Cool, ... Hot, and Near Smokin'

[Milton Shupe]

Work In Process ... i.e. "Beyond just piddlin'"

[t.creed]

this is looking very nice..!!! detailed..

rgds
t.creed

[PRB]

Is that the X-'something" with the big giant cannon in the nose..? Looking pretty darned good, whatever it is!!

[pointy31]

That is fantastic Milton...:ernae:

I will start brewing the Cajun Koolaid RAT NOW!!!

[Milton Shupe]

Beechcraft called it the A-28 Destroyer; the US Military called it the XA-38 Grizzly. Yes, a 75 mm cannon out the nose, two turrets, and two .50's in the nose. Fast, sleek, and too late ... but not for us. :jump:

http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/factsheets/factsheet_print.asp?fsID=3178&page=1

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XA-38_Grizzly

EDIT: For any of you who keep Airpower Magazine, the November '78 edition featured the Grizzly. The Bell Airacobra was on the front cover.

[Wing_Z]

Can you imagine squeezing off a round in that thing?
Anywhere else you'd have both thumbs in your ears, deep breath and shut your eyes...

It would've wreaked havoc with airframe life too.

Thanks for posting the WIP Milton, fascinating to see this.
Can't wait to try it.
You thinking of a way to make that Big Gun go Boom?

[FengZ]

WOW! beautiful! Love all the details in model and VC.

-feng

[Milton Shupe]

Here is public information on the cannon ... pretty awesome looking. Auto-loader ... yes!

I haven't gotten to the effects yet .. not sure what is possible in FS9. There will also be a FS2002/CFS2 version.

[Lionheart]

Can you imagine being in that plane when that cannon goes off? Must be a powerful hit on the airframe. I wonder what it sounded like on the ground, watching it overhead firing off some rounds.

Nice work on that VC Milton!


Bill

[Milton Shupe]

The cannon was electronically fired. When the pilot hit the switch, the cannon would fire off 20 rounds at 1.2 second intervals, then auto-reload, and commence firing. Expended shells were captured in a box for re-use. To ease maintenance and re-arming tasks, the whole front fuselage section was hinged on a set of counter-balance springs and would open forward to expose the entire installation. Despite the cannon firepower in the nose, noise levels were reported to be acceptable to Army test pilots during the test firings at Eglin Field, Fl.
SOURCE: Airpower Magazine. Nov. '78

[Javis]

As always, beautiful smooth modeling, Milton ! LOVE those tire textures ! :ernae:

Cheers,
Jan

[Milton Shupe]

Can you imagine being in that plane when that cannon goes off? Must be a powerful hit on the airframe. I wonder what it sounded like on the ground, watching it overhead firing off some rounds.

Nice work on that VC Milton!


Bill

Thanks Bill ... Scott Thomas and I have just gotten the basics in place, so much yet to refine. Scott is doing the artistry work there as well as the panel and gauges.

I must say thanks to Willy for inspiring the project, and especially to Moses03 for getting the contacts and the unbelievable cockpit drawings and other rare access to information and pictures without which, basic accuracy would have been impossible.

Special thanks also to Andrew Labosky, Volunteer Archivist, Kansas Aviation Museum for finding real world pictures of the XA-38 Cockpit and Gunner's station, and;
Special thanks to Glyn Owen for panel references and Gary Newman for wind tunnel model and cannon photos.

Fliger_747 (Tom) has done a beautiful job on this flight model. I think you will be very impressed with her speed and handling, and slow speed landings.

[Milton Shupe]

As always, beautiful smooth modeling, Milton ! LOVE those tire textures ! :ernae:

Cheers,
Jan

Hello and Thank you Jan. :wave: The tire textures were graciously provided by Manfred Jahn of recent Connie 1649 fame (and others). :jump: I too love them.

[Flyboy208]

This project of yours has come a long way Milton, the end result will be highly cherished on this end! Mike ! :ernae:

[Tom Clayton]

Beautiful work Milton!:applause:

So much for "retirement!" :costumes:

[PeteHam]

Absolutely stunning :applause::applause:

A masterpiece in the making. :jump:

Thanks Milton.

Pete.

[TICTOC]

What was that about retiring?
I'm glad old habits die hard. :woot:

Cam.

[Sundog]

Wow, that's looking great. Compared to an A-20, that cockpit looks absolutely spacious.

[Ian Warren]

You have got to love the amazing designs from WWII sorta forgotten , that is one mean machine with the looks and attitude !

[Terry]

Nice workmanship Milton.:applause:

Was this the same 75mm cannon that was mounted in the B-25h? I don't believe that aircraft was modeled either.

[Milton Shupe]

Wow, that's looking great. Compared to an A-20, that cockpit looks absolutely spacious.

I have to fight that feeling a lot. The panel was spread widely across the cockpit, and the height was less than normal so that the pilot has excellent forward visibility. The cannon is visible in the seating position. If you can imagine the pilot's shoulders being wider than the yoke, then you get some sense of the smallness (height-wise) of the panel. With that said, one issue raised during testing was that the throttles were difficult to stagger at takeoff as the pilot normally wanted to lead with the left throttle. That throttle being a longer reach was difficult to set that lead with.

[MudMarine]

WOW.............dang................WOW!! Don't know what else to say?!

[Milton Shupe]

Nice workmanship Milton.:applause:

Was this the same 75mm cannon that was mounted in the B-25h? I don't believe that aircraft was modeled either.

Same cannon, different model without the auto-loader I believe. Someone correct me if I am wrong here please.

[T Square]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Terry http://www.sim-outhouse.com/sohforums/images/soh/buttons/viewpost.gif (http://www.sim-outhouse.com/sohforums/showthread.php?p=115226#post115226)
Nice workmanship Milton.:applause:

Was this the same 75mm cannon that was mounted in the B-25h? I don't believe that aircraft was modeled either.


Same cannon, different model without the auto-loader I believe. Someone correct me if I am wrong here please.

On the money, same gun but manually loaded. Only carried 21 rounds. Imagine the poor crewman who was assigned in a limited amount of space having to pull the brass reload and sit within a foot or so as the trigger was pulled on this 75 MM monster. They even had to partially plate over part of the pilots wind screen to protect him against the cannon's flash and blast. Although thought to be ineffective imagine yourself in a Japanese Destroyer and being hit with the concentrated fire of 14, 50 Cal. and one 75 MM cannon, all aimed at amidship or at the bridge. This was also the same gun used in a Sherman Tank as well.

[GT182]

Looks great Milton. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v64/GT182/Thumbup.gif :applause:

[b24_witchcraft]

Certainly an unique looking airplane. Great job and nice WIP previews Milton!! :ernae:

[Milton Shupe]

Thanks everyone for your interest and kind comments. We will likely be another 8 weeks on this project before uploading. We hope we can bring you an enjoyable ride. Now back to work for me. :wavey:

[Cazzie]

Fantastic Milton, but you gotta let go of that Owlsley! :d:d

Caz

[Blackbird686]

Very Nice so far Milton (as is always the case with your excellent models).... Looking forward to flying that beast.

BB686:USA-flag:

[Drake]

Looks incredible Milton! I wonder if they got the idea of the nose gun on the A-10 from this design?

[Flyboy208]

Drooling on this end Milton - already have a VIP parking space reserved for her in my FS hangar! Mike :ernae:

[Milton Shupe]

...snipped...

It would've wreaked havoc with airframe life too.

...snipped...

"The design engineers used solid steel in some places to help with the structural impact of cannon use."

"... the flame damper [for the engines] did not function as planned, a two-foot long blue flame being visible around the entire engine and easily seen from air or ground."

Quotes from the article.

[Tom Clayton]

"The design engineers used solid steel in some places to help with the structural impact of cannon use."

"... the flame damper [for the engines] did not function as planned, a two-foot long blue flame being visible around the entire engine and easily seen from air or ground."

Quotes from the article.
Something tells me that she wouldn't have been going on many night raids anyway. Night vision was still a few years off!:kilroy:

[Willy]

The Black Cat PBYs did pretty good at night back then. But then, they were Navy :d.

[Milton Shupe]

Something tells me that she wouldn't have been going on many night raids anyway. Night vision was still a few years off!:kilroy:

Just FYI, had they corrected the flame damper issue ...

If you would like a copy of the article, PM me please.

[aeronca1]

Looks great Milton. Oh, btw, what dictionary did you use to get the definition of retirement. I Like it!!!!

[campbell]

Looks like another great one Milton. Looking forward to the finished product!

[Tom Clayton]

I appreciate the offer, look for a PM in a moment. But what stumps me is how the pilot would acquire a blacked-out target at night.

[NAMBUS]

Looks magnificent as always Milton.
Looking forward to this one.

[Milton Shupe]

If you would like a copy of the Airpower article on the Grizzly, please PM me for the link. This is an eleven page article very thorough in its description of the aircraft. There are about 12 pictures or so.

[fliger747]

Quite a plane! I am really pleased to see Milton again at his best!

Cheers: T.