Warbird Information Exchange

AviaS199

Just to prove that the guy in the store wasn't full of it, here is the photo from 1974 showing a pair of Heinkels on the ramp at Las Palmas.

http://www1.airpics.com/viewclean.php?i ... ckground=3

T J

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Just a quick note on the CAF Heinkel which I had the Opportunity to fly in several times a a flight mechanic. It wasn't quite as benign as you might think. It did have some strange habits and the drum type brakes sucked. As a mechanic you should think about this. German design Spanish built with British engines. SAE, metric and British Standard. The tools alone put you over gross weight!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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The more I learn about aircraft, the more I realize I still have to learn.

Why would they go to the Canary Islands for scrapping? Do they have an aluminum foundry there? Maybe they just pushed them into a pit, or into the ocean?

Brandon, the aircraft probably didn't go to the Canary Islands in 1974 for scrapping. They were probably there on active service taking part in the Western Sahara Campaign, as part of 46 group based at Gando Air Base, which is where the picture was taken. (Gando Air Base occupies the eastern side of the airport, with the civilian airport using the western side. 2 parallel runways, both 10,000 ft long).

One of the CASA 2.111's may in fact be the Cavanaugh Flight Museum aircraft (B2-I-27), as it was based at Gando with 46 Group from 29th January 1974, until 21st January 1975, when it returned to Seville. It flew a total of 85 hours during the year providing "ground troops with reconnaissance, aerial supplied provisioning and ground attack capabilities".

Can anyone zoom in on the aircraft, and see if they are still wearing the two tone green camo scheme they were given during the making of the Battle of Britain movie in 1968?

Julian

That's not fun and must have been a real drag, but what an end result.

That's an interesting point. Can you elaborate at all?

It's a thought that once you take the B-25 Mitchell out of the count there are very few W.W.II or 1930s era twin engine bombers flying. In development terms it's easy to forget that when new they were the cutting edge of attacking aircraft, and their designers and users had to accept elements of performance compromise that weren't good news - such as dubious single engine safety at low speeds...

And, again, they weren't designed to operate of concrete, but round, grass airfields - so brakes were not so crucial - then.

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James K

"Switch on the underwater landing lights"
Emilio Largo, Thunderball.

www.VintageAeroWriter.com

The Merlins on the Heinkel were not pressure injected but had float type carbs on them. Also the LG speed was 104 kts so you had to climb at a steep angle on take off to avoid exceeding the LG speed. With the float type carbs, the steep deck angle was very close to shutting off fuel flow to the engines thus creating a very quiet enviroment very close to the ground. Also, in flight, if you crossed the crontrols such as right aileron, left rudder, rather than correcting itself when you released the controls, it would continue to fly in that condition. Wierd.[/quote]

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The more I learn about aircraft, the more I realize I still have to learn.

Sorry duplicate post

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The more I learn about aircraft, the more I realize I still have to learn.

Thanks Chris,
The initial issues would be a factor of the late engine modification to Merlin, one presumes, but the crossed controls item would be a type characteristic, unless the keel area of the Merlins was a factor.

I'm away from my library at the moment, but I wonder what Eric Brown had to say about flying the Heinkel He 111?

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James K

"Switch on the underwater landing lights"
Emilio Largo, Thunderball.

www.VintageAeroWriter.com