unique plane thread

SixPapaCharlie

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Here's one.
Twin tail. Pusher prop. Looks fun.
Visibility looks amazing.

_BEL0810%20Anderson%20Greenwood%20AND-51-A%20N314AG%20right%20front%20l.jpg
 
Stemme s-10

Motorglider with a prop that folds and stows in the nose compartment with the flick of a switch (might be turn of a knob) in flight.
 
The Anderson-Greenwood AG-14, first certified in 1950 with a 90 HP Continental. The prototype first flew in 1947 with only 5 produced, this is one of only two known to still be flying.
 
The AG-14 has an interesting history. It was designed by Marvin Greenwood, who was Assistant Chief Engineer on the B-29 project, and who later designed what came to be known as the Bellanca T-250 Aries (below).

bellanca_t-250_2.jpg


Though the AG-14 was a full three-control aircraft (only one rudder; it was on the left fin and wasn't very effective), ground steering was controlled by the wheel instead of the rudder pedals. And a third pedal, to the right of the rudders, applied brakes to both mains simultaneously -- no differential braking. This unusual control arrangement made crosswind operations something of a challenge.

Cessna engineers were intrigued by the AG-14's configuration. Cessna's former Manager of Aerodynamics and Flight Test, Bill Thompson, wrote,
"[W]e had run an extensive flight test on a rented Anderson-Greenwood AG-14 2-place pusher airplane in the early 1950s, but it was a great disappointment. Consequently, it was decided to design and build an Experimental Magic Carpet (XMC) prototype with no plans for eventual production in that exact configuration. The objectives were to overcome the flying qualities deficiencies of the AG-14, achieve much lower noise levels, and, if possible, find lower-cost construction methods."

cessna_1014.jpg


Cessna's project addressed some of the problems inherent in a twin-boom pusher in this class, e.g., interior noise; control circuit complexity and friction; and crashworthiness (minimal structure ahead; heavy engine behind coming through the cabin in severe deceleration).

Barry Schiff's book Dream Aircraft has a chapter on the AG-14, with a full pilot report.
 
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Here's a unique one. My wife and I happened to see this at Brown Field in San Diego in 1978, and I quickly snapped this photo:

N25RW_KSDM_19780220.jpg


I couldn't figure out what appeared to be a second engine and propeller, mounted vertically at the trailing edge of the wing between the tail booms. Turns out that's exactly what it was. Finally just a couple of years ago I happened upon this website:
http://turbo-wing-development.org.magnamentis.com/Memberarea/23000-a-craftconcept.html

Apparently after flying this experimental testbed aircraft, they also converted a C-207 and a C-337 to test the concept.

Cessna-207Grounded.jpg


LCessna337-RollOutAft1.jpg


Cessna-337Sketch.jpg


They claimed,
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Substitution rotors for flaps [...] will result in [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Turbo Wing® synergy for an aircraft. This low cost Turbo Wing® retrofit concept for wings will drastically reduce wing stall and greatly improve the airport and flight performance of the retrofitted aircraft.

[/FONT]
[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Turbo Wing® Technology provides dramatic improvement in the performance of retrofitted aircraft by significantly increasing airport and flight performance in the areas of low-speed take-off and landings, short distance take-off and landings, high rates of climb and overall reduction in fuel consuption and noise pollution.[/FONT]​
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]
Significant performance enhancements:
[/FONT]​

  • [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Reduction of up to 50% in minimum flight speed

    [/FONT]
  • [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Take-off and landing distances reduced by up to 75%

    [/FONT]
  • [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Rate of climb increased by at least 50%

    [/FONT]
  • [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Range increased by 50 to 70%

    [/FONT]
  • [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Fuel consumption is reduced between 25 and 50%

    [/FONT]
  • [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Drastic reductions in stall speed with a reluctance to stall

    [/FONT]
  • [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Extreme low speed flight capabilitiy

    [/FONT]
  • [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Significant reduction of negative resonse to crosswinds, gusts and turbulence[/FONT]
Pdf brochure with detailed explanation here: http://turbo-wing-development.org.magnamentis.com/Memberarea/B-PDFs/A-TurboWingAircraftNew.pdf
 
There was an AG-14 at Gaston's one year. I have pictures of it...somewhere. It was based at the same airport where Chip Gibbons flies (flew?). Really nice guy, very interesting airplane.
 
This is wild. Never knew a mooney humped an Ercoupe and made this light sport

4750623297_b1666b32f3.jpg
 
Period ads for the Mooney M18 Mite used people of diminutive size so the airplane would look roomy ...

M18_1208_02.jpg


But if the pilot was more a normal size (like 6'4" Peter Bowers), not so much. :D

M18_1208_01.jpg


And actually, when a Mooney and an Ercoupe were left in a hangar alone together, this is what resulted:

M10.jpg
 
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This one looks fun!
 

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I was drinking around on my own plane when this thing lumbered out. Actually a couple of friends did the fabric part of the restoration and one of those friends was at the controls. Just another ho-hum iPhone video moment from Lake Hood strip.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXoUszfNBBc
 
The weirdest airplane I've ever seen in person was the QSRA.

It's a STOL jet that blows jet exhaust over the wings for added lift.

NASA_QSRA.jpg


There are various supercritical wings gathering corrosion and birds nests at Armstrong, but they don't look quite as weird.
 
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The weirdest airplane I've ever seen in person was the QSRA.

It's a STOL jet that blows jet exhaust over the wings for added lift.

NASA_QSRA.jpg


There are various supercritical wings gathering corrosion and birds nests at Armstrong, but they don't look quite as weird.

Difficult to see how this set up " gives added lift" more likely the engines are positioned for off airport operations, to avoid bad things ingested into the engines, etc.
 
has something to do with physics blowing the air over the top creates STOL characteristics


 
Difficult to see how this set up " gives added lift" more likely the engines are positioned for off airport operations, to avoid bad things ingested into the engines, etc.

Actually, it was a joint NASA/Navy project intended for carrier ops with no tailhook nor catapult. Not many jets can do that. But that ugly SOB did.
 
The AG-14 has an interesting history. It was designed by Marvin Greenwood, who was Assistant Chief Engineer on the B-29 project, and who later designed what came to be known as the Bellanca T-250 Aries (below).

bellanca_t-250_2.jpg


Though the AG-14 was a full three-control aircraft (only one rudder; it was on the left fin and wasn't very effective), ground steering was controlled by the wheel instead of the rudder pedals. And a third pedal, to the right of the rudders, applied brakes to both mains simultaneously -- no differential braking. This unusual control arrangement made crosswind operations something of a challenge.

Cessna engineers were intrigued by the AG-14's configuration. Cessna's former Manager of Aerodynamics and Flight Test, Bill Thompson, wrote,
"[W]e had run an extensive flight test on a rented Anderson-Greenwood AG-14 2-place pusher airplane in the early 1950s, but it was a great disappointment. Consequently, it was decided to design and build an Experimental Magic Carpet (XMC) prototype with no plans for eventual production in that exact configuration. The objectives were to overcome the flying qualities deficiencies of the AG-14, achieve much lower noise levels, and, if possible, find lower-cost construction methods."

cessna_1014.jpg


Cessna's project addressed some of the problems inherent in a twin-boom pusher in this class, e.g., interior noise; control circuit complexity and friction; and crashworthiness (minimal structure ahead; heavy engine behind coming through the cabin in severe deceleration).

Barry Schiff's book Dream Aircraft has a chapter on the AG-14, with a full pilot report.


Interesting, it also looks like they took the nose design for the 310 as well.
 
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