The slightly less well known

[smudge]

I'm enjoying this series!

A few comments on recent items:

- Howard Industries is still going, they are now based in Mississippi.  Back in the 1950s they had a brand of electric motor called the Cyclohm which is a smudge-approved pun.

- Although maligned for being too heavy the Seapig was only three tonnes heavier than an F-14 and could launch with less wind over deck, and with more fuel.  And could land with plenty of fuel and all six Phoenix missiles.

[Angry Turnip]

Thank you for your comments-good to know that this is of interest.

[Angry Turnip]

Interstate TDR

The Interstate TDR was an early unmanned combat aerial vehicle — referred to at the time as an "assault drone" — developed during the WWWII for use by the United States Navy.
It was capable of being armed with bombs or torpedoes.
Due to the limitations of the technology of the time,development of the project was given a low priority,but by the early 1940s the radar altimeter and television made the project more feasible,and following trials using converted manned aircraft,the first operational test of a drone against a naval target was conducted in April 1942.

Interstate Aircraft received a contract from the Navy for two prototype and 100 production aircraft to a simplified and improved design,to be designated TDR-1.
Control of the aircraft would be conducted from either a control aircraft,usually a Grumman TBF Avenger,with the operator viewing a tv screen showing the view from a camera mounted aboard the drone along with the radar altimeter's readout,or via a pilot on board the TDR-1 for test flights.

It was powered by two Lycoming O-435 piston engines of 220 hp each,it had a remarkably simple steel-tube/moulded wooden skin design,making little use of strategic materials so as not to impede production of higher priority aircraft.

In 1944,under the control of the Special Air Task Force,the TDR-1 was deployed to the South Pacific for operations against the Japanese.
Aircraft equipped a single mixed squadron (Special Air Task Group 1) along with TBM Avenger control aircraft,and the first operational mission took place on September 27,conducting bombing operations against Japanese shipping.
Despite success,the assault drone program had already been canceled after the production of 189 TDR-1 aircraft,due to a combination of continued technical problems,and the fact that more conventional weaponry was proving adequate.
The final mission was flown on October 27,with 50 drones having been expended on operations,31 aircraft successfully striking their targets,without loss to the pilots of STAG-1.Following the war,some TDR-1s were converted for operation as private sportsplanes.

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[Angry Turnip]

Javelin Wichawk

The Javelin Wichawk is a sporting biplane designed in the early 1970s and marketed in plan form for amateur construction.
It is a conventional design with staggered single-bay wings of equal span braced with N-struts and having fixed,tailwheel undercarriage.
Powerplant usually 1 × Lycoming O-360 of 180 hp,giving a max speed of 140mph,with a cruise of around 110mph.

The pilot and a single passenger sit in side-by-side configuration in an open cockpit,but the plans include options for the aircraft to be built in two- or three-seat tandem configuration instead.The fuselage and empennage are of welded steel tube construction,with the wings built with wooden spars and aluminium alloy ribs,all covered in doped aircraft fabric.
In January 2014 nine examples were registered in the USA with the FAA,but a total of 18 had been registered at one time.

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[Angry Turnip]

Kellett KD-1 / XO-60

The Kellett KD-1 was a 1930s American autogyro built by the Kellett Autogiro Company,using the experience gained in building Cierva autogyros under licence.
It developed the KD-1 which was similar to the contemporary Cierva C.30.It had two open cockpits,a fixed tailwheel landing gear and was powered by a 225 hp Jacobs L-4 radial engine.
It had the distinction of being the first practical rotary-wing aircraft used by the United States Army and inaugurated the first scheduled air-mail service using a rotary-wing aircraft.

After testing of the prototype a commercial variant designated the KD-1A was put into production.It had a three-bladed rotor with folding blades and a number of minor detail improvements.A KD-1B which was a KD-1A with an enclosed cockpit for the pilot was operated by Eastern Airlines and inaugurated the first scheduled rotary-wing air-mail service on 6 July 1939.

In 1935 the US Army bought a KD-1 for evaluation and designated it the YG-1,then a second aircraft followed which had additional radio equipment and was designated the YG-1A; these two aircraft were followed by a batch of seven designated YG-1B.In 1942 seven more were bought for use in the observation role as the XO-60.Six XO-60s were re-engined with 300 hp Jacobs R-915-3s and re-designated YO-60.

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[Angry Turnip]

Kellett XR-10

The Kellett XR-10 was a military transport helicopter developed in the 1940s that only flew in prototype form.It was designed in response to a USAAF Instruction issued for the development of a helicopter to transport passengers,cargo,or wounded personnel within an enclosed fuselage.Kellet was already 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.Powerplant was 2 × Continental R-975-15,of 425 hp

During test-flights,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 which killed Kellett's chief test pilot.
The project was abandoned shortly after,and a 16-seat civil variant design,the KH-2,never left the drawing board. 

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[smudge]

Kellett KD-1 / XO-60

The Kellett KD-1 was a 1930s American autogyro built by the Kellett Autogiro Company,using the experience gained in building Cierva autogyros under licence.

One was delivered to the Japanese army and reverse-engineered by Kayaba as the Ka-1.  A couple of hundred were built and as well as observation they flew off a carrier for coastal anti-submarine patrols with depth charges, that's the only armed use of a gyro I can think of outside a Bond film!

The KD-1 / Ka-1 could hover by holding the nose high and applying full power.

Afer the war Kayaba had another go at gyros by hacking-up a Cessna 170:
http://www.aviastar.org/helicopters_eng/kayaba_heliplane.php

[Angry Turnip]

Kinner Envoy

The Kinner C-7 Envoy was a 1930s four-seat cabin monoplane built by Kinner Airplane & Motor Corporation.The Envoy was a four-seat version of the Kinner Sportwing.It had low wings fitted with wire bracing from fuselage points just below the cabin windows.The fixed tailwheel undercarriage was fitted with streamlined spats.The low-set tailplane was braced by wires from the middle of the fin.All very 1930`s chic.

Four civil examples were completed from 1934,when the aircraft had it`s first flight.These were fitted with a 300 h.p. Kinner C-7 engines and were sold to civil pilot owners.These were followed in 1936 by three aircraft for the United States Navy for use in communications work and designated XRK-1.The USN machines served until the early years of World War II.The Imperial Japanese Navy evaluated a single example as the LXK.
When delivered the USN examples were fitted with a 340 h.p. Kinner R-1044-2 engine,one example used for VIP transport was later fitted with a 400 h.p. Pratt & Whitney R-985-38 radial engine.
The C-7 was the last of Kinner's production models.

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[Angry Turnip]

LTV XC-142

The Ling-Temco-Vought (LTV) XC-142 was a tiltwing experimental aircraft designed to investigate the operational suitability of vertical/short takeoff and landing (V/STOL) transports.In 1959 the United States Army,Navy and Air Force began work on the development of a prototype V/STOL aircraft that could augment helicopters in transport-type missions.Vought responded with a proposal combining engineering from their own design arm,their proposal won the design contest,and a contract for five prototypes was signed in early 1962.

During the prototype development the Navy decided to exit the program,they were concerned that the strong propeller downwash would make it difficult to operate.
The first prototype made its first conventional flight on 29 September 1964,first hover on 29 December 1964,and first transition on 11 January 1965.The first XC-142A was delivered to the Air Force test team in July 1965.During the test program,a total of 420 hours were flown in 488 flights.
The five XC-142As were flown by 39 different military and civilian pilots.Tests included carrier operations,simulated rescues,paratroop drops,and cargo extraction.

The basic design was fairly typical for a cargo aircraft,consisting of a large boxy fuselage with a tilted rear area featuring a loading ramp.It had a wingspan of 67 ft (20 m) and was 58 ft (18 m) long overall.The boxy cockpit accomedated the crew of two pilots and a loadmaster.The wing was high-mounted and the tail surfaces were a "semi-T-tail" to keep the rear area clear during loading.Tricycle landing gear were used,with the main legs retracting into blisters on the fuselage sides.In normal parked configuration it would appear to be a conventional cargo plane.

For V/STOL operations,the aircraft "converted" by tilting its wing to the vertical.Roll control during hover was provided by differential clutching of the propellers, while yaw used the ailerons,which were in the airflow.For pitch control the aircraft featured a separate tail rotor,oriented horizontally to lift the tail,as opposed to the more conventional anti-torque rotors on helicopters that are mounted vertically.

When on the ground,the tail rotor folded against the tail to avoid being damaged during loading.The wing could be rotated to 100 degrees,past vertical,in order to hover in a tailwind.The C-142 was powered by four General Electric T64 turboshaft engines cross-linked on a common driveshaft,which eliminated engine-out asymmetric thrust problems during V/STOL operations, to drive four 15.5-foot (4.7 m) Hamilton Standard fiberglass propellers,giving the aircraft excellent all-around performance which included a maximum speed of over 400 mph,making it one of the fastest VTOL transport aircraft of the era.

After reviewing the C-142B proposal,the tri-services management team could not develop a requirement for a V/STOL transport.XC-142A testing ended,and the remaining flying copy was turned over to NASA for research testing from May 1966 to May 1970.
In service it would carry 32 equipped troops or 8,000 pounds of cargo.A civilian version,the Downtowner,was also proposed.This was designed to carry 40–50 passengers at a cruise speed of 290 mph using only two of its engines.

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[smudge]

Kinner Envoy
one example used for VIP transport was later fitted with a 400 h.p. Pratt & Whitney R-985-38 radial engine.

That seems like an hellacious amount of power for a four-seater.  In contrast even a top-line Cessna 182 only has 235hp!

LTV XC-142

Shorts took out a license for European production of the C-142, had it gone ahead with backing from the US forces.  Such a shame that it didn't.  42 years later the Osprey entered service...

[Angry Turnip]

LTV L450F


The LTV L450F,also known as the L45ØF,was a prototype quiet reconnaissance aircraft,developed by Ling-Temco-Vought in the late 1960s for use in the Vietnam War by the US Military.Under a $1 million USD contract by LTV Electrosystems,the L450F was developed from a Schweizer SGS 2-32 sailplane,modified by Schweizer to LTV's specifications.

The modifications included stronger wing spars,a thicker wing skin,installation of a Pratt & Whitney PT6A turboprop engine driving a three-bladed prop,and main landing gear based on that of the Grumman Ag-Cat agricultural aircraft.An alternative configuration,using a piston engine,was also proposed.
The prototype flew in February 1970,but was destroyed during its third flight,on 23 March that year,the pilot successfully bailed out.

A second prototype was then completed and flown,successfully completing the testing program,and a third prototype was ordered as the unmanned XQM-93 drone.
Four examples of the XQM-93 were contracted for by the USAF,however the Compass Dwell project was subsequently cancelled.

On the 27 March 1972 Donald R.Wilson reached the altitude of 15 456 m (50 708 ft) in horizontal flight flying the remaining L450F,registered N2450F,setting a new Fédération Aéronautique Internationale international record,this record still stood as of 27 March 2012.

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[Angry Turnip]

Lockheed Model 18 Lodestar


The Lockheed Model 18 Lodestar is a passenger transport aircraft of the WWII era.Sales of the 10–14 passenger Lockheed Model 14 Super Electra,had proved disappointing,so in order to improve the type's economics,Lockheed decided to stretch the aircraft's fuselage by 5ft 6",allowing an extra two rows of seats to be fitted.
The prototype for the revised airliner,designated Model 18 by Lockheed,was converted from the fourth Model 14,one of a batch which had been returned to the manufacturer by Northwest Airlines.
The modified aircraft first flew in this form on September 21st 1939,another two prototypes being converted from Model 14s,with the first newly built Model 18 flying on February 2, 1940.

The Lodestar received its Type certificate on March 30,1940,allowing it to enter service with the first customer,Mid-Continent Airlines that month.Sales to US domestic customers were relatively slow as most US airlines were already committed to the DC-3,with only 31 Lodestars going to US airlines.Overseas sales were a little better, with 84 aircraft ordered by various airlines.Pratt & Whitney or Wright Cyclone powerplants were installed.

When the United States started to build up its military air strength in 1940–41, many American-operated Lodestars were impressed as the C-56. This was followed by the construction of many new-build Lodestars which were flown by the U.S. Army Air Forces as the C-60 and by the U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps as the R5O. Lend-lease aircraft were used by the RNZAF as transports.
One was purchased in 1942 to serve as Brazilian President Getúlio Vargas' personal aircraft.This aircraft was specially designed for that purpose and had 11 seats.
Many Air Forces operated the type including the RAF,RAAF,RNZAF,SAAF,RCAF,NAF,BAF and several others.

After the war many Lodestars were overhauled and returned to civilian service, mostly as executive transports.A few were even converted to tricycle landing gear. 
Surviving New Zealand NZNAC aircraft were sold back overseas in 1951/52,six more were later imported and converted for aerial topdressing.A single Lodestar served with the Israeli Air Force during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War.A number of skydiving operations in the United States used Lodestars during the 1970s and 1980s. 

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[Angry Turnip]

Lockheed R6V Constitution

The Lockheed R6V Constitution was a large,four propeller-driven,double-decker transport aircraft developed in the 1940s by Lockheed as a long-range,high-capacity transport and airliner for the U.S. Navy and Pan American Airways.Only two of the aircraft were ever built,both prototypes.

The design requirements,initially designated Lockheed Model 89,called for a large transport aircraft to improve upon the Navy's fleet of flying boats.
Pan Am was involved in the study because such an aircraft had potential use as a commercial airliner.This transport would carry 17,500 lb pounds of cargo 5,000 miles at a cruising altitude of 25,000 feet and a speed greater than 250 mph.The aircraft would be fully pressurized and large enough so that most major components could be accessed and possibly repaired in flight.For example,tunnels led through the thick wings to all four engines.

The Constitution design had a "double bubble" fuselage, the cross section of which was a "figure eight".This unorthodox design,originally created in 1937 by Curtiss-Wright's chief aircraft designer and first introduced with the Curtiss C-46 Commando,utilized the structural advantages of a cylinder for cabin pressurization,without the wasted space that would result from a single large cylinder of the same volume.
The original order was for 50 aircraft,but this was drastically cut back to just two aircraft after VJ Day.

The Constitution had operational difficulties which prevented it from meeting its original design objectives.The large airframe needed more power than the four Pratt & Whitney R-4360s could deliver,and the engines had cooling problems.While this could be compensated for by flying with engine cowl flaps partially open,it increased drag and decreased range.
The Navy operated the two Constitutions through the end of the 1940s and into the 1950s. By 1949 the Navy announced that it could no longer afford to operate them, and offered them to airlines on a five-year lease.There was no interest from airlines in using the Constitutions (the airline version was named the Model 189), so the Navy retired both aircraft in 1953.

They went into storage at NAS Litchfield Park,Arizona in 1955.Both aircraft and 13 spare engines were sold for $97,785.Lockheed proposed the Model 389 and Model 489 airliners based on the Constitution, which would have accommodated up to 169 passengers.Neither of these "paper" projects received much interest from civil operators.
The first Constitution was brought to Las Vegas,where it served as an enormous billboard for Alamo Airways,before being scrapped by Howard Hughes when he acquired the property.The second example was scrapped sometime later near Opa-Locka Florida.

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[Angry Turnip]

Martin B-10

The Martin B-10 was the first all-metal monoplane bomber to be regularly used by the United States Army Air Corps,entering service in June 1934.Along with its features of closed cockpits,rotating gun turrets retractable landing gear,internal bomb bay,and full engine cowlings,which would become the standard for bomber designs worldwide for decades.It made all existing bombers completely obsolete.In 1932,Martin received the Collier Trophy for designing the XB-10.

Following the success of the XB-10,a number of changes were made,including reduction to a three-man crew,addition of canopies for all crew positions,and an upgrade to 675 hp engines.The Army ordered 48 of these on 17 January 1933.The first 14 aircraft were designated YB-10 and delivered to Wright Field,starting in November 1933, and used in the Army Air Corps Mail Operation.The production model of the XB-10, the YB-10 was very similar to its prototype.

In 1935,the Army ordered an additional 103 aircraft designated B-10B.These had only minor changes from the YB-10.Shipments began in July 1935.B-10Bs served with the 2d Bomb Group at Langley Field,the 9th Bomb Group at Mitchel Field,the 19th Bomb Group at March Field,the 6th Composite Group in the Panama Canal Zone,and the 4th Composite Group in the Philippines.In addition to conventional duties in the bomber role,some modified YB-10s and B-12As were operated for a time on large twin floats for coastal patrol.

With an advanced performance,the Martin company fully expected that export orders for the B-10 would flood in.The U.S. Army owned the rights to the Model 139 design.Once the Army's orders had been filled in 1936,Martin received permission to export Model 139s,and delivered versions to several air forces.Six Model 139Ws were sold to Siam in April 1937,powered by Wright R-1820-G3 Cyclone engines;20 Model 139Ws were sold to Turkey in September 1937,powered by R-1820-G2 engines.

Rapid advances in bomber design in the late 1930s meant that the B-10 was eclipsed by the time the United States entered World War II. The Model 139s in combat in China and South East Asia suffered the same disadvantages as the other early war medium bombers,i.e. not enough armour and guns,while it could not outrun the latest fighters.

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[Angry Turnip]

Martin Maryland

The Martin Model 167 was an American-designed medium bomber that first flew in 1939.In response to a USAAC light bomber requirement issued in 1938,the Glenn L. Martin Company produced its Model 167,which was given the official designation XA-22.Martin's design was a twin-engine all-metal monoplane,capable of around 310 mph with a crew of three.The XA-22 was not adopted for operational service in the U.S.,the contract was won by the Douglas DB-7,which became the A-20 Havoc,but Martin received foreign orders,and about 450 of these fast,twin-engined bombers were built.

The prototype Model 167W was powered by twin-row Pratt & Whitney R-1830-37 Twin Wasp engines,which were replaced in French production aircraft by single-row nine-cylinder Wright R-1820 Cyclone engines,the Twin Wasps were then restored for the British Maryland.
All versions of the Model 167 were armed with six machine guns,four fixed guns in the wings,one dorsal gun and one ventral gun.In the prototype,these guns were all 0.30 in Browning machine guns.The dorsal gun was mounted in a fully retractable turret,but he French aircraft used license-built Belgian Fabrique Nationale FN-Brownings,with a lighter semi-retractable dorsal turret.

The most unusual feature of the Model 167 was the very narrow fuselage,the crew of three was carried in two isolated compartments:the bombardier sat in the nose below the pilot and the gunner was in the mid-upper twin-machine gun turret in a separate rear compartment,isolated by a bulkhead.
Due to a U.S. embargo on arms exports after the beginning of WW II,many aircraft were impounded for two months before being shipped to Europe.When the Germans invaded France there were only four bomber squadrons equipped.They were quickly sent to the front lines where they performed well with their adequate speed and excellent maneuverability for an aircraft in this class.Approximately 215 Martin 167s were delivered to France.

32 aircraft had been completed to French specifications and were later converted to British requirements in the UK.Engines were changed to the Pratt and Whitney Twin Wasp and various weapons and instruments were replaced.The last 43 of the order were completed as required by Glenn Martin.All these aircraft received the designation Maryland Mk.I. A further 150 aircraft had been ordered directly by Britain with two-speed superchargers on their Twin Wasps and were designated Maryland Mk.II.

Many of the aircraft were shipped to Egypt and Malta in time for the 1941 fighting there.The RAF used it mainly for photo-recon operations in North and East Africa,being faster than the Blenheim.
A Maryland bomber was the aircraft that photographed the Italian fleet before and after the Battle of Taranto on 11 November 1940.The pilot of that Maryland was Adrian Warburton,who scored his five confirmed kills with the Maryland's forward-firing guns.
Three Maryland Mk.I aircraft were transferred to the Fleet Air Arm and were mainly used for target towing duties.On 22 May 1941,an example of 771 Naval Air Squadron based at Hatston in the Orkney Islands,reported that the German battleship Bismarck had left Bergen,confirming that she was breaking out into the Atlantic.

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[Angry Turnip]

Martin MO-1

The Martin MO was an observation monoplane built for the United States Navy.The Navy's Bureau of Aeronautics designed a three-seat observation monoplane to use a cantilever wing,similar to one developed by the Dutch company Fokker.
Production of the aircraft,designated the MO-1,was contracted to the Glenn L. Martin Company with an order for 36 aircraft.The MO-1 was a shoulder-wing cantilever monoplane with a slab-sided fuselage and a fixed tailwheel landing gear.
It had an all-metal structure with a fabric covering,and was powered by a 435hp Curtiss D-12 engine.,and had a crew of three.In 1924 one aircraft was fitted with float landing gear for evaluation.

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[Angry Turnip]

Martin P6M SeaMaster

The Martin P6M SeaMaster,was a 1950s strategic bomber flying boat for the United States Navy.A victim of budget cuts and USAF interference,the Navy chose to create a "Seaplane Striking Force",useful for both nuclear and conventional warfare,including reconnaissance and minelaying.
Groups of these planes supported by seaplane tenders or special submarines could be located close to the enemy,and being mobile,they would be hard to neutralize.
Both Convair and Martin submitted proposals,and Martin`s was chosen as more promising.An order for two prototypes was issued which was projected to lead to six pre-production aircraft and a projected twenty-four production aircraft.

The Allison J71-A-4 turbojet was employed,fitted in pairs in overwing pods to keep the spray out of the intakes.Wings swept at 40° were used; they displayed a notable anhedral and were designed with tip tanks that doubled as floats on the water.Many features of Martin's XB-51 bomber prototype were used,including an all-flying "T" tail and a rotating bomb bay—pneumatically sealed against seawater in the P6M.

The first flight of the XP6M-1 came on 14 July 1955,early tests showed that the engines were mounted too close to the fuselage and scorched it when afterburners were used,leading to angling the engines slightly outward in subsequent aircraft.Flight testing was initially successful,but,on 7 December 1955,a control system fault destroyed the first prototype with the loss of all aboard.
The first pre-production YP6M-1 was completed about a year later,testing resuming in January 1958.

The Navy and Martin felt that a new version,the P6M-2,would be a more useful aircraft.The first was rolled out in early 1959.Changes included new,more powerful Pratt & Whitney J75 engines,an aerial refueling probe,improved avionics,and a canopy with better visibility.A buddy refueling drogue kit had also been developed to fit in the bomb bay.Three had been built by summer 1959 and Navy crews were moving them through operational conversion when the program was abruptly canceled in August of that year.
 
Also problems had been identified due to the larger engine nacelles required for the J75s.There were also handling issues on the water,including a tendency for the tip floats to dig in under certain situations,and engine surges.
These were eventually solved,but time had run out just as the first crews were training for its operational debut.Eisenhower's administration was making major defense budget cuts that forced the Navy to make tough choices.

Martin tried unsuccessfully to market the technology in the civilian market,with a version called the SeaMistress but there were no takers,the company soon abandoned the aircraft business entirely to focus on missiles and electronics.The P6M was the final aircraft constructed by the Glenn L. Martin Company.

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[Angry Turnip]

Martin 4-0-4

The Martin 4-0-4 was a pressurized passenger airliner,in addition to airline use initially in the United States,it was used by the United States Coast Guard and United States Navy as the RM-1G (later as the VC-3A).
A development of the earlier Martin 2-0-2 it had structural changes to the wings,pressurization and was lengthened slightly to take 40 passengers.Like the earlier 2-0-2, the 4-0-4 was a cantilever monoplane with a standard tail unit.It had an airstair in the lower tail section and retractable tricycle landing gear and was powered by two Pratt & Whitney R-2800-CB16 radial piston engines.

First deliveries in 1951 were made to Eastern Air Lines (EAL),which had ordered 60 and Trans World Airlines (TWA),which had ordered 40.The only other new aircraft from the production line were delivered to the United States Coast Guard which had ordered two as executive transports with the designation RM-1G later changed to RM-1 and then in 1962 to VC-3A.In 1969 they were transferred to the USN and were withdrawn from use by 1970.

TWA operated its 40 4-0-4s under the name "Skyliner" on scheduled services between 1 September 1950 and the last flight on 29 April 1961.EAL operated its 4-0-4s in the eastern USA using the class name "Silver Falcon".The first EAL schedule was flown on 5 January 1952 and retirement came in late 1962.
Later in their airline career,as they became displaced from the EAL and TWA fleets by turbine-powered aircraft,4-0-4s became popular with "second level" operators, Southern Airways operated 25 model 4-0-4s on a network of scheduled services from Atlanta in October 1961,all were ex-Eastern Airlines aircraft.Southern Airways' last 4-0-4 service was flown on 30 April 1978.

A total of 103 aircraft were built at the Glenn L. Martin factory in Baltimore.In February 2008 the last airworthy 4-0-4,an ex TWA aircraft,was ferried to the Planes of Fame Museum in Arizona.

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[Angry Turnip]

McDonnell FH Phantom


The McDonnell FH Phantom was a twinjet fighter aircraft designed and first flown during WW II for the US Navy.The Phantom was the first purely jet-powered aircraft to land on an American aircraft carrier and the first jet deployed by the United States Marine Corps.Although with the end of the war,only 62 FH-1s were built,it helped prove the viability of carrier-based jet fighters.

McDonnell was invited by the navy to cooperate in the development of a shipboard jet fighter,using an engine from the turbojets under development by Westinghouse Electric Corporation.Three prototypes were ordered on 30 August 1943 and the designation XFD-1 was assigned.Under the 1922 US Navy aircraft designation system,the letter "D" before the dash designated the aircraft's manufacturer.The Douglas Aircraft Company had previously been assigned this letter,but the USN elected to reassign it to McDonnell because Douglas had not provided any fighters for navy service in years.

The engines were buried in the wing root to keep intake and exhaust ducts short,offering greater aerodynamic efficiency than underwing nacelles,and they were angled slightly outwards to protect the fuselage from the hot exhaust blast.Placement of the engines in the middle of the airframe allowed the cockpit with its bubble-style canopy to be placed ahead of the wing, giving the pilot excellent visibility in all directions.

Folding wings were used to reduce the width of the aircraft in storage configuration.Provisions for four .50-caliber machine guns were made in the nose,while racks for eight 5 in rockets could be fitted under the wings,although these were seldom used in service.Adapting a jet to carrier use was a much greater challenge than producing a land-based fighter because of slower landing and takeoff speeds required on a small carrier deck.The Phantom used split flaps on both the folding and fixed wing sections to enhance low-speed landing performance,but no other high-lift devices were used.Provisions were also made for Rocket Assisted Take Off (RATO) bottles to improve takeoff performance.

When the first XFD-1,serial number 48235,was completed in January 1945,only one Westinghouse 19XB-2B engine was available for installation.Ground runs and taxi tests were conducted with the single engine,and such was the confidence in the aircraft that the first flight on 26 January 1945 was made with only the one turbojet engine.With successful completion of tests,a production contract was awarded on 7 March 1945 for 100 FD-1 aircraft.With the end of the war,the Phantom production contract was reduced to 30 aircraft,but was soon increased back to 60.

Production models used Westinghouse J30-WE-20 engines with 1,600 lbf (7.1 kN) of thrust per engine.Halfway through the production run,the Navy reassigned the designation letter "D" back to Douglas,with the Phantom being redesignated FH-1.

The first Phantoms were delivered to USN fighter squadron VF-17A (later redesignated VF-171) in August 1947;the squadron received a full complement of 24 aircraft on 29 May 1948.The Phantom's service as a frontline fighter would be short-lived due to limited range and light armament – notably,its inability to carry bombs,made it best suited for duty as a point-defence interceptor aircraft.Also,its speed and rate of climb were only slightly better than existing propeller-powered fighters and fell short of other contemporary jets.
Including the two prototypes,a total of 62 Phantoms were finally produced,with the last FH-1 rolling off the assembly line in May 1948.

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[Angry Turnip]

McDonnell 119/220

The McDonnell 119/220 was a business jet from the mid-1950s.It was originally designed to compete for the USAF UTX/UCX (Utility-Trainer Experimental/Utility-Cargo Experimental) contract,but it lost out to the Lockheed L-1329 JetStar (C-140 in Air Force service),the McDonnell corporation began efforts to market the type commercially.

It had a configuration that was unique by bizjet standards,with four jet engines mounted in individual pods underneath a low wing;it could accommodate ten passengers in a luxury executive configuration but could carry as many as 26.
McDonnell`s tactic was to draw up a deal with Pan American World Airways that would have involved the airline leasing 170 jets for five years,but when no other airline orders where forth coming.

They renamed the plane the Model 220 and started urgent marketing efforts to sell the aircraft as a business jet,including contacting the 750 largest corporations in the United States.There were no takers,even for the single prototype that had already been constructed.
The McDonnell Corporation used the airplane as a VIP transport for a few years before donating it to the Flight Safety Foundation's research facility in Phoenix, Arizona.

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[Angry Turnip]

McDonnell XV-1

In 1951,the USAF/USAA announced a competition to develop a compound helicopter, an aircraft that could take off and land vertically, like a helicopter, but could cruise at higher airspeeds than conventional helicopters.

On 20 June 1951, the Air Force and Army signed a Letter of Intent with McDonnell to award a contract to develop an aircraft based on their design.McDonnell had benefited from previous design work on the Model M-28 and had a complete mockup ready for inspection by the Army and Air Force by November 1951.They were given approval to begin fabrication of what was then designated the XL-25 ("L" for Liaison),later the designation was changed to XH-35. Finally, the aircraft became the first vehicle in the convertiplane series as the XV-1.

McDonnell enlisted Kurt Hohenemser and Friedrich von Doblhoff,the Austrian helicopter designer of the WNF 342,to provide technical direction in developing the tip-jet driven rotor system.After almost 2 years the first aircraft (serial 53-4016) was ready for flight testing by early 1954.
The XV-1 fuselage consisted of a streamlined tube mounted on skid landing gear,with a rear-mounted engine and a pusher propeller.It also had tapered stub wings mounted high on the fuselage.In turn,twin tailbooms and twin vertical surfaces,interconnected by a horizontal stabilizer elevator,were mounted to the wings.A three-bladed main rotor powered by blade tip pressure jets was mounted on top of the fuselage,above the wing roots.

It featured a single Continental-built R-975 radial piston engine that powered twin air compressors,which pumped air via ducts to the main rotor for vertical flight,while the engine drove the two-bladed pusher propeller for horizontal flight.The cockpit consisted of tandem pilot and copilot stations,or the aircraft could accommodate a pilot and three passengers,or a pilot and two stretchers.

As flight testing continued, McDonnell completed the second machine,which was modified from the original XV-1.The second XV-1 also featured two small tail rotors mounted on the outboard side at the end of each tailboom.These were a result of the hover test flights that showed the lack of yaw authority when using rudders only.The original XV-1 would later be modified with the tail rotors.The second XV-1 became the first rotorcraft to exceed 200 mph nearly 45 mph faster than the helicopter speed record at the time.

After three years and nearly 600 hours between the two aircraft,the XV-1 contract was canceled in 1957.Ultimately,it was determined that the XV-1's convertiplane configuration was too complex for the small advantages gained over conventional helicopters.
The Army retained 53-4016,which was transferred to the USAA Museum at Fort Rucker, Alabama.53-4017,the record-setting,second prototype,was donated by the Army to the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum, Washington, D.C. in 1964.

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[Angry Turnip]

McDonnell Douglas YC-15

The McDonnell Douglas YC-15 was a prototype four-engine short take-off and landing (STOL) tactical transport.In 1968, the USAF started work on a series of prototype proposals,submitted by Bell, Boeing, Fairchild, McDonnell Douglas and the Lockheed/North American Rockwell team.On 10 November 1972,the two top bids (from Boeing and McDonnell Douglas) were selected and the companies were awarded development contracts for two prototypes each.McDonnell Douglas' prototype was designated YC-15.

McDonnell Douglas's design incorporated a non-swept supercritical wing,which dramatically lowers transonic wave drag compared to more conventional shapes,at the same time offering excellent low-speed lift.Most contemporary aircraft used swept wings to lower wave drag,but this led to poor low-speed handling,which made them unsuitable for STOL operations.The design team featured externally blown flaps to increase lift.This system uses double-slotted flaps to direct part of the jet exhaust downwards,while the rest of the exhaust passed through the flap and then followed the downward curve,until the introduction of the turbofan the hot and concentrated exhaust of existing engines made the system difficult to use.

A four engine layout was used,the YC-15 borrowed components from other McDonnell Douglas aircraft,with its nose gear coming from the Douglas DC-8 and the nose section & cockpit being derived from the Douglas DC-10.
Two YC-15s were built,one with a wingspan of 110 feet (72-1876) and one of 132 feet (72-1875).Both were 124 feet long and powered by four Pratt & Whitney JT8D-17 engines, each with 15,500 pounds-force of thrust.
The first flight was on 26 August 1975 and the second prototype followed in December.They were tested for some time at McDonnell Douglas as the Boeing entry was not ready until almost a year later.In November 1976,both designs were transferred to Edwards Air Force Base for head-to-head testing,including lifting heavy loads like tanks and artillery.

The YC-15s completed a 600-hour flight test program in 1977.Then the Air Force asked if it was possible to use a single model of the AMST for both strategic and tactical airlift roles, or alternatively,if it was possible to develop non-STOL derivatives of the AMST for the strategic airlift role.   
Both the YC-14 and YC-15 met or exceeded the AMST specifications under most conditions,however the increasing importance of the strategic vs. tactical mission eventually led to the end of the AMST program in December 1979.
In the end,neither the YC-15 nor the Boeing YC-14 was ordered into production,although the YC-15's basic design would be used to form the successful McDonnell Douglas (later Boeing) C-17 Globemaster III.

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[Angry Turnip]

McDonnell Douglas X-36

The McDonnell Douglas (later Boeing) X-36 Tailless Fighter Agility Research Aircraft was a stealthy subscale prototype jet designed to fly without the usual tail assembly.
This configuration was designed to reduce weight,drag and radar cross section,and increase range,agility and survivability.

The X-36 was built to 28% scale of a possible fighter aircraft,and was controlled by a pilot in a ground-based virtual cockpit with a view provided by a video camera mounted in the canopy of the aircraft.A canard forward of the wing was used as well as split ailerons and an advanced thrust vectoring nozzle for directional control.The X-36 was unstable in both pitch and yaw axes,so an advanced digital fly-by-wire control system was used.

It`s first flight was 17 May 1997,it made 31 successful research flights.It handled very well,and the program is reported to have met or exceeded all project goals. McDonnell Douglas merged with Boeing in August 1997 while the test program was in progress; the aircraft is sometimes referred to as the Boeing X-36.Despite its potential suitability,and highly successful test program,there have been no reports regarding further development of the X-36 or any derived design as of 2017.

Powerplant was 1 × Williams International F112 turbofan,700 lbf,giving a max speed of around 230mph,and a service ceiling of 20,000ft.
The two protypes are reserved in the USA,one in Ohio,and the other in California.
   

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[Angry Turnip]

Meyers OTW

The Meyers OTW (Out To Win) was a 1930s training biplane designed by Allen Meyers and built by his Meyers Aircraft Company from 1936 to 1944.The OTW was a conventional biplane with tandem seating for two in open cockpits and a fixed tailwheel landing gear.It first flew on 10 May 1936 with a 125hp engine.

The aircraft was produced in two main variants;the OTW-145 powered by a 145 hp Warner Super Scarab,and the OTW-160 powered by a 160 hp Kinner R-5 engine.
The 160hp version had a modest top speed of 120mph and a cruise of just over 100mph.It had a 2-bladed fixed pitch propeller.Just over 100 were built.


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[Angry Turnip]

Monocoupe 90

The Monocoupe 90 was a two-seat, light cabin airplane built by Donald A. Luscombe for Monocoupe Aircraft.The Monocoupes were side-by-side two-seat lightplanes of mixed wood and steel-tube basic construction with fabric covering.It was a braced high-wing monoplane with fixed tailskid landing gear,and the rear fuselage lines that were to become one of the signature features of the Monocoupes.

Early models of the aircraft was powered originally by either a 60 hp Anzani engine or the unsuccessful 65 hp Detroit Air Cat radial.In 1930 Monocoupe introduced the Model 90 with refined lines and a fuselage that was slightly longer and wider,marketed as Model 90 and Model 90A versions with a 90 hp Lambert R-266 radial engine.
The final two high performance Monocoupe models developed from the Model 90 were the Model 110 with a 110 hp Warner Scarab,and the Model 125 with a 125-hp Kinner B-5 engine.

The majority of the Monocoupe 90s to be built were sold to and flown by private pilot owners.However they were operated by Free French Forces,later Armée de l'Air as the  Monocoupe 90 AF.
Nineteen delivered early 1943 by sea to Egypt,to be reassembled by RAF MU 109.Main delivery to create a flying school (GE 11) in Syria,opening September 1,1943.The Monocoupe 90 proved too sensitive to be used for basic training and many accidents occurred until the school disbanded January 4, 1944.One aircraft survived the war and remained on the French civil register until written-off in 1962.

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