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Loupy59 — Possible DOM Aircraft
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#aircraft #fanart #destroyermen
Published: 2019-04-23 21:41:14 +0000 UTC; Views: 2782; Favourites: 17; Downloads: 9
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Description
First off, I have to say every aircraft design I do referring to the Destroyermen saga is derived, at least in part, from an initial drawing by the author, Taylor Anderson. Kudos to an inventive mind. I then bend, fold, spindle & mutilate these ideas to my own depraved ends.
This is a thoroughly speculative ONI briefing on a possible Dominion aircraft design. Based on vague hints & allegations of “troubling news” from the DOMs, they MAY have developed heavier than air flight, based on reverse engineered Nancy wrecks & guidance from the LOT.
Sparse information from various sources indicates the new Dominion aircraft is of twin engine, bi-wing seaplane configuration. Bi-plane design allows for larger wing area & greater lift, while retaining strength & a reasonable size.
Said to be somewhat larger than the PB-1C Nancy.
The engines are apparently based on the PB-1Cs 4 cylinder & while larger are considered to be inefficient compared to current Alliance designs. It is thought the engines are deliberately made larger due to inferior metals, machining & inexperience with internal combustion designs leading to an “over engineered” design with looser tolerances.
The service ceiling estimate is based on human physiology. Tactical considerations must take this into account & pilots briefed accordingly. (ONI advises an increased priority on development of pilot breathing apparatus to allow parity in high altitude operations.)
Little is known about the new swivel gun except size & action. Unsubstantiated reports indicate the weapon uses "fixed" waxed cloth cartridges & friction ignition. Rate of fire estimates range from 5-20 rounds per minute firing canister or solid shot. (ONI believes such a design would be biased towards the higher rate of fire estimate.) While firing slower than the Alliance MGs, canister rounds could be dangerous against PB-1s at close ranges.
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Comments: 15
Pirate swivel guns on a biplane? Yeah, that does sound like something the Doms would do. Does the next version include a grikbird cage?
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It's a larger biplane more drag, I would think top speed under 100MPH with same engine as a Nancy.
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If it was a single engine, yes, but it's a twin & the engines are larger & more powerful than the Nancy's, so I gave it about the same speed.
You're right though, it should be down around 95-100 mph.
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Interesting concept as always! Now let's assume that when Fred Reynolds was held in captivity by the Doms and compelled to assist with developing an aircraft based on his Nancy then it would be reasonable to say they could at least be able to reproduce airworthy airframes. However, I remember Fred saying something along the lines of having purposely omitted or distorted critical details related to aero design. That in and of itself will prompt the Dom engineers to unknowingly introduce this vulnerability into production.
Add on top of that engine development being hampered not just by inferior metallurgy and build tolerances but by a lack of knowledge refining crude into aviation grade fuel. So left to themselves the Doms will struggle to put together anything other than a somewhat airworthy but potentially flawed glider. Maybe attach a tow line to a grikbird that's long enough not to get shaken up too badly by all the wing flapping up front? (I'm ever so sorry, could not hold that one back!!!) XD
OTOH, if they get assistance from a reasonable number of dedicated League engineers then they may have a chance to bring your design into production. Perhaps making it resemble something closer to a Savoia-Marchetti/Dornier flying boat mashup?
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I don’t think they’d have a chance in hell of getting airborne unless those French nazis from the League unfucked it for them first. Just completing a functional internal-combustion engine seems like quite a stretch on their own.
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Oh, it's definitely a flawed design! Someone just mentioned they may have one in development & I took the ball & ran with it.
I'm assuming they do have some LOT advice on it & they've been examining crashed Nancy's as well as having Fred's flawed input.
For that matter, the Nancy is a flawed design, being unstable in pitch makes it a challenging plane to fly & damned dangerous. The allies are probably loosing quite a few prospective pilots in training with low altitude stalls being unrecoverable.
Most early aircraft did have major flaws in their designs. Engine failures were common at first, followed closely by wing & tail plane weaknesses. Pulling out of a dive & having your tail fall off, or wing fold up was a real downer.
As far as engines go, the actual engine is well within their tech level. Compound steam engines are actually more complex than internal combustion engines. You're right about the fuel, but with some LOT input they should be able to distill low octane fuel from crude fairly easily. Distilling alcohol isn't any different in concept.
I like the grikbird glider! I was originally going to make this a hybrid plane, with some hot air bags in the fuselage to help her lift, but thought it might be a bit too steam punk.
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Well, the series does have a steampunk vibe after all! Well, actually Dieselpunk to be more precise... Compound steam engines are not just complex, they've got no endurance since they need to carry both fuel and water, as opposed to just fuel for an ICE. The most successful real example was the Besler prototype steam biplane in 1933, even if it just flew around the same airfield.
Methinks grikbird gliders are just too damn cool, think about having the pilot saddled to the bird and the gunner/bomber towed from behind. It'll give the D-Men series a Game of Thrones/Avatar vibe too! Talk about bad-ass crossovers!!
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From the descriptions, I think it would take a minimum of three Grikbirds to tow a very small one person glider. (Good luck coordinating that one!)
Riders are probably out too (sigh), since they have to flap hard just to keep their own big ass in the air.
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Yeah, trying to justify that whole ensemble will just push things into fantasy territory and I don't wanna to stray in that direction...
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All I see is a "what if" creation. now yeah we could speculate that the Doms could build aircraft, but the problem is that they just don't have the technology to do it. Sure, with time and the help of the League they could, but the main issue is that they just don't have enough machinery to build enough of these. With the Allies getting closer, we have yet to see something on the scale it took for the allies to make aircraft. Plus, even the League soldiers from the destroyer that made contact would not have had the time, or probably the mindset, too help the Doms.
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Of course it's a "what if". There's no real indication in ROB that they're building it. On the other claw, the LOT has been interacting with the DOMs for quite a while before ROB, so we don't really know what they've helped with. The DOMs do have steam power & an internal combustion engine is actually simpler mechanically than a steam engine. The hardest part for them would probably be the ignition system & a look at crashed Nancy's would solve that riddle.
The main issue would be the airframe design & with some hints from the LOT & Nancy wreaks to look at, they could probably come up with something. Whether it's a good design is a different problem. It could be unstable, wings not strong enough etc.
But like you said, pure speculation.
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I'm confused, why bother adding swivel guns, especially ones 37mm in size, to a plane? It just seems kind of pointless considering the plane would have to be tipping it's sides for air support, and they'd likely fire too slowly to be useful against another aircraft. Then again, I'm only on the second book, so maybe I just haven't gotten so far to learn what uses it has.
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With you at the beginning of the series, I don't want to spoil too much. They don't have rapid fire weapons, so about the best they could do air-to-air is a shotgun type weapon. It's not really for ground support, just giving the crews something to shoot back at the enemy aircraft with. A large shotgun might put enough lead in the air to get hits as the planes pass each other.
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Alrighty then, I guess that works too.
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