History of the Tailsitters

Today's post is about a truly remarkable piece of aviation history, the Tailsitter airplanes. Made in the late 40’s and early 50’s they were an attempt to eliminate the necessity of runways.

In the later stages of WWII the German company Focke Wulf had a spectacular design for a tailsitting fighter in the Triebflügeljäger. The idea was a fighter that would take off and land vertically on its tail. With the allied bombardment devastating the counties armaments industry it was crucial for the Germans to have interceptors that could take off and protect German factories. The idea was to station fighters near industrial areas and to get them into the air without the use of increasingly bombarded runways. However, the design came too late in the war for it to reach production of a prototype.

After the war the Americans saw the potential in such a design. With the danger of Western Europe falling under a Soviet innovation and the possible denial of airfields, project Hummingbird was born in 1947. The idea was to develop an interceptor that could take off from virtually anywhere. There were plans to station them in fields and on ships both military and merchant. There were even talk of a submarine based fighter.

Both Convair and Lockheed were issued to make prototypes: the XFY-1 and XFV-1. These fighters featured turbo prop engines with contra rotating propellers. A jet powered version was also produced in the Ryan X-13 Vertijet. The XFY-1 was the first tailsitter who completed a vertical takeoff, level flight and a tail landing during test flights.

The XFY-1
XFY-1

XFV-1
XFV-1
The XFV-1 was not as successful as the XFV-1. Landing gear had to be mounted in order to conduct test flights

The X-13 was a jet powered prototype capable of vertical takeoff and landing. This design proved to be much more difficult to steer during takeoff and landing compared to the prop driven ones. It did not have the benefit of airflow over the rudders produced by the props. It had to rely on a system of thrust vectors to keep it stable during takeoff and landing.

The engine of a X-13
X-13 Vertijet during trials
The X-13 prototype performing a successful test flight in front of Pentagon officials

The Hummingbird project proved to be a difficult one. The tailsitters could not meet the performance requirements set by the Navy and Air force. In the end they were abandoned and the dream of an aircraft that could takeoff and land on its tale was left to writers of science fiction novels.

All images is from this beautiful french site site.

Photographs are courtesy U.S. Navy and U.S. Federal Government.

For further reading please see:

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/aircraft/x-13.htm

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/aircraft/xfy-1.htm

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/aircraft/xfy-1.htm

How safe we were.

From the age of the pipe smoking man please enjoy.
nuclear
All photos courtesy of National Nuclear Security Administration Nevada Site Office

Notice the robe, this is a man that's truly prepared.

XB-35 The flying wing

Leaving the truly magnificent B-36 today's post is about its cousin the XB-35. (The XB and YB designation is used by the US0AF on experimental bomber designs. If the plane is accepted it gets it's official B designation.) The development of both B-36 and XB-35 originates in the period of WWII where it seemed possible that Brittan could fall in to Nazi hands. It was seen as necessary for the Americans to have a bomber that could fly from bases in the U.S non stop to deliver their load in Europe and fly back again. This also would prove to come in handy later when they found themselves in the heat of the cold war.

The design of the XB -35 was revolutionary, but prone to faults. This groundbreaking heavy bomber design never got the full production clearance from the airforce.
Made in a time when men were in black and white, women in technicolour and the eternal dessert sun reflected of sleek bodies of polished aluminium the xb-35 was truly ahead of it's time.

The sad end. All of the XB-36 were scraped. Leaving the flying wing design in the dark until the B-2 carried on the legacy.

Photographs are courtesy U.S. Navy and U.S. Federal Government.

Interior of the B 36

Here are some outlays of the interior of the B 36. The crews spent long hours in their quarters whilst in the air with the ever present possibility of getting the go code to fly to the Soviet union and drop their devastating load.

Notice item 15 the hatch to the tube leading to the aft compartment.

The B 36 carried the heaviest armament of any bomber.

Fallout comes easily to mind.

Photographs are courtesy U.S. Navy and U.S. Federal Government.

The B 36 Peacemaker

The following post is displaying the B 36 Peacemaker, my personal favorite aircraft. Built in the brief era between WWII and the introduction of jet powered bombers it served as a deterrent against Soviet aggression. The plane who inherited its role is the still serving B 52.
To get an idea of this planes immense size and the leap forward it represented take a look at this photo displaying it next to it's predecessor the B 29.

A lot of crew both in the air and on the ground were required 24-7 to keep the planes on constant guard.

To gain grater thrust a pair of jet engines where mounted on each wing, totaling the engines to 10!
Early American hydrogen bomb design. The primary load of the B-36
An uppgraded fully jet propelled version was built the YB 60, but the USAF decided to go with the B 52 when a new bomber for SAC was chosen this plane newer saw active service.

Photographs are courtesy U.S. Navy and U.S. Federal Government.

Amazing German WWII plane

Tis is the truly beautiful and gigantic Me323D. The specs for this baby:

Engine:

Gnome-Rhone 14N 48/49 14-Cylinder two row radialsHorsepower: 1,140

Number: Six

Dimensions:

Wing span: 55m (180 ft. 5.5 in.)

Length: 28.15m (92 ft. 4.25 in.)

Height: 10.15m (33 ft. 3.5 in.)

Weights:Empty: 27,330kg (60,260 lbs.)

Maximum: 43,000kg (94,815 lbs.)

Performance:

Maximum Speed: 285km/h (177 mph) on towInitial climb: 710ft/min (216m/min)

Range: 684 miles (1100km)

Service Ceiling: 13,100 ft (4000m)

Armament:

Five MG 15 mounted in nose mountsSix Mg 34 infantry MG's in beam windows
Waffentraeger (Weapons Carrier)11 20mm MG 151 cannonand4 13mm MG 131 Machine Guns

Bomb load:

One 17.7 ton bomb was dropped in trials.