And what country can preserve its liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as to facts, pardon and pacify them. What signify a few lives lost in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.
Tuesday, April 6, 2021
I'm not sure there could be any better design for sleekness than this.
Close, but I think its younger cousin - the Spitfire Mk XIV (with the conventional hood, not the later bubble canopy) - is the prettiest airplane God ever made. It's an opinion and a preference; for example, I wouldn't argue with you if you voted for the Boeing 707.
The Schneider trophy was for seaplanes only. The Supermarine Racers had many features that made them great racers. The fuel tank was in the floats, the oil tank was in the front portion of the vertical stabilizer with oil pipes running from the engine to the tail and there was no oil cooler. There was no radiator as the entire lower wing skin was 'wet'. The engine coolant was inside the wing and the wing skin transferred the heat of the coolant to the air. All those features would be useless in a combat aircraft so a lot of redesign was necessary to create a fighter from it. Al_in_Ottawa
Get rid of the floats and do some development, a guy could come up with a really good fighter...
ReplyDeleteGood one.
DeleteI agree...floats pretty much negate any "sleekness" the airframe design might have...
DeleteClose, but I think its younger cousin - the Spitfire Mk XIV (with the conventional hood, not the later bubble canopy) - is the prettiest airplane God ever made. It's an opinion and a preference; for example, I wouldn't argue with you if you voted for the Boeing 707.
ReplyDeleteThe Schneider trophy was for seaplanes only. The Supermarine Racers had many features that made them great racers. The fuel tank was in the floats, the oil tank was in the front portion of the vertical stabilizer with oil pipes running from the engine to the tail and there was no oil cooler. There was no radiator as the entire lower wing skin was 'wet'. The engine coolant was inside the wing and the wing skin transferred the heat of the coolant to the air. All those features would be useless in a combat aircraft so a lot of redesign was necessary to create a fighter from it.
ReplyDeleteAl_in_Ottawa
I believe the spitfire was based off this plane, correct me if I'm wrong Raven.
DeleteIt was, indeed, BCCL!
Delete