Kamov Ka-239 "Haggard"

[Eddie M.]

I'm no weapons expert, but I seem to remember some huey gunships that had belt fed machine guns mounted outside the aircraft itself. BUT, if you wanted to up the ugly factor, you could mount the feed drums outside the helo on the pylons.  :ar:
    Eddie  

[John Howling Mouse]

I'm no weapons expert, but I seem to remember some huey gunships that had belt fed machine guns mounted outside the aircraft itself. BUT, if you wanted to up the ugly factor, you could mount the feed drums outside the helo on the pylons.  :ar:
    Eddie

Yeah, yeah, the look of the Huey gunships is exactly what I meant.  Now, would the same concept work with big 20 Mike Mike shells?

[Leigh]

we still have high hopes of seeing you finish at least one of your projects before the year comes to a close.

Very High hopes  

[Eddie M.]

I'm no weapons expert, but I seem to remember some huey gunships that had belt fed machine guns mounted outside the aircraft itself. BUT, if you wanted to up the ugly factor, you could mount the feed drums outside the helo on the pylons.  :ar:
     Eddie

Yeah, yeah, the look of the Huey gunships is exactly what I meant.  Now, would the same concept work with big 20 Mike Mike shells?

Do you forget where you are? In what if land, anything is possible   . I do know from watching the Ordies load 20mm rounds into Tomcats and Hornets, that the feed belts are pretty long and operate at a nice clip. Not sure about firing speed though. I'm sure technology has advanced since then, right? Where, may I ask, were going to mount the feed drums? On a side note, all this 20 Mike Mike talk brought back an old sea story that I have. On the Tomcat (A model) there is a cooling fan of some sort right behind the ammo drum. When the fan would burn out (or up)and there was an indication of fire, my first job was to get the 20K forklift and park it in the firing path of the cannon. It was thought that the forklift would deflect the rounds, should they cook off.( There was a bad fire on the Nimitz years ago because of a similar incident) Sorry for the hijack, but this guns talk brought back some good old memories.

   Eddie  

[Jeffry Fontaine]

Man-Ho san;

Here is some information on the M35 Armament Subsystem which I think you will really enjoy.  

(My definition) Some AH-1G Cobra gunship helicopters were armed with the M35 armament sub-system which consisted of modified 20mm vulcan cannon with cut-down barrels (a sort of like a sub-machine gun or a sawed off shotgun in concept).  This reduced the overall weight of the weapon and allowed it to be carried under the port wing of the AH-1G.  The 20mm ammunition supply was carried in two separate containers affixed to the right and left sides of the aircraft fuselage.  This was a rather remarkable set up and provided the AH-1 Cobra with tremendous firepower.  

(Air Cav. Com definition) The M35 was a fixed-mount for the M195 six-barrel 20mm automatic gun for mounting on the port (left) side of the Cobra. The M195 is a short-barreled version of the six-barrel M61A1 Vulcan 20mm aircraft gun. The M195 had a firing rate of 750-800 spm.  Due to the explosive muzzle blast from the M195 extra plating had to be installed on the left side of the aircraft. This plating was installed to protect the wiring, flight controls and fuselage.  The ammunition was carried in two saddle tanks. One on each side of the fuselage.


For more information on this weapon system called the M35 armament subsystem, go to the following links:

M35 Armament Subsystem Description - @aircave.com

U.S. Army Attack Helicopters - Butch Lottman

UH-1 Helicopter Armament Page - Butch Lottman

UH-1 Helicopter Armament Historical Data - U.S. Army TACOM, Rock Island Arsenal, IL

Modern Firearms - The old new Gatling: M134 Minigun, M61 Vulcan, GAU-8/A Avenger and others

US Helicopter Armament Subsystems (From Wikipedia)

Helicopter Armament Subsystems Part I - Grunt Vietnam Resources for the Historian and Wargamer

US Helicopter Weapon and Armament Sub-Systems used in Vietnam Part 2 - Grunt Vietnam Resources for the Historian and Wargamer

US Helicopter Weapons in Vietnam Part 3- Grunt Vietnam Resources for the Historian and Wargamer


Reference images:

Image of an AH-1G with M35 armament subsystem

Close up image of the M35 Armament Subsystem mounted on the AH-1G

M35 Armament subsystem reference image

Silver Spur Snake outfitted with the M35 armament subsystem

Front view of the M35 armament subsystem mounted on an AH-1G

[cthulhu77]

LINK HEAVEN !!!!

[Ollie]

The Agusta 129 has this wicked feed chute for the gun on the side of the left fuselage.

   

[John Howling Mouse]

Thanks!  From all of this and Jeffry's websites, I believe what I was considering would be at least somewhat believable:

A fuselage-mounted sponson of sorts will store the ammo, the rounds will be fed across the winglet's top in a rigid channel and enter into a more flexible belt-type at the wingtip's chute into the big, pivotting guns themselves.

The JMN's won't like it but, then again, that's more than half the fun.

Plus, this will help make it look even more ugly.  

Thanks again!

 

[Jeffry Fontaine]

Thanks again!

Always glad to be able to render assistance on a subject that I enjoy,

[John Howling Mouse]

The "short" version gets some interior bits today.
Naturally, I have run out of the ONE size of Evergreen stripstock I need for the "long" version.

There's a bunch of details you can't see due to the flash wiping out the shadows (sorry) but progress is being made!

[John Howling Mouse]

Here's the interior ribbing and other details for the port side.



And the view from inside the starboard side, complete with winch control levers and manipulator arm.



And, man, do I feel sick!  Yecccch.  Cold, flu and my tonsils seem to have gone nuts at the same time!  

Also, not looking forward to trying to put ribbing on the inside curves of the aft clamshell doors...

[Eddie M.]

Your detailing is superb. B) I hope it will still be visible when your done. Say, I've got this huge bomber I'm working on. You want to try your luck detailing the inside of it?      :dum:  
     Eddie

[BlackOps]

Either you are entirely nuts or a complete genius...not sure which...but I like it either way

As for your health...Take care man, I had a raging case of toncilitis this year and it kicked my butt in a major way!!!


Jeff G.

[John Howling Mouse]

I'm on call again and the plant is facing potential shutdown today, of course...  

But, I have managed to paint my scratchbuilt interiors of both WUH (long and short fuselage versions) with that hideous turquoise paint the Soviets use.  I admit to being a little disappointed that I gave up on putting reams of beading wire in the interior for electrical and hydraulic lines you see on the real thing.  It just wasn't working out in this scale.  My hat's off to those who manage that trick even in 1:72 scale!

I will put belts on the seats though.  I haven't assembled my other, scratchbuilt seats for the long version yet.









One of the instrument panels, just waiting for decals and some detail painting:

[Brian da Basher]

That's some nice detail work there John! Love that institutional turquoise/mint green you chose for the interior too.

Brian da Basher