Veeblefitzer Cuddabara P-401A By Jimbowyrick1 Watch

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While fleeing from the Seattle Police Dept. (long story, ahem), Prof. Anton Veeblefitzer, in the wilds of Washington State, took refuge in a lumber mill.

Absolutely impressed with the whirling saw blades, and how they zipped through the thick logs, he had an epiphany, and quickly sketched out a design for a new fighter aircraft in the sawdust covering the mill's floor.

Thus, was conceived the Veeblefitzer Ve-P-401A Cuddabara "Flying Buzz Saw"!

Instead of guns, the machine was armed with 6 circular saw blades, 2 mounted in the nose, one vertically and one horizontally. These blades were driven by an abbreviated version of the Allison engine that powered the craft. The other 4 blades were mounted in the forward corners of the tail planes, and were driven through a complicated series of gears and rods, by the aft-facing engine.

The Cuddabara mission was simply to collide with an enemy aircraft, ripping it to pieces!!!

In order to withstand the shock of impact, the construction was very robust. Leading edges of the wings and fuselage were covered with steel, that was honed to an ax head's sharpness. This helped to slice through an enemy plane' structure with ease.

The pilot sat in a small cockpit, surrounded with leather covered foam cushions for protection from the jarring collisions.

A pusher type of engine and propeller arrangement was adopted, and the prop' was protected by a sturdy metal ring, mounted immediately ahead of the prop', and attached to the four tail planes.

Pilots did not like this craft at all! Visibility from the small, heavy canopy, was miserable. Leg and arm room in the cockpit was very limited, making maneuvers difficult. To add to that problem, the flap control surfaces were diminutive, and no sudden turns could be executed.

Also, the craft was heavy, due to it's overbuilt design, and took forever to climb to a descent altitude.

Maximum speed was only about 360mph, which did make it a bit faster than the early Nipponese aircraft that it encountered in 1942.

Once airborne, the pilot retracted the two radiators, and slowly climbed to altitude. Upon seeing an enemy craft, emergency war power was engaged, and the pilot guided this monster head-on into a slicing, shearing, crashing collision!

The lightly built Nipponese machines were easy prey for the Cuddabara!

Only 20 P-401A's were ever to see combat, and that was with the famous Cactus Airforce based on Guadalcanal in 1942.

They were successful in blunting the enemy bomber raids, but downing an enemy fighter was a rare occurrence, due to their superior maneuverability.

When the surviving machines were finally worn out and unfit for combat, they were used to clear trees and brush from around the American positions. They were even used to repel enemy banzai charges! The enemy troops were horror struck to hear the shrill roar of the saw blades, hidden in the jungle, then suddenly seeing the dragon-like machines burst through the brush, and into their charging bodies. Heads, arms, legs, guts, were witnessed flying about in a bloody spray! The Cuddabara excelled at this new task and helped to win the Battle of Guadalcanal!

The Army declined to show interest in further use of this unique machine.

A few machines survived the war, and were used to combat forest fires. They would crash land in a burning area, and quickly cut fire breaks and mow down burning vegetation.

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Published : May 15, 2018