From 4P Press
STL (3D Model) – $3.00 USD
This is an STL file for your 3Dprinter of the Austrian WWI aircraft Lloyd 40.05.
The good people at Lloyd went their own way when it came to airplane design, as witnessed by their massive 40.08 design. To prove that monstrosity was no mere accident, they also produced the 40.05, a two-seat fighter/bomber design that makes one wonder if the entire company were made up of dope fiends.
In 1915, when synchronized guns were not yet available, the Lloyd company decided to make an aircraft that could fire forwards without shooting off the prop. At the same time, the French and British had solved that problem by simply placing a machinegun on the top wing where it could fire over the propeller and calling it a day. Not good enough for Lloyd, way too easy.
Lloyd too put a machinegun on the top wing, but manned by a crewman. The crewman, who was gunner and observer/bombardier had a very comfy seat in an enclosed cockpit, quite modern for the time, and when he needed to do some shooting he opened a hatch and appeared on the top wing, manning his gun and ready to send the enemy to oblivion.
What's more, the gunner had an excellent view for watching the skies for enemy aircraft and also looking from the windows in the cockpit, for observing what he was sent to observe.
The pilot too had a nice view in any direction – but forward. His forward view was completely blocked by the massive cockpit housing his gunner buddy. But it hardly mattered as the engine's exhaust pipes were mounted so that the fumes were sent back to the pilot's face and he probably couldn't have seen through it all anyway.
Another innovation Lloyd introduced was mounting two additional guns, one on each wing, firing outside the arc of the propeller. Nothing screamed modern like the 40.05, except the Austrian minister of air, who after two prototypes had been built told Lloyd to shove it.
By then, 1916, synchronized guns were commonplace and the plane had resolved a problem (in its own quirky way) that no longer existed.
In the air, the 40.05 was slow, sluggish and more maneuverable on the ground than above it.
The model is scaled at 1:100th but may be printed successfully at smaller or even larger scales (though with a corresponding loss of detail) depending on the quality of the printer and type of material.
The download also contains a 1:285 scale version.