Oddball, Experimental, or One-off

[red750]

The Dassault Mirage G, also known as the Mirage IIIG, is a variant of the French Dassault Mirage series of supersonic warplanes, but with a variable-sweep wing. Three prototypes were flown; one single-engined G and two twin-engined G8 examples (which had begun construction as the G4). Various roles, equipment fits and other variants were proposed, but none entered production., 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[red750]

41 minutes ago, facthunter said:

In regard to the Landing  air cushion, Is THAT Successful? I can't see how you'd stop or steer it in a x wind.  Nev

Apparently not. Only one research model converted.

[skippydiesel]

6 minutes ago, red750 said:

Apparently not. Only one research model converted.

I imagine it would have similar handling characteristics to landing on water. You would always land/TO into wind. Stopping may involve reverse thrust and /or reducing the aircushion height to increase drag/friction with the ground.

 

While the idea does not seem to have found favour, I can see how it may be helpful for freight landings/TO on unconsolidated (soft) surfaces😈. The extra weight of the inflation system, would likly reduce payload considerably.😈

[facthunter]

 A float Plane has a Keel.   On land you can't always land into wind  and stopping would be very chancy from Normal touchdown speeds. Reverse thrust is Most effective early .   Nev

[red750]

The CAC CA-31 (also known as the Sparrowhawk) was a supersonic lead-in fighter-trainer and light attack aircraft designed by the Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation (CAC) in the 1960s to bridge the gap between subsonic trainers and the supersonic Dassault Mirage III for the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). 

 

Although a full-scale mockup was constructed and the design was refined to include a Rolls-Royce RB.172 Adour turbojet engine capable of Mach 1.5 speeds, the project was cancelled in 1970 after the RAAF decided to procure the two-seat Mirage trainer variant instead. 

 

[red750]

The Airmaster H2-B1 is a British two-seat ultralight helicopter built by Airmaster Helicopters of Camberley, Surrey.

 

The H2-B1 was designed with the co-operation of the builders of the American Helicom helicopter. Construction of the prototype, registered G-AYNS, was started in September 1970 and it was first flown from Redhill Aerodrome on 12 September 1972. It was intended that an improved H2-B2 variant would enter production but only the prototype H2-B1 was built.

 

The H2-B1 is a two-seat ultralight helicopter with a single two-bladed main rotor and a two-bladed tail rotor. The fuselage is a welded tubular structure skinned with aluminium and had two side-by-side configuration seats for the pilot and a passenger, it is also fitted with a skid landing gear, small wheels are fitted to allow the helicopter to be moved on the ground. The engine is a 100 hp (75 kW) Rolls-Royce Continental O-200-A air-cooled engine driving the main and tail rotors through a simple gearbox.

 

[onetrack]

Red, you already posted the above article, last Saturday at 11:39AM.

[red750]

The McDonnell XF-88 Voodoo was a long-range, twinjet fighter aircraft designed for the United States Air Force. Although it never entered production, its design was adapted for the subsequent supersonic F-101 Voodoo.

 

The XF-88 originated from a 1946 United States Army Air Forces requirement for a long-range "penetration fighter" to escort bombers to their targets. It was to be essentially a jet-powered replacement for the wartime North American P-51 Mustang that had escorted Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress bombers over Germany. It was to have a combat radius of 900 mi (1,450 km) and high performance. McDonnell began work on the aircraft, dubbed Model 36, on 1 April 1946. On 20 June the company was given a contract for two prototypes designated XP-88. Dave Lewis was Chief of Aerodynamics on this project.

 

The initial design was intended to have straight wings and a V-shaped tail, but wind tunnel tests indicated aerodynamic problems that led to a conventional tailplane being substituted and the wings being swept. The USAAF confirmed the order for the two prototypes on 14 February 1947, while a change in designation schemes led to the unflown prototypes being re-designated XF-88 on 1 July 1948, with the type gaining the nickname "Voodoo".

 

The Voodoo had a low/mid-mounted wing, swept to 35°. The two engines, specified as Westinghouse J34 turbojets were in the lower fuselage, fed by air intakes in the wing roots and jetpipes beneath the rear fuselage. This made room in the long fuselage for the fuel tanks required for the required long range. The Voodoo's short nose had no radar, being intended to house an armament of six 20 mm (.79 in) M39 cannon, while the fighter's single pilot sat in a pressurized cockpit and was provided with an ejection seat.

 

[red750]

5 minutes ago, onetrack said:

Red, you already posted the above article, last Saturday at 11:39AM.

Oops. Forgot to add it to the index spreadsheet. With about 275 One-offs, it's hard to remember which ones have been done.

[pmccarthy]

10 hours ago, red750 said:

The McDonnell XF-88 Voodoo was a long-range, twinjet fighter aircraft designed for the United States Air Force. Although it never entered production, its design was adapted for the subsequent supersonic F-101 Voodoo.

 

The XF-88 originated from a 1946 United States Army Air Forces requirement for a long-range "penetration fighter" to escort bombers to their targets. It was to be essentially a jet-powered replacement for the wartime North American P-51 Mustang that had escorted Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress bombers over Germany. It was to have a combat radius of 900 mi (1,450 km) and high performance. McDonnell began work on the aircraft, dubbed Model 36, on 1 April 1946. On 20 June the company was given a contract for two prototypes designated XP-88. Dave Lewis was Chief of Aerodynamics on this project.

 

The initial design was intended to have straight wings and a V-shaped tail, but wind tunnel tests indicated aerodynamic problems that led to a conventional tailplane being substituted and the wings being swept. The USAAF confirmed the order for the two prototypes on 14 February 1947, while a change in designation schemes led to the unflown prototypes being re-designated XF-88 on 1 July 1948, with the type gaining the nickname "Voodoo".

 

The Voodoo had a low/mid-mounted wing, swept to 35°. The two engines, specified as Westinghouse J34 turbojets were in the lower fuselage, fed by air intakes in the wing roots and jetpipes beneath the rear fuselage. This made room in the long fuselage for the fuel tanks required for the required long range. The Voodoo's short nose had no radar, being intended to house an armament of six 20 mm (.79 in) M39 cannon, while the fighter's single pilot sat in a pressurized cockpit and was provided with an ejection seat.

 

So what’s with the propellor?

[onetrack]

McDonnell modified one to a hybrid to test out propeller technology up to around Mach 1.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McDonnell_XF-88_Voodoo

 

 

[red750]

As the Wikipedia article states, they were looking for a replacement for the P-51 Mustang. There were two prototypes to assess the comparative performance - the XF-88A, a jet powered version, and the XF-88B, a turboprop version.

[red750]

The Margański & Mysłowski EM-10 Bielik (English: white-tailed eagle) is a low-cost Polish military training aircraft prototype, built by Margański & Mysłowski Zakłady Lotnicze, and first flown on 4 June 2003. The single-engine aircraft has a composite (mostly carbon fibre) fuselage with a light-alloy aft section, and the pressurized cockpit is fitted with ejection seats.

 

[red750]

The Bell XV-3 (Bell 200) is an American tiltrotor aircraft developed by Bell Helicopter for a joint research program between the United States Air Force and the United States Army in order to explore convertiplane technologies. The XV-3 featured an engine mounted in the fuselage with driveshafts transferring power to two-bladed rotor assemblies mounted on the wingtips. The wingtip rotor assemblies were mounted to tilt 90 degrees from vertical to horizontal, designed to allow the XV-3 to take off and land like a helicopter but fly at faster airspeeds, similar to a conventional fixed-wing aircraft.

 

The XV-3 was first flown on 11 August 1955. The first prototype use three blade rotors, and had issue with flutter crashing two months after its first flight. Tests were conducted on the second prototype with 2-blade rotors and flew successfully.

 

Although it was limited in performance compared to later types, the aircraft successfully demonstrated the tiltrotor concept, accomplishing 110 transitions from helicopter to airplane mode between December 1958 and July 1962. The XV-3 program ended when the remaining aircraft was severely damaged in a wind tunnel accident on 20 May 1966. The data and experience from the XV-3 program were key elements used to successfully develop the Bell XV-15, which later paved the way for the V-22 Osprey.

 

The remaining prototype survived to the 21st century when it was restored by Bell, with a two-year restoration that included engineers that worked on the XV-3 originally. It was then transferred to the National Museum of the United States Air Force in Dayton, Ohio, where it was put on display.

 

[facthunter]

Looks dangerous. Like the Cure is worse than the disease. Nev

[red750]

The Heinkel He 178 was an experimental aircraft designed and produced by the German aircraft manufacturer Heinkel. It was the world's first aircraft to fly using the thrust from a turbojet engine.

 

The He 178 was developed to test the jet propulsion concept devised by the German engineer Hans von Ohain during the mid-1930s. Having secured the industrial support of Ernst Heinkel, von Ohain was able to demonstrate a working turbojet engine, the Heinkel HeS 1, in September 1937. Heinkel pursued development of the He 178 as a private venture, independent of the German authorities and the Luftwaffe, keeping the aircraft relatively secret for much of its development. Heinkel was keen not only to demonstrate the capabilities of aviation gas turbines, but had a separate emphasis on developing high-speed flight technologies.

 

On 27 August 1939, the He 178 V1, the first prototype, performed its maiden flight, piloted by Erich Warsitz. This flight, which only lasted for six minutes, had been preceded by a short hop by the same aircraft three days prior. Due to its performance limitations, such as a maximum speed of 598 kilometres per hour (372 mph) and its relatively small endurance, the aircraft failed to impress high-ranking Nazi officials such as Ernst Udet and Erhard Milch, who attended a demonstration flight. Heinkel subsequently developed a twin-engined jet-powered fighter aircraft, building on the lessons of the He 178, to produce the He 280. The He 178 provided valuable test data to guide the development of subsequent jet-powered aircraft. The He 178 V1 prototype itself went on static display in Berlin for a time before it was destroyed by an Allied air raid on the city in 1943.

 

 

[red750]

Tsunami was a purpose-built racing aircraft designed and built in the United States during the 1980s. After a short undistinguished career Tsunami crashed, killing its designer, John Sandberg, on 25 September 1991.

 

After six years of building, the aircraft was first flown 17 August 1986 by Steve Hinton. It was designed specifically to break the 3 km world speed record for propeller driven aircraft by a private pilot and to compete in the Unlimited class at the Reno Air Races.

 

The aircraft was designed by Bruce Boland, an aerospace engineer employed by Lockheed Martin, John R. Sandberg, owner of JRS Enterprises Inc (rebuilders of Allison and Rolls-Royce aircraft engines), Lockheed engineer Pete Law and builder Ray Poe. Tsunami, powered by a Rolls-Royce Merlin engine, designed and built by John R. Sandberg and the JRS Enterprise Inc. team, exceeded 500 mph (430 kn; 800 km/h).

 

Originally, it was designed as a light-weight racer with a single-staged supercharged Rolls-Royce Merlin. However, as speed increased in the Unlimited Racing Class, a higher powered two-stage supercharged Rolls-Royce Merlin was installed. An attempt was made in August 1989 to break the 3 km (1.9 mi) world speed record at Wendover Utah with a private pilot at the controls. Due to a landing gear collapse the aircraft was unable to beat the existing record.

 

Despite being very fast, in its racing career from 1986 to 1991 it only won one Unlimited Gold Race, in Sherman, Texas in 1990.

 

 

[red750]

The Focke Wulf Fw 159 was an experimental German fighter of the 1930s, designed by Kurt Tank which never reached production, as it was considered inferior to the He 112 and Bf 109. It was a heavier variant of the Focke-Wulf Fw 56, with several improvements, such as a retractable landing gear and enclosed cockpit.

 

The Focke-Wulf company designed the aircraft as one of the four entries for the Rüstungsflugzeug IV ("Armed Aircraft IV") 1934 fighter competition. Its parasol wing configuration was based on the company's successful trainer product, the Focke-Wulf Fw 56 Stösser, and it used a Junkers Jumo 210 engine. The plane had an enclosed cockpit and a rearward-retracting lever-action suspension main undercarriage which retracted completely into the lower fuselage. This mechanism was complicated, fragile and endlessly troublesome. The first prototype, the Fw-159 V1, was ready in the spring of 1935 but was destroyed when it crash-landed following the failure of the main undercarriage to deploy properly.

 

The second prototype, the V2, had a reinforced undercarriage. The general flight characteristics were good but the rate of climb and rate of turn were unsatisfactory, and the aircraft suffered greater drag than its competitors in the contest, the Arado Ar 80, Heinkel He 112 and Messerschmitt Bf 109. The competition was won by the Bf 109.

 

[red750]

The Kellett XR-10 was a military transport helicopter developed in the United States in the 1940s that only flew in prototype form. It was designed in response to a USAAF Technical Instruction issued for the development of a helicopter to transport passengers, cargo, or wounded personnel within an enclosed fuselage. Kellett's proposal followed the general layout that the company was developing in the XR-8, with twin intermeshing rotors, and was accepted by the Air Force on 16 October over proposals by Sikorsky, Bell, and Platt-LePage.

 

The XR-10 resembled a scaled-up XR-8, although its twin engines were carried in nacelles at the fuselage sides, driving the rotors via long driveshafts, and the aircraft was skinned entirely in metal. The first of two prototypes flew on 24 April 1947, and at the time, was the largest rotorcraft to fly in the United States. During test-flights, however, the same problem that had been encountered with the XR-8's rotor system emerged when blades from the two rotors collided in flight. With fixes in place, flight testing continued, but on 3 October 1949, the first prototype crashed due to a control system failure and killed Kellett's chief test pilot, Dave Driskill. The project was abandoned shortly thereafter, and a 16-seat civil variant, the KH-2, never left the drawing board.

 

[red750]

The Ikarus 451 is a family of research aircraft designs built in the former Yugoslavia in the 1950s by the Belgrade-based manufacturer Ikarus (now Ikarbus), all sharing the same basic airframe, but differing in powerplants and cockpit arrangements. 

 

To research prone pilot cockpit arrangements and controls, the Yugoslav Government Aircraft Factories developed the Ikarus 232 Pionir, a small twin-engined low-wing monoplane, powered by 2x 48 kW (65 hp) Walter Mikron III piston engines.

 

An enlarged version of the Pionir was developed as the Type 451, powered by 2x 120 kW (160 hp) Walter Minor 6-III six-cylinder piston engines of 120 kW (160 hp) each. The Type 451 had a 6.7 m (22 ft) wingspan, a maximum speed of 335 km/h (182 knots), and a ceiling of 4750 m (15,570 ft). It first flew in 1952.

 

It also accommodated the pilot in prone position, but was an otherwise conventional low-wing monoplane with retractable tailwheel undercarriage, the main units of which retracted backwards into the engine nacelles mounted below the wings.

 

[red750]

The Burnelli UB-14 and a developed variant named OA-1 Clyde Clipper were 1930s American prototype lifting-fuselage airliners designed by Vincent Burnelli, who was responsible for constructing the first two examples.

 

Following on from his earlier designs Vincent Burnelli designed a commercial transport version using the lifting-fuselage concept. Burnelli's designs were based on the idea that an airfoil-section fuselage could contribute to the lift generated. The Burnelli UB-14 first flew in 1934, and had an airfoil-section fuselage that formed the centre-section of the wing. The aircraft had twin tailbooms and a widespan tailplane and elevator fitted with twin fins and rudders. The UB-14 had retractable landing gear and was powered by two Pratt & Whitney radial engines. An enclosed cockpit for the crew of two was located on the centre wing's upper surface. The cabin could hold 14 to 18 passengers.

 

The first prototype, UB-14, was destroyed in a 1935 accident attributed to faulty maintenance on the aileron control system. Burnelli then designed and built an improved version, the UB-14B. An extensively modified version of the UB-14B design was built under licence in the United Kingdom by Cunliffe-Owen Aircraft, powered by two Bristol Perseus XIVC radials as the Cunliffe-Owen OA-1 Clyde Clipper. The UB-14B was to have been built by Scottish Aviation, but with more streamlined inline engines.

 

Burnelli applied to the CAA for approval to fly a transatlantic flight with Clyde Edward Pangborn as the pilot in September 1936, however it failed its airworthiness certification due to an excessively long takeoff run and poor quality control. Its performance was later tested at A&AEE Boscombe Down in 1939. A total of 3 prototypes were completed.

 

[red750]

The Lockheed XP-58 Chain Lightning was an American long-range fighter developed during World War II. Although derived from the successful P-38 Lightning, the XP-58 was plagued by technical problems with its engines that eventually led to the project's cancellation.

 

The XP-58 was a Lockheed Aircraft Company funded initiative to develop an improved Lightning as a long-range fighter following the release by the U.S. Army Air Corps of the Lightning for sale to Britain on 20 April 1940. Initially, two designs were formulated, both using the Continental IV-1430 engines. One would be a single-seat aircraft with one 20 mm (.79 in) cannon and four .50 caliber (12.7 mm) machine guns. The second would be a two-seat aircraft with the addition of a flexible .50 caliber (12.7 mm) gun at the end of each tail boom.

 

In July 1940, Lockheed decided to switch to Pratt & Whitney XH-2600 engines as the aircraft would be underpowered with the Continental engines, with the aircraft having two seats and designated "XP-58". However, soon Lockheed was advised the development of the XH-2600 engine was terminated. After consideration of the engine alternatives, the design was changed to use two Wright R-2160 Tornado engines, as well as a change of the rear-facing armament to two turrets, one upper and the other lower on the fuselage, each turret containing two .50 caliber (12.7 mm) machine guns. As support equipment for the two crewmen was added, the estimated weight of the XP-58 grew to 34,232 lb (15,527 kg) by August 1941.

 

In March 1942, the USAAF placed an order for a second XP-58 that would incorporate increased fuel tanks to obtain a range of 3,000 mi (4,800 km). The Air Force was uncertain about the role and armament of the aircraft, and in September 1942, a decision was made to convert the aircraft for a role as a low-altitude attack aircraft, armed with a 75 mm (2.95 in) M5 autocannon. Adequate aircraft were already available for this mission, with the Douglas A-26 Invader and Beechcraft XA-38 Grizzly under development. As a result, the second XP-58 was canceled and the role of the design reverted to that of a high-altitude fighter, using large-bore cannon firing high-explosive shells to break up bomber formations.

 

The 37 mm (1.46 in) M4 autocannon was originally selected for a quadruple mount in the nose, but the trajectory of the 37mm shells dropped lower than other weaponry, limiting its effective range. A hydraulically articulated nose that could be bent up to correct this problem was tried, but was dismissed as too complex. Then, a 75 mm (2.95 in) M5 autocannon paired with twin .50 caliber (12.7 mm) machine guns was tried and proved much more successful.

 

In January 1943, the USAAF initiated a separate program to build a dedicated photographic reconnaissance aircraft with superior range, altitude and speed characteristics, as the loss of air bases in China had placed strategic targets in Japan beyond the range of almost all existing Allied aircraft, and some USAAF leaders objected to diverting bombers such as the B-29 to serve in a pure reconnaissance role. Lockheed proposed a modified version of the XP-58. However, in August 1943, General Henry H. Arnold chose the Hughes XF-11 over the Lockheed against the recommendations of Air Materiel Command, which said that Hughes Aircraft lacked the expertise and industrial capacity for mass production. The XF-11 would be plagued by technical and managerial delays and never entered service; Arnold later publicly expressed regret for his decision. The Northrop F-15 Reporter, a development of the P-61 Black Widow, would enter service in this role.

 

[red750]

The Starkraft SK-700 is a light transport aircraft featuring a unique push-pull configuration with a low-wing, all-composite design.  It was powered by two 350 hp Teledyne-Continental TSIOL 550A engines, with the forward engine acting as a tractor and the rear engine as a pusher connected via a drive shaft. 

 

The aircraft was designed by Martin Hollmann at Aircraft Designs and built by Star*Kraft Inc (with Roger Kraft as an owner).  Key specifications and variants include:

1. Configuration: 8-seat, twin-engine, push-pull layout. 
2. Variants: A single-engine version (SK-700SE), a 5-seat model (SK-500), and an 11-seat stretch version (SK-1100). 
3. Status: The design remained largely unbuilt, with only a few prototypes or test units (such as N700SK, registered in 1994) appearing in records, and it never reached full production status.