Maybe that prize should go to the Germans for the FW-189. It had substantial operational experience along the Ostfront.
I see your FW-189 and raise you the Blohm &Voss 141
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Little known / experimental aircraft
- Thread starter Randy Daytona
- Start date
You got a couple of reactions by mentioning that one!
It's a sort of well known/also sort of not well known war story, and it has a good ending:
Louis Edward Curdes - Wikipedia
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Perhaps the ultimate version of the P-47 was the XP-72. With a calculated top speed of over 500 mph from a 3,400 HP Pratt & Whitney R-4360 driving a contra-rotating prop (2nd prototype) it would have been one of the fastest piston engine fighters ever made. Armament was equally impressive with one configuration having two 37mm cannons and four .50 caliber machine guns.
Edit: The massive engine deserves a footnote. The Pratt & Whitney R-4360 was the largest piston engine mass produced in the US. It had 28 cylinders in 4 rows of 7, displacing 4362 cubic inches and developing 4,300 HP in its most powerful version. Unfortunately, the engine suffered from overheating problems and was less reliable than its smaller cousins.
oldmachinepress.com
Edit: The massive engine deserves a footnote. The Pratt & Whitney R-4360 was the largest piston engine mass produced in the US. It had 28 cylinders in 4 rows of 7, displacing 4362 cubic inches and developing 4,300 HP in its most powerful version. Unfortunately, the engine suffered from overheating problems and was less reliable than its smaller cousins.
Republic XP-72 Super Thunderbolt / Ultrabolt Fighter
The Republic XP-72 could have been one of the greatest piston-engine fighters ever built. However, because of jet aircraft and the end of World War II, the P-72 never entered production.
oldmachinepress.com
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Here's one for you: the XF-84H Thunderscreech.
In the late 90's, I'd go through Bakersfield Meadows Airport, and it was the jet-on-a-stick at the airport entrance. It seemed odd that such a rare aircraft (one of only two) was sitting outside like that. Sure enough, it was grabbed by the AF Museum around 1999-2000 and is now on display there, at Wright-Patt AFB.
It's written that the props were supersonic even in idle, and the sonic waves were alleged to have caused seizures and injuries. I think it is one of the loudest airplanes of all time.
In the late 90's, I'd go through Bakersfield Meadows Airport, and it was the jet-on-a-stick at the airport entrance. It seemed odd that such a rare aircraft (one of only two) was sitting outside like that. Sure enough, it was grabbed by the AF Museum around 1999-2000 and is now on display there, at Wright-Patt AFB.
It's written that the props were supersonic even in idle, and the sonic waves were alleged to have caused seizures and injuries. I think it is one of the loudest airplanes of all time.
While looking at the Pratt & Whitney R-4360, I noticed it powered the B-50 bomber, a development of the B-29. I did not know the B-50 was 1/3 heavier (B-50 max takeoff weight of 173,000 lbs - B-29 max takeoff weight of 133,000 lbs) and also 40 knots faster.
The tanker variant was relatively long lived, serving until 1965.
A McDonnell F-101A Voodoo (top right), Douglas B-66 Destroyer (top left) and North American F-100D Super Sabre refuel from a KB-50J tanker (420th Air Refueling Squadron) at an RAF open day in England, 1963
The tanker variant was relatively long lived, serving until 1965.
A McDonnell F-101A Voodoo (top right), Douglas B-66 Destroyer (top left) and North American F-100D Super Sabre refuel from a KB-50J tanker (420th Air Refueling Squadron) at an RAF open day in England, 1963
And the B-50 evolved into the C-97 Strato- series, the ultimate Boeing prop heavies. They did a lot of good work doing the heavy lifting (no pun intended), force multiplier kind of stuff for our strategic bomber deterrence (tankers) and airlift (strategic and theater). Yeomen's work in the old fashioned sense of the term, and really important for a modern military.
Yup. KC-97s in AZ Air Guard thru the 70s.
The de Havilland Hornet / Sea Hornet. Like its bigger and more famous cousin the Mosquito (18,250 lbs max takeoff wt vs 25,000 lbs for the Mosquito) , it was made of balsa and plywood. Noted test pilot Captain Erik Brown said it was his favorite propeller airplane to fly.
en.m.wikipedia.org
A de Havilland Hornet F.3 of 64 Squadron.
de Havilland Sea Hornet F.20s of No.728 Fleet Requirements Unit, Hal Far, Malta.
de Havilland Hornet - Wikipedia
A de Havilland Hornet F.3 of 64 Squadron.
de Havilland Sea Hornet F.20s of No.728 Fleet Requirements Unit, Hal Far, Malta.
Nice looking airplane.The de Havilland Hornet / Sea Hornet. Like its bigger and more famous cousin the Mosquito (18,250 lbs max takeoff wt vs 25,000 lbs for the Mosquito) , it was made of balsa and plywood. Noted test pilot Captain Erik Brown said it was his favorite propeller airplane to fly.
de Havilland Hornet - Wikipedia
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A de Havilland Hornet F.3 of 64 Squadron.
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de Havilland Sea Hornet F.20s of No.728 Fleet Requirements Unit, Hal Far, Malta.
Yeah. Cool looking. Along the lines of the Grumman Tigercat.The de Havilland Hornet / Sea Hornet. Like its bigger and more famous cousin the Mosquito (18,250 lbs max takeoff wt vs 25,000 lbs for the Mosquito) , it was made of balsa and plywood. Noted test pilot Captain Erik Brown said it was his favorite propeller airplane to fly.
de Havilland Hornet - Wikipedia
View attachment 32242
A de Havilland Hornet F.3 of 64 Squadron.
View attachment 32243
View attachment 32244
de Havilland Sea Hornet F.20s of No.728 Fleet Requirements Unit, Hal Far, Malta.
On phone. Short of time. Maybe a bud can post a Tigercat pic for me.
