Oddball, Experimental, or One-off

[red750]

This is possibly a variant on the Russian Antonov An-14, believed to be the An-14sh, an experimental trial of a hovercraft type landing gear, enabling it to land on an unprepared runway, water, snow or ice, or swampland.

 

[red750]

The Creative Flight Aerocat is a Canadian mid-wing, all composite, four passenger experimental aircraft that can be configured for amphibious float operations. Under development since 1998, the aircraft is intended to be supplied in kit form by Creative Flight of Haliburton, Ontario, for amateur construction. The company has since been renamed Auriga Design.

 

Development started in 1998 on the MPA Aerocat. In 2002, the vehicle was renamed the Creative Flight Aerocat.

 

The all composite aircraft features a distinctive gull-wing design with pods that floats can attach to. A twin engine variant is powered by two Jabiru 3300 engines. In both the case of the single and twin engined versions, the engines are mounted in pusher configuration on a composite arch behind the cockpit.

 

Status    Under development         Number built    One (2011)

 

                     Single engine variant

 

                     Twin engine variant

[red750]

The Fairey FB-1 Gyrodyne was an experimental British rotorcraft that used single lifting rotor and a tractor propeller mounted on the tip of the starboard stub wing to provide both propulsion and anti-torque reaction. It was the first of a third type of rotorcraft, the gyrodyne.

 

In April 1946, Fairey announced a private-venture project for a rotary-wing aircraft, to be built to a design developed by Dr. J.A.J. Bennett while he was chief technical officer at the Cierva Autogiro Company in 1936–1939. The Gyrodyne, constituting a third distinct type of rotorcraft and designated C.41 by the Cierva Autogiro Company, was in 1938 successfully tendered to the Royal Navy in response to Specification S.22/38 for a naval helicopter. Though preliminary work started on the project, it was abandoned with the outbreak of the Second World War, and G & J Weir, Ltd., the financiers of the Cierva Autogiro Company, declined to undertake further development in addition to their successful experiments with the W.5 and W.6 lateral twin-rotor helicopters. After the Second World War, the Cierva Autogiro Company was engaged with the development of the Cierva W.9 "Drainpipe" and the W.11 Air Horse helicopters under the direction of Cyril Pullin, and Bennett joined Fairey in late 1945 as head of the newly established rotary wing aircraft division.

 

The FB-1 Gyrodyne was a compact, streamlined rotorcraft weighing just over 4,410 lb (2,000 kg) and powered by a 520–540 hp (390–400 kW) Alvis Leonides 522/2 radial engine, the power from which could be transmitted in variable ratios to the fixed-shaft/swashplate-actuated tilting hub-controlled rotor and the wing tip mounted propeller. The Gyrodyne possessed the hovering capability of a helicopter, while its propeller provided the necessary thrust for forward flight to enable its rotor, driven at low torque in cruise flight, to operate at low collective pitch with the tip-path plane parallel to the flight path to minimise vibration at high airspeed. Collective pitch was an automatic function of throttle setting and power loading of the propeller, which to maintain rpm diverted torque away from the rotor as airspeed increased. Only 2 prototypes completed.

 

 

[red750]

The Aviation Traders ATL-90 Accountant was a 1950s British twin-engined 28-passenger turboprop airliner built at Southend Airport England by Aviation Traders, a member of the airline and aircraft engineering group controlled by Freddie Laker.

 

The ATL-90 Accountant was a turboprop airliner designed as a replacement for the Douglas DC-3. It was powered by two Rolls-Royce Dart turboprops and first flew from Southend on 9 July 1957. The only Accountant, initially flown using the test serial G-41-1, but quickly registered G-ATEL, was displayed at the Farnborough Airshow in September 1957 but did not attract much commercial interest. The aircraft last flew on 10 January 1958, development was abandoned and the aircraft was scrapped in February 1960.

[Marty_d]

Hmm. Ugly and the most boring name ever. Wonder why it wasn't a hit?!

[onetrack]

It should've been a hit with the bankers and lawyers! Just needed some marketing ooomph. "The Accountant. Saves you money, not just on your tax!" 😄 

 

Edited January 5 by onetrack

[facthunter]

Once Accountants get involved. Well you know the rest.  Nev

[Thruster88]

The Fokker F27 friendship beat it to market. 

[BrendAn]

5 minutes ago, Thruster88 said:

The Fokker F27 friendship beat it to market. 

The f27 was a popular Fokker.

There were fokkers everywhere.

[facthunter]

There was a HS 748 that looked a bit like the Accountant  The RAAF had a few..

[facthunter]

A precursor to the Dutch Fokker Friendship was the" Handley Page Herald" which replaced 4 Alvis Leonides Radials with 2 RR Darts in the Mid 50's. Some Fokkers were Made under Licence in the USA by Fairchild BUT they were NOT built with REDUX Bonding and they shed wings at about the time I went on  F27's here. We flew them at reduced Airspeeds Just in case so I wasn't that Impressed. The Dutch ones didn't have the Problem and the Mk2 with bigger RR Dart engines and Longer range was a quite successful Plane in  Australia They had Auto feather and Quick retracting Wheels to improve the T/O Climb performance. Brakes,  and gear were Operated By High Pressure Air at 3600 psi.. The early versions only had Castoring nosewheels and that would be pretty Unsatisfactory with  differential Air Brakes.. TAA operated a Flight to Timor L'Este, Baucau under a Qantas Flight# (QF 1308) Out of Darwin. Going through the Intertropic Convergence Zone in summer was INTERESTING An Ice green wall  with tops at 60.000 feet. WE had radar. There and back the  same day. Nev

[red750]

The Schweizer RU-38 Twin Condor is a two or three-seat, fixed gear, low wing, twin boom covert reconnaissance aircraft.

 

RU-38 is the US military designation for the aircraft, indicating Utility, Reconnaissance. The Schweizer company model number is Schweizer SA 2-38A Condor and, in its three-seat configuration, Schweizer SA 3-38A Condor.

 

Based on the Schweizer SGM 2-37 motor glider, a total of five RU-38s were produced between 1995 and 2005. The aircraft remains in production by Sikorsky Aircraft after acquiring Schweizer.

 

The development of the Schweizer SGM 2-37 motor glider for training use at the United States Air Force Academy led to two reconnaissance versions of that design, carrying the company model numbers SA 2-37A and SA 2-37B. In Central Intelligence Agency, US Army and US Coast Guard service these were designated RG-8A and RG-8B. The RG-8s were employed in border security and surveillance missions.

 

In the mid-1990s, the Coast Guard decided that the aircraft would be more useful if their capabilities were improved to include night operations by the addition of more mission sensor equipment. Discussions with Schweizer Aircraft resulted in a plan to upgrade two RG-8As and to build one new aircraft to provide a total of three.

 

The RU-38 was intended to fulfill both the low altitude, quiet, over water/hostile terrain reconnaissance role and also the high altitude standoff surveillance role.

The design missions for the RU-38A were:

• Border integrity
• Counter-terrorism surveillance
• Drug enforcement
• Electronic intelligence
• Fishery patrols
• Illegal alien surveillance
• Intelligence collection
• Maritime patrol
• Pollution patrol & environmental monitoring
• Search and Rescue

In converting to the new RU-38A configuration, the conventional RG-8A airframe was greatly modified by:

• Removing the single 235 hp (175 kW) Lycoming O-540-B powerplant
• Installing two Teledyne Continental Motors GIO-550A engines with a 3:2 gear reduction to 2267 operating rpm. The engines are mounted one in the nose and the other in the rear of the fuselage.
• Enlarging the crew compartment
• Improving the engine mufflers
• Increasing the wingspan from 56.5 ft (17.22m) to 84.13 ft (25.65 m)
• Changing the single tail fin to a twin-boom configuration with two fins
• Greatly enlarged sensor bays
• Improved noise signature reduction
• Tricycle landing gear replacing the conventional landing gear

For details of the two variants, click here.

 

[red750]

The Collins Dipper was an American homebuilt flying boat that was designed and produced by Collins Aero of Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania and first flown in 1982. The aircraft was supplied in the form of plans for amateur construction. Only one was built and none remain registered.

 

The Dipper was a conversion of a Cessna 150, adding a fiberglass hull and nose to the Cessna land plane. Development was protracted and started in 1964, leading to a first flight in 1982.

 

The Dipper featured a strut-braced high-wing, a two-seats-in-side-by-side configuration enclosed cockpit with doors, retractable tricycle landing gear and a single engine in pusher configuration mounted above the cabin on struts.

 

The aircraft is made from aluminum and fiberglass, retaining the Cessna 150's wing and lift struts. The 33.4 ft (10.2 m) span wing employs a NACA 2412 airfoil, mounts flaps and has a wing area of 160 sq ft (15 m2). The standard engine used was the 180 hp (134 kW) Lycoming O-360 powerplant.

 

The aircraft nose wheel retracted forward and the main landing gear retracted upwards into the rear window space.

 

The Dipper had a typical empty weight of 1,100 lb (500 kg) and a gross weight of 1,760 lb (800 kg), giving a useful load of 660 lb (300 kg). With full fuel of 39 U.S. gallons (150 L; 32 imp gal) the payload for pilot, passengers and baggage is 426 lb (193 kg).

 

The manufacturer estimated the conversion time from the plans as 1000 hours.

 

[red750]

The Comp Air Jet is an American eight-seat, low-wing, pressurized, tricycle undercarriage, turbofan-powered civil utility aircraft marketed by Comp Air for amateur construction.

 

The company website does not list it as being in production in 2022.

 

In 2002 the co-owners of Aerocomp, which is now known as Comp Air, Steve Young and Ron Lueck announced the Comp Air Jet project. The jet is constructed from a "proprietary carbon-fiber hybrid sandwich" and powered by a Ukrainian Ivchenko AI-25 engine. Alternative engines planned for included the Pratt & Whitney JT12-8 or CJ610 or projected future Williams International or Agilis engines.

 

On July 10, 2004 the Comp Air Jet flew for the first time from Merritt Island Airport. Though the gear was not retracted during the flight, the aircraft still reached speeds of 157 kn (291 km/h). The jet landed after 37 minutes with the landing taking about 2000 feet.

 

On January 11, 2005 Aerocomp flew the prototype back to the Merritt Island Airport for further development work after more than 30 hours of flight testing at Space Coast Regional Airport, Titusville, Florida.

 

 

[red750]

The Piper PA-47 "PiperJet" was a single-engined very light jet (VLJ) that was intended to be developed and built by Piper Aircraft. However, following a change of ownership at Piper, it was decided to redesign the aircraft as the PiperJet Altaire. Despite being technically successful, the Altaire project was canceled in October 2011 due to economic conditions. The aircraft is the first proposed single-engined civilian aircraft with a podded engine located on the tail.

 

 

The PiperJet was announced in October 2006, as a competitor to the twin-engined Eclipse 500 and Cessna Citation Mustang. The aircraft's fuselage was the same cross section as the propeller-driven Piper PA-46 series, with a 4 feet (1.2 m) increase in length. It was to be capable of carrying up to 7 passengers and cruise at 360 knots (666.7 km/h), at a maximum altitude of 35,000 feet (10,668.0 m). Maximum range was expected to be 1,300 nautical miles (2,407.6 km), with a full-fuel payload of 800 pounds. Piper selected Williams International to supply its FJ44-3AP turbofan engine for the PiperJet.

 

Due to the engine being mounted above the center of gravity, power was highly stabilizing (addition of power would push the nose down), which could have been disconcerting to pilots. Initially, Piper designers incorporated an automatic pitch trim system to coordinate horizontal stabilizer angle of incidence with power setting. This system was later replaced by a vectored thrust nozzle, developed by Williams International, which resulted in reduced weight and simplified manufacturing processes.

 

A design feature of the aircraft was the use of a straight duct air intake design for the vertical stabilizer (tail) mounted engine, similar in engineering design concept to a McDonnell Douglas DC-10, rather than the s-duct arrangement of most trijet aircraft designs such as the Dassault Falcon 900.

 

A selling price of US$2.199 million in 2006 dollars was initially set and as of February 19, 2007, Piper announced that it had received 180 pre-orders. An entry-into-service date of early 2010 was initially anticipated, later changed to 2011-12. In October 2009 the company indicated that it had delayed the delivery of the first customer aircraft to mid-2013 and had informed depositors.

 

The PiperJet did not enter production and in October 2010 Piper announced it would instead develop an aircraft with a larger circular-section fuselage known as the Piper PiperJet Altaire. The 160 customers who had placed orders for the PiperJet retained their delivery positions with the new aircraft and at the same $2.2 million price.