Your Favorite Aircraft

[AngusThermopyle]

A really neat aircraft is the "double decker" Cessna. It can carry twice the amount of passengers and payload that a regular Cessna can. Of course fuel consumption is higher and entering and leaving the top portion can be a little awkward but its a small price to pay over all.

Innovative Cessna

[DogOnPorch]

A really neat aircraft is the "double decker" Cessna. It can carry twice the amount of passengers and payload that a regular Cessna can. Of course fuel consumption is higher and entering and leaving the top portion can be a little awkward but its a small price to pay over all.

Innovative Cessna

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Crow #1: Did you ever see an elephant fly?

Crow #2: Well, I've seen a horse fly.

Crow #3: Ah, I've seen a dragon fly.

Crow #4: Hee-hee. I've seen a house fly.

---Walt Disney's Dumbo

[AngusThermopyle]

Check out this blog, very cool, its all WWII. If you scroll down about 2/3 of the way you'll come to the wierd aircraft of WWII section. The whole page is fascinating though, lots of great pictures, facts and testimonials.

Very cool site.

[DogOnPorch]

Check out this blog, very cool, its all WWII. If you scroll down about 2/3 of the way you'll come to the wierd aircraft of WWII section. The whole page is fascinating though, lots of great pictures, facts and testimonials.

Very cool site.

I remember those "planes"! They are either from a National Lampoon or a Playboy magazine circa 1970-somthing. Meant to be humorous stereotypes. I'm leaning more towards Playboy.

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I have about 100 pairs of pajamas. I like to see people dressed comfortably.

---Hugh Hefner

Edited March 3, 2009 by DogOnPorch

[AngusThermopyle]

Now I think about it I believe I've seen them somewhere before as well. The one I really like is the 20 seat flight trainer, 20 people all trying to fly the same aircraft at the same time would be a sight to behold.

[DogOnPorch]

Now I think about it I believe I've seen them somewhere before as well. The one I really like is the 20 seat flight trainer, 20 people all trying to fly the same aircraft at the same time would be a sight to behold.

From the blog's copy of the description...

First, the HARLEY-FAIRFAX K-55 AIR-PAL TRAINER {pic}, conceived as an economical flight trainer. The plane was so economical it didn't even have an intercom for the instructor to communicate with the students. According to the Fiddler's Green website, "elaborate pre briefings, hand signals, screaming all were tried but all fell short of the desired result, unanimity of action. Happily for all concerned, a further economy move halted production altogether only five months after it began. But those who flew or tried to fly her are not likely to ever forget this stillborn regent of the cloud lanes-memories shared by those on the ground lucky and sharp-eyed enough to catch a necessarily brief glimpse of an Air-Pal cartwheeling across the sky while 19 plucky, if somewhat perplexed students tried outguessing one another, their teacher and fate itself."

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But the fact that some geniuses were laughed at does not imply that all who are laughed at are geniuses. They laughed at Columbus, they laughed at Fulton, they laughed at the Wright brothers. But they also laughed at Bozo the Clown.

---Dr. Carl Sagan

[Wilber]

I remember those "planes"! They are either from a National Lampoon or a Playboy magazine circa 1970-somthing. Meant to humorous stereotypes. I'm leaning more towards Playboy.

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I have about 100 pairs of pajamas. I like to see people dressed comfortably.

---Hugh Hefner

You're right it was Playboy.

[Wilber]

I liked the Humbley-Pudge Gallipoly Heavyish Bomber with its Varley Panjandrum Engines.

[Jerry J. Fortin]

The most beautiful aircraft ever made; hands down its the Connie. The one that I like the most, the Arrow.

[DogOnPorch]

The most beautiful aircraft ever made; hands down its the Connie. The one that I like the most, the Arrow.

Check back a few pages for some interesting Connie pics.

Here's another huge propliner that got bumped by the jet-age's arrival:

I liked the Humbley-Pudge Gallipoly Heavyish Bomber with its Varley Panjandrum Engines.

The Brabazon almost fits that bill...lol.

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Lt. Col. Robert 'Dutch' Holland: You got any kids?

Sgt. Bible: Yep, two. One on the ramp, one in the hangar!

---Strategic Air Command: 1955

[AngusThermopyle]

The Brabazon was huge, here's a pic.

Brabazon

Okay, here's another one.

Big Bird

How about the Halton Meteor, I think it was the first of the flying wing designs to be postulated.

Nice

And lets not forget the Kalinin K-12. Pre WWII, tail less bomber.

Nice Paint Job

Where is my flying car?

Not Quite What I Had In Mind

Edited August 26, 2008 by AngusThermopyle

[Wilber]

You had to know the Brabazon was in trouble when you see a Bristol Freighter flying chase.

[August1991]

The A-319 has the best fuel consumption and comfort. You have to put three people in a crappy car to get the fuel consumption of an A-319.

Boeing's latest 737 is also good.

[Wilber]

The A-319 has the best fuel consumption and comfort. You have to put three people in a crappy car to get the fuel consumption of an A-319.

Boeing's latest 737 is also good.

You can keep your Buses, give me a Boeing any day.

[GostHacked]

Cool beans. Yes, I have a passion for the oddballs. I have a similar manual for the early Flying Fortress as issued to the RAF (Fortress Mk1, B-17C)...but in which box?? Moved a few times since I last saw it...uh oh.

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A prisoner of war is a man who tries to kill you and fails, and then asks you not to kill him.

---Sir Winston Churchill

I love those unique lookin planes. They are so out of place with the rest of the planes, it is easy to pic it out. The one thing that I love most abotu the Rapide was that the pilot sat in the middle, up at the front. Great view from that seat.

[AngusThermopyle]

Would a flying ship qualify for this thread?

It should, her skipper was a pilot. The Bras D'or, one of the nicest looking ships ever built, and as significant as the Arrow was.

She's So Pretty

[DogOnPorch]

Would a flying ship qualify for this thread?

It should, her skipper was a pilot. The Bras D'or, one of the nicest looking ships ever built, and as significant as the Arrow was.

She's So Pretty

The Russians had a similar concept working on the Caspian Sea known as Ekranoplans. The fastest one did about 400mph. The largest nearly 80m long. The Caspian was ideal for these things as the water is usually flatish and calmish most days.

http://www.darkroastedblend.com/2007/05/ek...s-showcase.html

YouTube's videos on it...

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That's no moon...

---Star Wars

Edited March 3, 2009 by DogOnPorch

[DogOnPorch]

I love those unique lookin planes. They are so out of place with the rest of the planes, it is easy to pic it out. The one thing that I love most abotu the Rapide was that the pilot sat in the middle, up at the front. Great view from that seat.

German bomber aircraft of WW2 often had a similar view. The Heinkel 111, Dornier 17/217 and the Junkers-88 in particular. In the 3D flying/combat simulator IL-2 Sturmovik, the views in these aircraft are nearly 360 up and down.

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How many time have I told you - never fly straight and level for more than 30 seconds in a combat area!

---Squadron Leader Skipper, "The Battle of Britian"

[AngusThermopyle]

The Russians had a similar concept working on the Caspian Sea known as Ekranoplans. The fastest one did about 400mph. The largest nearly 600 feet long. The Caspian was ideal for these things as the water is usually flatish and calmish most days.

Ah yes, the "Wing In Ground" concept, they are very interesting. The biggest drawback is, as you mentioned, sea state. If the sea state is too high they can't operate. Still not a hydrofoil though, more a ground effect type of thing.

The Bras D'Or was a true hydrofoil raising the entire ships hull into the air by using the foils, which are actually inverted wings that penetrate the surface of the water. They work in exactly the same manner as an aircraft wing does. She was amazing, she actually still holds the world speed record in her category, I think she did something like 79 mph, pretty impressive for a warship actually, and she did fly.

As usual though just as she'd finished her sea trials and was ready to go into production the government scrapped the program as a matter of political expediency. I bet we could have sold a ton of these things if we'd only built them. I used to see her every day on my way to work when I lived in Dartmouth, her foils had protective houses built around them but her hull was plainly visible from the McDonald bridge. Actually the Athabascan had her main engine in her as the port main.

[Wilber]

The Bras D'Or was a neat machine but no more an aircraft than a submarine.

I know a guy who restored one of these. He has since sold it. Neat machine if you weren't really going anywhere.

Storch

[AngusThermopyle]

The Bras D'Or was a neat machine but no more an aircraft than a submarine.

Of course not, it was a ship, a revolutionary one at that. However it can not be denied that a key facet of the design was the foils. apart from their dimensions they were wings that penetrated the surface of the water and generated lift in an identical fashion to that of aircraft wings. She did indeed fly, unlike later Hydrofoil designs which left the aft part of the hull in the water the Bras D'Or's hull was fully airborne at speed.

So, she wasn't really a ship in the conventional sense, nor was she an aircraft in the conventional sense. She was something else that embodied the basic principles of both. Hence the reason her Skipper was an RCAF pilot.

[Wilber]

Na, the hull was still being supported by water even if it wasn't in contact with it. The propulsion systems and control surfaces were still operating in the water. An aircraft has to be supported powered and controlled without contact with anything but air.

A beautiful design however and a great example of form following function.

Andy Green who holds the land speed record is an RAF fighter pilot but that doesn't make his car an aircraft even if it used two aircraft engines, although more of an aircraft as aerodynamics are critical to its design.

[AngusThermopyle]

Arrgghh!! Wilber, you're not getting it!

She was something else that embodied the basic principles of both.

This is the whole point. She wouldn't have "flown" at all if not for the most basic principle of aerodynamics, the lifting surface provided by a wing. Thats exactly what her foils were, wings adapted to use water as opposed to air to generate lift.

I never said she was an airplane, just that she was something in between a ship and a plane using the basic principles of both in order to function.

And yes, she was a beautifull ship, her hull lines were elegant and gracefull. It must have been something else to be aboard when she was hitting around 80 Mph in moderate seas.

[Wilber]

This is the whole point. She wouldn't have "flown" at all if not for the most basic principle of aerodynamics, the lifting surface provided by a wing. Thats exactly what her foils were, wings adapted to use water as opposed to air to generate lift.

I see what you are driving at but a lot of things use basic principles of aerodynamics. The Bernoulli principle is also behind the operation of anything using a venturi like the carburettor but that doesn't make them all aircraft.

[AngusThermopyle]

I see what you are driving at but a lot of things use basic principles of aerodynamics. The Bernoulli principle is also behind the operation of anything using a venturi like the carburettor but that doesn't make them all aircraft.

This is true, but then a carb is very far from being a gas turbine. One of which she used for her main engine. Once again I never said she was an aircraft, just that she had some very basic principles in common with them. Now some may not consider her to have flown, however many experts used exactly that word to describe what she did. If you think about it she did fly, the foils were wings and at speed her hull was completely divorced from the surface of the water. Of course it would be absurd to think she could cruise at an altitude of 35,000' but she did fly. Even Alexander Graham Bell ( the Hydrofoil pioneer) considered it to be flying. Just really close to the surface.