thought it was just another british airplane

You mean you've never heard of the Blackburn Bluetit? LOL
How about the Supermarine Shrew? :-D

Or the Hawker TomTit?
Regards
Pat Macguire
Enzo Matrix wrote:

The many British manufacturers that survived into the '20's and '30's produced a lot of prototypes and short production run aircraft and more or less ran out of names, particularly because they usually had a "house style" e.g. alliterative, bird or animal names, etc. Some of the more curious, clipped from Wikipedia, are listed below - Blackburn are an easy target, Avro seem to have taken more care.
Blackburn Sidecar Alula Semiquaver Blackburn Pellet Blackburn Cubaroo Blackburn Airedale Blackburn Sprat Blackburn Turcock
Supermarine Sea Urchin Supermarine Seagull Supermarine Sheldrake
(Shrew was the name considered - briefly - for the aircraft that became the Spitfire)
Bristol Babe Bristol Tramp Bristol Brownie
Armstrong Whitworth Ape
Hawker Hedgehog Hawker Hoopoe
HP Handcross HP Hamlet HP Gugnunc
Avro Spider
As for the Farley Fruitbat - - - well, look up "Straight and Level" :-)

A few years ago the IPMS 'Whatif' SIG did a display based on the premise that England became the centre of world aircraft design after WW2..
Gave rise to such delights as the Curtiss Cleckheaton..

the town that gave us phelan and moore. we would kill for a 1960 model 120.

O.K. How about the "Airspeed Ape"??
:-)
Bill Shuey

...as long as they're decent, I'm all in!

(1915)

Suddenly I can hear Fairport Convention: "I was a cockteaser for Roosterama!"
Bill Banaszak, MFE Sr.

i believe you mean firesign theatre, mistah b?

Apparently so. Oy!
Bill Banaszak, MFE Sr.

s'allright, you got the right line and made it work. my memory is so messed up i can remember watching murrow bitch slapping ike but i can't find my ass with both hands and a rearview mirror. and whhere'd i leave that seeing eye shiatsu?