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I'm very pleased to announce that the third volume of Drake's Drum is now available
in paperback and as a kindle.
in paperback and as a kindle.
Drake's Drum
- Thread starter Nick Sumner
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Pirate Pete
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Bought my copy on Kindle (as I also have for the two previous books) and proceeded to eagerly devour the contents.
Superb reading, and a more than worthy successor to the first two books.
Many congratulations Sir.
To say that I now eagerly look forward to the last(?) part of the series would be a MAJOR understatement.
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Thanks Pirate Pete, I'm really glad you enjoyed it!
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These are Photoshopped images of the FW/Tank 'Fernkampfflugzeug' also known as the Tank Ta 400. The aircraft features in the third part of the Drake's Drum series. Drake's Drum: Currents of Fate.
Looks like the bigger brother of the Dornier Do 17.
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Its actually the big brother of the FW 191 
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The ‘Beta’ version of the Luftwaffe appendix has been added to the Drakes Drum website. It is unfinished, but the sections for the issues and aircraft that are most integral to the Drake’s Drum timeline are complete. This includes the most important German strategic bombers, the Messerschmitt Me 364, Heinkel He 274 and the Tank Ta 400. The sections for the Junkers 338 transport aircraft and the DFS 346 supersonic research aircraft are also complete. Updated versions of the Heer, Kriegsmarine and Seeluftsteitkraft appendices have also been uploaded.
These images are Photoshopped
The DFS 346 mounted on its He 274 carrier aircraft. "It is now universally acknowledged that although Commander Eric Brown of the Royal Navy was the first man to break the sound barrier, he was not the first human being to exceed the speed of sound in controlled flight."
Top: A Junkers Ju 338B transport aircraft. Above: The Ju 338B was modified from the unsuccessful Ju 338A operated by Lufthansa. "The aircraft was an astonishing technical achievement and was hailed by the Nazi leadership as a triumph of German engineering, but in scarcely more than a year it was withdrawn from service after a string of fatal accidents. There was perhaps an inevitability to the tragedy. The realm above the altitude of 10 kilometres was a region about which very little was known. It is almost certain, that whichever passenger aircraft from whichever nation ventured into the extreme conditions encountered there would meet unforeseen difficulties."
These images are Photoshopped
The DFS 346 mounted on its He 274 carrier aircraft. "It is now universally acknowledged that although Commander Eric Brown of the Royal Navy was the first man to break the sound barrier, he was not the first human being to exceed the speed of sound in controlled flight."
Top: A Junkers Ju 338B transport aircraft. Above: The Ju 338B was modified from the unsuccessful Ju 338A operated by Lufthansa. "The aircraft was an astonishing technical achievement and was hailed by the Nazi leadership as a triumph of German engineering, but in scarcely more than a year it was withdrawn from service after a string of fatal accidents. There was perhaps an inevitability to the tragedy. The realm above the altitude of 10 kilometres was a region about which very little was known. It is almost certain, that whichever passenger aircraft from whichever nation ventured into the extreme conditions encountered there would meet unforeseen difficulties."
Last edited:
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Two British aircraft from the Drake's Drum timeline. Top, a Vickers Vindex bomber of the RAAF and below, a Supermarine Spiteful fighter. The Vindex is developed from the long series of large, high altitude bomber designs Vickers completed in 1942 and 43 in OTL and is based on a variant of Scheme 'B' of 14/1/43 a drawing of which can be found in Tony Buttler's BSP 4. The engines are tractor rather than pusher, so the nacelle mounted rear armament has clear firing arcs. The Spiteful is a version of the aircraft with a 'Phoenix' engine, a development of the Vulture with its problems fixed and Merlin (rather than Peregrine) cylinders. (The Vulture had the same crankshaft spacing as a Merlin.) These images are Photoshopped.
The ‘Beta’ version of the RAF appendix has been added to the Drakes Drum website. It is unfinished, but the sections for the issues and aircraft that are most integral to the Drake’s Drum timeline are complete. This includes the most important British fighters as well as the Vindex, Spiteful and TTL's Lincoln and Whirlwind. Updated versions of the British Army, RN and Royal Navy Air Arm appendices have also been uploaded.
The ‘Beta’ version of the RAF appendix has been added to the Drakes Drum website. It is unfinished, but the sections for the issues and aircraft that are most integral to the Drake’s Drum timeline are complete. This includes the most important British fighters as well as the Vindex, Spiteful and TTL's Lincoln and Whirlwind. Updated versions of the British Army, RN and Royal Navy Air Arm appendices have also been uploaded.
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An RAAF Lancaster.
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The first, third and fourth images in this post are Photoshopped
Here are two more aircraft that never flew in our timeline but do in the world of Drake’s Drum.
First the Kawanishi A8K ‘Jinpu’ naval fighter. Originally designed as the J3K/J6K, a development of the N1K2-J ‘Shiden’ the design went through many phases but never entered production. The lower picture shows the mock up. In Drake’s Drum the aircraft enters service in late 1947.
Second, is the Nakajima G10N ‘Fugaku’ long range bomber. In OTL, the Fugaku went through many different design phases, the assumption here is that the design of the ‘Final ‘Z’ plane’ version of the project is frozen in July 1943 and proceeds with modifications (such as the pressurised crew compartment) suggested by the specifications and mission profile. In OTL, no final version of the project has been found but we know that it was cancelled in August 1944.
The basic shape of the aircraft used here is that of the ‘Final Z Plane’ (fifth image) while the nose shape is from a sketch done from memory by Nohara Shigeru, the designer of the pressure cabin of a later version and published in ‘The memory of Fugaku design’ by Susumu Watanabe printed in Aireview Magazine, No.848, May 2014. (Sixth image.) The designation ‘G10N’ was never officially attached to the Nakajima ‘Z’ project.
In Drake’s Drum the Fugaku is used in a raid on Portland, Oregon that has enormous historical impact. The final picture is gun camera footage from an American interceptor.
The Beta version of the IJN Air Arm Appendix is now up at the Drake’s Drum website. A page of photographs from book 3 Drake's Drum: Currents of Fate has also been added.
Here are two more aircraft that never flew in our timeline but do in the world of Drake’s Drum.
First the Kawanishi A8K ‘Jinpu’ naval fighter. Originally designed as the J3K/J6K, a development of the N1K2-J ‘Shiden’ the design went through many phases but never entered production. The lower picture shows the mock up. In Drake’s Drum the aircraft enters service in late 1947.
Second, is the Nakajima G10N ‘Fugaku’ long range bomber. In OTL, the Fugaku went through many different design phases, the assumption here is that the design of the ‘Final ‘Z’ plane’ version of the project is frozen in July 1943 and proceeds with modifications (such as the pressurised crew compartment) suggested by the specifications and mission profile. In OTL, no final version of the project has been found but we know that it was cancelled in August 1944.
The basic shape of the aircraft used here is that of the ‘Final Z Plane’ (fifth image) while the nose shape is from a sketch done from memory by Nohara Shigeru, the designer of the pressure cabin of a later version and published in ‘The memory of Fugaku design’ by Susumu Watanabe printed in Aireview Magazine, No.848, May 2014. (Sixth image.) The designation ‘G10N’ was never officially attached to the Nakajima ‘Z’ project.
In Drake’s Drum the Fugaku is used in a raid on Portland, Oregon that has enormous historical impact. The final picture is gun camera footage from an American interceptor.
The Beta version of the IJN Air Arm Appendix is now up at the Drake’s Drum website. A page of photographs from book 3 Drake's Drum: Currents of Fate has also been added.
Second that, he makes a good universe with all the fleshing out he does.
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These images are Photoshopped
Top: RNAA Cutlass IA fighters during the interbellum. Above: Alabama in the Pacific, 1948. In TTL The South Dakota Design is based on the USN'sdesign BB65F of July 1939. #drakesdrum.
A request. If anyone's read one of the Drake's Drum books, enjoyed it, and feels like giving it a positive review I'd greatly appreciate a review on Amazon, Goodreads or anywhere you feel like putting it for that matter. Don't feel you have to give a fifty-page critique, even just 'I liked it, recommended' would be highly appreciated.
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Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to one and all!
There are minor updates to the, USN, USAAF, US Naval Aviation, Italian Naval Aviation, Regia Marina and Order of Battle appendices at the Drake's Drum website if anyone is interested over the Christmas holidays.
Back in the New Year!
There are minor updates to the, USN, USAAF, US Naval Aviation, Italian Naval Aviation, Regia Marina and Order of Battle appendices at the Drake's Drum website if anyone is interested over the Christmas holidays.
Back in the New Year!
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Pleased to announce some updates to the website.
The Beta version of the Imperial Japanese Army Air Arm appendix has been uploaded while Version 1.0 of the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Arm appendix has replaced the Beta version previously posted.
Updates, revisions and corrections to the Royal Navy Air Arm, Kriegsmarine, Italian Army, Marine National and Spanish Armada appendices have also been made.
In other news, Part 4 of the Drake’s Drum series Drake’s Drum: The Horizon of Our Hopes will soon have reached the first draft stage and I’m hoping it will be ready for Beta readers by December. It will complete the story, bringing it up to the first decade of the 21st Century.
Some eye candy…
The following pictures are Photoshopped
The Q2M Taiyo was a Mitsubishi design for a patrol bomber for the IJN to replace the Kyushu Q1W in that role and the Mitsubishi G4M in the torpedo attack role.. In OTL it never got off the drawing board. In Drake’s Drum, it does…
A flight of fancy… In the Drake’s Drum timeline the onset of the Second World War is delayed and so the development of civil aviation advances more rapidly in the early 1940s than it did in OTL. Consequently Mitsubishi develop a new transport aircraft and like the Ki-97 and the Ki-57 of OTL they use their latest bomber design (in this case the G4M ‘Betty’) as a basis. In TTL it is given the Mitsubishi designation MC-21.
The Tachikawa Ki-94 II was an OTL high altitude fighter that in OTL only got as far as the mock up stage.
Another flight of fancy… The Kawasaki Ki-164 a fictional design based on the OTL Ki-64. Instead of the tandem engine set-up of that aircraft (which flew in prototype form in OTL) the Ki-164 uses the Yokosuka Ha-74 (YE-3B) experimental ‘X’ block engine which was under development at wars end in OTL. There is an excellent article here about the YE3B and you can read about its TTL development path in the aircraft engines appendix at the Drake’s Drum website.
L to R The Kawasaki Ki-64 (flew as a prototype in OTL), the Kawasaki Ki-88 (design only in OTL), the Kawasaki Ki-164 (conjectural design from the Drake’s Drum timeline.
The Beta version of the Imperial Japanese Army Air Arm appendix has been uploaded while Version 1.0 of the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Arm appendix has replaced the Beta version previously posted.
Updates, revisions and corrections to the Royal Navy Air Arm, Kriegsmarine, Italian Army, Marine National and Spanish Armada appendices have also been made.
In other news, Part 4 of the Drake’s Drum series Drake’s Drum: The Horizon of Our Hopes will soon have reached the first draft stage and I’m hoping it will be ready for Beta readers by December. It will complete the story, bringing it up to the first decade of the 21st Century.
Some eye candy…
The following pictures are Photoshopped
The Q2M Taiyo was a Mitsubishi design for a patrol bomber for the IJN to replace the Kyushu Q1W in that role and the Mitsubishi G4M in the torpedo attack role.. In OTL it never got off the drawing board. In Drake’s Drum, it does…
A flight of fancy… In the Drake’s Drum timeline the onset of the Second World War is delayed and so the development of civil aviation advances more rapidly in the early 1940s than it did in OTL. Consequently Mitsubishi develop a new transport aircraft and like the Ki-97 and the Ki-57 of OTL they use their latest bomber design (in this case the G4M ‘Betty’) as a basis. In TTL it is given the Mitsubishi designation MC-21.
The Tachikawa Ki-94 II was an OTL high altitude fighter that in OTL only got as far as the mock up stage.
Another flight of fancy… The Kawasaki Ki-164 a fictional design based on the OTL Ki-64. Instead of the tandem engine set-up of that aircraft (which flew in prototype form in OTL) the Ki-164 uses the Yokosuka Ha-74 (YE-3B) experimental ‘X’ block engine which was under development at wars end in OTL. There is an excellent article here about the YE3B and you can read about its TTL development path in the aircraft engines appendix at the Drake’s Drum website.
L to R The Kawasaki Ki-64 (flew as a prototype in OTL), the Kawasaki Ki-88 (design only in OTL), the Kawasaki Ki-164 (conjectural design from the Drake’s Drum timeline.
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Very proud to announce the impending release of my new book Drake’s Drum: Horizon of Our Hopes. The fourth and final part of the series brings the story to a conclusion. It is published by Sea Lion Press and should be available by Christmas. The image is the cover artwork. 'A Prayer From the Ocean of Storms.'
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This first image in this post is photoshopped.
This is a Japanese aircraft that never flew in our time line. It is based on the Plan VIII reconnaissance aircraft designed by the Rikugun Kokugijutsu Kenkūjo in 1941 and finalised by 1943/4. An example is depicted here as it might be after capture by American forces.
As can be seen from the drawings, Plan VIII was a four engine designs meant to use Ha-211 Ru engines. It must be noted that the aircraft seems too small for the planned four engines. It’s possible that the correct dimensions of the design have not been found or that different engines were planned and this version has Mitsubishi Ha-53 engines. The Ha-53 was a 28-cylinder supercharged four-row, seven-bank, radial that was designed, but never built.
Works consulted include: All the Experimental Aircraft in Japanese Army by Minoru Akimoto; Japanese Secret Projects Volume 1 by Edwin M. Dyer III, Illustrated Warplane History Number 8: The X-Planes of Imperial Japanese Army and Navy by Nohara Shigeru, Japanese Aero Engines 1910 to 1945 by Mike Godwin and Peter Starkings, 陸海軍試作戦闘機 (1) 太平洋戦史シリーズ (Army and Navy prototype fighter Part 1: Pacific War History Series, Gakken 31) and 三菱航空エンジン史―大正六年より終戦まで 1915‐1945 (History of Mitsubishi Aero Engines 1915 to 1945) by Matsuoka Hisamitsu and Nakanishi Masayoshi.
This aircraft would have entered service in the Drake's Drum timeline and I'm happy to announce that Drake's Drum: Horizon of Our Hopes has just been released as an e-book and the paperback version will be released shortly. The finished versions of both the IJA Air Arm and Ejercito del Aire Appendices are now up at the Drake’s Drum website. The new book covers the period 1948-2015 and I hope to post pictures of ships and aircraft from that period in the coming weeks.
This is a Japanese aircraft that never flew in our time line. It is based on the Plan VIII reconnaissance aircraft designed by the Rikugun Kokugijutsu Kenkūjo in 1941 and finalised by 1943/4. An example is depicted here as it might be after capture by American forces.
As can be seen from the drawings, Plan VIII was a four engine designs meant to use Ha-211 Ru engines. It must be noted that the aircraft seems too small for the planned four engines. It’s possible that the correct dimensions of the design have not been found or that different engines were planned and this version has Mitsubishi Ha-53 engines. The Ha-53 was a 28-cylinder supercharged four-row, seven-bank, radial that was designed, but never built.
Works consulted include: All the Experimental Aircraft in Japanese Army by Minoru Akimoto; Japanese Secret Projects Volume 1 by Edwin M. Dyer III, Illustrated Warplane History Number 8: The X-Planes of Imperial Japanese Army and Navy by Nohara Shigeru, Japanese Aero Engines 1910 to 1945 by Mike Godwin and Peter Starkings, 陸海軍試作戦闘機 (1) 太平洋戦史シリーズ (Army and Navy prototype fighter Part 1: Pacific War History Series, Gakken 31) and 三菱航空エンジン史―大正六年より終戦まで 1915‐1945 (History of Mitsubishi Aero Engines 1915 to 1945) by Matsuoka Hisamitsu and Nakanishi Masayoshi.
This aircraft would have entered service in the Drake's Drum timeline and I'm happy to announce that Drake's Drum: Horizon of Our Hopes has just been released as an e-book and the paperback version will be released shortly. The finished versions of both the IJA Air Arm and Ejercito del Aire Appendices are now up at the Drake’s Drum website. The new book covers the period 1948-2015 and I hope to post pictures of ships and aircraft from that period in the coming weeks.
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Some more from the world of Drake's Drum
These are 2 aircraft that never flew in our time line. They are a variant of the Tank Ta 152 with a Jumo 222 engine and a conjectural Heinkel fighter design based on the P.1076. The final book in the series, Drake's Drum: Horizon of Our Hopes which covers the period 1948-2015, is out in e-book form and the paperback is days away from release.
Both aircraft were single seat fighters. First the Ta 152, the first two images are FW drawings the third and fourth images are Photoshopped
These are 2 aircraft that never flew in our time line. They are a variant of the Tank Ta 152 with a Jumo 222 engine and a conjectural Heinkel fighter design based on the P.1076. The final book in the series, Drake's Drum: Horizon of Our Hopes which covers the period 1948-2015, is out in e-book form and the paperback is days away from release.
Both aircraft were single seat fighters. First the Ta 152, the first two images are FW drawings the third and fourth images are Photoshopped
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The second aircraft is a bit more conjectural. As can be seen from the accompanying drawing, this Heinkel design was originally to have swept forward wings, a DB 603 engine and evaporation cooling (the hatched areas on the fuselage). However, it seems unlikely that swept forward wings made from materials available when the P.1076 was designed could have withstood the strain of combat manoeuvres. (In the drawing the aircraft looks to be asymmetric, but it is merely that the left side shows the wing of the high altitude version and the right side the low to medium altitude wing.) Furthermore evaporation cooling was too delicate to be effective on a fighter aircraft. The conjectural He 351 presented here has wing mounted radiators, the larger openings in the leading edges of both wings. The engine is also different, in the Drake’s Drum timeline the inverted V16 DB 609 engine becomes sufficiently mature to be see regular service. The air intake is the smaller of the leading edge openings in the port wing. The one in the starboard wing is for the oil cooler.
Sources consulted include Warplanes of the Second World War Volume 1 by William Green, German Aircraft of WW2 by Smith and Kay, The Ultimate Piston Fighters of the Luftwaffe by Justo Miranda, Luftwaffe Secret Projects: Fighters 1939-45 by Schick and Meyer, Focke-Wulf FW190 and Ta 152 Aircraft and Legend by Heinz Nowarra, Flugmoteren und Straltreibwerke by Gersdorf, Schubert and Ebert, The Secret Horsepower Race by Calum E. Douglas and the Old Machine Press website at https://oldmachinepress.com/.
The following drawing is conjectural
The following pictures are Photoshopped
An updated Beta version of the Luftwaffe Appendix and the finished versions of both the IJA Air Arm and Ejercito del Aire Appendices are now up at the Drake’s Drum website.
Sources consulted include Warplanes of the Second World War Volume 1 by William Green, German Aircraft of WW2 by Smith and Kay, The Ultimate Piston Fighters of the Luftwaffe by Justo Miranda, Luftwaffe Secret Projects: Fighters 1939-45 by Schick and Meyer, Focke-Wulf FW190 and Ta 152 Aircraft and Legend by Heinz Nowarra, Flugmoteren und Straltreibwerke by Gersdorf, Schubert and Ebert, The Secret Horsepower Race by Calum E. Douglas and the Old Machine Press website at https://oldmachinepress.com/.
The following drawing is conjectural
The following pictures are Photoshopped
An updated Beta version of the Luftwaffe Appendix and the finished versions of both the IJA Air Arm and Ejercito del Aire Appendices are now up at the Drake’s Drum website.
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A significantly updated Beta version of the Luftwaffe Appendix has been uploaded at the Drake's Drum website.
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As of just now 71% of the ratings for DD4 on Amazon are 4 or 5 stars.
Pretty chuffed...
Pretty chuffed...
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A big update to the Drake's Drum website has just gone live. Photographs from Part 4 Drake's Drum: Horizon of Our Hopes have been added. Just as a taster, we have a photograph from the time of the Crisis Cascade of 1973. An RAF Hawker-Siddeley Hotspur fighter (based on the Hawker P.1125) intercepting a Soviet Tu 95 bomber over the North Sea.
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Skylon
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In other news there is a new update to the Drake's Drum website which includes the addition of password accessible content.
It consists of Annex 19, which is a complete Drake's Drum timeline and an Interlude chapter which was an attempt at comic relief, but didn't really propel the plot forward.
If you would like to know the password please email me with a picture of your copy of either the paperback version of Drake's Drum: Horizon of Our Hopes or a picture of the screen of your reading device with the map of Africa that is printed near the end of the penultimate chapter. My email is available in the 'Author' section of the Drake's Drum website and there is a link in my sig line. Please allow a day or two for a response.
It consists of Annex 19, which is a complete Drake's Drum timeline and an Interlude chapter which was an attempt at comic relief, but didn't really propel the plot forward.
If you would like to know the password please email me with a picture of your copy of either the paperback version of Drake's Drum: Horizon of Our Hopes or a picture of the screen of your reading device with the map of Africa that is printed near the end of the penultimate chapter. My email is available in the 'Author' section of the Drake's Drum website and there is a link in my sig line. Please allow a day or two for a response.
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Also BB68 Ohio, modernised for service in the nineties.
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