Held the speed record for piston powered sea planes since the 1930's. Love the tandem counter rotating V12s and the low drag surface radiators on the floats, wings, float struts and lower cowling.

Took an English guy to figure out what was blowing them up. He figured out a fuel brew and that they were going lean with 400 MPH ram air. The Supermarine racers were awesome also. They won the cup that closed the races.

http://www.air-racing-history....astoli%20MC%2072.htm

384 knots / 441 mph. Open cockpit!

From the article it's easy to see the Macchi 202 & 205 lineage. Beautiful and fast aircraft they were.

Beautiful aircraft. The Italians built some of the prettiest


(and ugliest)


aircraft of WWII. . .

quote:

Originally posted by Hound Dog:
Beautiful aircraft. The Italians built some of the prettiest


(and ugliest)



aircraft of WWII. . .

The same can be said for Italian made cars:

The 1942 movie Spitfire includes an earlier section regarding R.J. Mitchell's development of Schneider Cup float-plane racers for Supermarine.

Here's another link, including a photo of Jimmy Doolittle with his Curtiss floatplane--that team brought the Schneider Cup to the US.

Schneider Cup history

It is amazing how much those Schneider Trophy racers resembled each other.
Here is Reginald Mitchell's S6b (the forerunner to the Spitfire)

quote:

Originally posted by xl_target:
It is amazing how much those Schneider Trophy racers resembled each other.
Here is Reginald Mitchell's S6b (the forerunner to the Spitfire)

I'll assume the ribs along the sides are another form of low drag radiators. Amazing how fast the Brits went with one Rolls Royce R racing engine, the Italians set the record with a pair of Fiat V12s making 24 cylinders. I think the total displacement was about 100 liters.

That's what it looks like.
There is no other visible radiator intake.

I built a model of the S6B when I was a kid. That plane, and the Schneider Trophy fascinated me.

I too had a model of the S6B but the Spitfire was the aircraft that really fascinated me.

Imagine how fast a similar plane could go today, even with the same powerplant, with modern wing and propeller design and aerodynamics.

quote:

Originally posted by xl_target:
It is amazing how much those Schneider Trophy racers resembled each other.
Here is Reginald Mitchell's S6b (the forerunner to the Spitfire)

That is a BEAUTIFUL aircraft. Like the airborne version of Arabian horses. . .


I love how the pilot has no forward vision, but what he could glance out the side panels. It would have been awesome to watch one of those races.

For gearheads, a detailed paper on the development of Italian Schneider Cup engines:

https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/....gov/19930094473.pdf

quote:

Originally posted by sjtill:
The 1942 movie Spitfire includes an earlier section regarding R.J. Mitchell's development of Schneider Cup float-plane racers for Supermarine.

Here's another link, including a photo of Jimmy Doolittle with his Curtiss floatplane--that team brought the Schneider Cup to the US.

Schneider Cup history

Just saw the version released in England called "The First of the Few". Although it depicts R. J. Mitchell almost 180 degrees differently from what he was actually like, it's an interesting movie for aviation buffs.

quote:

eslie Howard's portrayal of Mitchell has a special significance since Howard was killed when the Lisbon-to-London civilian airliner in which he was travelling was shot down by the Luftwaffe on 1 June 1943. His death occurred only days before The First of the Few was released in the United States, under the title Spitfire.

Just found this in Wikipedia. Ironic death for Leslie Howard.