##FINISHED## "The first of a new breed" - Sikorsky AR-4D/Hoverfly gunship

[AndrewF]

The Norseman has stalled, so I started a new profile yesterday; keeping the place until images are ready...

[AndrewF]

Here's the new idea - a Hoverfly gunship. Armed with a .30 cal machine gun on one side and an M18 recoilless rifle on the other...

[PR19_Kit]

Excellent idea, but would it be light enough to actually fly? 

[AndrewF]

Excellent idea, but would it be light enough to actually fly? 

Good point Kit. It'll have a more powerful engine  I was reading up on air support for the Chindits in Burma, and several YR-4s prototypes were actually used for casualty evacuation in otherwise inaccessible jungle clearings - just one pilot I think (it could seat two), with a stretcher attached to the side. One YR-4 pilot rescued a shot-down 3-man aircraft crew by flying back and forth with one casualty at a time... So in this what-if, the weapons could be lifted with the more powerful engine (within reason, so a .30 Cal machine gun rather than a .50 Cal etc.). Also an extra/bigger fuel tank to improve range.

[PR19_Kit]

My late wife's Dad was a mule herder in Burma at the time, and they tried to get one of the mules off of a flooded island with a YR-4.

That was before the high ups listened to him and he got the mule to SWIM away from the island!

[AndrewF]

My late wife's Dad was a mule herder in Burma at the time, and they tried to get one of the mules off of a flooded island with a YR-4.

That was before the high ups listened to him and he got the mule to SWIM away from the island!

Ha ha, yes I think a mule is pushing it a lot...

[frank2056]

Great idea! If there's only one (very busy) pilot, the R-4/Hoverfly could probably carry both a .30 cal and an M18 plus some ammo, since both weapons weigh much less than a co-pilot.  With a co-pilot (or gunner) I would pick one of the two, although how would the RR be loaded in flight? Maybe add a .50 cal as an option, or 2 - 4  bazookas under the fuselage.

[AndrewF]

Great idea! If there's only one (very busy) pilot, the R-4/Hoverfly could probably carry both a .30 cal and an M18 plus some ammo, since both weapons weigh much less than a co-pilot.  With a co-pilot (or gunner) I would pick one of the two, although how would the RR be loaded in flight? Maybe add a .50 cal as an option, or 2 - 4  bazookas under the fuselage.

I was going for an up-engined version with enough power to lift the pilot, a gunner and the two weapons; I suppose just the .30 Cal would be closer to reality, but I've taken the whif route!
And yeah, I thought about a bazooka as well - the problem with that would be the ball of fire from the rocket coming out the back of the bazooka; as the R-4 was covered in fabric this might not be the best thing to be going on... The M18 had gas shooting out the rear of the tube as a projectile counter-mass to (kind of) compensate for the recoil, so I reckoned a recoilless rifle attached to the landing gear struts would be safer, with the gas being vented out past the side of the fuselage. As for reloading... you carry a couple of extra rounds in the cockpit, and if you have to reload you find a clearing away from the action, land, reload and take off again  Not ideal, but better than nothing. Either that or it's carried as a one-shot weapon with a HE or white phosphorus round just for use if necessary...

[AndrewF]

Latest version with some colour

[AndrewF]

Advancing slowly but surely... I need to get the weapons done though. I'm planning on doing 3 or 4 different schemes when it's finished.

[AndrewF]

Still not finished, but I finally have some hardware: 1 x .30 Cal MG + 2 x M-18 recoilless rifles strapped under the port and starboard undercarriage units.

[AndrewF]

I've finally finished this - three versions:

USAAF



Royal Thai Air Force



RAF SEAC



I'll add some background later.

[NARSES2]

Very nice 

[AndrewF]

Thanks Chris! Just glad to get it finished to be honest...

[AndrewF]

Sliding one more in before the end...