But you had “on” and “off” -blip switches?- for each cylinder instead of a throttle, right?
I’m more knowledgable about WWII aircraft than WWI ones, so I don’t know whether there were switches for each cylinder. Seems that would be quite a workload. But in any case, the Camel at the air show was using a blip switch. It seems to me that when the pilot wanted power the engine was running normally. When he wanted less power it sounded as if it was running on one cylinder. (Sort of pop-pop-pop.)
Were those two-stroke, or four-stroke engines? IIRC they used castor oil as the lubricant, which implies (to me) a two-stroke. It sure sounded like one.
The ignition fired only 1 cylinder at a time. The blip switch cut the ignition to every cylinder whose turn it was as long as the switch was open.
The replica 262’s in the works use GE J85/CJ610 engines, not the WW2 originals, ftr. Still a beautiful design, but as with every Nazi aircraft I have problems dissociating it from the cause it served.
Thanks Elvis, and well said. ;j
That was the one with the massive flywheel effect that let the plane turn on a sixpence in one direction, and like a battleship in the other, am I right?
Well, you can decry the cause but still appreciate the engineering: the United States government certainly did.
I’m honestly surprised that someone hasn’t just said “Here, here’s the cash. Get it flying.” I know that money doesn’t grow on trees, but you’d think one of the rich gentlemen who has a bit of a thing for old aeroplanes might have decided to buy it and have it done up. Especially since at least two rich gentlemen with a thing for old aeroplanes are New Zealanders (Sir Tim Wallis and Peter Jackson- who’s a huge WWI aviation buff and has hinted at a Blue Max remake at some point in the future…)
As you say, just being inside the Solent (or any Flying Boat!) conjures up images of an epic Voyage Par Avion from the outposts of the British Empire (ie Australia/NZ) via all sorts of exotic places that you wouldn’t normally visit nowadays. And Flying Boats are just cool.
The Ferrymead Heritage Park in Christchurch also has a few aircraft, notably an R4D transport- the same make, model, and type as Que Sera Sera, which was the first plane to land at the South Pole on 31/10/1956…
I used to work for Tim so have some first hand knowledge of some of his projects. The ME-110 never got restored (at least not in NZ.) The Hurricane was restored by Air New Zealand, and as far as I know, is still in Wanaka, NZ.
The Polikarpovs included 6 I-16 monoplanes, and 3 I-153 biplanes, the idea was to sell them on, and hopefully make some money. They were restored, and first flown, in Russia then shipped to NZ in containers.
Unfortunately the I-153s never had their landing gear cycled up and down when being test flown in Russia. The first flight in New Zealand was the first time one of the restored aircraft had had its landing gear raised, unfortunately it wouldn’t come down again. The pilot (the late Tom Middleton) had to land wheels up which was exciting for all concerned!
The Alpine Fighter Collection (Tim’s warbird collection) has been gradually winding down since his serious spitfire accident in 1996. So I wouldn’t be looking to them to continue leading the warbird restoration scene in New Zealand.
As I said, WWI aircraft are not really my area of study. But the Camel did have a reputation for being dangerous for a novice to fly. Many WWI aircraft used rotary engines; and yes, they did generate a lot of torque. IIRC the issue with the Camel was that is was a rather short-coupled aircraft so the pilot had to pay attention. The DR.I was also short-coupled and used a rotary engine, but AFAIK didn’t have the reputation for squirreliness.
As Biggles said in the cheesy (but fun!) 1980s eponymous film, ‘If you can fly a Sopwith Camel, you can fly anything!’
True in some cases. The FrenchNieuport, for example, used a “hit or miss” governor. I believe the engine ran full throttle whenever it was running. The ignition was interrupted to maintain the desired average power out.
Here’s something you don’t see every day. 1952 Bristol Freighter Type 170.
Pretty funky. Should be a hit at air shows.
You know, I’d love to see Major Bigglesworth (DFC) get behind the yoke of a Boeing 747 or an F/A-18 (“I say, where are the synchronised Vickers Guns on this contraption? Algy, put the kettle on, there’s a good lad.”), although I don’t think he’d have too much trouble since he flies a lot of similar aircraft in the later Biggles Books- although it has been years since I read them.
The thought occurs that the Biggles books and characters will come out of copyright in about 10 years… hmmm… 
In the film he flies a JetRanger. Suspension of disbelief only goes so far…
I’ve been wanting to write a screenplay for a film about Richthofen. I have his autobiography, a biography, and a study of who really shot him down. He had an interesting life. More importantly, the film would have lots of pretty airplanes in it! Unfortunately my books are about 1,200 miles away at the moment.
I’d heard Peter Jackson was looking at remaking Dambusters.
Ah, so you know about Sgt Popkin!
Every time I see footage of his funeral on the History channel and hear “given a military funeral by British troops…” I shout “Australian, dammit!”
The Australian War Memorial has the cross from his aircrafts wing, the control column, even his boots, Australian troops of the era being incorrigible souvenir seekers and borderline thieves when overseas.
I’d heard that, too, and got all hopeful, but it doesn’t look likely
[hijack]Is anyone getting a little tired of Peter Jackson always doing remakes? He is rumoured to be doing Dambusters next. Personally, I guess I’d like to see him make a new film about flying in the war, if that’s what currently interests him.[/hijack]
D’oh!
My interest is firearms history (as I think most people here surely know by now 
), and Von Richtofen’s guns are a fascinating subject in their own right.
There’s a VERY high chance that Von Richtofen’s Artillery Luger may have been crushed in one of the amnesties here- or it’s in someone’s drawer, held either illegally or by someone who doesn’t know what they’ve got. Beyond that and it’s believed to be in Australia, there’s not much else known about it. It was in his holster when he was shot down, and by the time anyone “official” had got on the scene, it had vanished- along with almost everything else on the plane.
Similarly, Von Richtofen’s Spandau MGs were taken by the Australians… but no-one seems to know what happened to them. They just vanished, possibly still in a warehouse somewhere, a la Raiders Of The Lost Ark…