WesWorld

*Huge fanfares of trumpets and the roll of drums*

It's time to annouce the Tenth Talons Over Cordoba Fighter Contest.

To be held at Cordoba Air Base between 10th-30th August 1941.


Rules
1. Any nation can enter a maximum of two fighters, that is to say the primary role of the aircraft must be to intercept and destroy enemy aircraft; they can be of different types or the same and may be twin-engined fighters or carrier-based fighters.
2. Entries must be production machines, that is to say they must be in regular squadron service (for at least a minimum of six months =by 29 February 1941) and in no way modified from the production standard. All prototype and pre-production aircraft are prohibited from entry. All-up weights should be roughly identical to production machines in service and efforts to lighten the airframe or the removal of equipment to save weight are prohibited. The polishing of surface finish and the tightening of panel gaps is allowed and minor aerodynamic coverings of gun ports and other protruding and drag-inducing imperfections is also allowed. Revised windscreens to reduce drag are prohibited.
3. Engine tuning is allowed but the addition of superchargers to non-supercharged engines is prohibited. Fuel additives are prohibited but special boost systems using separate mixtures not added to fuel are allowed as long as such equipment is fitted as standard. Special racing spec engines are prohibited. Each team can bring two engines for each aircraft entered but both must be the same model and set up identically and one engine must be a spare only and can be fitted during the main events if repair of the race engine proves impossible or impractical. Changes to propeller types are also prohibited as are changes to radiators to reduce drag or to improve cooling.
4. No armament to be fitted, ballast to weight of guns must be added, only those fighter aircraft fitted for bomb racks may be entered into the bombing contest.
5. All aircraft must be fitted with a radio transmitter/ receiver for safety reasons.
6. Pilots must have over three years of flying experience on single-engined types, official state or company test pilots are allowed to compete but other civilian pilots are not. Rank of the pilot is not an issue.
7. All single-engined and twin-engined aircraft will compete in separate race events, all duels will also be separate but the Grand Final Duel will feature both types of fighter. Bombing and altitude and cross country races will be of mixed groups. Pilots will score points and these will be tallied to declare a winner.


As ususal there are 48 spaces, six are reserved for twin-engined fighters.


Argentina will enter one I-02 and one of the newer I-02II fighters.
Major de Aero Antonio Valdez, commander of Squadron 1/2 of the 1st Grupo of Aerea Regimenta No1 based at Cordoba [two confirmed kills in the South American War], he is flying his personal silver FMA I-02 Pulqui C/N1044 with a blue tail for the third time at Talons.
Major de Aero Horatio Cisco, commander of Squadron 1/1 of the 1st Grupo Aerea Regimenta No 6 based at San Miguel de Tucuman makes his debut at Talons flying his personal all-black FMA I-02-II Pulqui C/N 1020 powered by a 1,500hp FMA-Spartan V-12 engine.

Great Britain will send a team flying two Spitfire Mk III fighters;
Flt. Lt. Bob Stanford Tuck returns to Talons and he is flying a standard production Spitfire F.Mk.III EN780 powered by a 1,100hp RR Merlin IV V-12 engine.
Flt. Lt. James Edgar "Johnnie" Johnson makes his debut to Talons flying Spitfire F.Mk.III EN791 powered by a 1,100hp RR Merlin IV V-12 engine.

The Swiss are sending;
Capitan Maurice Huber returns to represent Switzerland this flying the sixth production example of the brand-new EKW D-3802 fighter with a 1,250hp Saurer YS-2 V-12 engine and painted in a fetching red and white scheme Swiss flag scheme.

The Czechs are sending;
Kapitán Karel Kuttelwascher is representing Czechoslovakia for the third time this year flying the twenty-eighth production Fokker-Avia B-139 fighter powered by a 1,450hp Minerva-Avia 105 V-12 inline engine.

Saving my four slots...

Canadian entries pending, but reserved

Brazil will be sending two single engine planes. The Marinha Imperial will be sending at least one Bl-01 Tufão carrier-based fighter. I still need to finish a few dealings with the Força Aérea Brasileira and some foreign suppliers to let you know if that aircraft will be joined by a second type or one of its squadron mates.

Thailand will be sending two single engined planes as well. Kamal Arthit will be retuning flying the same aircraft as last year. The second plane would be a Fw-190 flown by a Royal Thai Air Force pilot who has not been named yet.

EDIT: Details below

Representing Germany

Oberleutnant Heinrich Bär and Stabsfeldwebel Anton Hafner, from Jagdgeschwader 51, flying the Focke Wulf Fw190

Representing Yugoslavia

Captain Mihailo Bodi and Lieutenant Djorde Popovic, from No.62 Squadron, flying the Soko Jastreb

Greece will be sending Episminagos (Squadron Leader) Ionnis Leventis of 4sqn based in Tanagra flying a Bolton Paul P.94.

Denmark and Iberia will be there!!

2 slots each please....

Quoted

[SIZE=3]France[/SIZE]
The Aeronavale is sending a production Bloch MB.1050 Milan belonging to the Flotille 32F of the 4e Groupement Aérien de Porte-avions. The aircraft will be piloted by Enseigne de vaisseau de première classe Roger Sauvage, a black West Indian (Martinique) pilot born in Paris who joined the Aeronavale in 1937. Originally a carrier reconnaissance pilot, Sauvage received the opportunity to attend the FAR Aerial Warfare School in Limoges. He graduated fifth in the Class of 1940 out of two hundred eighty (which included French, Atlantean, Russian, Byzantine, Chilean, and Colombian pilots). He was temporarily employed flying preproduction Bloch Milans as part of the demonstration escadrille at the Paris Air Show. Although he is a fairly junior pilot, in January 1941 he was assigned to Flotille 32F to assist their transition to the new Bloch MB.1050, and Sauvage has logged more flight hours in the Milan than any other pilot aside from Bloch's chief test pilot.

The Armee de l'Aire is sending a stock-standard Arsenal VG.60 Revenant piloted by Capitaine Edmond Marin La Meslee. Marin La Meslee joined the Air Force in 1931 and graduated officer candidate school in 1937. He is recently promoted to the command of Escadron de chasse 01.002 "Cigognes", the most illustrious fighter squadron in the French military (part of Groupe de Chasse I/3). EC1/2 t is the inheritor of the traditions of Georges Guynemer's "SPA 3" and René Fonck's "SPA 12" escadrilles, and the squadron's logo, showing three flying storks, is among the most recognized symbols of any military unit. This is his second Talons appearance.

Both Sauvage and Marin La Meslee are IRL World War II aces. Sauvage is, incidentally, the world's highest-scoring black pilot.

Quoted

[SIZE=3]Chile[/SIZE]
Comandante de Escuadrilla Carlos Matta (b.1910) (rank equivalent to Major) is representing the FACh and is flying a ENAER-built F2E Buchon. Matta is the commander of 110 Escuadrón, 3rd Fighter Regiment, I Brigada. Matta first flew in combat against Bolivia in the Andean War, shooting down two Bolivian biplanes despite flying a bomber. He was thereafter promoted to pilot fighters. In the Air Battle of Arica and Tacna, Matta scored three kills against Peruvian aircraft, shooting down a Hurricane, a Boulton-Paul Defiant, and a Bristol Beaufort. The final combat resulted in Matta's F-12 Aves being hit by machine gun fire; Matta bailed out of his burning F-12 and was taken prisoner by the Peruvian Army. Matta has 17,500 flight hours, being qualified in Spartan Storms, Spartan Cyclones, Accrisius Aves, I-01-IIB Buchons, and F2E fighters, among others. He has a total of eleven years flying experience, and this is his third Talons appearance. Matta's I-02 is named "Laura Fiora II" for his wife, and painted in the stock-standard Chilean desert camouflage.

Capitan de Corbeta (Lt. Com.) Patricio Mistral (b.1908) represents the Armada de Chile Arma Aérea (Chilean Navy Air Arm). Mistral flew combat missions during the Andean War as well as the Peruvian War, scoring one aerial kill in each war. He has 19,800 flying hours and twelve years flying experience. He has now served for two years as an instructor at the FAR Aerial Warfare School in Limoges and is the main Chilean advocate for carrier-based night-fighters. This is his fourth Talons appearance. This year he is flying a Chilean-built F4E-2 Corsair (this is the version with the corrected landing gear, stall strip and Malcolm hood).

Please block two slots for SAE entries.

Ok, finalizing my entries.

Brazil:

Comandante Gaspar Alencar, Marinha Imperial. Comandante Alencar is the fighter squadron commander on board the aircraft carrier Brazil. The Brazil's fighter squadron was the first to convert to the new BL-01 Tufão (Typhoon) fighter bought from France, and this is the aircraft that Alencar will be flying. Flying his personal aircraft, named Rodando Dançarino (Twirling Dancer), which for the competition will bear paint scheme of Dark Blue, and Medium Grey with the control surfaces stylised with the Brazilian Flag. The aircraft will bear standard Marinha Imperial markings and the markings of the Brazil's fighter squadron, as well as a painting of a traditional Portuguese dancer in a green, yellow and blue dress on the nose.

Capitão Manoel Santos, Marinha Imperial. Capitão Santos is the current second in command of the Brazil's fighter squadron, but his transfer to the new aircraft carrier currently under refit in Greece as its fighter group commander was confirmed shortly before being named to the Talons team. Santos will also be flying the BL-01 Tufão (Typhoon), as the new carrier's fighter group will also be equipped with it. Bearing the same general paint scheme as Comandante Alencar's aircraft, the two differ in the identification marking, with Santos's aircraft being the ID marking of the fighter squadron of the new carrier. A life-like painting of a young Brazilian woman wearing a very skimpy swimsuit[1] in Brazilian national colors adorns the nose along with the text Coisa pequena minúscula (Tiny Little Thing).

Note: My guess is that both of the Brazilian pilots would have served in the SA war, but I dont feel the need to go into (aka make up) combat records at this time.


Thailand:

Captain Kamal Arthrit, Royal Thai Navy. Making his second Talons appearance, Captain Arthrit hopes to improve on his performance from last year. One of the twelve pilots on board the carrier Sri Ayuthia, Arthrit has distinguished himself as one of the Thai Navy's more talented pilots, and the finest in ground attack. Flying a Re-2001 in traditional Thai Navy colors, his plane does not have any nose art, however he plans on adding something at the competition.

Major Amnuay Jainukul, Royal Thai Air Force. Major Jainukul is currently assigned to the Thai Air Force's premier squadron and the leader of the Air Force's demonstration team. One of the first pilots to convert to the Fw-190, Jainukul just missed Talons last year and is not going to let the Navy take all the glory again. Flying a Fw-190 in standard Thai livery, the nose bears a traditional picture of a monkey in pink and gold.

[1]Fine, bikini

I will be sending the usual suspects, of course giving up one or both Byzantean slots for active players. (6-8 slots)

Here are some information on the SAE entries.

First contender will be Flt. Capt. Bertus Brase, Squadron Leader of No. 210 Squadron, presenting the Walter F-11C Falcon. No. 210 Squadron was the first RSAF unit to receive the new radial-egnine fighter aircraft in early 1941. Captain Brase is an experienced pilot and leader, having served the RSAF already during the war in South America where he was credited with six confirmed victories. The F-11C "Slightly Dangerous" he will use is not his personal aircraft but identically equipped. The plane is painted in green and light grey.



Second entry is a JFM F-12D Sparrow flown by Flt. Capt. Emil Trubshaw, Leader of No. 78 Squadron in Buenos Aires. The fighter "Shady Lady" his his personal aircraft but newly painted for Talons with a white forward fuselage, red tail aft of her cockpit section and a fine nose art on her cowling. Trubshaw started his career flying a A-18 Havik light bomber during the early stages of the South American war before he became a fighter pilot. He achieved two confirmed kills in air-to-air battle. The nose art on his fighter is the same as on his Havik.


Original art by Vargas, this pose was painted on the noses of:
- Boeing B-29 "Super Fortress" with caption "Arise my Love and come with me"
- Lockheed P-38 Lightning with caption "Ginger Snap"
- Consolidated B-24 "Liberator" with caption "Shady Lady"
- Boeing B-29 "Super Fortress" with caption "Pride of the Yankees"

Remote linking forbidden!!!

hmmm.... it worked for me minutes ago.

Will upload the pic to my own server and modify my entry later....

It generally works for you since the computer will automatically pull it out of the session cache; it stops working when it refreshes the cache.

Obviously.... But I promise, I will show the pic. Later.

Quoted

Originally posted by HoOmAn
Obviously.... But I promise, I will show the pic. Later.

I'm guessing it's this, but it won't let me copy the pic

I approve

Well, I had no problem copying it, I just could not link it.

To get a copy, I search for "noseart" in google and chose that thumbnail. It loaded, showing a thumbnail in the upper frame from google and the webpage in the lower frame. When left klicking on the thumbnail it opened the pic and I could easily right click it for a "save as" operation....

Returning again this year;

1) RCNAS Captain Reginald Antilles of 65th Fighter Group, flying an uprated Burnelli Aircraft CF-38b "Skipray" in standard RCNAS Livery, named "Cannon Spike".




2) RCNAS Commander Mark Stele of the 181st Fighter Group, flying a veteran Avro Canada CF-12 "Pit Viper" in standard 181st Fighter group Livery (including red striping), named "Doom On You"