SEPTEMBER 2024 WARBIRDS (1 Viewer)

WOW574. CANT Z. 1007 Alcione

The Italian-made CANT Z.1007 Alcione (Kingfisher), was developed in the late 1930s, the tri-engine bomber was mainly made from wood, with a retractable tailwheel undercarriage, it was known for its excellent flying characteristics and stability. Production was undertaken by IMAM (Meridionali) and Piaggio, and later by CRDA. It has been regarded as the best Italian bomber of World War II.
When Fascist Italy entered the war alongside Nazi Germany on June 10, 1940, Regia Aeronautica had the third strongest force of multi-engine bombers in the world. A total of eighty-seven Alcione bombers were in service at this time.

The aircraft had a crew of five, which consisted of two pilots, a flight engineer, a radio operator and a bombardier/navigator.
The Alcione could carry 800 kg (1,760 pounds) of bombs. Its defensive armament consisted of a 12.7 (.5-inch) Breda-SAFAT machine gun in an open dorsal turret, as well as a 7.7mm machine gun in a ventral position and one 7.7mm machine gun in each beam position.
In addition to serving as a bomber, the Z.1007bis variant was developed to carry a pair of 450mm (17.7 inch) torpedoes under the fuselage. The same variant was also employed in long-range reconnaissance missions.

The bomber saw much of its wartime service in the Mediterranean theater and in North Africa, but some were also sent to the Eastern Front. The first large-scale use of the CANT Z.1007s took place during the Italian invasion of Greece in October 1940, while a few were used in the later stages of the Battle of Britain.
Despite being made of wood, the fuselage held up well to the extreme climates, including the Russian winters. The aircraft was powered by three Piaggio P.XI R.C.40 14-cylinder air-cooled radial piston engines, which produced 745 kW (999 hp) each, and the Alcione had a maximum speed of 285 mph and a range of 1,115 miles.

A total of 660 of the medium bombers were produced between 1938 and 1943, and Italy’s wooden wonder served in the Regia Aeronautica, the Italian Co-Belligerent Air Force, the Aeronautica Nazionale Repubblicana (National Republican Air Force) of the Italian Social Republic and even the German Luftwaffe in the final years of the war. Additionally, the Air Force of the Independent State of Croatia (Zrakoplovstvo Nezavisne Države Hrvatske) and the Free French Air Force operated the Alcione by war’s end.

Our 1/30 scale hand carved Mahogany model represents a CANT.z 1007bis of 210° Squadriglia, 50° gruppo B.T (Bombardamento Terrestre, Ground Bombardment), Viterbo, Italy, November 1941.

There is a limited edition of 4 models only, priced at $1450 plus postage.
The figures and other accessories are not included and are shown for scale comparison purposes only.

unnamed(43) by Wayne 556517, on Flickr

unnamed(44) by Wayne 556517, on Flickr

unnamed(45) by Wayne 556517, on Flickr

unnamed(46) by Wayne 556517, on Flickr

unnamed(47) by Wayne 556517, on Flickr

unnamed(48) by Wayne 556517, on Flickr

unnamed(49) by Wayne 556517, on Flickr

unnamed(50) by Wayne 556517, on Flickr

 
WOW569 Nakajima Ki-27 - Nate

The Nakajima Ki-27 [Nicknamed by the Allies as the Nate] was the main fighter used by the Japanese Air Force until 1940.
The Ki-27 made its first flight in October 1936. Chosen for its outstanding turning ability granted by its remarkably low wing loading, despite it being slower and having a worse climb rate than its competitors. Though possibly the most manoeuvrable fighter ever built, the Nate was not particularly fast, but its turning ability made it an outstanding aircraft for its time.
The Ki-27 guns were interestingly mounted in the cockpit floor and fired from beneath the engine.
The Ki-27 entry into service was in Northern China in 1938 and gave the Japanese air superiority for a while, until the Soviet Polikarpov I-16 fighters came to the theatre. The Ki-27 take part in the early Burma, Malaya, Dutch East Indies and the Philippine campaigns and had considerable success against the Allies until more modern fighters became available. After which the KI-27 was demoted to secondary roles such as Japanese air defence [until 1943] and training. Ki-27 aircraft of 5 Air Regiment were the main air defence against the Doolittle raid, but were unable to inflict significant damage on the raiders.

In the final months of the war, desperate lack of aircraft forced the Japanese to utilize all available machines and 79 Ki-27 were used, some were equipped with up to 500 kg (1,100 lb) of explosives for kamikaze attacks. Ki-27's were redeployed as fighters, suffering terrible losses as on 16 February 1945 when the 39th Educational Flight Regiment scrambled 16 x Ki-79 trainers from Yokoshiba Airfield to oppose a massive air raid from a U.S. carrier group, losing six aircraft with more damaged and five pilots killed, in return damaging at least one F6F Hellcat and possibly downing a second.

The Ki-27 was a major aircraft for the Japanese military pre and during WWII, with 3,399 aircraft built.

The 1/30 scale Mahogany Ki.27 aircraft Thomas Gunn are releasing was flown by Capt. Hyoe Yonaga, an Ace with 16 victories. His aircraft is interesting because of the field camouflage applied, and unusual for a 24 Sentai machine in having five stripes on the rudder rather than the usual four.

The accessories and K&C figures are shown for scale comparison purposes only and are not included.
This is a limited edition of three only 1/30 scale warbirds priced at $695.

The k&C figures and TG accessories are shown for scale comparison purposes only and are not included.

unnamed(37) by Wayne 556517, on Flickr

unnamed(38) by Wayne 556517, on Flickr

unnamed(39) by Wayne 556517, on Flickr

unnamed(40) by Wayne 556517, on Flickr

unnamed(42) by Wayne 556517, on Flickr

unnamed(41) by Wayne 556517, on Flickr
 
Our second Albatros WOW586 was flown by Lieutenant Otto Paul Wilhelm Höhne (30 April 1895 – 22 November 1969). Hohne was a German WWI flying ace credited with six confirmed aerial victories. He was the first pilot to score a victory while flying the Albatross D.1. He was severely wounded in action during January1917 and hospitalized for most of it due to these wounds, he returned to his unit in 1918 to command Jasta 2 which was then equipped with the Fokker Triplane, however realizing he was not fully recovered enough to command the unit he stepped aside.

Hohne flew with the Condor legion during the Spanish Civil War and then returned to service during World War II, serving in the Luftwaffe and rising to Major General. As lieutenant colonel in KG 54, he led one of the two bomber columns during the Rotterdam Blitz, but managed to abort the attack of his column at the last minute.
He also commanded a wing of KG 54 during the Battle of Britain, the invasion of Poland, and the battles over France. He was again badly injured as a passenger in the crash of a Heinkel 111 on 15 August 1941 and subsequently served as Generalmajor and commanding officer of the flight combat school in Bavaria. He was awarded the Knights Cross for his service during WW2, surviving the war he died in 1969 aged 74 years old.
His son, Joachim Höhne, served in the Luftwaffe, first as a Flak gunner and then as an Me163 Komet pilot with JG 400.

This is a limited edition of three only 1/30 scale warbirds priced at $650 plus postage.
The figures and accessories are shown for scale comparison purposes only and are not included.

unnamed(31) by Wayne 556517, on Flickr

unnamed(32) by Wayne 556517, on Flickr

unnamed(33) by Wayne 556517, on Flickr

unnamed(34) by Wayne 556517, on Flickr

unnamed(35) by Wayne 556517, on Flickr

unnamed(36) by Wayne 556517, on Flickr
 
WOW585. ALBATROS D1 - PRINZ KARL VON PREUSSEN

The Albatross D.I was an early WW1 fighter aircraft. It was the first of the Albatross D types which equipped the majority of the German and Austrian fighter squadrons for the last two years of the WW1. During August 1916, the D.I was introduced into squadron service, displacing the early Fokker and Halberstadt D types. By late 1916, a total of 50 pre-series and series D.Is were in service. The D.I has been credited with giving real "teeth" to the newly-formed German fighter squadrons of the Luftstreitkräfte.
According to aviation authors Peter Grey and Owen Thetford, the D.I was the best all-round fighter available at the time of its introduction to service. The Albatross D.I featured a then radical semi-monocoque fuselage design that was paired with a relatively powerful six cylinder water cooled inline engine. Unlike the majority of preceding aircraft, the D.I could be armed with twin fixed Spandau machine-guns without incurring a meaningful performance loss.

Our first Albatross D.I was flown by Prinz Friedrich Karl von Preussen, crown prince of Prussia. An all round excellent athlete who competed with the German Olympic equestrian team in the 1912 event and helped secure a bronze medal for his team.
Although commissioned a Guards officer, the Prinz transferred to the aviation wing but was not allowed to join a fighter unit because of his royal rank, he commanded aerial artillery spotting unit Fl.Abt.(A) 258.
The Prinz flew this D.I on patrols with Jasta Boelcke between his two-seater missions. On 21 March 1917 the Prinz was brought down in no man's land by an RFC pilot and was then shot and wounded by Australian troops trying to escape back to German lines.
There was great excitement amongst the Allied troops that a royal prince had been captured and although attempts were made to treat his wounds, unfortunately the Prinz died on 6th April 1917, his 24th birthday.

The D.1 flown by the Prinz sported a very attractive grey/green colour scheme which was decorated on the fuselage with Totenkopf skull and crossbones insignia, these were also applied to the spinner.

This is a limited edition of three only 1/30 scale warbirds priced at $650 plus postage.
The figures and accessories are shown for scale comparison purposes only and are not included.

unnamed(23) by Wayne 556517, on Flickr

unnamed(24) by Wayne 556517, on Flickr

unnamed(25) by Wayne 556517, on Flickr

unnamed(26) by Wayne 556517, on Flickr

unnamed(27) by Wayne 556517, on Flickr

unnamed(28) by Wayne 556517, on Flickr

unnamed(29) by Wayne 556517, on Flickr

unnamed(30) by Wayne 556517, on Flickr
 
unnamed(15) by Wayne 556517, on Flickr

Dear Gunn Aviation Club members
welcome to our September 2024 Aircraft newsletter featuring some exciting new products.

All our hand carved Mahogany aircraft take in the region of 60 man hours to manufacture plus many hours of drying time which usually equates to a 9 month build time frame. For this reason we only make small numbers of each model and every aircraft is a unique piece. For those of you who wish to spread your budget, please note we do accept stage payments where you can spread the cost over several months. If you require further details of any of the aircraft in todays newsletter please email us on welcome@gunnclub.co.uk.

A super big thank you to Mark Dyer who assisted us as always with the finer details.

WOW491 - Hanriot HD.I Willy Coppens

The Hanriot HD.I was a WW1 single-seat fighter aircraft, developed by the French as a follow-on competitor to the successful Nieuport 17 single seat fighter. Unfortunately, it was being developed at the same time as the soon to be famous SPAD VII and was rejected for service with French squadrons in favour of the SPAD VII, and as a consequence it was not ordered into production by the French. The aircraft eventually found its way to both the Corpo Aeronautico Militare (Military Aviation Corps) of the Royal Italian Army, and Aviation Militaire Belge (Belgian Military Aviation) where it enjoyed a successful career. Several successful aces such as Willy Coppens who started their careers with the Nieuport fighters preferred the agile Hanriot to other aircraft. Small numbers were used by both French and American navies. About 1,200 examples built, 831 were produced by Italian companies under licence.

With its 110 hp Le Rhone rotary engine it was not very fast but it was extremely manoeuvrable and proved popular with pilots as a safe and comfortable aircraft to fly. To maintain a competitive climbing and altitude performance it was usual practice to restrict armament to one synchronised Vickers machine gun, although there was provision for a second gun and one was occasionally fitted.

One of the most famous Hanriot HD.I's was flown by the Belgium ace Willy Omer Francois Jean Coppens de Houthulst. Coppens earned his first victory on 25 April 1918 shooting down a German aircraft over St. Joris, but he soon became famous as a "balloon-buster" bagging his first observation balloon on 8 May 1918. All but three of his 37 victories were balloons, making him the highest scoring Belgian ace during WW1.

Coppens was a show-off, often performing aerobatics over the flaming balloon inferno, which almost cost him his life. His usual tactics was close range fire, on one attack Coppens cut a balloon loose from its ties. It bounced up beneath him and momentarily carried his Hanriot skyward. He turned off its engine to protect the propeller and after his aircraft fell off the balloon, he restarted its engine and flew back to base. The balloon sagged into an explosion. Later when on another attack run, he was shot at from a balloon. He parked his plane on top of the damaged balloon, shut down his engine in order to protect its propeller, and waited until the balloon descended to slide off the balloon and fly away.

Coppens Hanriot HD.I with its insignia of a thistle sprig became so well known that the Germans went to extremes to try to kill him. On 3 August 1918 he shot down a balloon the Germans had booby-trapped with explosives, that when detonated from the ground narrowly missed killing him. The flaming wreckage of the balloon "fell swift as doom on the watching German staff officers, killing many and injuring the rest".

His successful aerial fighting career ended on 14th October 1918, just before the war’s end. On this balloon attack, Coppens was hit by enemy anti-aircraft fire and struck in the leg. He pressed on his attack, scoring his final kill before crash landing inside his own lines. Unfortunately, his leg had to be amputated. Coppens survived the war and eventually retired from the Army in 1940 after serving as a military attaché in several foreign countries.

We think the saying “Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines” could have been written for Willy Omer Francois Jean Coppens de Houthulst and those brave fliers of a similar ilk.

This is a limited edition of three only 1/30 scale warbirds priced at $650 plus postage which will vary depending in where you live.
The figures and accessories are shown for scale comparison purposes only and are not included.

unnamed(16) by Wayne 556517, on Flickr

unnamed(17) by Wayne 556517, on Flickr

unnamed(18) by Wayne 556517, on Flickr

unnamed(19) by Wayne 556517, on Flickr

unnamed(20) by Wayne 556517, on Flickr

unnamed(21) by Wayne 556517, on Flickr

 
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