Hi all,
I can't finish the Hansa-Brandenburg W.20 as I'm still waiting for the propeller.
Also I can't progress the Ponnier M.1 until I receive the replacement Lewis gun, so that I can modify the fuselage accordingly.
So I've started researching what will probably be the 'next' model, which will be the last of the problematic resin kits I have.
This model will represent a Mosca-Bystritsky MB bis fighter, flown by the Imperial Russian Air Force from 1916.
The Italian aircraft designer Francesco E. Mosca worked at the Russian Duks factory, along with Bezobrasov, Lerkhe and Yankovski.
The initial MB design, first flown in 1915, was a two-seat reconnaissance aircraft, similar to contemporary French Morane and Nieuport monoplanes.
During 1916, a smaller and faster single seat version was developed as the MB bis.
The MB bis was similar in construction to the MB, being constructed largely of wood with a linen covering.
The wings were mounted in the shoulder position with gaps between the wing roots and sides of the fuselage, which allowed for easier access to the cockpit and gave the pilot an improved field of view.
When being transported on the ground, the wings were folded to lie along the fuselage sides and the tail-planes were folded forward and upwards.
The aircraft used wing warping, rather than aileron control and was powered by a 80 hp (60 kW) Le Rhone 9C engine.
The armament consisted of a single 7.7 mm machine gun (type and make not known, but looks to be a Lewis variant).
The machine gun was mounted in one of two ways. The forward firing machine gun was fuselage mounted and fired through the arc of the propeller, which was fitted with deflector plates to prevent damaging the propeller.
Otherwise, the machine gun was mounted on the fuselage to fire either upwards and outside of the propeller arc, or was mounted parallel to the fuselage, similar to the earlier French Nieuport fighters, again to fire outside the arc of the propeller.
A total of 50 MB bis fighters were built up to 1918 and a few additional aircraft of this type were reportedly built after the revolution.
Mike