Oddball, Experimental, or One-off

[spacesailor]

''  CRAZY IDEA! The Northrop XP-79 ‘Flying Ram’ was a bizarre attempt to make an aeroplane that disabled enemy craft by colliding into them in mid-air.
  The product of a long line of all-wing fighters originally envisioned by the founder of Northrop, the XP-79 was doomed from the start and quite predictably ended in disaster! .
  As he floated down to earth the glider started to come towards him but luckily missed, going on to crash into the desert .
  only a few meters from where Crosby landed. https://planehistoria.com/experimental/northrop-xp-79/.  ''

 

 

spacesailor

oddballaircraft.txt

[red750]

The Focke-Wulf F 19 Ente (German: "Duck") was a German experimental "canard" aircraft in the late 1920s.

 

The F 19 Ente was a high-wing monoplane with a canard layout and fixed tricycle undercarriage. The pilot sat in an open cockpit, while an enclosed cabin was provided for two or three passengers. The canard was mounted on short struts above the nose of the aircraft, ahead of the cockpit, and the two engines were housed in nacelles mounted under the wings.

 

The F 19 design was set so that the front stabilizer would stall some moments before the rear-mounted main wing, which in theory made the Ente virtually stall-proof.

 

Two units built.

 

[facthunter]

It's a BS theory. Control by something stalling is not control.  Nev

[onetrack]

It always amuses me how, in the early aircraft designs, it was perfectly acceptable for the pilot or pilots to be stuck out in an exposed cockpit - while the pax got a fully-enclosed, relatively comfortable cabin!

[sfGnome]

Not dissimilar to the old chauffeurs. Just the hired help…

[facthunter]

Can't have Pilots in seats that could be sold to a passenger.  Nev

[spacesailor]

That goes all the way back to ' horse & carriage days .

Your driver sat at the front to control the horses,  the Gentry sat under a roofed canopy. 

Chauffeur ! when the driver was a professional in His Tailored Livery & not the stable hand. 

Even the first cars had no cover for the Chauffeur,  the windscreen was behind the driver . So he ( alway a male to control big horse power ) could use the ' whip ' .

spacesailor

 

[pmccarthy]

Pilots refused to use enclosed cockpits. The sound of the engine, the wind on one side of their face, and so on were essential for good aircraft control (they said). 

 

[Marty_d]

"Canard" also means "duck" (in French) - I've always been curious as to why a front HS is called a "canard".  

Not like you see ducks flying around with a little set of wings sticking out of their neck.

[Old Koreelah]

Similar to the story from The Great War about pilots (many of whom were drawn from the cavalry) who insisted on wearing their spurs while flying.

[onetrack]

 

46 minutes ago, Marty_d said:

"Canard" also means "duck" (in French) - I've always been curious as to why a front HS is called a "canard".  

Not like you see ducks flying around with a little set of wings sticking out of their neck.

Peter Stevens comment and photo, below, best describes how the French ended up calling the design a canard.

 

https://www.quora.com/Why-is-the-front-wing-on-a-plane-called-a-Canard-How-is-it-related-to-a-Duck

[red750]

The Ligeti Stratos referred to in the above article.  Designed and built in Australia. See also here.

 

[Marty_d]

Yeah... kind of... but a delta (sans canards) would also have a rear-mounted wing like a duck... seems a bit thin really.

But the word has been around since 1906 - Wikipedia reckons it started with the Santos-Dumont 14 bis which, when you look at that box-shaped front stabilizer, actually does look a bit like a duck.

 

[onetrack]

 Yeah, someone should tell that Santos-Dumont bloke, that he's flying that plane backwards!

[facthunter]

At least that plane has vertical surfaces that stop it being sensitive to sliding sideways.  Nev

[Old Koreelah]

4 minutes ago, onetrack said:

 Yeah, someone should tell that Santos-Dumont bloke, that he's flying that plane backwards!

That Brazilian was flying around in France long before the Wrights, but in dirigibles.

[facthunter]

He was a pretty smart Dude in many ways. Nev

[pmccarthy]

I was reading his biography but left it in a Qantas seat pocket so never found out how it ended. I assume he died.

[Old Koreelah]

3 minutes ago, pmccarthy said:

I was reading his biography but left it in a Qantas seat pocket…

I can’t think of a more appropriate place to leave it!

[onetrack]

Santos-Dumont led an increasingly desperate lifestyle, stricken with MS, and possibly also suffering from bi-polar disorder, he took his own life in 1932, by reportedly hanging himself with his necktie.

The sad part is that during several depressive events he burned a lot of his books, diaries and records. Typical of many brilliant people, he became a tortured soul.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alberto_Santos-Dumont

[pmccarthy]

Well I didn’t expect that!

[facthunter]

Genius and madness can be closely associated. Its a stressful environment and you are basically alone.. Nev

[red750]

The Douglas Skystreak (D-558-1 or D-558-I) was an American single-engine jet research aircraft of the 1940s. It was designed in 1945 by the Douglas Aircraft Company for the U.S. Navy Bureau of Aeronautics, in conjunction with the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA). The Skystreaks were turbojet-powered aircraft that took off from the ground under their own power and had unswept flying surfaces.

 

Three were built and a further three were ordered by later cancelled.

 

[red750]

The Boulton Paul P.75 Overstrand was a twin-engine biplane medium bomber designed and produced by the British aircraft manufacturer Boulton Paul. It was the final example of a series of biplane medium bombers that had served in the Royal Air Force since the First World War, starting with the likes of the Vickers Vimy and Handley Page Type O. The Overstrand was also the first aircraft to be fitted with a fully-enclosed power-operated turret.

 

First flown in 1933, the Overstrand was essentially an improved model of the Boulton Paul Sidestrand of the 1920s, thus early references to the type referred to it as the Sidestrand Mk IV instead. It demonstrated a higher maximum speed than its predecessor and was procured for the RAF in limited numbers. As such, the type entered service during the mid 1930s, but became increasingly overshadowed by the new generation of monoplane medium bombers, such as the Vickers Wellington and Armstrong Whitworth Whitley. Nevertheless, the Overstrand remained operational during the early years of the Second World War, albeit only being flown by training units. The few surviving aircraft were withdrawn from service during 1941, having been rendered surplus to requirements.

 

Sometimes described as the ugliest plane ever built.

 

[spacesailor]

And here's a modern twist!.

 

330 px Barlow Acapela 100  N455 CB

Originally a Bede BD-5 design.

spacesailor

Edited April 15, 2023 by spacesailor
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