Your favorite unusual aircraft

I hope no one minds if i add another one.

What do you get if you cross a Me-110 with a DH Vampire?

The Heston JC.6 (sometimes called Heston A.2/45 after the Air Ministry Specification to wich it was built). A two-seat design powered by a single Giopsy Queen 33 engine driving a pusher propellor. The prototype flew in 1947.

It was dropped favour of the Auster AOP Mk 9.

Can someone tell me what the “thingy” between the stabs is?

yes to the rectractable visor, similar in principle to concorde, it just made landing her easier. with regards to the radiation symbol, i think if you look closer its more like a symbol from a crash test car, though i have no idea what it actually is. I totally agree, its an astonishingly beautiful aircraft 🙂

Regarding the XB-70: is that a retractable visor? And a radiation warning logo next to it? Why would there be radiation in a nose section?

What a fantastic design that plane was.

Bri 🙂

Unusual aircraft of the day is the Payen PA 49B “Katy”.

Designed by Frenchman Nicolas Roland Payen, who was an early delta wing and canard proponent (see his pre-war PA 22, which the Germans had a keen interest in).

It flew in 1954 and is now preserved at the Museum of the Air and the Space of Le Bourget.

Here is a link to some drawings of other Payen designs, its well worth a visit.

http://home.att.net/~dannysoar2/Payen.htm

How strange that the photo of the Airtruck in the company of other aircraft shows it in the company of an older design for the same type of work but was actually more successful. I mean the good old deH Beaver of course. You want a flying 1/2ton truck the Beaver is just about the only choice even now. I think that is proved by the fact that all the companies restoring Beavers have as much work as they can handle whilst all the Beaver’s competitors have fallen by the wayside.

My favourite unusual aircraft has to be the Dornier Do 335 Arrow.

why is it that such a unique aircraft hasn’t been made a priority and been restored and put on display??? there seem to be quite a few unique examples of german aircraft rusting away in american warehouses (no offence to you guys)

A note on the Horten brothers.

The Horten Ho 229 V3 prototype is currently “rusting” away at the Smithsonian’s Garber restoration facility.

A great shame for aviation history.

One i really liked…

The I.Ae.38 Naranjero by the Horten brothers. An Argentinian-built flying wing used to lift oranges and other fruits around… hey, the guys had to find someplace to work after WW2, right?

As with all Horten designs, the Naranjero deserves a place in the unusual list.

BTW only Reimar Horten went to Argentina. Brother Walter stayed in Germany and joined the post-war Luftwaffe. I wonder if he continued to design?

One i really liked…

The I.Ae.38 Naranjero by the Horten brothers. An Argentinian-built flying wing used to lift oranges and other fruits around… hey, the guys had to find someplace to work after WW2, right?

An-2E, antoher ekranoplan (and another An-2 ‘Type’)

…… unfortunately never got a chance to fly

Nor did (AFAIK) the An-2E.

The remains are at the Moscow Aviation Repair Zavod (MARZ) – photographed in 2005…..

Ken

Ashamed

*Ashamed* That would be the one, i suppose thats what i get for writing posts hungover and half asleep, added another one for good measure too 😀

that one above looks very similar in design to the Yak38 “Freehand”

erm a couple of golden oldies

North American XB-70 1964-1969
Grumman X-29 1984-1991
McDonnel XP-57 1941

BAC TSR.2 1964
Bristol 188 1962
H.P.115 1961

(IMHO TSR.2 and 188 were unusual looking at the time they were built and flown)

Nice selection.

The X-29 always seemed to fly the wrong way, must be confusing in a dog-fight :p

Would that be the McDonnell XP-67 Bat?

that one above looks very similar in design to the Yak38 “Freehand”

erm a couple of golden oldies

North American XB-70 1964-1969

Grumman X-29 1984-1991

McDonnel XP-67 1941

Vought XF5U-1 “Flying Pancake”

BAC TSR.2 1964

Bristol 188 1962

H.P.115 1961

(IMHO TSR.2 and 188 were unusual looking at the time they were built and flown)

Dreams of flight, or nightmare of budgeting.

This particular little bird (DuPont Aerospace DP-2) spend 21 years in development and $63 million in funding, before it finally dawned on people, that it couldn’t fly.

The plane, designed to take off like a helicopter and then fly at high speed, failed to remain in the air for more than a few seconds in 49 separate tests.

Here is a great quote regarding the DP-2.

“”The good news is that when it crashes, it only crashed from a foot or two off the ground,” said subcommittee Chairman Brad Miller, D-N.C..”

Best thing was that Pentagon analysts had rejected the idea from day one. I guess Mr DuPont had some old collage buddies somewhere in the administration.

And a video link (might be the one that kept the bucks flowing).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1Ze9Xizpfc

Aircraft to go.

Developed by Boeing in competition with the Cessna Model 305 (later known as L-19 Bird Dog). The YL-15 Scout proved to be just a bit too unconventional for the US army.

As seen on the picture, the YL-15 could be disassembled and transported on any standard 2 ½-ton Army truck. Presumably as a cheap substitute for a helicopter.

I love the way that they clearly state it belongs to the army GROUND forces…..DUH!

I always liked this a/c as well,I thought it looked a bit like a ‘reshuffled’ Me 262

Cheers Baz

Yes, it does have a Willy Messerschmitt feel to it.

There is something about the Potez 75.

Built in 1956 as a “tank buster” it might be the French uncle of the A-10 (the kind of uncle who is never invited around for dinner).

Whats with the open cockpit?

It seems that designers once thought pilots did their job better when exposed to wind and rain. The Potez 75 is not the only “late” open cockpit design. Why is it that AFTER the enclosed cockpit was “invented”, some designers reverted to the open cockpits?

IIRC, two were built and both crashed.

I’ve just found this thread, started by our very own FlyerNZL it seems, on an NZ forum which gives more detail.

Edit: Lovely colour photo if you scroll down a bit.

http://rnzaf.proboards43.com/index.cgi?board=civil&action=display&thread=1187402619

The Waitomo PL-11 Airtruck gets my vote

Does that PL-11 still exist? How many were made? What a fantstic looking machine!

That was the PL-12, a later, sleaker, version. I prefer the pure ugliness of the PL-11.

Some further info on the Airtruck/Airtruk family…

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transavia_Airtruk