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.
A-36, I believe Bob Hoover bombed various and sundry in Italy with one.
That’s an A-36, which was a divebomber variant of the Mustang. Built because the AAF had no funding for a fighter version of North American’s brainchild, but did have funding for an attack version. They saw service in Italy. Allison engined, supercharging design left the breathless over 20,000 feet or so.
Very cool. There was a variant called the F3H-G that had two engines and even stronger resemblance to the F4. I think it’s interesting to see the “thought process” as the designers refine their ideas.
Possibly, the concentration of production resources toward the P-51 with Merlin engine.
And, the USN Curtis SB2C “Helldiver” variant for the USAAF: A-25 “Shrike” [1943] . . . that was found to be less than stellar for combat.
The Sikorsky CH-37 Mojave looks familiar as I believe it is the one an Army aviator, standing beside one, said was under powered. He said they landed a few in the desert and due to the extreme heat they could not get enough lift for them to take flight. Had to wait until evening when it was cooler.
My dad was a test pilot at McDonnell and flew Demons, Voodoos and Phantoms. He was killed in the first F4 in 1959. Can’t help and wonder if they met.
Probably did. Dad worked on the planes after final assembly and before delivery. He use to talk about working through the test pilots “squawk sheet”.
This thread is half-useless without pictures!
Well that explains that.
Remember in Goldeneye when James Bond shot and killed the pilot of an airplane that was on takeoff roll, then rode his motorcycle off the cliff at the end of the runway, "skydived" into the plane, got in the pilot's seat and saved it from crashing (and himself from dying)?
That was a Pilatus Porter, a plane it's almost impossible to pull the wings off of.
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