Oddball, Experimental, or One-off

[red750]

The Supermarine Type 508 was a British experimental jet fighter prototype developed by Vickers-Supermarine in the early 1950s, serving as the primary ancestor to the Supermarine Scimitar.  It was designed to meet the Admiralty's Specification N.9/47 for a carrier-borne interceptor, featuring a straight-wing configuration, twin Rolls-Royce Avon RA.3 engines, and a distinctive "butterfly" V-tail designed to clear jet exhaust while maintaining stability. 

Key Development and Specifications

Maiden Flight: The first prototype, serial VX133, flew on 31 August 1951 at Boscombe Down, followed by a second prototype (VX136, later designated Type 529) on 29 August 1952. 
Design Origins: The Type 508 evolved from the Type 505, which was originally intended to land on flexible rubber decks without an undercarriage; the Type 508 incorporated a conventional tricycle undercarriage after the Admiralty abandoned the rubber deck concept. 
Performance: The aircraft achieved a maximum speed of approximately 607 mph (977 km/h), though this was considered modest, leading to the development of the swept-wing Type 525 variant. 
Operational History: The Type 508 (VX133) conducted carrier trials aboard HMS Eagle in 1952 and remained in service until 1956, while the Type 529 variant was destroyed in a crash landing on 19 December 1953.

[red750]

The DeKellis-Olson Air Truck, an experimental American light utility and agricultural triplane developed in the mid-1950s.

 

History & DesignDesigner:

 

It was designed by Tom DeKellis, a crop-dusting operator based in Oroville, California, who sought a more efficient alternative to the Stearman biplanes he was using.

 

Construction:

 

Built in 1957 by mechanic Alan Olson, the aircraft was a "chimera" constructed from surplus parts. It utilized three sets of wings from Piper PA-18 Super Cubs and components from a Vultee BT-13 Valiant.

 

Purpose:

 

DeKellis believed a triplane configuration would provide the additional wing area needed for better "low and slow" performance during crop-spraying operations. Its boxy fuselage was designed to house a large spray tank or dust hopper; some reports even claimed it could accommodate a Jeep.

 

Technical Details:

 

Engine: It was powered by a war-surplus 450 hp Pratt & Whitney R-985 radial engine.

 

Configuration:

 

The aircraft featured a unique four-wheel landing gear and a twin tail mounted on separate booms.

 

Flight History:

 

The Air Truck reportedly flew only once in 1955 (or 1957, depending on the source). The pilot, reportedly anxious to land, damaged the tail section during the circuit. The aircraft never flew again and was eventually abandoned.

 

Legacy

 

While this specific prototype was a failure, the "Air Truck" concept (a pod fuselage with twin tail booms for agricultural work) was later successfully refined by Italian designer Luigi Pellarini into the Bennett PL-11 and the more famous Transavia PL-12 Airtruk.

 

[facthunter]

Dusty Crop Hopper is scared of that.  Nev

[onetrack]

I'd imagine there was more than a little above the normal parasitic wing losses with that amazing setup? Going by that blokes style of thinking, I guess he was frightened of losing a wing, as well? So, the more the better?

[red750]

The SIPA S.1100 was a French twin engine observation and ground support aircraft flown in 1958. The first prototype was destroyed in a fatal crash only a few weeks after its first flight and no more were constructed.

 

In 1958 France was in the middle of the Algerian War and felt a need for a counter-insurgency aircraft capable of observation, photography and ground support. This official programme led to three aircraft: the SIPA S.1100, the Sud Aviation SE.116 Voltigeur and, slightly later the Dassault Spirale. All three were propeller driven designs with twin engines, though the SIPA was the only one never fitted with turboprops.

 

The SIPA SE.1100 was a mid wing cantilever monoplane. All its flying surfaces were straight tapered and square tipped; the wing carried flaps. Its 455 kW (610 hp) Pratt & Whitney R-1340 Wasp nine cylinder radial engines were mounted ahead of the wing leading edges, with cowlings which extended rearwards, both above and below the wing, nearly to the trailing edge. Its main wheels retracted backwards into the lower cowling and the tail wheel also retracted.

 

Its crew compartment was in the extreme nose of a deepened forward fuselage, with multiple transparencies to provide good sideways and downward vision. For ground support work it was fitted with two 20 mm (0.79 in) guns. There were underwing attachment points for other armament packages.

 

Ten SE.1100 prototypes were ordered but then cancelled before the SE.1100's first flight, flown on 24 April 1958 by Pierre Ponthus. Less than three months later, Ponthus and his colleague André Bouthonnet were killed and the aircraft destroyed when it crashed at Villacoublay during a low level demonstration. The unfinished second prototype was then abandoned.

 

 

[red750]

The SNCAC NC.1070 was a piston engined attack and torpedo bomber designed and built in France shortly after World War II. The second prototype, the NC.1071, was the first French multi-jet turbine powered aircraft.

 

Built shortly after World War II, the NC.1070 was a contemporary of the Nord 1500 Noréclair and was intended to take a similar role. It was a twin engine aircraft of unconventional layout with twin booms, twin fins and a double horizontal tail. The central fuselage was not a pod, though short compared with the wing span, and extended beyond the tail.

 

The NC.1070 was powered by a pair of SNECMA 14R fourteen-cylinder, two-row, air-cooled radial engines mounted well ahead of the wing. The fairings behind them extended around the wings and beyond as booms; at their rear, rectangular fixed tailplanes linked the booms to the fuselage. A straight tapered fin and rudder with trim tabs was mounted at the end of each boom with a constant chord, round tipped main tailplane mounted on top of them, carrying a one-piece elevator.

 

The wings were mid-mounted and strongly tapered with slightly swept leading edges and marked curvature on the trailing edges. They were fitted with tabbed ailerons and flaps. There were three crew, a bomb aimer/observer housed in a partially glazed nose, the pilot in a conventional cockpit which merged into a raised rear fuselage and, in the extreme tail just beyond the fins, a rear gunner in a turret. The NC.1070 had retractable tricycle gear, the nose leg slightly offset to port and each leg with a large single wheel.

 

The NC.1070 was first flown on 23 May 1947. Tests continued into 1948 but, piloted by Fernand Lasne, it was seriously damaged in a belly landing at Toussus-le-Noble Airport on 9 March 1948 and did not fly again. Instead, SNCAC concentrated on the jet powered second prototype, the NC.1071.

 

This was powered by a pair of 22.24 kN (5,000 lbf) Rolls-Royce Nenes, mounted in booms like the piston engines of the NC.1070, though rather further forward, positioned below the wing and with their tailpipes emerging from the previously pointed boom ends. Because of the lowered booms/tailpipes the lower, fixed horizontal tail was removed. The rear gun position was replaced by a partially glazed observer's position and the bottom of the rudder was clipped to avoid the jet exhaust.

 

Apart from these engine induced changes the NC.1071 was aerodynamically very similar to the NC.1070, with the same dimensions and only 130 kg (287 lb) heavier empty. Its maximum speed was increased by nearly 40% at altitude and it had a greater ceiling, (13,000 m (43,000 ft)) but its range, much reduced, was only 1,000 km (620 mi).

 

The NC.1071 made its first flight on 12 October 1948. It suffered damage to its undercarriage on 27 April 1949, flew again in 1950 and was modified the following May after significant structural distortion appeared in flight. Though both an all weather fighter variant (NC.1072) and an attack bomber (NC.1073) were considered, they were not built and development was abandoned at the end of NC.1071's flight tests.

 

[red750]

The Avro 642 Eighteen was a 1930s British monoplane airliner. Only two were built — one twin engine and the other four engine. The original had a circular partially glazed nose, but this was changed to a more traditional one. It used the wing of the Avro 618 Ten, which was a license produced Fokker V.II.

 

The twin engine aircraft was used until it was destroyed during World War II, in early 1942. The four engine model was used in British India until 1940.

 

As a follow-on to the Avro 618 Ten, the Avro 642 Eighteen was a larger aircraft but used a modified Avro Ten wing. The wing was moved to the shoulder position with the engines mounted on the wing and a new larger fuselage was used. When the design was completed in February 1933 it was the largest aircraft designed by Avro. The new fuselage was a fabric-covered welded steel structure with seats for 16 passengers, a baggage area and a toilet. The nose section was made of wood and originally had a semi-circular glazed front, although this was later changed to a more conventional-type windscreen. The wooden wing was designed to use any of the engines in the Armstrong-Siddeley family and the first aircraft was built with two Armstrong Siddeley Jaguar VID engines with four-bladed propellers.

 

With an order from the Midland and Scottish Air Ferries the first aircraft was nearly complete by December 1933. Registered G-ACFV the aircraft performed official performance trials at Martlesham Heath and was then returned to Woodford Aerodrome when the nose was modified. On 6 April 1934, G-ACFV was handed over to the customer and was then flown to Castle Bromwich to pick up Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald and the Secretary of State for Air Lord Londonderry. With these important passengers on board, G-ACFV was flown to Speke Aerodrome so that they could declare open a new air service between Glasgow, London and Belfast. At the same time Lord Londonderry named the aircraft The Marchioness of Londonderry. Following the ceremony the Prime Minister and party were flown to Heston Aerodrome in London.

 

The second aircraft was ordered by the Viceroy of India, Lord Willingdon and was completed in November 1934 with four Armstrong Siddeley Lynx IVC engines and long rectangular windows on each side.

 

 

 

[red750]

The Consolidated R2Y "Liberator Liner" (Consolidated Model 39) was an airliner derivative of the B-24 Liberator built for the United States Navy by Consolidated Aircraft.

 

The XR2Y-1, as the single prototype was known in Navy service, used the high-aspect wing and tricycle landing gear of the Liberator. The fuselage was an entirely new design, and the vertical stabilizer was taken from the PB4Y Privateer. The final design looked much like a smaller, high-wing Boeing B-29 Superfortress, but with windows for passengers.

 

The aircraft was meant to carry passengers or cargo to distant Navy bases, but after a brief evaluation the prototype was demilitarized in the mid-1940s, returned to Convair, and leased to American Airlines as a freighter with the name "City of Salinas".

 

[skippydiesel]

Has a passing resemblance to the Boing Stratocruiser and a similar military origin (I am old enough to have flown in one)😈

 

[red750]

«Plywood-2» (NIAI-1, LK-1) —a Soviet light cargo-passenger aircraft, created in 1933 at the Leningrad Research Aeronautical Institute (NIAI) and built in a small series. It had an unusual layout. Production aircraft were used in Aeroflot and other civil organizations, including in the Arctic.

 

Aircraft «Plywood-2» — single-engine all-wood monoplane with a cantilever wing, trapezoidal in plan. The power elements of the set (wing spars and ribs, tail parts) on the prototype were made of glued plywood pipes, on the serial ones they were replaced with solid wooden rods. A star-shaped piston engine with a two-bladed propeller is located in the nose and is equipped on production aircraft ring of Townend. Plumage — traditional scheme. Chassis — wheeled, two-post with tail support, non-retractable. On some production aircraft, the wheels are covered with fairings. The spacious cabin with developed glazing is made in the form of a thickened central part of the wing. Entrance to the cabin from both sides through sliding doors in the glazing.

 

NIAI-1 on floats, which can be seen in the feature film «Seven brave ones», did not really exist. Fake the floats for filming are hewn from solid logs.

 

 

 

 

[red750]

A top contender for the Ugliest Plane contest - Tunison Scout.

 

No text on this aircraft - no Wiki page or similar. Read the comments on this link:

 

https://www.aviastar.org/air/usa/tunison_scout.php

 

[BrendAn]

3 hours ago, red750 said:

A top contender for the Ugliest Plane contest - Tunison Scout.

 

No text on this aircraft - no Wiki page or similar. Read the comments on this link:

 

https://www.aviastar.org/air/usa/tunison_scout.php

 

love this one.  so ugly the earth repels it

[pmccarthy]

Looks like a catfish.

[facthunter]

Having flown in 1929, it must have been designed before that so Has to be viewed in that context it would be quite advanced.  Nev

[red750]

The Vickers Type 432 was a British high-altitude fighter aircraft developed by the Vickers group during the Second World War. Intended to enable the Royal Air Force to engage the enemy's high-altitude bomber aircraft, it was to be armed with six cannons.

 

The origins of the Type 432 lay with a requirement set out in 1939 for twin-engined fighters with 20 mm or possibly 40 mm cannon. Vickers had set out a proposal for a Griffon-engined aircraft, equipped with a 40 mm cannon in a flexible mounting. This was subsequently encouraged by the Air Ministry. Further development was carried out for a design that could also meet F.6/39 for a fixed gun fighter with 20mm cannon. Specification F.22/39 was drawn up to cover the 40 mm project as the Vickers 414 to meet Operational Requirement (OR) 76. This was subsequently revised with aircraft redesigns to become specifications F.16/40 and then F.7/41 for OR. 108.

 

In appearance it resembled a larger version of the de Havilland Mosquito and was known to some as the "Tin Mosquito". The pilot had a pressurised cockpit in the nose, with a bubble dome, similar to an enlarged astrodome. The pressurised cockpit took up the nose section so the cannon would have been fitted in a fairing below the fuselage, to the rear of the aircraft.

 

The aircraft's elliptical wing was built using a unique stressed-skin structure, designed by Barnes Wallis for lightness. The top and bottom were manufactured separately, and then clamped together at the leading and trailing edges, this being named "peapod" or "lobster-claw" structure. This allowed a large internal space unobstructed by ribs, hence capable of housing large fuel tanks (similar to Wallis's geodetic designs). 

 

When the competing Westland Welkin was ordered into production, the second prototype of the Vickers fighter, the Type 446, was cancelled, before completion, on 1 May 1943. The first prototype was retained by Vickers for test purposes until the end of 1944, when the aircraft was scrapped after completing only 28 flights.

 

 

[red750]

The SNCASE SE.100 was a French two-seat, twin-engined fighter that first flew in 1939. Mass production was planned to begin late in 1940 but the Fall of France prevented this.

 

The origins of the SE.100 predate the creation of the SNCASE (Sud-Est) company in the nationalisations of 1937. It was designed by Pierre Mercier and Jacques Lecarme at Lioré et Olivier and was initially designated the LeO 50. Underpowered by two Gnome-Rhône 14M engines, the design was recast to use the more powerful Gnome-Rhône 14N-20 and -21 engines, the same used in the Lioré et Olivier LeO 451 bomber, and renamed the SE.100. The aircraft was of conventional all-metal construction, having a mid-wing layout. As with most French twin-engined aircraft of the era, the engines were handed, one airscrew rotating clockwise and the other anti-clockwise, to minimise torque. The aircraft had a twin tail. In production models it was planned to redesign the wing to use components from the LeO 451 wing to ease production. The fuselage was short in appearance, with a long nose and a very short tail, the cockpit being connected to the gunner's position aft by a windowed corridor.

 

The undercarriage was very unconventional, a taildragger with single main wheel at the front and one rear wheel fitted under each vertical tail and retracting into them, rather than two main wheels under the wings or engine nacelles and a single tail wheel as per usual practice. The aircraft was fitted with four Hispano-Suiza HS.404 20 mm cannon in the nose and one in the gunner's post.

 

The first prototype of the SE.100 flew on 29 March 1939 at Argenteuil, and a number of necessary changes were identified during the tests. It was destroyed in a crash on 5 April 1940.[1][2] The aircraft proved to be around 100 km/h faster than the Potez 631, the French Air Force's current twin-engined fighter, and production was authorised.

While the tests were proceeding, a second prototype was being built, incorporating the changes, the most obvious of which was the removal of the windowed corridor in the fuselage and its replacement by additional fuel tanks. The armament was increased to six cannon in the nose, two in the gunner's post and one additional cannon in the floor of the gunner's post. As the second prototype was being built, the Citroën company was preparing to mass-produce the aircraft at their Paris works, deliveries planned to begin late in 1940.

 

At least two paper variants were studied, the SE.101 powered by Pratt & Whitney R-1830 Twin Wasp engines, and the SE.102 powered by a different version of the Gnome-Rhône 14N. The SE.500 and SE.800 were to have been a 12-passenger transport and a four-engined transport, respectively, derived from the SE.100.

 

 

[red750]

The Bellanca 28-92 Trimotor was a racing aircraft built to compete in the Istres-Damascus-Paris Air Race of 1937, and was paid for by popular subscription in Romania. Christened Alba Iulia ("White Julia", registration YR-AHA) it was piloted by Captain Alexander Papana of the Romanian Air Force .

 

The aircraft was a low-wing cantilever monoplane with a similar fuselage to the Bellanca 28-70 and 28-90, but was fitted with three engines, one in the nose, and one in each of two underwing nacelles. The nacelles also housed the main undercarriage units when retracted.

The fuselage was of tubular steel construction and covered by aluminum back to the cockpit. Aft of the cockpit, the fuselage was covered with fabric. The wings and tail were plywood-covered, and the control surfaces were covered by fabric. The main undercarriage partially retracted into the rear of the wing engine nacelles, but the tailwheel did not retract.

 

Installed in each wing of the aircraft was a 250-HP (186 kW) Menasco C6S4 Super Buccaneer engine. The C6S4 was a direct drive, air-cooled, inverted, straight-six aircraft engine. The C6S4 was supercharged and displaced 544 cu. in. (8.9 L). Each C6S4 engine drove a 6-ft. 6 in (0.15 m) diameter, two-blade, adjustable-pitch propeller.

A 420-HP (313 kW) Ranger SGV-770 engine was in the nose of the 28–92. The SGV-770 was an air-cooled, inverted, V-12 engine. The engine was supercharged, displaced 773 cu. in. (12.7 L), and had gear reduction for the 8-ft. 3 in (0.076 m) diameter, two-blade, adjustable-pitch propeller.

 

All of the trimotor's engines were hand cranked to start. The 28-92 had a fuel capacity of around 715 gallons (2,707 L). The aircraft had a span of 46-ft. 4 in (0.10 m), a length of 28 ft 4 in (8.64 m), and weighed 4,700 pounds (2,100 kg) empty. The 28-92 had a top speed of 285 mph (459 km/h) and a 3,000 miles (4,800 km) range at 250 mph (400 km/h) or a 4,160 miles (6,690 km) range at 200 mph (320 km/h). Landing speed was 75 mph (121 km/h).

 

In 1938, Bellanca re-registered the aircraft in the United States as NX2433 and entered it in the Bendix Trophy cross-country race. Frank Cordova was the pilot for the race, and the trimotor flew as race number 99. Unfortunately, because of engine trouble, the aircraft did not finish the cross-country race.

 

The aircraft competed in the 1939 Bendix Trophy race, placing second, piloted by Arthur Bussy. After being sold in South America, the 28-92 ended its days rotting in a small field in Ecuador.

 

[red750]

The Handley Page HP. 75 Manx was a British experimental aircraft designed by Handley Page that flew test flights in the early 1940s for possible transport, bomber and fighter aircraft projects. It was notable for its unconventional design characteristics, being a twin-engine tailless design of pusher configuration.

 

The Manx (named after a well-known breed of stub-tailed housecat) was built to participate in a flight research program investigating problems associated with tailless aircraft. The partially-swept wings supported the vertical stabilizers of a twin tail, with elevons for pitch and roll control.

 

Construction of the prototype was subcontracted to Dart Aircraft of Dunstable. There were serious issues encountered early in the development phase that caused a delay in the testing program. After it was delivered in 1939, redesigns had to be made because the Manx was too heavy, and there were also structural integrity issues with the main spar.

 

An unorthodox aspect of the Manx design incorporated into the aircraft was that the main undercarriage was retractable, while the nose gear remained fixed.

 

Taxi tests began in early 1940, but inspection revealed serious deterioration of the wing structures, which required extensive repair. These and further problems delayed the maiden flight until June 1943 (sources conflict as to whether it was 11 or 25 June.) The first flight was terminated early when the canopy was lost in mid-flight, but the pilot managed to land the plane safely. In December 1945 the Manx's regular crew were killed flying the Handley Page Hermes prototype. The Manx had accumulated only about 17 hours of flight time over approximately 30 flights when flight tests were finally terminated in April 1946. The sole example built was scrapped in 1952.