Your favorate dog? (Favorate poorly designed WWII aircraft)

[Derfman]

The glamorous successes get most of the talk, but what about the dogs?

Aircraft that failed, but had something about them that you just like?

Aircraft that "should" have been failures, but succeeded anyway?

Aircraft that failed, but "should" have succeeded?

Aircraft that only a mothercountry could love?

"It seemed like a good idea at the time".....

etc


In my case, I've always liked the He-177. Big points on "It seemed like a good idea at the time..." and "you want me to do WHAT with this aircraft!!??"

The He-177 was similar in wieght to the B-17, but unlike the B-17, the He-177 was designed to carry out Dive Bombing attacks. "You want me to do WHAT!!!??" And they actually made the thing so it could! (maybe not well, but even so....)

I'm well aware that the LW had largely come to its senses by the time the He-177 was operational, and that later makes fixed "some" of the structural issues (although the engines continued to be a very serious problem, although the He-277 "might" have fixed that....). Even so, just the thought of successfully making a B-17 sized dive bomber, however poorly thought out the requirement was....

The Swordfish is my favorate "THAT thing beat the hell out the enemy!!??" aircraft. You look at one, and first thought is "WW 1/1920s aircraft". You look at preformance characteristics, and nothing leaps out as superior, but it was an aircraft that "could", and in a big way. (The SBD and TBD also deserve honorable mention here, but not on the same scale as the Swordfish).

And I know I'm hardly alone on wondering about the Whirlwind and better engines..... The aircraft that "should" have been great....

French Bomber Command has got to take the cake on "aircraft only a mothercountry could love" for most of their 1930s designs. It would have helped a lot if they painted pictures of naked women on them.....

Aircraft with character

[Njaco]

The BV 141 for me. It got good reviews for pilots but it always shows up in "Worst of..." books, etc. Looks wild to fly.

['Lil'tyger]

the swordfish was so small thats a big reason it was so cool! & yeah it did beat the CRAP out of the enemy

[syscom3]

Fisher P-75 Eagle

"Powered by a V-3420-19 twenty-four cylinder engine rated at 2,600 hp driving co-axial contra-rotating propellers, the XP-75 flew for the first time on 17 November 1943. The second XP-75 flew shortly thereafter, with all six long-range XP-75s entering the test program by the spring of 1944. The test program brought up a number of deficiencies, including miscalculation of the fighter’s center of mass, engine failure at full rated power, inadequate engine cooling, high aileron forces at high speed, and poor spin characteristics. Re-designs were introduced into the long range XP-75s including a modified tail assembly, new cockpit canopy, and a V-3420-23 engine that corrected most of the problems by the time the first P-75A Eagles entered flight test in September 1944."

The size of this thing looks like its a light bomber

[FLYBOYJ]

Mine...

[Trautloft]

i go with the polish LWS 6 Zubr its already @ uglies topic..lol at that,no clue how that 'thing'managed to fly...possily they thought the opponents would die because of laughing and losing control to crash

[AVRoe]

Plagued throughout its service with troublesome engines, the Manchester eventually developed into the Lancaster - probably the best bomber of World War II.

[Nikademus]

While not technically a "dog" given that it didn't do badly on all fronts and actually made a decent night fighter and bomber destroyer.......but one of my favorite failures would be the Bf-110 Zerstörer.

Don't ask me why.....maybe its because I really liked the idea behind the Heavy Fighter as it stood in 1939-40. (big, fast and powerfully armed brute providing escort to ranges 1E's can't go)

Maybe i just like the word Zerstörer. It just sounds cool. Zerrrrrrstorrrrrrrrrerrrrrrrrrrr. ahhhh.

Alas. As a full blooded daylight escort fighter....it was a dud. Those cool sounding Zerstörers needing their own escort of 109's to protect them from those nasty, mean little Hurricanes and Spitfires plugging away at them with glee. An escort fighter needing it's own escort fighter......it doesn't get much more embarrasing than that. The P-38 may have had a mixed record....but it didn't need it's own escort! It however still doesn't have a cool name like.........Zerstörer.

Time for bed.

[Heinz]

Westland Whirlwind is mine. Great ideas early in the war unfortunately poor handling and a high landing speed hurt it.

[gwalch]

Personally I've always loved the Westland Whirlwind.
Dunno why.. but it just hits the spot.

[johnbr]

HERE IS MINE xb67 ALL IT NEEDED WAS THE RR-Crecy.

[renrich]

My entry would be the Curtiss Wright CW-21 Demon. I can't post a picture but it had a 1000 HP engine, gross weight of 4250 lbs and a SL climb rate of 4500 fpm. A few served in the Pacific.

[machine shop tom]

Originally Posted by renrich

My entry would be the Curtiss Wright CW-21 Demon. I can't post a picture but it had a 1000 HP engine, gross weight of 4250 lbs and a SL climb rate of 4500 fpm. A few served in the Pacific.

Here ya go:

http://www.juniorgeneral.org/donated/john/CW21demon.GIF

www.warbirdsresourcegroup.org - USAAF Resource Center - Curtiss-Wright CW-21 Demon

tom

[Seawitch]

Originally Posted by Derfman

It would have helped a lot if they painted pictures of naked women on them.....

..how about Mata Hari on the Recce versions?

[ccheese]

I remember this baby, the Grumman Skyrocket (XF5F). I thought it
should have made it into production, but no...

Charles