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Aviation History
1941
1941 - 0324.PDF
FEBRUARY 6TH, 1941. Fifth of the Series FRIEND or FOE? Aid to Aircraft Identification : Two More Opposing Types Compared Points the Spotter Should Note Lockheed Hudson Bomber : Radial-engines set close tofuselage. Gun-turret near tail. Twin fins and rudders. Tapering wings. Windows in streamlined nose and long lineof windows in cabin. Dihedral begins at fuselage. Wheels visible when retracted. CHIEF points in which the Lockheed Hudson and theMe no resemble each other are shape of nose, taper-ing wing plan and twin fins and rudders. But dis- tinguishing features which should make identification fairly easy if anything like a good view is obtainable are that the American machine has radial engines and a gun turret near the tail, whereas the German is fitted with inverted vee engines and has no separate gun turret, the "rear- gunner '' having his post at the aft extremity of the long straight-topped covering over the crew's cockpits. The two machines are surprisingly similar when seen head-on in spite _of the engine difference because the nacelles of the Me are well-rounded and the Hudson's radials are of small diameter compared with the average British equivalent. It will be noted, however, that the latter are set much closer to the fuselage than is usually the case. Side views of these two machines are, however, quite distinctive, the Hud- son having a rather short, deep fuselage with a long row of cabin windows re- miniscent of the passenger air liner from which it was developed for military pur- poses. Its upper-line is in- terrupted by the gun turret just in front of the fin, but the bottom line makes an unbroken, sweeping curve from nose to tail. The Messerschmitt, however, will be recognised from this aspect by its long, compara- tively shallow fuselage with the "glasshouse" above the cockpits. The different types of engine on the two machines will also be quite unmistakable from the side view, while it will also be seen that the Lockheed tail- plane projects beyond the rudders while the Me's rud- ders are attached to the Lockheed Hudson Me 110 and Jaguar Messerschmitt Me no and Jaguar : Inverted vee engines instreamlined nacelles. Egg-shaped nose to no and trans- * parent nose to Jaguar. Twin fins and rudders. Long, straight"cabin-top" above cockpits. Tapering wings. Dihedral starts at fuselage. tips of the tailplane. " Outrigged " rudders are, in fact, an essentially German characteristic. Seen in plan, the pronounced taper of the Hudson's wings and tailplane will readily be observed, together with its close-in radial engines. The tailplane of the Me, "t. although tapering a little on its leading edge, is squared • abruptly off at its tips by the rudders. It should be noted, > incidentally, that the Me Jaguar with the transparent nose is the bomber version and, therefore, a greater menace to those on the ground than the no, which is employed as a fighter, although the possibility of machine-gunning will not be overlooked in the latter case. J Approaching aircraft are most often seen from a half- [i front, half-side view, and it is from this angle that another important difference between the Hudson and the Me will 1 be noticed. The bomb-bay on the former curves well below the level of the wing roots, giving the machine a denj nite mid-wing appearanceRtt but the Me is a true low-^w> wing type so that when the wheels are retracted in flight, the lowest part of the machine is the undersides of the engine nacelles. Yet another wing characteristic of the Hudson is to be seen in the flap-guides which extend behind the trailing edge. There are five on each wing, projecting like the ribs of an umbrella along rather more than half the length of the trailing- edge from the root. These, however, will only be visible when the machine is almost directly overhead. Types already compared: (1) Hurricane and Me 109. (2) Spitfire and He 113. (3) Beaufort and Ju 88. (4) Lysander and Hs 126. Next Week :—Avro Anson and Focke-Wulf Fw 187.
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