Quote:
Originally Posted by flynlion
Are you sure Panzer? The He-112 was a competitor with the Bf-109, and it was a tail-wheel plane. This one seems kinda odd with a nose gear up front sharing space with a big water-cooled engine, kinda wonder how it all fit. Maybe the nose wheel tucked up into the gap left by the inverted V? I can't find anything on the He-99 except that a few flew in Spain with the Condor Legion, no pictures. Now I'm curious to learn more about it....
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I looks like the front wheel twists sideways, rather like on a P-36 and P-40, to fold up flat. The chances are that it could be one of the "Austerity / Desperation" built utility fighters towards the end of the war, when materials were in short supply.
Russia had the LaGG-1 and LaGG-3, Britain had the Miles M-20 amd Finland had the "Reckless" (A wooden copy of the Buffalo powered by an I-16 engine).
I find the "also flew" fighters and bombers more interesting than the more familiar fare.
The accounts of the many dogfights between HS-123 bi-plane fighters and Soviet I-15 bi-planes is one forgotten part of the 1941 invasion of Russia.
The Chinese ace, "Fatty" Chung, scored all his kills with the Vultee P-66 Vanguard, despite also flying the fast but clumsy P-43 Lancer, which the P-47 Thunderbolt is a bigger version of.