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  • Unidentified Aircraft frame at Valle, AZ

The Focke-Achgelis Fa 330 BACHSTELZE was a German man-lifting rotor kite, developed for use by IX Type UBoats as an observation post at sea with free-turning three blade rotor. The photo is not exactly confirmatory, to say the least. Suspect a mis-ID on part of someone.

Hi Terry

defiantly not an FA-330A, there is one at RAF Cosford and it looks a little different to your image : : :

http://www.airport-data.com/aircraft/photo/526461.html

Chris

I dont know where the ref to FA-330A came from - I certainly did not input it myself - possibly came from database ? when I selected 0000 as the Registration??

But did not know how to get the photo onto the site without using the 0000 method - since it was all a bit of a mystery

Terry

I could be mistaken but I think it's a Piper PA31T Cheyenne II. First flew in 1969 and they built 823 of them.

Rob

I agree, I believe it is a PA-31T Cheyenne II too.

Greg

Well, the nacelles, what's left of them, aren't turbo-prop nacelles. I initially thought it might be a pressurized Navajo - the progenitor to the Cheyenne - but the windows don't look right and the fuselage seems might short. Perhaps that is a distortion from the angle of the shot?

Check out this Cheyenne http://www.airport-data.com/aircraft/photo/297673.html ths fuselage door and latch look very similar and the rear fuselage access panels are about right to.

Neil

The angle of the shot may be what makes it look so short, but still, the engine nacelles could be for piston or turbine - look at the pressurized Navajo - http://www.airport-data.com/aircraft/photo/162665.html

The original Cheyenne, which became I and II, looks just like the pressurized Navajo except it has turbo-props. Kind of hard to tell here which it is, but I will go with the Piper product of the PA-31 series.

This photo of the Cheyenne will help, it is on the Valle Airport web site. You can see the windows and if you look closely the door is the same.

http://www.valleairport.com/images/aircraft/P0001415.JPG

Rob

My point is that the Cheyenne and the pressurized Navajo are identical except for the engines. Some P-Navajos have even been given turbo-props as upgrades.

5 days later

Gents

Thank you all for your input - to resolving this query for me

The definitive response has come from Alan Melon

' Your mystery aircraft outside at Valle is probably N730PT Pa-31T (31T-7720008) - noted engineless by myself on the ramp at Valle in April 2009 - the scheme matches a photo I took at the time.

Yet another query solved by the power of this Website / Forum

Regards

Terry Fletcher

4 months later

My point is that the Cheyenne and the pressurized Navajo are identical except for the engines. Some P-Navajos have even been given turbo-props as upgrades.

perhaps we should be so :