Weird planes

[HAL9000]

Russia bomber thread has become a weird planes thread, so I thought I would start a thread just for this niche

http://www.urban75.net/forums/threads/russian-long-range-bombers-disrupt-uk-airspace.331716/

Round the world plane

Six million dollar plane (M2-F2r - might become a useful space lifeboat)

 

[bi0boy]

Russians were good at this!

Lun-class ekranoplan

Bartini Beriev VVA-14 vertical take-off amphibious aircraft:

 

[HAL9000]

This aircraft has appeared in an earlier thread

XB-70 Valkyrie

 

[Bungle73]

Aero Spacelines Super Guppy

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

 

[Idris2002]

I presume that once they realised the war was lost, Jerry aircraft designers just started pissing about, having a laugh, etc.

 

[mauvais]

Is that a BV 141 or similar? I was about to post that. There's more where that came from, I think.

 

[mauvais]

B&V's other works:

 

[Idris2002]

DownwardDog - in your expert opinion, was there any aerodynamic or military rationale for these examples of aircraft weirdness from the last days of the Reich?

 

[SpookyFrank]

Round the world plane

That's gorgeous, where can I get one?

 

[gosub]

That's gorgeous, where can I get one?

Smithsonian

 

[Tankus]

Supposedly an all weather interceptor and many other things

 

[Idris2002]

Supposedly an all weather interceptor and many other things

"Now pay attention 007 - it looks like a fighter jet, but it's actually a giant toilet for flushing trillions of dollars (American) down".

 

[SpookyFrank]

"Now pay attention 007 - it looks like a fighter jet, but it's actually a giant toilet for flushing trillions of dollars (American) down".

Not just US dollars, we're gonna be buying them too

Even though we're still using the tornado GR4 because nobody remembered to put any weapons on the Typhoon.

 

[friedaweed]

This flies over our house every day...

It's funny as fuck when we have visitors and they see it for the first time. WTF

 

[Idris2002]

This flies over our house every day...

It's funny as fuck when we have visitors and they see it for the first time. WTF

 

[Idris2002]

And WTF is this:

 

[HAL9000]

That's gorgeous, where can I get one?

You could get yourself one of these

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_A500

But only 7 were built, so you're probably better off getting this company to build a plane for you....

http://www.scaled.com/

(word of warning, the round the world plane is an awful plane to fly

http://www.nasa.gov/centers/dryden/Features/rutan_recalls.html

"I got to really hate this airplane. I felt not only was it not going to work, but I would probably die in it," Rutan said of the Voyager, the aircraft his brother Burt Rutan designed. "Yes, it had terrible flying qualities, but it had to make it around the world. Burt knew that it must have major compromises to make it around the world."

)

 

[weltweit]

I bet none of those planes could do this:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/55143939@N03/11250933385/

 

[Sirena]

I bet none of those planes could do this:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/55143939@N03/11250933385/

This comes close

 

[mauvais]

DownwardDog - in your expert opinion, was there any aerodynamic or military rationale for these examples of aircraft weirdness from the last days of the Reich?

I'm not an expert but it seems that the Germans were often onto something in their avant-garde designs: first jet fighter, a flying wing concept and even the forward swept wing, all of which made it into later and even contemporary aircraft. That would mirror their much more advanced rocket programme which of course was used to, ahem, accelerate the American one via Von Braun et al.

 

[pogofish]

The Convair F-2Y Sea Dart:

With retractable Hydro-Skis!

The Goodyear Inflato-plane:

Yes, a rubber, blow-up plane!


Leduc Ramjet:

With an all-glass cockpit!



The Vought V.173 Flying Flapjack:

The NASA AD-1:

This almost made it into a real airliner project!


The Convair XFY-1 POGO:

 

[eatmorecheese]

Planned completion in 2018. Huge.

 

[HAL9000]

It was designed for Apollo to simulate the lunar lander

 

[Dogsauce]

Tons of pictures of the rotting hulk of the bulbous ekranoplan here:

http://igor113.livejournal.com/51213.html

 

[TheHoodedClaw]

It was designed for Apollo to simulate the lunar lander

Here's a video of Neil Armstrong nearly getting killed while testing it - look how late he left it to eject...

 

[fishfinger]

It was designed for Apollo to simulate the lunar lander

Reminds me of this:

 

[pogofish]

Is that the test rig that eventually became the Harrier?

 

[fishfinger]

Is that the test rig that eventually became the Harrier?

I believe so.

Edit: http://www.daviddarling.info/encyclopedia/F/flying_bedstead.html

 

[Sweet FA]

I bet none of those planes could do this:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/55143939@N03/11250933385/

Fantastic set of photos

 

[DownwardDog]

Is that the test rig that eventually became the Harrier?

No. The Flying Bedstead was a Rolls-Royce project whereas what eventually became the Harrier's propulsion unit started life at Bristol aero engines. The FBB did use bleed air for reaction control in a similar manner to the Harrier but that was hardly new or unique in the mid 50s.