A Trilogy of Twinfires

perttime · January 08, 2024, 03:39:05 AM

Looks as if you might be planning to have three main wheels?
I got a little confused: is this supposed to be operated from carriers - or perhaps not? In another naval twin thread it was mentioned that having two hooks could be problematic.

steelpillow · January 08, 2024, 06:51:14 AM

Quote from: perttime on January 08, 2024, 03:39:05 AMLooks as if you might be planning to have three main wheels?
I got a little confused: is this supposed to be operated from carriers - or perhaps not? In another naval twin thread it was mentioned that having two hooks could be problematic.

Backstory: guy comes back to UK after building the Aussie Twinfires, war ended, Spiteful development cancelled, Seafang about to go the same way. Standing in front of the unflown Seafang F Mk. 31 and 32 pre-production batches awaiting the go-ahead for delivery (about a dozen each, as I recall), with his old mates suddenly awaiting their redundancy notices instead, someone asks, "just how fast can one of these things go?" From there is but a short step to "Two would be even faster. Let's bolt a couple together and find out, what have we got to lose?" So, a very different design brief from the others!
Yep, with two half-wings the armament and a cockpit stripped off, and a minimal fuel load, 3 legs are quite enough. The missing one should have gone from under the empty cockpit, but in the frantic rush to get it done somebody got mixed up and attacked the wrong wing.
The arrester hooks and heavy reinforced hinges were removed to lighten the airframe, and Spiteful-style tailpieces bolted on.
Also noteworthy is the fitting of the Mk 32's contra-prop Griffons to the lighter Mk 31 airframes, which were literally converted Spitefuls without full navalisation such as folding wings. The last job they did on the batch of 31's before cancellation was respraying them in Naval camo, ready for delivery.

perttime · January 08, 2024, 08:42:04 AM

The P-82 / F-82 has just two mainwheels right under the fuselages. That would require major surgery to Seafang fuselages. With the outer wheels out there, a third wheel to support the center sounds reasonable to me.

steelpillow · April 10, 2024, 06:24:25 AM

Finished! The trilogy is complete. Tail serial numbers were pigs. I got an old specialist sheet with water damage off ebay and clipped each character out as an individual decal. At least the ROYAL NAVY bits were all in one lump. There were not enough of some, so I cut up a different one and painted in the missing bit. The underwing ones were homebrew drawn up and printed. Just don't ask about the tailwheels.

NARSES2 · April 11, 2024, 01:47:52 AM

That's come out well

DogfighterZen · April 11, 2024, 04:41:24 AM

Dizzyfugu · April 11, 2024, 05:18:15 AM

That's looking good, and the landing gear is creative. I just wonder how easy it would be to operate on a carrier, though.

su27rules · April 11, 2024, 09:24:51 AM

Nice!!

steelpillow · April 12, 2024, 01:24:15 AM

Quote from: Dizzyfugu on April 11, 2024, 05:18:15 AMI just wonder how easy it would be to operate on a carrier, though.

Not this one. Never mind the need to flare sharply and avoid a high sink rate, the arrester hooks had been removed to lighten and streamline the airframe. >Ker-splash!<
This was a special for a one-off flight from Supermarine's final assembly facility at Eastleigh airport.

Had a production version been developed (and in the next Whiffland along I am sure it was), it would have had its weapon load and fourth leg restored, and a more substantial centre section to give enough lift.