. 

Try reversing some of the twin boom stuff.

[Mossie]

*Didn't Van do something similar a few years back?

Yes, Van did a USAF P-51 that was half a P-82B, but with standard length wings.

It looked VERY convincing and it took some time to figure out what it was. 

I rembemer seeing at the Cosford show for the first time, it was really bugging me as I knew there was something 'wrong' about it but just couldn't figure it out.

[zenrat]

Something I've just thought up - a single boom Lockheed P38.

Everyone with little or no imagination who jumps onto the what if bandwagon goes for bloody Zwillings, so much so that even the good ones are boring me to tears and have done for at least a decade. 

Try reversing some of the twin boom stuff.

I've been thinking about this for a while and got to the stage of fiddling with parts last week.  Didn't get any further than that.
There's no room for a pilot unless you lengthen the boom or lose the turbo.
Would you move the undercarriage into the wings or have a single leg, tail wheel and outriggers?

[PR19_Kit]

You could have a twin engined P-38 with the single boom running back from the cockpit, and truncated 'booms' for engines in the usual place.

[Weaver]

Or you could have a 'Cessna P-38' with push/pull engines on the centre nacelle* and big guns in the front of the booms.

*P-40 units maybe? If the purpose was ground-attack, you could do without the superchargers.

[Weaver]

On a similar theme, how about a single-boom P-61 Black Widow? The glazed rear of the pod would make it easy to graft a boom on there, and you could either leave it with conventional twin engine pods, or have a single radial on the nose: again, the fat radome gives you a natural mounting point. Maybe siamese both engine cowlings together to imply it's a four-row radial...

[The Wooksta!]

I wasn't imagineering a single boom P38.  I was just throwing it out there for others to have a go at, as I have less than zero interest in the P38.  The only one I had I've just sold on and the recipient is considering RR Griffons for it.