Retro WWII Apache whopper chopper

[kerick]

Yeah I was trying to see if skids would work but I couldn't get the arch from the fuselage to skid to work out. The the F-18 gear was laying there so on it went! Maybe skids on the Apache version just to be different!
Wasn't there a radial British engine called Hercules?

[Old Wombat]

Yes, there was: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bristol_Hercules

[kerick]

Here's some progress pics. The engines are attached and the rudder in place. By the time I was done with the rudder its blocking over 1/4 of the airflow from the tail rotor. Hmmm, cutting a hole and adding a fenestrom tail might be pushing it even for Igor Sikorski and Barnes Wallis! It almost looks like a bomber tail!



The F-18 main gear really came to the rescue here plus the P-40 wheels.







I moved the tail wheel farther aft. I'll have to shorten the tail rotor blades as they almost hit the horizontal stabilizer. The exhaust stubs are from something 1/48th but they work for me. Definitely nonstandard for a Hercules engine stolen from say a Beaufighter.



Just an overhead shot with the rotors temporarily in place. 20mm guns will be in the wings and pods on the sides of the fuselage with six 60lb rockets on the wings. I'll have to cut a little weight somewhere. Maybe some .50s or .303s in the nose too. Maybe I'll use the skids on the Apache version soon. It might just work.

[Tophe]

good!

[Wardukw]

Now thats coming along nicely ..the engines look right where they are and the landing gear is the perfect look for the chopper ..it makes it look long and low and im pretty sure fitting without skids was the right way to go..they would have to be low and long to balance the look and i dont think they would work with your tail design..nope this is the right track your on Kerick mate 

[Old Wombat]

Nice work!

I probably would have gone for a narrower, more vertical tail & a narrower "rudder".

[zenrat]

Rather than having a tail rotor in the "usual modern" location you could prevent counter rotation by attaching a pusher prop to one of the engines.  It might need to be on an outrigger.

[PR19_Kit]

IIRC one of Fairey's development choppers did that, I can't remember which one.

[Caveman]

IIRC one of Fairey's development choppers did that, I can't remember which one.

The first incarnation of the Gyrodyne (Rotodyne's predecessor)

[PR19_Kit]

Yeah, could be right there. 

But then it wouldn't have needed any sort of anti-torque as it was tip drive, hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm...........

[Caveman]

Yeah, could be right there. 

But then it wouldn't have needed any sort of anti-torque as it was tip drive, hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm...........

First version of the gyrodyne wasnt tip driven. After it was rebuilt into the "jet" gyrodyne it had tip jets but the first version was shaft driven and had three main rotor blades.

[Weaver]

I like it!

The fin+rudder remind me of an EA-6B Prowler, with the pod on top, fairly well swept leading edge and tapered rudder.

Regarding invasion stripes:

1. They didn't paint them on types that had no chance of being confused with German aircraft, such as heavy bombers, so unless the Germans have helicopters operating in the field with their army as well in your timeline, maybe they wouldn't be needed at all?

2. The stripes were ordered removed from the upper surfaces of allied tactical aircraft a month after D-Day in order to make them less conspicuous from the air whilst on the ground. Given that helos are very vulnerable to fixed-wing attack and operate very near the ground, maybe that's another reason not ot have them, or to only have them on the sides & belly?

3. Real-life D-Day stripes, as opposed to the neat and tidy versions seen on modern warbirds and decal sheets, were often really rough-arse. Squadrons were only told about them at the last minute for security reasons and had to paint them quickly with whatever they could find at short notice, which often didn't include (or didn't include enough) masking tape.

[jcf]

The S-46/VS-300/VS-300A went through a variety of tail rotor arrangements, so who
knows what the boys would've tried.

https://www.sikorskyarchives.com/S-46%20_VS-300_%20VS-300A.php

As to "blanking", simply mounting the tail rotor further out from the airframe on a longer
axle would make a difference and, more importantly, reduce vibration and resonance
caused by the air bouncing back and forth between the rotor and stabilizer.

Later versions of the Hercules had rear-swept exhaust pipes, and there's no reason it
couldn't have been done earlier.

Bristol Hercules by Steve Pilbrow, on Flickr

[Wardukw]

Weaver thats some good info there and im gonna keep it..will come in handy for future wiffies 
I am having a thought thou...painting invasion stripes on that chopper would be a good idea..your point about only painting them on things the the troops could confuse them is right but if i was some trigger happy AA gunner i would light up anything i hadnt seen before and that did happen ..US gunners opened up on a flight of C47s ..i think it was night time but not sure anymore ..anyways ..I'll bet theres a lot of guys who've never seen half thr planes used by the allies in that invasion so yeah I'd paint the hell out of it becauae if it flys low and i couldn't recognize it ..ill shoot at it.

[kerick]

I'm considering putting the Apache version in a Pacific setting. Island hopping from one remote clearing to the next. That would dodge the invasion stripe issue. Still thinking about the British version.