WIX Archives

That's very sad news....

Posted by Elliott on Thu Mar 21, 2002 11:12:52 AM

In reply top Erik Shilling posted by Jim Harley on Wed Mar 20, 2002 09:35:07 AM

I corresponded with Erik for a while - he was a great guy - always had time to answer my pedantic questions. He flew the CW-21 for a while in China and said it was a fantastic aircraft.

Here are his feedback on the Demon.... You won't be forgotten Erik.

>1. How did you first come to fly the CW-21 Demon?

ans. It's a long story but I will send some answers seperately
>2. How long had you been flying with the AVG before
>the CW-21s arrived?
The CW's were already there. They were proto-types t o be manufactured
at
Loiwing. CAMCO was to make 33 of them. the war prevented production of
them
since it was thought moree importand to repair the P-40's

>
>3. Is it correct that they were CW-21B models and they
>were to be evaluated by you and your colleagues?
and. No they were the A model the "B" was flown by the Dutch in the
Netherlands.

>4. Some sources state ALL 3 CW-21s being ferried were
>lost en route. I don't think this is true. Can you
>explain what happened enroute to China and what
>exactly happened to the 3 Demons.
Also a long story which takes up an entire chapter in my book..

>5. Were they salvaged. If so, what happened to them.
>Did they see any combat in China to your knowledge?
Ans. NO they weren't salvaged nor did they see combat.
>
>6. What was your opinion of the aircraft? Did you get
>a chance to carry out any aerobatic manouvers?
Fantastic. could do an immelman from take off Rate of climbe over 5,000
feet
per minute with full combat load. About 2,000 ft per minute better than
the
Zero
>
>8. Was the rate of climb as good as the manufacturers
>claimed? Did local climate affect it?
ans. as good as advertised. Of coure temp effecte performance of all
airplanes.

>7. How did it compare to the P-40, Buffalo, Hurricane
>and the Japanese opposition (specifically Zero, Oscar,
>Nate and Claude (if you ever saw any of the latter)?
>
Beside better climb, I'm sure could turn inside the Zero top speed was
about
the same as the Zero 315 mph and with a two stage blower it had a
higher
ceiling.
than all of them.

Regards,
Erik

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