The Ongoing Mystery Aircraft Thread Part Deux.

[& Co.]

Yes, Lefty, the pic on the wall is a clue - and my previous post was another.

[sandar]

What is really disconcerting about the mystery chopper, is one of the guys looking at the machine is my doppelganger. Even my missus aked if it was me I even have a jacket like his.

[lefty]

Sadly no time to spend on it today - off to do the present distribution round then curling tonight. Nothing obvious yet - but wait till Moses arises !

Are there any good chopper books around ? Never seen one.

[Ralf Roggeveen]

You didn't mention Ralf's gasbags, thereby leaving him an opening. :costumes:

Ha, ha. I'd actually banned myself from posting them, on the grounds that it's the Historical WINGS Society. Nor do helicopters have wings, but still! But thanks to recent 1950s airliner activities, even Ralf is quite interested in choppers. I've got the Sabena ones sorted out, including a flyable S-55. And I've got an enormous, horrid French helicopter which might make an appearance in a thread I'm hoping to start on its 40th anniversary between Christmas & New Year...

The current mystery, however, has me stumped. All I can find in the library is the Guinness Book of Helicopter Facts & Feats, which seems to be mainly about military ones. Maybe James Hurricane will be back for the holidays & put us all out of our misery?

[& Co.]

The more I think about it, the more it seems to be a stinker among stinkers. So here's a BIG clue: this copter is closely related to automobile.

[lefty]

I know Lamborghini made a couple of prototypes ?

[& Co.]

Not that posh, Lefty.

[Moses03]

Just not a rotorhead enough to have a clue. White flag goes up here.

[& Co.]

Okay, 1st helo from me and last one.
It is a Citroën-Marchetti R2.
Yes, the same Citroën that made the 2CV (aka the Ugly Duckling), that's the 1st unusual thing about it.
No, that Marchetti has nothing to do with the italian seaplane maker.
It was powered by a rotary engine (à la Wankel), that's the 2nd unusual thing about it.
Maiden flight on Dec 24, 1975 !

This should last .01 second:

[Ferry_vO]

My first thought was : "Hey that looks like a Me-109 but with a radial engine!" and it is! It's the Messerschmitt Me-109 V-21.
The undercarriage, wings and tail are straight off a normal 109.



As for the chopper: D'oh!
I did see the Tour Eiffel on the poster which means the face is probably that of André himself, who was of Dutch descent!
Didn't have time to dig deeper though..

[Ferry_vO]

The last mystery gave me a good reason to revisit some Me-109's in Fs; I have the boxed version (By Flight1) of the Flight Replicas 109's, which cover the F,G and K models, and the FR Avia S-99 & S-199. Interesting to see how the 109 design evolved during and after the war. The later models might have been better armed and faster but the earlier models are more fun to fly. The Jumo powered S-199 is a real beast on the ground and get you in a lot of trouble really fast!

[Ferry_vO]

Anyway, on to the next one:

[& Co.]

Knew the Messerschmitt wouldn't last long. Well done Ferry - and a belated to help you start the day

[Ferry_vO]

Thanks &co! Kinda surprised my mystery made it through the night though; didn't think it was that difficult for all the experts in here.

[& Co.]

Have to post in a rush: Merry Christmas / Vrolijk Kerstfeest / Joyeux Noël to you all