Another weird plane

[chunkolini]

Bonkers.
Just reading about Air America, the CIA's unnoficial 'airline'.
They even had an inflatable plane.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZjUxlfMbdhs
it even seemed to work.
I love the weird prototypes that were around in the 60's.

 

[DrNik]

what if you get a puncture???

 

[Angusdog]

Love the soundtrack - reminds me of 'Big bottoms' by Spinal Tap

 

[voipio]

Here's a fully working model airport - best seen in HD.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gn1qMYfFrro

 

[KemppiFrog]

Chunko, I think that was an attempt to provide a 'get back to base' rescue package for downed aircrew in the vietnam conflict. They also tried a jet powered autogyro incorporated in the ejector seat. Neither idea got past the prototype stages. The Fleet Air Arm set up the idea of the 'Top Gun' school for the US Marine Corp, to use the the heavy F4 fighters advantages against the the more agile N. Vietnamese Mig aircraft. The US were losing the air war until this was sorted out. Partly because they had figured it was going to be a missile only combat, whereas it turned out to be still dog-fight based. (and still is)
KF

 

[pedrobedro]

Love the soundtrack - reminds me of 'Big bottoms' by Spinal Tap

The tune reminds me of Figaro's Largo al Factotum in the Barber of Seville. I love weird planes, especially like the way that one comes down in the water.

 

[500e]

Only abandoned in 1973
One in Smithsonian museum

 

[CRB]

A proper Air-Plane. Never seen that one before.

I have always had a soft spot for the Germans' WW2 special stuff http://www.luft46.com/

But the Caspian SeaMonster is a tremendous sight.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8Nu94khHoo

 

[normspanners]

I think that was an attempt to provide a 'get back to base' rescue package for downed aircrew

Japs needed a MUCH smaller 'get back to base' rescue package for the kamakazi pilots !!just a urn with a stamp!!

 

[chunkolini]

Nice one CRB, I love the bonkers and sadly mainly unbuilt aircraft from the 40's in Germany and the 50's/60's in the USA.
A wonderful time to have been an engineer. Unlimited budgets and blue sky thinking.
Have you come across Project Orion?
A great idea for colonising the outer planets using Nuclear Bomb powered spacships.
After 5 years in the desert playing with explosives they came up with this.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3Lxx2VAYi8
No thought that by the time they had set of umpteen megaton bombs Texas would have been a crater. Marvelous. George Bush was looking into reactivting the project. Worth looking out for the book.

 

[the snooper]

what if you get a puncture???

holts mid air tyre weld

 

[CRB]

I think Number One Son told me about it a while ago, but I did not follow up on it. Damn the expense, or H&S for that matter, let's use bombs to go further, faster.

I was watching Watchmen again a few nights ago, in a Marvel/DC frame of mind, and was happy to see a vertical take off pusher propeller rotating wing contraption, and a flying wing, both from the German archives. The model escapes me but Indiana Jones had a flying wing featured too.

A programme I will have to see on IPlayer was ?Britain on film? but it showed bendy buses in 1960s Prague.