What if

Picture Post => Current and Finished Projects => Aircraft => Topic started by: deathjester on March 27, 2014, 05:49:06 PM

Title: Airbus Military LO-23 'Little Owl' / Revenge of the Honey Badger...
Post by: deathjester on March 27, 2014, 05:49:06 PM
Hi guys!
Recently read a blog about how our troops in Afghanistan really need a long loitering, cheap light aircraft (wow, mouthful!) to act as FAC / radio relay, instead of uber expensive helicopters, and drones that crash most of the time ( don't laugh, I've seen the crash reports in AFM!!

So, I got to thinking, maybe something like a modernised version of the old Air Observation Posts that the Army Air Corps used to use, with a bit of light attack / COIN aircraft thrown in?

Then, I thought a a bit more: how about if it could be powered by a Diesel engine?  At a stroke, that alleviates all sorts of logistical and maintenance issues.

Then I thought, Airbus Military used to be EADS, which bought out CASA, which in turn bought out Hispano.  Now they had the license to build the Bf 109, so they would have the design somewhere(!)  What If! they dusted off the Bf 109 plans, and modified them for the AOP role?

So, here we go for a start:

(https://www.whatifmodellers.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Frs816.pbsrc.com%2Falbums%2Fzz85%2FRandleclan%2FMobile%2520Uploads%2Fphoto_zps6b8d9308.jpg%7Ec100&hash=2f6c1d3ddcf4093ebebed174afaa595919bc968a)
Title: Re: Airbus Military LO-23 'Little Owl' / Revenge of the Honey Badger...
Post by: sandiego89 on March 27, 2014, 06:22:10 PM
Bring it on Jester  :thumbsup:

The cockpit already has those flat plates for bullet resistant glass.....

Think a 5 blade prop would look great. 
Title: Re: Airbus Military LO-23 'Little Owl' / Revenge of the Honey Badger...
Post by: PR19_Kit on March 28, 2014, 10:29:25 AM
A DIESEL!  :o

Nice and economical, sure, but the bad guys could hear it coming from about 25 miles away and the smoke trail from the exhaust would reach Saudia Arabia.....  ;D
Title: Re: Airbus Military LO-23 'Little Owl' / Revenge of the Honey Badger...
Post by: Captain Canada on March 28, 2014, 10:36:34 AM
Crazy....but I like it and it does look awesome !
Title: Re: Airbus Military LO-23 'Little Owl' / Revenge of the Honey Badger...
Post by: deathjester on March 28, 2014, 10:48:08 AM
Quote from: PR19_Kit on March 28, 2014, 10:29:25 AM
A DIESEL!  :o

Nice and economical, sure, but the bad guys could hear it coming from about 25 miles away and the smoke trail from the exhaust would reach Saudia Arabia.....  ;D
:lol: :lol: :lol:

Diesel engines don't have to be noisy and smelly - Bus Drivers just tune 'em that way to annoy folks... :rolleyes:

Thanks for the kind words guys - more to come soon!
Title: Re: Airbus Military LO-23 'Little Owl' / Revenge of the Honey Badger...
Post by: lancer on March 28, 2014, 01:27:35 PM
Quote from: PR19_Kit on March 28, 2014, 10:29:25 AM
A DIESEL!  :o

Nice and economical, sure, but the bad guys could hear it coming from about 25 miles away and the smoke trail from the exhaust would reach Saudia Arabia.....  ;D

MY diesel is a nice, quiet, powerful (wuth Turbo) and smooth as silk... And NO smoke trail..hehehehe!!!
Title: Re: Airbus Military LO-23 'Little Owl' / Revenge of the Honey Badger...
Post by: PR19_Kit on March 29, 2014, 04:22:49 AM
Quote from: lancer on March 28, 2014, 01:27:35 PM
Quote from: PR19_Kit on March 28, 2014, 10:29:25 AM
A DIESEL!  :o

Nice and economical, sure, but the bad guys could hear it coming from about 25 miles away and the smoke trail from the exhaust would reach Saudia Arabia.....  ;D

MY diesel is a nice, quiet, powerful (wuth Turbo) and smooth as silk... And NO smoke trail..hehehehe!!!

For how long though? New diesels don't smoke, well visibly anyway, but once they're past their first 50000 miles they seem to emulate WWII destroyers. And me being asthmatic I DETEST the darn things. Thank goodness for particle filters on my air-con I say or I'd have been a basket case years ago.

And almost all diesels have turbos nowadays or they wouldn't have the strength to pull the skin off a rice pudding.
Title: Re: Airbus Military LO-23 'Little Owl' / Revenge of the Honey Badger...
Post by: deathjester on March 29, 2014, 05:48:48 PM
Hi guys!

Got the cockpit all built up today, in between the other bits n' bobs on my workbench, built up a dual missile rail and finally made the old GW Falcon grav tank canopy to fit onto that dinky little -109 fuselage...

Just figuring out a better way to get pictures up, more to follow!
Title: Re: Airbus Military LO-23 'Little Owl' / Revenge of the Honey Badger...
Post by: zenrat on March 29, 2014, 06:51:14 PM
Quote from: PR19_Kit on March 29, 2014, 04:22:49 AM
Quote from: lancer on March 28, 2014, 01:27:35 PM
Quote from: PR19_Kit on March 28, 2014, 10:29:25 AM
A DIESEL!  :o

Nice and economical, sure, but the bad guys could hear it coming from about 25 miles away and the smoke trail from the exhaust would reach Saudia Arabia.....  ;D

MY diesel is a nice, quiet, powerful (wuth Turbo) and smooth as silk... And NO smoke trail..hehehehe!!!

For how long though? New diesels don't smoke, well visibly anyway, but once they're past their first 50000 miles they seem to emulate WWII destroyers. And me being asthmatic I DETEST the darn things. Thank goodness for particle filters on my air-con I say or I'd have been a basket case years ago.

And almost all diesels have turbos nowadays or they wouldn't have the strength to pull the skin off a rice pudding.

When we lived in Ecrodnya next to London Transports 312 bus route we had dirty streaks up the walls above all the radiators due to the diesel particulates in the air being deposited there from convection currents.
Title: Re: Airbus Military LO-23 'Little Owl' / Revenge of the Honey Badger...
Post by: NARSES2 on March 30, 2014, 08:01:28 AM
Quote from: zenrat on March 29, 2014, 06:51:14 PM
When we lived in Ecrodnya next to London Transports 312 bus route we had dirty streaks up the walls above all the radiators due to the diesel particulates in the air being deposited there from convection currents.


So where about's on the route did you live then ? Runs near my neck of the woods
Title: Re: Airbus Military LO-23 'Little Owl' / Revenge of the Honey Badger...
Post by: deathjester on March 30, 2014, 01:36:31 PM
Here's a quick update - coming along nicely, almost ready for painting, Ithink!!

(https://plus.google.com/photos/103137336684979759868/albums/5996680783265748641?authkey=CLfu_6rWtvK0yAE)
Title: Re: Airbus Military LO-23 'Little Owl' / Revenge of the Honey Badger...
Post by: kerick on March 30, 2014, 01:50:48 PM
Sorry to say but the pic didn't show up. Just a box with an X in it.
Title: Re: Airbus Military LO-23 'Little Owl' / Revenge of the Honey Badger...
Post by: deathjester on March 30, 2014, 02:57:46 PM
Quote from: kerick on March 30, 2014, 01:50:48 PM
Sorry to say but the pic didn't show up. Just a box with an X in it.

Lets try that again...this time without the oops...

(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-i0IREJO04wODktt4jkRWEBSyOT_vNpk05RHmvXFBa8=w277-h207-p-no)

Gotcha!  Thanks Google+...
Title: Re: Airbus Military LO-23 'Little Owl' / Revenge of the Honey Badger...
Post by: Captain Canada on April 02, 2014, 01:04:22 PM
Wow ! Very interesting look to this.....

:cheers:
Title: Re: Airbus Military LO-23 'Little Owl' / Revenge of the Honey Badger...
Post by: McColm on April 02, 2014, 06:31:43 PM
Looking good.
Reminds me of the Cavalier Mustang or PA-48.
Title: Re: Airbus Military LO-23 'Little Owl' / Revenge of the Honey Badger...
Post by: deathjester on April 03, 2014, 08:27:48 AM
Cheers!  This is actually the second Me109 whiff I've done, In the same vein as the PA-48, although this one is a modern aircraft, designed for Afghanistan type conflicts.  The idea is that it's so simple to fix & maintain, that the regular fitters / mechanics can handle everything on with no trouble!
Title: Re: Airbus Military LO-23 'Little Owl' / Revenge of the Honey Badger...
Post by: kerick on April 04, 2014, 09:56:19 AM
Looks really different and purposeful. There must be something to this idea of updated fighters for less developed countries. Everybody keeps coming up with different versions. Maybe something a little bigger but not quite as big as an A-10. Another project to ponder.....
Title: Re: Airbus Military LO-23 'Little Owl' / Revenge of the Honey Badger...
Post by: Captain Canada on April 04, 2014, 12:05:39 PM
It's got an Air Tractor look to it, if you ask me. Which is cool !

:cheers:
Title: Re: Airbus Military LO-23 'Little Owl' / Revenge of the Honey Badger...
Post by: deathjester on April 04, 2014, 01:14:16 PM
That's the kind of look I was aiming for!
Title: Re: Airbus Military LO-23 'Little Owl' / Revenge of the Honey Badger...
Post by: deathjester on April 12, 2014, 09:24:48 AM
And here we go, all done - just need the MOD to see sense and buy something like this now!!

(https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/0hlbu-63YReAAWEB-mmVymXrDF8B3TXlHbhQlBoV0LE=w217-h162-p-no)

(https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/JSHegjsZF5gZ7866v94DmieTFCxvbaLb5wXjGlajqww=w217-h162-p-no)

(https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/Z0mTLzh8S3SiQuMcmXlX1Ia2pvz1KafoVhuQtu4mLko=w217-h162-p-no)
Title: Re: Airbus Military LO-23 'Little Owl' / Revenge of the Honey Badger...
Post by: McColm on April 12, 2014, 11:39:37 AM
Brilliant.
Title: Re: Airbus Military LO-23 'Little Owl' / Revenge of the Honey Badger...
Post by: sandiego89 on April 12, 2014, 12:00:26 PM
Great!  Does look like an Air Tractor and a 109 were mom and dad. 
Title: Re: Airbus Military LO-23 'Little Owl' / Revenge of the Honey Badger...
Post by: NARSES2 on April 13, 2014, 07:55:04 AM
That looks really nice mate
Title: Re: Airbus Military LO-23 'Little Owl' / Revenge of the Honey Badger...
Post by: deathjester on April 13, 2014, 09:52:21 AM
Thanks!!