Spiegelflügel-Taube Amphibious Aircraft
| ESB Spiegelflügel-Taube | |
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| Type: | Amphibious Maritime Patrol Aircraft tanker aircraft |
| Place of origin: | Shireroth |
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| In service: | 1641 AN |
| Used by: | |
| Number produced: | 77 |
| In service: | 4 |
| Retired: | 73 |
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| Designed: | 1640.6253 AN.ASC |
| Manufacturer: | ESB-Jörmungandr Group |
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| Length: | 51m |
| Width: | 6m |
| Wingspan: | 50m |
| Propulsion: | 4 × Red Bear LLC Brandner-12M turboprops, 11,000 kW (14,800 shp)each |
| Range: | 10,000km |
| Endurance: | |
| Maximum Altitude: | 12,000m |
| Speed: | 407.98 km/h cruising speed 460 km/h maximum speed |
| Complement: | 16 |
| Armament: | x2 Samyaza torpedoes or x2 Banshee cruise missile on external hardpoints x10 drifting contact mines or x10 depth bombs via internal vertical ejection shutes |
| Sensors and Processing Systems: | |
| Cost: | 807,692.31 TTh 1,000 Anunia Points |
The Spiegelflügel-Taube is a Shirerithian maritime patrol aircraft built around a Minarborian airframe produced under licence in Shireroth for the Ministry of Military Affairs by the ESB-Jörmungandr Group.
Development
Following the loss of Spiegelflügel training flight IRS-2986441, along all eight of its crew, which broke up whilst attempting to reach take-off speed in choppy waters off the coast of Zy-Rodun during Operation Long Haul in 1639, all Spiegelflügel amphibious aircraft in service with the Imperial Shirerithian Air Forces were grounded for evaluation. It subsequently became apparent that the operators of the aircraft in Minarboria were experiencing similar instances of disintegration upon landing or taking on water, with typical examples being caused by the "level of drag, aft and below the weight of the forward engine, which is beyond the ability of the hull hydroplanes to counteract the inevitable forward rotation of the aircraft about the centre of mass (resulted) in the sudden downward pitching of the aircraft's nose into the water".[1]
Appraised of the development of the Spiegelflügel 'B' by Royal Leichenbergish Aircraft Works, the Ministry of Military Affairs decided against rebuilding its existing fleet of imported and licence built Spiegelflügels to the 'B' standard on the grounds that the additional controls mitigated but did not remove the problem with weight distribution caused by the nose mounded engine, which had earned the aircraft the nickname of 'Tipsy Hound' amongst its crews. Instead the MoMA to initiate the development of a new variant, utilising designs provided by the Minarborians under the terms of a trade agreement between the MoMA and the Hall of Thorns[2] signed in 1637.
The decision to remove the nose mounted engine placed an additional strain upon the remaining two engines and as a consequence the need to upgrade to a more powerful model became paramount. A design study undertaken by the ESB Group identified the Brandner-12M turboprop produced by Red Bear LLC of Mishalan as the most promising alternative, maintaining the range and altitude profile of the original albeit at the cost of a reduced maximum speed and a slight reduction in payload.
Initially intended to be retired by 1670 AN, like so many other airframes the Taube was spared from the scrapyard by the Kalirion Fracture and remained in service into the early 18th Century, passing into the hands of the various successor states.
Four examples of the type would be recovered and returned to service by the Benacian Union, donated to the Moorland Armed Forces as firefighting aircraft in 1727 AN.
