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Little known / experimental aircraft

hlg6016

A/C Wings Here
I had a chance to fly with one our senior loadmaster who earned his wings on the R4Q (C119). He said there was usually fun and games for them when they had to contact an Air Force base.
 

Griz882

Frightening children with the Griz-O-Copter!
pilot
Contributor
You are confusing “purchasing and supply” nomenclature with duty nomenclature. In this case…
S = Scout
N = Trainer
B = Bomber
Sorry…I got ahead of myself! The B in this case is for Beechcraft. They shared the B with Boeing.
 

Llarry

Well-Known Member
Naval Aircraft Factory-produced N3N primary trainer; most WW2 pilots trained on the N2S but the N3N was also used in significant numbers.

Fun fact: The N3N was the last biplane used by the Navy, being used at the Naval Academy for aviation indoc for midshipmen until 1959.
N3N-3.jpg
 

Llarry

Well-Known Member
The other interesting product of the Naval Aircraft Factory in Philadelphia was the modification of the Consolidated PBY Catalina designed PBN-1 with revised tail surfaces and bow turret.NAF PBN-1.jpg
Virtually all PBN-1s were transferred to the Soviet Union under Lend-Lease. The revised vertical stabilizer was incorporated into the PBY-6A,
the final variant of the Catalina.
 
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Llarry

Well-Known Member
You forgot the F7F Tigercat! In this case it was a model that was ahead of its time but just behind the future. One test pilot called it “the best fighter I’ve ever flown.” The Marines used it effectively but it was quickly passed over for jets and angled carrier decks. Interesting side note…in the “pre-woke” era the initial name for the aircraft was the “Tomcat,” but the navy thought the name to be a bit sexually suggestive so it was changed…but the F-14 used the name without much complaint.
My favorite quote about the F7F was that it was "like flying two Bearcats strapped together."

The limited carrier trials were a bit problematic; there were a couple of wing spar failuresF7F accident on deck.jpg
 

Llarry

Well-Known Member
The "C" series Pratt & Whitney R-2800 was ready by mid-1944. 200 more rpm (2800 rpm for takeoff) and extra power. It was installed in the Vought F4U Corsair to make the F4U-4 and in the Grumman F6F Hellcat to make the F6F-6, in both cases with a four-blade prop instead of three. Then the decision was made under the pressure of war production to change the F4U line over to the -4 but retain the "B" series R-2800 for the F6F. I believe only two F6F-6s were converted from -5s and the improved-performance Hellcat was not pursued. No doubt BuAer wanted that hot F6F production line to stay hot.
 

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Randy Daytona

Cold War Relic
pilot
Super Moderator
The Douglas XTB2D Skypirate was a proposed replacement for the Devastor torpedo bomber. Too large for the Essex class, it was designed for the Midway class carrier. Power came from a Pratt & Whitney R-4360 Wasp Major driving contra-rotating propellers. (and the number on those piston engined Pratt’s was the number of cubic inches) A huge wingspan of 70 feet allowed it to takeoff from a carrier with 2 torpedoes, or from land with 4 torpedoes. The war ended while it was still in an experimental stage.




1691091919500.png

1691091950139.jpeg
 

Griz882

Frightening children with the Griz-O-Copter!
pilot
Contributor
The Douglas XTB2D Skypirate was a proposed replacement for the Devastor torpedo bomber. Too large for the Essex class, it was designed for the Midway class carrier. Power came from a Pratt & Whitney R-4360 Wasp Major driving contra-rotating propellers. (and the number on those piston engined Pratt’s was the number of cubic inches) A huge wingspan of 70 feet allowed it to takeoff from a carrier with 2 torpedoes, or from land with 4 torpedoes. The war ended while it was still in an experimental stage.



View attachment 38509

View attachment 38510
I’ll dig around, but I think one of these is for sale on the warbird market.
 

Griz882

Frightening children with the Griz-O-Copter!
pilot
Contributor
I’ll dig around, but I think one of these is for sale on the warbird market.
Nope…I saw an AF-2S Guardian…big and ugly but not the same big and ugly!

 

Llarry

Well-Known Member
The Boeing XB-38 was a B-17 with the Wright R-1820 9-cylinder radials replaced by Allison V-1710 liquid-cooled V-12 engines. Just one was built in 1943. It was slightly faster than the B-17 but the ceiling suffered.XB-38 1943.jpg
 

Llarry

Well-Known Member
That ain’t natural.
In the words of Bill Murray, sort of like dogs and cats living together.

Speaking of unnatural, how about the late-WW2 XB-39 (B-29 with V-3420s).jpgXB-39: A B-29 with eight(!) liquid-cooled V-1710s, paired together and designated V-3420. I'm unable to find a photo of this aircraft in flight, but here it is under construction.
 

taxi1

Well-Known Member
pilot
In the words of Bill Murray, sort of like dogs and cats living together.

Speaking of unnatural, how about the late-WW2 View attachment 38597XB-39: A B-29 with eight(!) liquid-cooled V-1710s, paired together and designated V-3420. I'm unable to find a photo of this aircraft in flight, but here it is under construction.
Should have been called Spirit of Frankenstein
 

hlg6016

A/C Wings Here
In the words of Bill Murray, sort of like dogs and cats living together.

Speaking of unnatural, how about the late-WW2 View attachment 38597XB-39: A B-29 with eight(!) liquid-cooled V-1710s, paired together and designated V-3420. I'm unable to find a photo of this aircraft in flight, but here it is under construction.
Article has a couple more shots. Reminds me of some early 50's hot rod.
 
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