On 4 June 2010 00:17, John Coyle <jco...@iinet.net.au> wrote: > Apart from the propeller being at the front, rather than at the rear in the > pusher configuration, this aircraft is very similar to the Caudron GIII: see > http://www.century-of-flight.net/Aviation%20history/photo_albums/timeline/Ca > udron%20G.III.htm > > the undercarriage is the same double-wheel configuration, as is the > twin-boom tail. No idea what the round object on the wing strut is, > although there appears to be a connection from it to the engine compartment: > perhaps an oil reservoir feeding by gravity? Problematic during aerobatics, > but I don't think aircraft of this vintage did much of that!
I'm fairly sure now that it's some variation of a Farman Shorthorn. http://www.aviastar.org/air/france/farman_mf-11.php You can see that the tail fin is likely to be one half of a pair. I suspect it has been front-line modified into a bomber and the apparatus on the left side of the nose is some form of bomb-aiming device. Hence the bombs on the ground in front of it. The design of this particular machine does not, to my eye, encourage the throwing of ordnance. Too much stuff for it to hit/catch on before it is clear. I assumed the round thing was a Lewis gun magazine but now I'm not so sure. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewis_Gun -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
