Sgt.Squarehead Posted February 25, 2017 Share Posted February 25, 2017 Thought this might be of interest to the 'whirly-thing' fans amongst us: https://warisboring.com/a-banana-shaped-chopper-with-an-old-gun-turret-isnt-much-of-a-gunship-b0e146d5aa61#.vooz5eyde 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
72modeler Posted February 25, 2017 Share Posted February 25, 2017 How cool a model would this make? You could never get a mod like this done in less than 5 years nowadays. Thanks for sharing a very rare set of photos.....hmmm, where's my Italeri H-21 and my old Airfix B-29? Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Antoine Posted February 25, 2017 Share Posted February 25, 2017 Some time before, in Algeria. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jure Miljevic Posted February 25, 2017 Share Posted February 25, 2017 Great link, Antoine. I also saw a photo (unfortunately, I cannot remember where) of ALAT H-21 with flexible 20-mm cannon, installed inside a cargo hold. I think it was Italeri, which also included decals for H-21 gunship in Algerie in one of its Flying Banana kits. Cheers Jure Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Antoine Posted February 25, 2017 Share Posted February 25, 2017 Indeed. The gun was usualy a German MG151/20. But the H-34/HSS-1 was prefered over the Banana as a Pirate (French name for those gunships). It was really useful in Algeria, and survived even to take part in the early Chadian clashes of the 70's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jure Miljevic Posted February 26, 2017 Share Posted February 26, 2017 Hi, Antoine Improvised use of captured (or perhaps part of war reparations?) German weapons, then. I did not know about Pirate popularity, though. Had this type also been armed with cannons? One also wonders, why no conversion of H-34 to turbine power had been attempted in France. On the other hand, there were plenty of new turbine powered helicopters coming from production lines by late 60', so such conversion of by then an obsolete type would hardly be economical. Cheers Jure Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Antoine Posted February 26, 2017 Share Posted February 26, 2017 Here's the link, just in case. Test were made with what was available at Mers El Kebir navy arsenal, and the best choice was MG151/20. Leftover from German's presence in Tunisia or elsewhere, most probably. Converting an H-34/HSS-1 to turbine? In 1958, Mirage IIIA 01 was the first European jet to Mach 2, and the whole air industry was up and running just a dozen years after the Libération. Most American aircraft in service in AdA, Aéronavale and ALAT till then were there as a stop-gap, and most of them were to be replaced by French machines as soon as possible. In H-34's case, Super Frelon for the Aéronavale, and Puma for AdA and ALAT. A turbine engined H-34 was not needed at all. Puma took over the Pirate role, this time with a GIAT 20mm gun. Rhodesia followed the exemple with its Alouette III, fitting them with MG151/20 (IIRC) and machine guns, as K-car and G-car. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jure Miljevic Posted February 28, 2017 Share Posted February 28, 2017 Antoine Agreed, but Great Britain's aircraft industry was in even better position, yet they produced not only Wessex, but also turbine versions of older and less capable Whirlwind. I suspect the main reasons behind that were not military, but economic. Cheers Jure Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Antoine Posted February 28, 2017 Share Posted February 28, 2017 I don't think so. HSS-1 remained in Aéronavale service till the late 70's, but for the Army and Armée de l'Air, SA330 Puma were ordered in early 60's, so they didn't need an upgraded H-34 while waiting for the Puma. Aéronavale had only a few dozen HSS-1, clearly not enough to launch an expensive upgrade. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Antoine Posted March 6, 2017 Share Posted March 6, 2017 Today's Pirate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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