Warbird Information Exchange

Mark, yes it is a Saab, and Clifford, you are correct, but I don't think that Tunnan was an official name but rather a nickname from Flygande tunnan ("The flying barrel"). The photo is from page 114 of "Saab Aircraft since 1937" by Hans G. Andersson, 1989. The Saab 29 first flew on 1 September 1948 and its service life in the Swedish Air Force as a combat aircraft ended in May 1967, but versions of the design continued to fly into late 1976.

I guess I'm going to have dig deeper for the next ID for fun plane. All you guys are good. I hope you enjoy the "game". More later. Fly and/or stay safe.

Randy

Thank you Mr. Wilson! It's been fun playing. I'll be taking a break whilst I begin a compost bidness with my 2 ponies...just in time for spring planting!

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He bowls overhand...He is the most interesting man in the world.
"In Peace Japan Breeds War", Eckstein, Harper and Bros., 3rd ed. 1943(1927, 1928,1942)
"Leave it to ol' Slim. I got ideas...and they're all vile, baby." South Dakota Slim
"Ahh..."The Deuce", 28,000 pounds of motherly love." quote from some Mojave Grunt
DBF

You are welcome, airnutz. Enjoy the shoveling Here is the 6th ID for fun plane. It is about as obscure as I think I can find but it is out there on the Internet. The image is from a published book in my library. No hints for now. Enjoy. Randy

P.S. OK, no bites, no fun. The aircraft was one of three ordered by one of two countries at war with each other in the between the wars period. One aircraft of the order was produced.

P.P.S. The two countries are in South America.

Last hint is that the aircraft was built in Switzerland. I'll reveal the ID later today if nobody gets it before.

I may have dug too deep on the last one, but I added two hints and will let it stand another day. To make up, here is #7 which I think will be much easier. Or will it? Oh, I did remove the serial number near the top of the fin and rudder. The other seeming overpaints or whatever on the vertical stab are in the original image. Enjoy. Randy

A-18 Shrike.

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WIXerGreg - basically correct but this airframe has a slightly different official designation. Randy

Y1A-18 serial number 37-063?

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Exactly! This was the twelfth Y1A-18 built, 37-063, photographed at Hensley Field, Texas, March 1942. The image is from page 48 of "WWII War Eagles; Global Air War in Original Color" by my good friend, Jeffrey L. Ethell, 1995. A bit more info on the type, if desired, in the morning. All the best.

Randy

Cool! I just mentioned this type in a post on the "Aircraft Disposal 1946" thread:

Was that slightly different designation "Shrike II"?
Fine looking machine; surprised to find one as late as 1946. I'm guessing any survivor would have been Class 26 in a maintenance school by then; anyone know?

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All right, Mister Dorfmann, start pullin'!
Pilot: "Flap switch works hard in down position."
Mechanic: "Flap switch checked OK. Pilot needs more P.T." - Flight report, TB-17G 42-102875 (Hobbs AAF)

If any one person on this board would have a clue...given the Latin American connection...it would be Tulio.

_________________
He bowls overhand...He is the most interesting man in the world.
"In Peace Japan Breeds War", Eckstein, Harper and Bros., 3rd ed. 1943(1927, 1928,1942)
"Leave it to ol' Slim. I got ideas...and they're all vile, baby." South Dakota Slim
"Ahh..."The Deuce", 28,000 pounds of motherly love." quote from some Mojave Grunt
DBF

Chris - Looking at the history of the design in "Curtiss Aircraft 1907-1947" by Peter M. Bowers, the Y1A-18 was just called Shrike, however, at least one website says that the change from the Curtiss model 76 (XA-14) to 76A (Y1A-18) introduced the Shrike II name. The XA-14 had two Wright R-1670 engines with two-blade props while the Y1A-18 had two Wright R-1820 engines with three-blade props. This source also says that last Y1A-18 was "withdrawn from service in 1943." Your guess as to Class 26 in a maintenance school if likely correct, but I don't know for sure.

Randy

Just to muddy the "Shrike" name water, I was just looking at "To Join with the Eagles; A complete illustrated history of Curtiss-Wright aircraft from 1903 to 1965" by Murray Rubenstein and Richard M. Goldman, 1974, and on page 144 are pictures of the XA-14 and another of the A-18 and both are called "Shrike II". Of course, there was an earlier design named "Shrike", the single-engine XA-8 and Y1A-8, of which only a few, perhaps 13 were built, so perhaps the authors used "Shrike II" for the later twin-engine design. Attached is an image of the Y1A-8A from that source.

Randy

OK, the image is from page 131 of "Aircraft of the Chaco War 1928-1935" by Dan Hagedorn & Antonio L. Sapienza, 1997. Bolivia ordered three of the "bomber/transports", only one of which was built before the price of tin crashed, leaving the order unpaid. Believe it or not, there is a Wiki page about this design here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comte_AC-3

The Chaco War is rather interesting in the use of aircraft, produced in several other countries, in the late 1920s and early 1930s, often flown from bases at very high altitudes. Fly and stay safe. Randy

Edit: For some reason part of the text was not included when I submitted this the other day. I have corrected that. Anyone else seeing similar issues?

OK, maybe one more, #8. Randy

The Swiss built Comte AC-3...that was a surprise. Using your clue of South America and the apparent 20's-ish vintage of the subject photo, I settled on the most likely conflicts which might necessitate such a purchase..."The Colombia-Peru War and the Chaco War(Bolivia-Paraguay) in the Wiki. The Comte didn't make it in the aircraft lists, so it was odd that the Comte was hidden off in a linkless Wiki Secret Hangar. There were some other Swiss aircraft in the region tho, the Wild WT(4 birds) and Wild X(8 birds)trainers of Colombia. The Swiss had some interesting influence with Colombia. When they formed their Air Force it lasted about a year before the Colombians went bankrupt. About a year later an ex-Swiss Air Force vet of the Swiss Legation set up a flight training school for them using the Wild's. Here's a color rendering of the Wild WT's...I haven't seen an example of the Wild X..
http://www.insigniamag.com/colum15.html

_________________
He bowls overhand...He is the most interesting man in the world.
"In Peace Japan Breeds War", Eckstein, Harper and Bros., 3rd ed. 1943(1927, 1928,1942)
"Leave it to ol' Slim. I got ideas...and they're all vile, baby." South Dakota Slim
"Ahh..."The Deuce", 28,000 pounds of motherly love." quote from some Mojave Grunt
DBF