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Logan Hartke

Volcano Knight
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About Logan Hartke

  • Rank
    Endangered Species
  • Birthday 03/01/1986

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    comradeloganov
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    comradeloganov@aol.com
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  • Location
    Florida, USA

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  1. Logan Hartke

    World Of Tank Patches..from Failure To Worse

    Yeah, there was an element of luck, but we practiced about 2 hours a night for the month leading up to the tournament, and we tried to beat our strategies using about every conceivable method. We beat all the teams we faced 2-0. We're really looking forward to going to Moscow! Cheers, Logan
  2. Logan Hartke

    World Of Tank Patches..from Failure To Worse

    Hey guys! Long time, no see, huh? Anyway, I've been playing a lot of WoT recently and I am on the WoT Tier 8 Ural Steel NA championship team that's going to Moscow on Uralvagonzavod's dime (or ruble?). So, it's hard for me to say a whole lot of negative things about the game. I thought you would all like to hear that one of the Volcano's own sons was going to be gaming in Moscow in a month! Cheers, Logan
  3. Logan Hartke

    4th Of July

    I just wanted to take a moment to celebrate the founding of the United States of America on this day, July 4th, 1776. Despite its many foibles and flaws, this young nation has still done a great deal for the world in the short time it's been around. As one of its many grateful residents, I can say that I am truly thankful that I live in this great land. God Bless America
  4. Logan Hartke

    Hans Rosling

    It wasn't me that said it originally, and it was clear what Korona was trying to get across from the content of the links and the selected graphs he chose. It was BlckWyerve that mentioned it originally and something that just about every American that posts regularly on this forum has echoed in the past. Korona's posts consist 75% of this childish "UK is better than the US" jingoistic nonsense. He's like a constant stream of Jeremy Clarkson but without the wit, humor, and nice cars. Phoib suggested we turn it around. I merely said that July 4th was coming up and that was evidence enough of, as he put it, "Why the Brits suck, an American perspective". You think this stuff is childish? I agree. We've been saying that now for months. But your countryman seems to get kicks from it, so if you can get him to put down his rattle and little Union Jack, then maybe we can move on. Logan Hartke
  5. Logan Hartke

    Hans Rosling

    Yeah, the Battle of Saratoga was just your guys dying to get away from this insufferable land. In fact, if you Brits knew your history, you'd know that a lot of your army that lost that war didn't even want to go back to Jolly Old England! The Brits have been sore ever since the whole Suez thing. That's where the US held Britain by the balls politically while holding their economy hostage. The US could have brought the British economy to a standstill, and that's not US propaganda, that's according to the Chancellor of the Exchequer at the time! But don't worry, I'm sure you're still superior. Logan Hartke
  6. Logan Hartke

    Hans Rosling

    July 4th is coming. Enough said. Logan Hartke
  7. Logan Hartke

    Logan's New Hobby

    While Poland was the first country to place an order for the export variant of the SB4U following its appearance at Paris in 1938, it was not the first export customer for the aircraft. Interestingly enough, the first export customer for the US Navy-named Viking was Sweden. Sweden had been following the development of the V-187 closely since at least 1937. When a Swedish Air Force commission came over to the US in 1937 to test the Viking, Swedish Major Paulus af Uhr--former Olympic athlete--dazzled the US Navy and Vought company personnel at the airfield with a truly spectacular flying and dive-bombing demonstration. Amazed at how naturally he seemed to fly the new aircraft, pushing the airframe to its limits, the Vought test pilot ran up to complement him on the display as soon as he landed. Af Uhr merely replied with a smile, "it flies even better than the original." Af Uhr had been one of the pioneers of dive bombing in the Swedish Air Force and had been flying the Junkers Ju 87 V2 for more than a year at that point. Sweden quickly entered negotiations with the US for purchase and production of the aircraft. This was allowed, but the R-1830 engines were to be imported. The profile below shows the first Viking for Sweden in its delivery colors. It was produced by Vought as a pattern aircraft for AB Svenska Jarnvagsverkstaderna. A further 11 aircraft were shipped as knock-down kits to be assembled in Sweden. Only these first 12 aircraft were to lack bomb displacement gear as it was not yet cleared for export. Sweden would, with the assistance of Vought engineers, produce their own bomb displacement gear without license. This would soon be followed by the R-1830, also produced without license (initially, at least). The V-187-S was known as the B 5 Viking in Swedish service. Also, since I'm used to posting two profiles any more, I'll post the USS Lexington aircraft before the Barclay scheme. This scheme actually exists under the earlier Barclay Viking I posted, but I covered it with the water based paint layers that were only 10% transparent. That was for accuracy since you'd have been able to see through some of the paint after a very short time. Logan Hartke
  8. Logan Hartke

    Logan's New Hobby

    A couple more British Vikings. The first shows one of the first Vikings actually delivered to the British (the original Viking Is being French aircraft that the British took over). This was originally ordered by the French but the order was taken over by the British Purchasing Commission after France's capitulation. It was built to different specifications (British radio, arresting gear, etc), but was broadly similar to the US Navy's SB4U-3. The profile depicts the aircraft still in its Vought delivery livery immediately after reassembly and testing at RAF Burtonwood. Not long afterwards, a number of aircraft from this initial batch were repainted and sent to No. 821 Squadron FAA when it reformed at RAF Detling. These were soon sent to the Orkneys at RNAS Hatston for anti-submarine patrols and this is how the profile depicts that aircraft. The squadron (and therefore the aircraft) was sent to Egypt in November of 1941. Logan Hartke
  9. Logan Hartke

    Logan's New Hobby

    When the British shipped the leftover Vikings from Canada, they gave two of them to the FAA to test their suitability as a naval aircraft. The two aircraft were quickly modified with British arresting gear, hastily repainted in contemporary FAA colors, then loaded down with as many spares as would fit and flown down to the HMS Ark Royal in the Mediterranean for operational testing with 803 NAS, one of the most experienced dive-bombing units in the Royal Navy. In its first operational dive-bombing sortie attacking the Italian air base at Cagliari, AS469 pulled up so low from the ground that she took the better part of a tree top right to the front of the fuselage. She was tough enough to make it back to the Ark Royal in good order and the propeller had amazingly survived major damage, but the front of the engine cowling was in pretty bad shape. Bad enough, in fact, that the aircraft's speed was adversely affected. Having plenty of Skua spares, but no spare R-1830 cowlings, the Ark Royal's maintenance men fabricated a replacement from a spare Skua cowling. It also gained a modified Skua spinner at this time to protect the propeller from any damage in the future. The aircraft was soon nicknamed "Penny" due to the color of the cowling compared to the other Viking (AS470). AS469 was always a lucky aircraft, however. AS470 was soon sidelined due to AA damage and was used as a spares aircraft to keep AS469 flying. When 803 NAS gave up their Skuas in October, 800 NAS took over the well-worn "Penny". She was given a new "Mediterranean" overspray of a stone/earth mix where she had once worn Extra Dark Sea Grey in order to match the Skuas of 800 NAS. She continued to serve with 800 NAS until they gave up their Skuas. By this time 800 NAS maintenance personnel like to joke that AS469 was actually one-third AS469, one-third AS470, and one-third Skua. There was more truth to that joke than is likely to be believed. The cheeky plane captain of the aircraft even went so far as to write a small "1/2" in a grease pencil after the aircraft's serial number! Logan Hartke
  10. Logan Hartke

    Logan's New Hobby

    After the Invasion of Poland, the Vought factory was already struggling to keep up with the foreign orders for their new dive bombers, despite the fact that they now had two factories dedicated to its production. For this reason the US Navy approved the transfer of 80 modified SB4Us from US Navy stocks to the French Navy and French Air Force. These aircraft fulfilled the remainder of the Armee de l’Air order for 60 aircraft and the first half of the French Navy order for 90 aircraft. The first group of these, all those destined for the Armee de l’Air were ready by March of 1940 and loaded on a freighter bound for France. They arrived and were offloaded, and were issued to French units but did not see combat before France capitulated. The Aeronavale aircraft were loaded aboard the French aircraft carrier Bearn in Halifax, Nova Scotia for shipment to France, but were also only just unloaded by the time France capitulated. The Bearn managed to get out of port and was on her way back to the US for more aircraft when the surrender documents were signed. Not all of these aircraft were shipped and many remained in Canada until late July. Eventually, the various aircraft delivered in response the original French orders would serve in nearly a dozen air arms by the end of the war. The profiles below show two examples SB4U aircraft from that batch diverted from Navy stocks to the French. The first represents an aircraft that made it onto the Bearn but never entered service with the French (the unit shows its intended user, AB2; they would never get a chance to fly the aircraft). The Germans would capture all the aircraft the Bearn offloaded in France. The second profile shows an aircraft that started off painted in a very similar fashion (although no two aircraft were identical as the schemes were spray-painted by hand in haste), but never even made it to France. This particular aircraft was then shipped to Great Britain where the RAF tested it at Boscombe Down. It was clearly not designed to British specifications, but its qualities were certainly appreciated there and the British intended to make further use of it in the near future. Logan Hartke
  11. Logan Hartke

    Logan's New Hobby

    The next export customer for the Vought V-187 was the Ilmavoimat. When Finland was invaded by the Soviet Union in 1939, Finland immediately began looking abroad for assistance. The US wasn’t giving aircraft away like some countries at the time, but they were more than willing to sell. Along with the Brewster B-239, the Finnish also sought to purchase some modern attack and patrol aircraft. The Vought V-187 suited both roles perfectly. Ordered in December of 1939, the first aircraft were not delivered until March, too late to see combat in the Winter War. The aircraft as originally delivered were not camouflaged, but finished in overall bare metal and silver dope. After evaluating the Viking for a number of roles, it was soon found that the Finnish Air Force would find the most use out of it--unsurprisingly--over water. The long endurance, reliable powerplant, good visibility, and extreme accuracy made the aircraft eminently suitable for the antiship and antisubmarine roles. Occasionally, however, they would also be called in to take out pinpoint targets on land. Assigned to an independent unit, it was fairly easy to reassign aircraft temporarily as necessary. They quickly laid claim to the Gulf of Finland, making it very hazardous for Soviet ships or surfaced submarines to operate during daylight. This particular aircraft is depicted as it looked in September of 1942 after more than a year of intensive operations against the Soviets. Although they originally lacked bomb displacement gear, they were soon able to acquire this from the Germans on the eve of the Continuation War. Along with this, they were supplied with a considerable number of German bombs to use with the aircraft. It proved to be a potent combination for use against a wide range of targets. This aircraft has racked up a score of a Soviet merchantman, two patrol ships, and three submarines. As if this wasn't enough, the pilot of this aircraft has been able to use formidable firepower of the Viking to shoot down two Soviet aircraft. Although not a nimble aircraft, the V-187 was far from easy prey in the hands of a veteran Finnish pilot, as more than one Soviet fighter soon learned. Logan Hartke
  12. Logan Hartke

    Logan's New Hobby

    At least one French Navy V-187-F1 was painted in the scheme below after the Armistice while stationed on Hyeres Island. Logan Hartke
  13. Logan Hartke

    Logan's New Hobby

    The profile below shows one of the aircraft originally delivered to the Armee de l’Air, a V-187-F2, in the days immediately before the Armistice. This aircraft was one of the few survivors of Groupe de Bombardement 54 which saw service in May and June of 1940, targeting bridges, road junctions, and enemy troop columns in an effort to stop the German advance, but to no avail. The aircraft were handled roughly by German fighters, but proved to be a tough and accurate dive bomber capable of taking the fight to the enemy. These were traits the Germans came to respect and the unused SB4Us that fell into German hands in June of 1940 would not go unused for long. I've done some weathering before on aircraft, but this was my first attempt at chipped paint. I'd say it's been a moderate success, though I hope to get better at it as I go along. I've also included a detail shot of the tail at 100% size (as I draw them in Photoshop). Logan Hartke
  14. Logan Hartke

    Logan's New Hobby

    The next operator of the Vought Viking was the French Aeronavale. After being quite impressed by the SB4U at the Salon de l’Aeronautique, the Aeronavale had Vought bring the demonstration aircraft to Orly for a series of further demonstration flights. The Aeronavale quickly ordered a batch of 20 aircraft built to French specifications (V-187-F1) to be delivered in June of 1939. By March of 1939, further order for 20 additional aircraft had been placed by the Aeronavale. The Armee de l’Air also placed an order for 60 V-187-F2 dive bombers, built to slightly different specifications, primarily the deletion of naval gear. Finally, in May of 1939 the Aeronavale placed an additional order for 90 more Vikings. Originally, none of these aircraft were to have US bomb displacement gear, again, originally for security reasons. They were to be fitted with French Alkan gear, but—in the event—this was never installed. After the Invasion of Poland, the Vought factory was already struggling to keep up with the foreign orders for their new dive bombers, despite the fact that they now had two factories dedicated to its production. For this reason the US Navy approved the transfer of 80 modified SB4Us from US Navy stocks to the French Navy and French Air Force. These aircraft fulfilled the remainder of the Armee de l’Air order for 60 aircraft and the first half of the French Navy order for 90 aircraft. The first group of these, all those destined for the Armee de l’Air were ready by March of 1940 and loaded on a freighter bound for France. They arrived and were offloaded, and were issued to French units but did not see combat before France capitulated. The Aeronavale aircraft were loaded aboard the French aircraft carrier Bearn in Halifax, Nova Scotia for shipment to France, but were also only just unloaded by the time France capitulated. The Bearn managed to get out of port and was on her way back to the US for more aircraft when the surrender documents were signed. Not all of these aircraft were shipped and many remained in Canada until late July. Eventually, the various aircraft delivered in response the original French orders would serve in nearly a dozen air arms by the end of the war. The profile below is an example of one of the original V-187-F1 French Navy aircraft as they appeared in mid-1940. These aircraft participated in action around Dunkirk covering the Allied evacuation force. Logan Hartke
  15. Logan Hartke

    Logan's New Hobby

    The large number of brand new V-178s captured and the fact that the Germans were already familiar with both the basic design and operation of the type caused them to give consideration to reforming a Stuka unit (Sturzkampfgeschwader). Former Stuka pilots still flying the venerable Hs 123 were transferred into the new unit to train the new pilots in dive-bombing. While the aircraft lacked bomb displacement gear, Junkers was quickly able to build a suitable replacement due in part to their previous experience with them and the fact that--while the aircraft themselves lacked the gear--the manuals provided with the Vought aircraft described the operation and maintenance of the bomb displacement gear in thorough detail. The unit's primary mission would be the neutralization of Norwegian harbor defenses and the elimination of any intervening British or French naval units in the upcoming Operation Weserübung. This they did to deadly effect, being one of the key reasons for the German's success in the invasion of Norway. The range and accuracy of the aircraft designed for the US Navy served it quite well over Norway and the North Sea. In fact, in a bit of irony, the first major combat ship to be sunk in combat by Vought's outstanding new divebomber was an Allied ship, the French super-destroyer Bison. While it would not be the last Allied ship the Germans would claim in their captured American dive bombers, the Allies would soon extract more than sufficient revenge while flying the aircraft. German successes were so great in Norway that the issue of the aircraft's origin had to be addressed by the German propaganda machine. It couldn't go around trumpeting how great these American-built aircraft were, be they German-inspired or not. The aircraft soon had a new name in the German press, the Junkers Ju 187 "Wiking". This myth was spread so much that most German short of the pilots or ground crew who operated them truly believed them to have been German-produced. In fact, for a time even the British believed that Junkers had once again started production of an improved model of its original Ju 87 Stuka based on the Vought V-187. While Junkers did fabricate many spares and even perform major overhauls on the aircraft. Engine parts, however, were in short supply, and were often purchased in small quantities from Sweden or even Switzerland, who both operated aircraft utilizing the R-1830. Sweden would even eventually take up license production of the engine. The myth of a German-built Viking even got around enough that it is still seen in publications today! The profile below illustrates an aircraft of 1./1.St.G. as it appeared during Operation Weserübung in April of 1940. Logan Hartke
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