Okay, we’ve all seen the “your favorite aircraft” topics, “ugliest aircraft”, “best aircraft”, “worst aircraft”, “smelliest aircraft”, “aircraft that just rub you the wrong way”; the list goes on. My point? Here’s another one.
Always one for interesting aircraft designs (I live for the site www.luft46.com and am in the middle of grafting two four-engined bombers into one), I thought I’d get other people’s opinion- of all the crazy, far-out ludicrist ideas for an aircraft, what would qualify, in your opinion, as the craziest? Which one would win the Oscar for “Most Unorthadox Design”? Or would make you want to send the designers to the nearest institution?
No aircraft is safe. It didn’t have to fly. With most, it doesn’t even have to be built, or built at one time. Nothing is off limits
Well? Have at it! (I personally have seen too many weird ideas to pick an absolute weirdest. Possibly a Luft '46 design that had two contra-props, but smack dab in the middle of the fuselage. The exact designation escapes me.)
I personally like the German aircraft from Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark. I haven’t really found any good sites with pictures and or plans but I did find this one (scroll down a bit to get to “the flying wing”)
http://www.indianajones.de/indy1/texte/making_of_05.php#
You mean this one:
http://www.indianajones.de/indy1/pics/making/making_r_61.jpg
But I want to see the Flying Saucer from “Independance Day”, you do remember the movie that Will Smith said “I got to get me one of these” don’t you.
I’m not sure, but I think the “saucer” from Independance Day was kitted - don’t remember by whom however.
The flying sub from voyage to the bottom of the sea, It look so cool.
Lindberg did the saucer from Independance Day, has for the craziest I’ll have to think on that
Focke-Wulf VTOL I think that is crazy all though there are some really wierd ones.
I’d have to vote for the original P-75 design (I think that’s it, but the AF Museum site is down at moment)… the WWII US fighter that was made with spare parts of other aircraft… it looks like something from a junkyard!
I’d go for the Focke Wulf VTOL too, the Humming Bird? I think it was, with the three rotating jets. I’ve seen a kit advertised, & one for the twin prop that Lucien describes.
I do have a kit of the flying sub. It’s in bits & quite old, I picked it up at a car boot sale in the UK & still haven’t gotten around to building it. Though I have a customer waiting for when it is!
Pete
P-82 Twin Mustang… from beauty to goofy
The Chandler Channel wing. "nuff said.
Nuts! Damon took mine!
The Fisher XP-75, hands down! Who the heck thought up that one?!
Actually the P-75 was a sound idea. Take off the shelf items and reassemble them in a different way. The idea being to save design time. Unfortunately it didn’t work out that way. There were a few lessons learned from it (namely not to do something that stupid again) and thats always a good thing. Some other nominations for this category could include the V-173 & the XF5U that derived from it. obviously the designer of that one read too much Buck Rogers. Or in trhe early days, the one with about twenty wings and the one that looked like a hybrid between the bed and helicopter? Some designs went way beyond crazy to just downright stupid. There were a lot of aviators killed in the twenties and thirties because they were just plain stupid and flew something that should’ve never been built in the first place.
Blohm & Voss designs of the WWII era, and Burt Rutan’s designs of today! [:o]
I think these two exhibited the greatest departure from the norm.
Nice topic, thanks!
Take care,
Frank
Blohm & Voss BV-141, asymetrical all round !!, it flew and apparently quite well
The russian’s tried to make a invisible plane in the 30’s by covering it with a see-trough foil instead of linnen! That’s my nomination!
What about that contraption with the wheat thresher propulsion built around the time of the Wright brothers? Or that thing with what looked like umbrellas stacked one on top of the other that pumped up and down, jumped and shook itself to pieces? Or that poor jerk with the wings wrapped on his arms and the rocket strapped to his back?
I’d have to vote for that thing flew by Darth Vadar. You know, that Empire fighter or whatever it’s called. It looks like an eyeball sandwich, and it flew, in outer space! sorry for the grotesque visual.
Flying Eyeball Sandwich! LOL! Hilarious!
My vote would go for that grotesque thing they call the F-22 Raptor I think. J/K!
My REAL vote would definitely be this thing (whatever it is!)
http://www.fototime.com/1993A3DEAE3B71B/standard.jpg
Gotta love designers!
What about the P-59(our first jet) that had an open cockpit in front of the pilot. Vultee P-54: had a nose section that could be tilted to “lob” its cannon shells,a powered lift that raised the pilot the 8ft. into the cockpit,for bail out his seat slid down with a hinged panel to keep him from hitting the contra-rotating props behind him,looks like the Saab J21(but P54 is almost 55ft.long). I know there is more wierd stuff out there.Allen