The ones that didn't work out

  There have been many aircraft designs that just didn't quite make it.  Something amiss, or just not the right time for that idea.  Right after World War Two there were quite a number of aircraft designs that someone thought were "cool" but were rejected for one reason or another.  Some never made it because jets were becoming the in thing, some were just impractical, or just not a good fit for the intended purpose, here are two. (click any photo to enlarge)

The Vought V-173 Flying Pancake
Photo: U S Navy

    This "flying square" looking plane was designed for easy control and speed.  The engines were located on the "wingtip" or outer edge of the square.  It wasn't as easy to control as thought, and jet planes were on the way.  The Navy flew this plane 190 times between 1942 and 1947.

The "Pancake" V-173 from a different angle.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons

  For a short time the Navy thought maybe having a plane on each ship, for protection, would be a good idea.  A number of designs were dreamed up, it never worked out, and planes were designed for carrier use only after this design proved hard to handle.

Convair XFY-1 Pogo.  At each wing tip the long "oreo strut" was for landing and moving.
Photo: U S Navy

The Pogo took off vertically and then twisted to horizontal, the pilots seat turned too.

Mosquito

de Havilland DH.98 Mosquito

A flying wonder of World War Two,
flew through the sky, made of what? who knew?
This fast bomber, night fighter thing,
was unusual when it first took wing.
1942 was a bad year for the Brits,
running out of material, no planes, call it quits,
when someone had such a great idea that was good,
create the Mosquito, you see, it's made from wood.

All true, the plane turned out to be a real help in the British effort during World War Two.  They ran out, for a while, of enough metals to build a plane, and turned to using wood.  This plane was a huge success because it was very, very fast.  Even "special warfare" raids on Germany used the Mosquito.

NOTE:  This is not the start of a new series, just todays' entry because I'm working on something else.

Come fly with me...

Enlarge to read.  click on the photo

    Kulula Airlines, based in Johannesburg, South Africa, has it's aircraft painting like no others.  The airline is known for its sense of humor, so that is reflected in the paint scheme.
   Each part of the plane, or nearly so, is identified on the outside of the plane.  I thought it was a pretty good idea.
   You can find more at:

www.southafrica.to/transport/Airlines/Kulula-flights/Kulula-humour, or simply "google" the name of the airline.

Click to read

I like it!

Up there, but slow

First I'll apologize for missing yesterday.  The browser didn't work well at all; I think Time Warner Cable was working on the whole system, or something, this morning all is well - to this point 2:28AM

U S Navy K Class blimp

  The Navy flew blimps from about World War I and continued until about 1960, they were used for maritime patrol and anti-submarine warfare.  There were quite a number of bases on both coasts.
East coast stations ranged from Argentia Newfoundland south to near Corpus Christi Texas.  On the west coast they ranged from Tillimook Oregon to just north of San Diego in Tustin.  I may have missed one too, a lot of them are gone but a number of those are still with us, the hangars at least.
Let's take a look at the Tillimook one, it's now the Tillimook Air Museum, the construction may be unique.  The hangar was built with local timber, and the museum states that the large beams (over 1070 feet) are all one piece of Redwood, seems a bit off to me - but what do I know, at lease there are Redwood trees that tall, that's a known fact so probably it's true:

The interior now, those are some large planes in there.

During World War Two, each airship is about 250 feet long. (click to expand)

The exterior now.  That plane is "The Guppy" a four-engine prop plane with
a big belly, it was used by NASA to move rocket parts for the space program

The blimp Vodka One that I wrote about either on here or on Techapapi Pete is gone.  While flying on from Maine it was moored near Columbus Ohio and a storm broke it free from the mooring and it crashed into a ladies back yard.  It is being disassembled and returned to Limestone Maine for possible re-construction.

The "remains" of Vodka One, August 10, 2011

Way back...

...in the Forties, Beechcraft made a plane,
a tail dragger, that looked good then, now is kind of plain,
versatile and lasting, probably some here still,
utility's the word, these planes never made a kill.

I think they were called, SNJ, sounds right,
or, maybe SNB, whatever, they were light;
you may still see one, flown from place to place,
but probably you'll never see one winning a race.

You expect Amelia Earhart to step down from one of these,
put on here scarf and fly over the trees,
up in the blue sky, she flies level and straight,
I'd sure love to see that.  Wouldn't that be great?

There once...

...was a poem, a man with an Albatross tied around his neck,
I'd repeat it here, but won't, oh, what the heck;
but let's go take a look, at a different kind of bird,
it's an Albatross too, but different, take my word.

It's an amphibious - floats, and wheels to see,
takes off on the water, or land if need be,
or takes off on land, it doesn't matter which,
and can land on either too, so you won't have to ditch.

Back when in the Navy it was a UF-1,
then it was U16, call it either one,
now they're museum pieces, all that long ago stuff,
but there were times, when they couldn't do enough.

Top: A restored Albatross, a museum  exhibit.
Middle: A U S Coast Guard plane taxis for take off on the water.
Bottom: A Coast Guard flight line includes an Albatross.

There was...

...always a rumor, that this plane could not fly,
but fly it did, consistently, but time has passed it by;
the Neptune flew for years, a daily sort of thing,
capable of long hours aloft, with a "middle" wing.

Long before the P3 Orion, came to take it's place,
the P2 put in long hours, in the Cold War race,
protect us all from submarines, a mission not with ease,
the Soviets would often cause things that seemed to tease.

It was a game of cat and mouse, played out around the world,
watch the subs and surface ships, check the flag unfurled,
an often lonely, boring watch, hours spent aloft,
life was good at times too, but not always soft.

We owe a lot to those crews, who far from home,
kept up the watch, and played the game, out there all alone,
hours of time spent in the air, hours of pre-flight too,
and post-flight took some time, they did it all for you.

 A P2 takes off from the USS Franklin, 1952, Jet Assisted Take Off (JATO) or temporary
jet "engines" give an extra boost.

 On patrol over the Atlantic, could be anywhere from Iceland to Bermuda.

Pacific patrol, note the "added" jet engines, they are permanent, they got the crew
on-site quicker, leaving more time to "loiter".

A wonderful...

thing is a wing, that's designed to fly,
I think one day I saw one, as it flew by,
a Flying Wing, it's quite a sight,
but only three were built, don't know if I'm right.

I'm pretty sure that when I was a kid,
I'm sure I saw one, or think I did;
way overhead, high in the sky,
did Lebanon Maine have one go by.

First the "prop job" the B-35,
very slowly came alive,
the the jet engines took the stage,
the YB-49 entered the jet age.

They never "took off", to repeat a phrase,
not heavy enough in this day and age;
the B-52 was soon to be built,
and the B-49 pinball machine, said tilt.

Top: Flying over Edwards AFB...
Middle: From the drawing board.,
Bottom: Just testing!

A mighty..

...warrior, it's the name to be had,
by the plane often known, as the Spad;
it really is the Skyraider, or the AD1,
it was a ledgend it it's time, for the battles won.

From the forties through the seventies, the warrior flew,
and, it seems, with each flight, the ledgend grew;
bring it back full of holes, use duct tape for a patch,
the armored cockpit saved the man, he without a scratch.

It served in many capacities, versatile and stable,
from the ground or carrier deck, this one was able,
now replaced and retired, the recip is gone away,
but, it may come back, sometime to save the day.

Top: Wings folded and in a museum.
Middle: The Marines over Korea.  Painted the original Midnight Blue.
Bottom: VA-152 flying over Vietnam in 1966.

The....

...wonderful world of flying things,
all made better, of course, with wings;
powered by air flowing over the wing,
a flying machine is a wonderful thing.

Over the course of a great many years,
designed on napkins over some beers;
or done on computer in some magical way.
Want to go up? What do you say?

Back at the end of World War Two,
some planes were retired, others were new,
the A-26 or B-26 were part of a new breed,
or in the Navy JD-1 is what you need.

Attack or Bomber, or Utility plane,
guns, bombs passengers, all the same;
a versitile aircraft, one among many,
if you need more than one, or don't need any.

They're all gone now, progress moves on,
now it's jet engines, the recips are gone;
the airframes are different while staying the same,
but they all fly, that's the name of the game.

Top: A U S Navy JD-l
Middle: A U S Air Force B-26 flies over Korea, during the Korean War.
Bottom: Done over again - this time it's a Canadian fire fighter.

How about...

...a subject, one that is new?
I've got one in mind, more stuff to share with you.
How about a Hudson, not the automobile,
this is an aircraft, and it was the real deal.

Made by Lockheed in World War Two,
flown mostly by allies but there were quite a few;
twelve of even flew patrol for our Navy,
off the Canadian coast, where the ocean is wavy. (sorry)

Flown by Patrol Squadron 82 out of Argentia Newfoundland.

An allied crew sinks a U-Boat

The Army Air Corps flew the Hudson too.