Not a warbird, but what?

[AG pilot]

My guess:

Seversky P-35 with fixed gear and pants, canopy moved aft, and a spinner.

[dhfan]

Why would anybody?

[bipe215]

Canopy is too far back and a lot more wing than a P-35. Closest I’ve found is in the Grumman Gamma family. A lot of variations there

[AG pilot]

Why would anybody?

Movie use?

[k5083]

To me it looks like a Bellanca 28-90 except for the fixed gear.

August

[JohnB]

Canopy is too far back and a lot more wing than a P-35. Closest I’ve found is in the Grumman Gamma family. A lot of variations there

Do you mean Northrop Gamma?
The wing looks too elliptical to me to be a Northrop.
Also, the Northrops are very well documented, so it being a little known prototype is very unlikely.
But the aft cockpit is similar to the Northrop mailplanes.

And to throw out one more possibility, the SAAB 17 (B 17).
Close match on the wing but the mystery ship canopy is too far back.
Several SAABs made it to Ethiopia, so the background might even be similar. Oh well.

[Mark Sampson]

I doubt that it's a Saab-17, that plane had landing gear that retracted backwards into bulky fairings.
And I looked at the Northrop/Douglas A-17, that's not it.
Perhaps it was made by the Spartan company, who made the Executive four-seater?

[DADE]

Sometimes you have to commit and here it is. I am going along with others and say its a Mitsubishi KI-15 with different propeller and maybe the cockpit is an illusion in being further back in the picture, I can only be shot down once.

[quemerford]

Sometimes you have to commit and here it is. I am going along with others and say its a Mitsubishi KI-15 with different propeller and maybe the cockpit is an illusion in being further back in the picture, I can only be shot down once.

Wheel spats too big and too far aft; subject has very pronounced 'knuckles' where the spats intersect the wing (akin to a P-40). The cockpit is further aft and the wings appear to have more dihedral. Plus overall the subject is a lot beefier. It's a good suggestion, but as with all of them so far, it begs the question that even if it's a "modified xxxx", why would those modifications have been done? If for a speed or distance record, then publicity would have been key so we'd know about it. And modifications so extensive could hardly have been done in secret on what is apparently a civilian machine.

So unless the suggested aircraft looks pretty much exactly like the subject then I can't buy the 'modified' approach.

[marine air]

The Granville Brothers built many designs and it looks a lot like the Gee Bb R-6 except for the width of the landing gear. The Japanese bought one of every different design they could get their hands on. To me, the engine , prop and cowling look Japanese.

[old iron]

The Granville Brothers built many designs and it looks a lot like the Gee Bb R-6 except for the width of the landing gear. The Japanese bought one of every different design they could get their hands on. To me, the engine , prop and cowling look Japanese.

Ah-HA, maybe back to this again...

Could this be the Granville Gee Bee R-6 (now in Mexico)?

Thousandth message, by the way, hope I have been constructive...

[Mark Sampson]

It might help if we knew anything at all about that photo. Like who found it and where? Or if we had a higher-solution scan...

[Hooligan2]

It might help if we knew anything at all about that photo. Like who found it and where? Or if we had a higher-solution scan...

My memory (which isn't what it was, but then it never was anyway) of the Flypast thread is that it was taken in Spain during the Civil War. Does that ring any bells with anybody else? Certainly a lot of interesting types fetched up on the Iberian peninsular during that period, so it could be a reasonable idea!

[quemerford]

Lots of folks did photo enhancements and analysis back when this was originally posted and still couldn't do better than "it's reminiscent of" or "looks like a modified xxx". I now think it's a skilfully-photographed model because I find it hard to believe that such a substantial-looking craft could have escaped widespread publicity.

Either way I really like the look of it!

[Mick G]

Just a thought, could it be cobbled together from various makes and models during wartime efforts perhaps for mail use to help keep the other aircraft on enemy lines