On the other hand, I love to fool folks by asking them to identify this:
Posted on 07/08/2023 3:15:12 PM PDT by fugazi
Pictures not loading when I post to FreeRepublic, but they are at the linked site.
Curtiss SC Seahawk
The Seahawk served as a scout for U.S. warships at the tail end of World War II. It featured two M2 Browning .50-cal. machineguns and could carry bombs, depth charges, or even radar on external pylons. If needed, this versatile scout could even rescue aviators or sailors. Entering combat service in 1945, the Seahawk saw the end of scout planes and was phased out for helicopters in 1949.
Consolidated Vultee XP-81
Had we not captured Saipan and Guam, negating the need for long-range, high-speed escort fighters, the XP-81 might have entered production. I am including this platform in the slideshow because a) it looks like the mutant child of an A-10 and a Korean War jet; and b) because it had two cutting-edge engines. The plane was designed to use the General Electric T31 turboprop — the United States’ first turboprop engine — during normal flight. The intakes in the rear fed a General Electric J33 turbojet that the pilot would engage for high-speed operation.
Fisher P-75A Eagle
Another goofy looking World War II prototype is (General Motors) Fisher Body Division’s XP-75A. Like the Bell Airacobra, the engine sits behind the pilot, whose bubble canopy is pushed well forward of the wing. The liquid-cooled Alison V-2430 drove co-axial contra-rotating propellers which gave the Eagle a top speed of 430 m.p.h. The Army Air Force ordered 2,500 of these babies, but by Fall 1944, the P-51s and P-47s already in service performed well enough that a new aircraft was not needed and the order was cancelled.
Northrop F-15 Reporter
The Reporter became operational just after the end of World War II, being based off the P-61 Black Widow night fighter. The Air Force’s last piston-powered reconnaissance aircraft would not see action until the early days of the Korean War when Reporter crews mapped North Korea.
Grumman F7F Tigercat
The twin-engine F7F (originally called the Tomcat) was fast, beautiful, and armed to the teeth. Top Navy test pilot Capt. Frederick M. Trapnell called the Tigercat “the best damn fighter I’ve ever flown.” It performed poorly during carrier trials and was limited to airfields. Navy and Marine Corps aviators used them for drone control, ground attack, photo reconnaissance, and night fighter roles.
Vought F6U-1 Pirate
Vought’s first jet fighter was the Navy’s first fighter equipped with an afterburner and featuring composite construction. The aircraft’s skin was made of “Metalite,” which balsa wood wrapped in two thin sheets of aluminum. The vertical stabilizer used “Fibralite” — balsa sandwiched between layers of fiberglass. Most of the flight hours logged by the 33 aircraft were the test run and delivery flight as crews considered their Pirates unacceptable for use in the fleet.
XF-91 Thunderceptor
The Thunderceptor looks like an airplane whose wings were installed backwards. In fact, these are inverse-tapered wings, designed to overcome the dangerous”pitch-up” stall which threatened test pilots of swept-wing aircraft 70 years ago. The XF-91 used a jet engine for normal operation and could add power for intercepting targets with its four rocket engines. This was the first fighter-type aircraft to break the sound barrier in level flight, and topped out at Mach 1.71 during testing. Before it could enter production, improvements in jet engine aircraft technology made this jet/rocket combination unnecessary.
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Boy the F3H sure does foreshadow the F4.
There are always prototypes and R&D aircraft that never make production. I’ve worked with many secret aircraft that never made it past a few development prototypes. What becomes production is usually the best and should be celebrated for all the works of the prototypes before them.
Any plane in particular you worked with that you thought was pretty neat?
The hypersonics from the late 80’s era. I always thought they would make it into the civilian fleets and we’d be going around the world in minutes by now.
I’m surprised the Martin P6M wasn’t mentioned. It was a jet-powered strategic bomber—with a flying boat hull. Developed for the Navy, it was designed to carry nuclear weapons to targets and perform take-offs from and make landings on the water.
I recognized several. The Tigercat, the Sea Dart, the Guppy and Super Guppy. A version of the Guppy or Super Guppy was based at an airport I worked at. It was used to ferry a Sikorsky CH-54 Tarhe around.
...Forget to add: it came close to entering service.
And the Tarhe is an interesting whirly-bird all on its own!
That was an interesting plane. Before satellites and intercontinental missiles our warplanes were constantly changing. Aprons had to have been so incredibly diverse, considering each plane had a different mission and so many platforms were phasing in and out very rapidly.
It would be interesting to go back in time and introduce the F7F during World War II to see how Navy pilots would have stacked up with a twin-engine fighter.
On the other hand, I love to fool folks by asking them to identify this:
My father worked a Mcdonnell as a aircraft mechanic. During a 1959 open house he took me into a hush house and sat me in the cockpit of a F3H. I was only 5 but still remember it. The Demon was only one of two single engine fighters Mc built. The other was the Goblin.
It would have been a P 38 on steroids. Japanese had some damn good fighters late in war but lacked enough great pilots. My two cents.
I’m going with the North American A-36 Invader “Apache” with an Allison engine. Ground attack/dive bomber version of the P-51 Mustang.
Cool post. I actually remember most of these planes from the Power for Peace card series.
Well, I’ve heard of all of them, and I’m surely the only person posting on FR who actually saw am XF-91 in flight, and doing aerobatics at that. Grew up near Hanscom Field in Bedford, MA in the ‘50s.
So why did they only build 500 North American A-36’s after its first flight in 1942?
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