Biggest ‘crowd-puller’ of this ILA would have been the new Airbus A400 transporter, powered by four turboprop engines. Unfortunately it was not exhibited or flown during the public days of the one-week event! Soviet aircraft were the last times always present, but this time there were no Russian aircraft all. Also many veteran types did not show up for this very last show at Schönefeld! In spite of these shortcomings, there still was enough to see. Of course it is a personal choice, but for me highlight of the show was the Lockheed P-38 Lightning flown by the Red Bull team. Also the noise of the two Allison engines is quite remarkable and different from the sound of a R.R. Merlin!

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Regular traffic came in and departed as usual and that also meant the flying part of the airshow had to wait for this. On the other hand it was a nice occasion to see a number of interesting passenger planes, bizz-jets and also private planes! Weather was not all to good with 100% overcast all day and some rain with showers in the afternoon, making photographic conditions far from perfect……….

Nico Braas

Read also this:

1. ILA 2008
2. ILA 2006
3. Gilze-Rijen 2010

Fokker T.V "Luchtkruiser' History

The Dutch government finally decided to order at Fokker a modern warplane, following the philosophy of the ‘aerial cruiser’. Multi-engined and heavily armed and armoured it was intended to destroy incoming enemy bombers. In fact this idea totally failed and the new plane, designated as Fokker T.V, was not more than a medium-class bomber with a defensive armament falling more or less in the same class as the British Armstrong Siddeley Whitley.

However, the T.V could hardly be regarded as a very modern type when it was introduced in the years preceding the outbreak of WW-II. The twin-engine bomber was of mixed construction with wooden wings, a light-alloy front fuselage and a rear fuselage made of welded steel tubes covered with fabric.

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Front armament was a 20 mm Solothurn cannon.  It carried further four 7,9 mm drum-fed Lewis machine guns at various positions including in the tail. In fact the tail gun position was the same as used on the Fokker G-1.

The plane was not fitted with a heating system for the crew and since the gun openings were not perfectly sealed the crew had to fly under very draughty and very cold conditions.

The T.V was introduced in a new bomber flight department (BomVa or Bomvliegtuigafdeling) and became operational in 1939. Including the prototype, a total number of sixteen T.V’s was built and supplied, carrying the registrations 850 – 865.

During the five-days war in May 1940, only 12 were combat-ready. They all flew operational bombing missions, but during this period all T.V’s were lost over a number of days in various air battles with German fighters. In fact the T.V was totally unsuitable for daylight operations and also escorting D.XXI fighters suffered heavy losses. At the capitulation the German forces captured the four remaining non-combat ready machines.

In this 56-page book many details on operations are given with many, sometimes very rare, photographs. Also photographs of the T.V in German markings are included! In total 80 photos are used in this book.

The book also shortly mentions the international interest from Argentina, and Sweden.

One of the photos used for this book showing T.V. no, 852 with 'rozettes' markings

Further, extensive details are given on the typical 3-colour camouflage and on markings. Detailed colour profile drawings are given for the prototype, the operational planes both with Dutch ‘rozettes’ and orange triangular marking and a T.V (no. 859) in German markings. On the back cover profiles are given showing experimental circular markings.

In short: this is a very welcome publication, not only for the aviation historian, but also for the aircraft model builder. Unfortunately, there is very little on the market for the model builder, but maybe this will change in the future!

Book details:

Title: Fokker T.V ‘Luchtkruiser’- History, camouflage and markings
Authors: Frits Gerdessen and Luuk Boerman
Type: soft-cover – A4 size
ISBN: 978-94-90092-01-6
Price: 17.50 EURO including P & P (Europe)
Order your copy: see www.dutchprofile.nl
Published by:
Dutch Profile
Kerkstraat 2
2471 AP Zwammerdam
The Netherlands

Nico Braas

Read also this:

1. Fokker D.XXI history, camouflage and markings
2. Fleet Air Arm Camouflage and markings
3. Fokker S-14 Machtrainer by Nico Braas and Willem Vredeling

Dornier not only saw possibilities for a new armed military patrol flying boat, but also for a flying boat for car and passenger transport. Dornier, having no production capacities at that moment, was not a very illogical choice since Dornier had designed before the war a highly successful flying boat for the MLD: the Do-24. This type was licence-built in the Netherlands by Aviolanda at Papendrecht. Also a possible new military amphibian flying boat should have been built by Aviolanda!

Dornier Do-28 model

The Dutch Institute for Aircraft development N.I.V. received in 1953 from Claudius Dornier for evaluation a ‘Strictly Confidential’ information package including 15 detailed blueprint drawings and reports with technical data. Dornier had already  designated the new amphibian as Do-28! The package contained a business card from Claudius Dornier himself  ‘mit besten Empfehlungen’ (with best recommendations)!

N.I.V. no longer exists today, but the Do-28 information package was fortunately not lost. It was part of the large Fokker Engineering archive that was temporary based at Nieuw Vennep. All Fokker-related material has now been transferred to the Aviodrome Theme Park Museum archives. Since it was not directly Fokker-related, the Do-28 package was initially selected as waste paper material, but luckily it was saved from shredding by ex-Fokker employee and Aviodrome volunteer Gerrit Russchenberg.

The blueprints are presented here as Pdf’s and show the following:

-Scan4529: DoP318/5-02 with detailed layout drawings of  side view, top- and front view and cross sections. Project showed a twin-fin ocean patrol version with guns and an internal bomb bay

-Scan4530: DoP318/5-03 with detailed side views and cross sections for an unarmed freighter version.

-Scan4531: DoP318/5-07 with a detailed 3-view drawing with exact dimensions of the armed ocean patrol version.

-Scan4532: DoP320/2-01with  detailed 3-view drawings of a single-fin armed ocean patrol version.

-Scan4533: DoP329/2-03 with side and top view and cross section layout drawings

-Scan4534: DoP312/8-03 was a flying boat intended as a (most likely civil) car ferry. The blueprints shows not only the plane, but also the entry and exit ramp!

-Scan4536: DoP318/5-09 was a passenger version with a capacity of 40. It was intended as a civil transport plane to replace older flying boats like the Short Solent and Sandringham.

-Scan4537: DoP318/5-12 was a special version for ‘Seenotdienst’ (sea rescue work)

-Scan4538: DoP318/5-13 troop carrier version

-Scan4539: DoP318/5-15 military transport version with capacity to transport a cannon and  military vehicles

-Scan4540: DoP318/5-14 shows cargo load distribution for the transport version

-Scan4541: DoP318/5-16 military medical transport plane

-Scan4542: DoP320/2-02 shows layout detail drawing of side, top and cross section view of the single-fin armed patrol version

-Scan4543: DoP320/2/05 shows layout details of the various versions

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The photos show the DoP318 in model form. Note the extra fuselage sponsons in the top view!

Eventually the Do-28 amphibian/flying boat  project never progressed further than in model form. The MLD finally selected the Martin  PBM-5A Mariner as a new armed patrol amphibian.. The Mariner showed a remarkable resemblance with the DoP318 with grossly the same dimensions, weights and performances. Because of its poor single engine performances their reputation was not all to good and after a number of fatal crashes the type was soon grounded and eventually all Mariners were scrapped.

So ended the story of the flying boat at the MLD!

After Dornier had resumed aircraft production at their Oberpfaffenhofen works, the designation Do-28 was used again for the twin-engine small STOL transport plane Skyservant.

Nico Braas

Note- High-detail pdf’s of the original drawings can be provided upon request

Read also this:

1. Vickers Supermarine Type 381 Seagull ASR-1
2. Dornier Do 215
3. Dutch flying boats and amphibians

Extract color profile from book

The various book chapters give details on:

-All Fokker S-trainer types, including  the projects that were never built. In fact, detailed 3-view blueprint drawings on the un-built projects are here given for the first time.

-Genesis, early development and mock-up construction of the final S-14 with many unpublished details on the various design studies preceding the S-14.

-Early flight-testing of the S-14 prototype and developments on the international market. Possible licence construction in the U.S.A and Brazil, that was eventually never realized, is extensively discussed with many details never published before.

-Operational career of the Derwent-powered S-14 at the Koninklijke Luchtmacht. This includes a separate short chapter written by an ex-pilot who has flown almost a thousand hours on the S-14.

-Second life of the prototype as a general-purpose high-speed test plane at the Dutch Aeronautical and Space laboratories NLR. Also here many details never published before are given.

In the Annexes detailed blueprint drawings are given on all  S-14 variants and the preceding designs. There also is an extensive colour section with rare colour photographs and a number of highly detailed profiles (made by Srecko Bradic!).

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Of course, I am not totally objective as the author, but I can only say it is a GREAT book fully worth its price!

Main text is in Dutch language with a very extensive multi-page summary in English. Photo and drawing descriptions and Annexes are bilingual in Dutch/English.

The book contains some 170 photographs,  including 70 from private sources that were never published before and an additional 60 blueprint drawings.

Book details:

Title:                      Fokker S-14 Machtrainer

Authors:              Nico Braas and Willem Vredeling

Type:                     Hardcover, A4 size on high-quality glossy paper

No. of pages:       200

ISBN no.:             978-90-804981-5-0

Publisher:             Geromy, Gageldijk 83 – Postbus 1040, 3602 AJ/3600 BA Maarssen, The Netherlands

Price:                     EURO 49.90 + P&P when ordered at http://www.geromybv.nl/

Fokker S-14 1/48 scale model kit:

Simultaneously with the book, Geromy has introduced a model kit at 1/48 scale of the production Derwent- powered model. Kit is made of resin with additional photo-etch material and a very detailed decal sheet for various Klu machines. Price is EURO 115 which seems pretty high, but only 150 kits were made, so if you want to buy one you’ll have to hurry!

Kit can, just like the book, be ordered at the Geromy website www.geromybv.nl.

Remark:

Next Geromy monograph book will be on the Fokker G-1. Introduction is scheduled for end-2009.

Nico Braas

Read also this:

1. Fokker D-VII book by Nico Geldhof
2. Fokker D.23 by Willem Vredeling
3. Fokker S-14 Machtrainer

The plane the Seagull had to replace: the Walrus. On this photo we see a Walrus with Dutch civil registration PH-NAX. It was used for whale spotting.

As a successor for these reliable and dependable amphibian planes,  Supermarine (renamed later as Vickers-Supermarine after both companies merged), already came up in 1940 with a proposal for a new amphibian. Plans for both a biplane and monoplane version were submitted with a Rolls Royce Merlin or a Bristol Taurus as power plant, but the final choice would be a monoplane, fitted with a Rolls Royce Griffon engine. This monoplane, known as Type 381, was again named Seagull, although the logical suffix VI was not used! In this article, we shall have a closer look on this little known aircraft type.

The project is  started…

In response to the Air Ministry Specification S.12/40 for a fast fleet reconnaissance amphibian for use both on land and from ships Supermarine submitted the Type 347 as a candidate in April 1941. Initially the dimensions were restricted to fit into the lift of an aircraft carrier, but this requirement was finally dropped. Under Type number 381 the final project was planned with a Rolls Royce Griffon. In the original plans and armament of four 0.303 Browning machine guns in a Nash-Tompson turret was taken up, but eventually this was deleted since the plane was not any longer needed for ocean patrol work, but strictly for Air-Sea rescue work. Consequently, it received, under the new  Specification S.14/44 , the designation ASR-1.

Rare shot of PA 143, the first Seagull prototype in twin-fin version with wings folded. Note how the wing floats were secured to the hull!

On 9 April 1943 the Air Ministry placed an order for three prototypes of the new amphibian with serial numbers PA 143, PA 147 and PA 152. Since there were still enough Walruses and Sea Otters  operational, and since Vickers-Supermarine was heavily involved in Spitfire production the new Type 381 was not an urgent project and it fact the first prototype would not fly until two years after the war! All three Seagull prototypes were assembled in the experimental department at Vickers-Supermarine administrative headquarters Hursely Park, Winchester where the hulls were also made. The wings were constructed at Castle Road, Salisbury, which was one of the Spitfire dispersal centres while the tail construction was sub-contracted to Folland Aircraft at Hamble, Southampton.

Some construction details…

Being slightly larger with almost twice the weight of the Walrus, the new Seagull amphibian not only needed much more power to give sufficient performances, but also a clean aerodynamic shape. Great care was taken to give the new Seagull good streamlining. This included the use of flush-rivets in order to obtain a smooth surface.

A beautiful in flight photo of PA 143 above the clouds. This photo also exists with the triple fin and most likely this early 'photo-shopping' was done to save an extra photo flight session!

The Seagull had a number of very interesting characteristics. It was a parasol plane of all-metal construction with the wing placed on a thick pylon on top of the fuselage. This pylon, or ‘trunk’ as it was also called housed at the front side the carburettor air intake and the oil and coolant radiator. At the rear it had an observation window at each side. Also the navigator, seated behind the pilot, had at each side an observation window. In case of emergency these windows could be pushed out to give an escape route. Further it featured a variable-incidence wing. Wing incidence could be changed in flight up to 8.5 degrees by  screw-jacks operated by a 1.5 hp electric motor powered by an engine-driven alternating current generator. This device, which worked similarly as on the later Chance-Vough F-8 Crusader jet fighter, was used to give the Seagull a lower landing speed. In fact a similar device was also used on Supermarine’s unsuccessful torpedo bomber Type 322 ‘Dumbo’. It worked very well; at test flying during a later stage the plane still was fully controllable at an airspeed of some 35 knots! The wings were fitted with double slats and flaps. All fuel was carried in wing tanks (3 in each wing) with a total capacity of 1295.6 litres.

The twin-fin PA 143 flying above the sea. Note the aircraft carrier on the left side!

The undercarriage of the Seagull could be  retracted. The main wheels fitted into wheel bays on both sides of the hull with the wheel doors partly open. The tail wheel could be retracted upwards . When down, it could also be used as a rudder at water landings and starts. The wings could be folded. The two wing floats had single struts in a fixed position. At wings completely folded, they rested against the sides of the hull. Just behind the Griffon engine was a fully retractable slinging-eye by which the plane could be hoisted with a crane. The main wheels could be quickly detached when the Seagull was only used as a flying boat; saving some 180 kg of weight.

PA 143 during the start.

The single Griffon engine drove two three-bladed contra-rotating propellers. The Seagull had a V-shaped horizontal tail with two vertical tails at each side. Later, a third fin was added to improve stability. The Seagull had capacity for pilot, navigator, a sickberth attendant and up to seven survivors during rescue work.

Test flying…

In-flight shot of the PA 143 with the final form of the central fin. Since this photo was also published in magazines with twin-fin layout it is most likely also 'edited'!

Construction of the three Seagull prototypes was started after the end of the war and the first one, PA 143, was ready for its first taxiing trials in June 1948. First flight from the water at Itchen near Southampton took place on 14 July 1948 by Mike Lightgow, a former Fleet Air Arm pilot who had just joined Vickers-Supermarine as a test pilot. Early flights showed at slow speed pronounced rolling from side to side. In spite of this, PA 143 was demonstrated by Lightgow on 11 September 1948 at the SBAC air-show at Farnborough. During further flight testing buffeting of the airflow was noted . Reason for this was found to be air leakage between engine nacelle and wing at the leading edge. This was cured by using rubber seals between wing and fuselage joint. Still, some stability problems remained, which were solved by adding a third central fin at the tail. Later, this fin was even enlarged. The central fin was used on the second prototype from the start! This machine, PA 147, joined the flight test program with a first flight on 2 September 1949. First flight of  PA 147 was also made by Mike Lightgow. During the flight test program, further small modifications were made to cure all problems and at the end the Seagull was considered as having satisfactory flying and sea-handling characteristics.  Also deck-landing trials on the aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious were completed successfully in October 1949. The Seagull made in total 54 deck-landings with the use of the built-in arrester hook. Since it could not be stored below the flight deck (it was too big to fit into the lift!), it was after each series of test flown back to shore. These shore flights were also used to transport up to five passengers at each flight! The speed of the Seagull was clearly demonstrated when  PA 147 set on 22 July 1950 a new speed record over 100 km at 389 km/h during the Air League Cup Race at Sherburn-in-Elmet. And this record was obtained with a low-rated Griffon engine!

Deck landing trial of PA 143 on board of the aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious.

The final end…

In spite of the sufficient performances of the Seagull as a successor for both Walrus and Sea Otter it was not ordered for mass-production and the third prototype PA 152 was never completed. As a reason the advent of the first practical rescue helicopters has been given in the literature, but these hardly had the speed, range and capacity of the Seagull at that time! Most likely the ample availability of wartime Walruses and Sea Otters and the much bigger Sunderland flying boat was the main reason why Admiralty saw no further need for the Seagull.

All three prototypes were in 1952 sold as scrap for L3 each………

The second Seagull prototype PA 147 on display at the 1949 SBAC at Farnborough.

Technical data:

Vickers Supermarine Seagull technical drawings

Type:                          High-wing amphibian single-engine monoplane for Air-Sea rescue work and advanced reconnaissance; both ship-board and land-based.

Power plant:               1 Rolls-Royce Griffon 29RG 14SM liquid-cooled 12-cylinder Vee engine of 1815 hp driving a six-bladed contra-rotating Rotol constant- speed propeller with diameter of 3.15 meter

Dimensions:

wingspan        16.00 m

length              13.46 m

height                4.82 m

wing area        40.13 m²

Weights:

Empty             4772 kg

normal loaded 6583 kg

Performances*:

Max. speed     418 km/h at 3599 m

377 km/h at sea level

Cruising speed            211 km/h for best range

Service ceiling            7290 m

Range             1408 km with standard fuel supply at cruising speed at 610 m

Equipment:                 accommodation for up to 10 persons both prototypes were unarmed without any special additional equipment.

No’s built:                  2 completed prototypes PA143 and PA 147 and one uncompleted prototype PA 152.

*Estimated figures for operational version fitted with a Griffon RG 30 SM engine of  2500 hp

Nico Braas

References:

Read also this:

1. Vickers Type 161 COW-gun fighter
2. Dornier Do-28 amphibian for the MLD
3. CMR 170 Supermarine type 300 1/72

1. Development of the Hunter
2. The Hunter in British service
3. Export customers
4. The Hunter in action
5. Hunter camouflage and markings – Colour side views
6. Hunter walk-around
7. Modelling the Hunter

Hawker Hunter MDF 16 book cover

In six appendixes, additional details on the Hunter are given, both intended for the model builder and the aviation historian!

There are no less than thirteen pages of side views ranging from the first prototype WB188 as it flew in 1951 to an Indian air force F.56 in 1990. They were all made by Srecko Bradic (and that should be enough guarantee for their quality!).

Last but not least, there is at the end of this book a multi-page fold-out with very detailed line drawings! In short, this book is a real must for Hunter fans!

Book details:

Title: The Hawker Hunter – A comprehensive guide
Author: Paul Bradley
ISBN number: 0-9551858-9-0
Type: soft-cover A4, 128 pages + fold-out page
Publisher: SAM Publications, Media House, 21 Kingsway, Bedford MK42 9BJ, UK
www.sampublications.com
Price: £19.99 plus P&P

More info also here

Nico Braas

With thanks to SAM editor Neil Robinson for providing a review copy.

Read also this:

1. MDF 17 Harrier
2. Grumman F-14 Tomcat MDF 15 book
3. Fokker D.XXI history, camouflage and markings

At the early fifties, Douglas had a very advanced jet and rocket powered research plane under test at Muroc air base. Here, a team of Douglas engineers tested this plane, the D-558-II Skyrocket, under a U.S. Navy contract for the NACA. When their test pilot Gene May declined flying this research plane any longer. Bridgeman was asked to take over, although he had no experience at all on jet planes. For this purpose, Brideman made a number of flights in an F-80 Shooting Star and further he tried to learn as much as possible on the technical and aerodynamical sides of flight-testing such advanced types. He learned fast, and made soon flights from Muroc with the Skyrocket that, as he vividly describes, had to be handled with respect and great care at all times.

Test pilot Bill Bridgeman book

Later, he also flew the all-rocket version of the Skyrocket after being launched from a B-29 bomber. Bridgeman gave in his book an excellent and fascinating description of his daily experiences in a simple to read and easy to understand style and at his flight stories, you almost sit next to him!

This ‘must read’ book was printed in 1955 for the first time, but later it was reprinted several times by various publishers. The review copy was published as a hard-cover edition by Henry Holt, but it was also printed as a low-priced paperback. Even today, it is not difficult to get a copy of this book on the second hand book market and prices are very affordable varying from just 1 or 2 EURO for the pocket version to 10-15 EURO for the hard-cover.

This copy is from the inventory of the AVIODROME Theme Museum second-hand bookshop (that I run 2 days a week!) at Lelystad Airport, the Netherlands. Although this book carries the markings and stamps of the Netherlands Aerospace Library ‘N.B.L.R.’ it is in very good condition.
In case someone out there is interested: just contact me and the book can be yours for a modest 8 EURO + P&P!

Book Details:

Title: The Lonely Sky
Authors: Bill Bridgeman and Jaqualine Hazard
Publisher: Henry Holt and Co., Inc. – New York
Type: Hardcover, 15 x 22 cm. 316 pages including a photo page section with 15 B&W photos.
ISBN: Not given, Library of Congress no. is 54-10518
Published: May 1955

Remark:

Bridgeman gained quite a lot of fame when he tested the Skyrocket, setting altitude records, and he appeared on a cover of Life magazine in 1951 as the latest “The Fastest Man Alive”. He later left Douglas and flew flying boats on the run from Long Beach to Catalina Island off Los Angeles. Alone on one of these flights, he crashed with a Grumman G-21 Goose amphibian into the ocean, on 29 September 1968, and was killed instantly. A tragic end for a great pilot!

Nico Braas

Read also this:

1. Encyclopedia of Aviation and The Complete Book of Aviation
2. Parasite in the sky
3. Fokker T.V “Luchtkruiser’ History, camouflage and markings

Author of the book is a specialist on this field: mr. Frits Gerdessen.  All research on camouflage colours and markings has been done under the supervision of LuukBoerman. In 56 pages, a detailed record is given on:

-Peacetime and wartime operational uses
-Use of a single D-XXI in the Netherlands East Indies
-Design. development and orders
-Individual history of each Dutch D.XXI

Line up of the famous Dutch fighter plane

The books is illustrated with 90 photographs, exclusively on the Dutch aircraft; the D-XXI’s from Finland, Denmark and the single type that went to Spain are only very briefly discussed and maybe this will be material for future Dutch Profile volumes! Further, a number of coloured profiles is given,  including top and bottom views.

Most remarkable is the fact that the D-XXI’s colour ‘sandy brown’ that always has been used in colour material until now, is in fact a grey-scale colour (‘beige’) and the book consequently remarks that the replica that is now on static show at the Militaire Luchtvaart Museum at Soesterberg has the wrong colours!

Much emphasis is given on detail of the plane and its various colour schemes, including the schemes used by the Luftwaffe on captured D-XXI’s. That means that is more a book for model aircraft builders interested in the history of the plane they are building rather than a book for aviation historians.  For the last group,  Peter de Jong’s book is of course recommended, although this is strictly in the French language.  At least this Dutch Profile is bilingual in Dutch and English.

Since the book is more dedicated to the model builder,  some details are given on available kits and, more important,  a decal sheet is shown that can be used for both 1/72 and 1/48 scale kits.  Decal sheet can also be ordered at Dutch Profile!

Book details:

Title: Fokker D.XXI History, camouflage and markings
Authors: Frits Gerdessen and Luuk Boerman
Type: soft-cover – A4 size
ISBN: not given
Price: 15 EURO + P & P
Order your copy: see www.dutchprofile.nl
Published by:
Dutch Profile
Kerkstraat 2
2471 AP Zwammerdam
The Netherlands
Free copy provided for review by mr. Luuk Boerman.

Other DUTCH PROFILE volumes:

1. Lockheed (2)12 RNEIAF
2. P-51D/K Mustang RNEIAF
3. Hawker Seafury RNethNavy
4. Netherlands East Indies Spitfires
6. Dutchies in the FAA
7. Grumman TBM Avenger MLD/RNethNavy
8. Brewster B-339B/C ML-KNIL
9. Fokker T.V (in preparation)

[Show as slideshow]

Nico Braas

Read also this:

1. Fokker T.V “Luchtkruiser’ History, camouflage and markings
2. Fokker XXI book
3. The heroic fight of the Fokker D-XXI No. 229