X-15 contrail after mid-air launch, 1965
Reblogged from jmdj daily tumble.
December 08, 2009, 4:14pm
x planes
experimental aircraft. exotic aeromachines. oddities. sleek silver cigars. pedal-o-trons. soviet hive-mind bombers. aerial joy. the olden days. action shots. propaganda posters. etc
[xplanes] [at] [hotmail] [dot] [co] [dot] [uk]
Designed by Redfield. Icons by Cameron Hunt.
Reblogged from jmdj daily tumble.
“Charles Pritchard, designer builder and pilot, makes first test of his wingless Rocket Air Ship on mile lone runway at Emporia, Virginia, airport, 8A-1030A today, (Friday). Plane has short baffles or fins in place of wings, 90 hp engine, conventional propeller and tail assembly, tricycle landing gear, is 21 feet long 98 inches wide weighs 800 lbs. Pritchard made eight runs along runway, but didn’t; get off the ground. Says he’ll make modifications and try again.” (circa 1955)
November 09, 2009, 9:04pm
“The Ames-Dryden-1 (AD-1) aircraft was designed to investigate the concept of an oblique (pivoting) wing. The wing could be rotated on its center pivot, so that it could be set at its most efficient angle for the speed at which the aircraft was flying.
This photograph is a multiple exposure showing the AD-1 aircraft with its wing swept at different angles between zero and 60 degrees.” (1980)
October 24, 2009, 8:31pm
“31st May 1960: The SC1 vertical take-off and landing research aircraft, piloted by Tom Brooke-Smith of Short Brothers and Harland Limited, in flight at the Royal aircraft Establishment at Bedford.”
October 03, 2009, 5:53pm
on 11th August 1954 - just a week after it first flew - the English Electric P.1A became the first British aircraft to exceed Mach 1 in level flight
(the second prototype, the P.1B, became the first British aircraft to exceed Mach 2 on 25th November 1958)
October 02, 2009, 10:49pm
following on from the success of the Short S.B.5, the English Electric Company built three “proof-of-concept” prototypes for their proposed RAF front line fighter.
the P.1A, was the first prototype, and first flew on 4 August 1954
October 02, 2009, 9:01pm
the Short S.B.5 research aircraft, circa 1960. Built to (independently) test the proposed aerodynamic configuration of a supersonic fighter being built by the English Electric Company. The tailplane and wing sweepback were tested in various configurations - the final sweep setting of 69° was greater than anything else in the world at the time.
October 02, 2009, 3:22pm
“This photo illustrates how the X-15 rocket powered aircraft was taken aloft under the wing of a B-52. Because of the large fuel consumption, the X-15 was air launched from a B-52 aircraft at 45,000 ft and a speed of about 500 mph. This photo was taken from one of the observation windows in the B-52 shortly before dropping the X-15.” (circa 1962)
September 24, 2009, 11:34pm
“The X-15 pilots clown around in front of the #2 aircraft.From left to right: USAF Capt. Joseph Engle, USAF Maj. Robert Rushworth, NASA test pilot John “Jack” McKay, USAF Maj. William “Pete” Knight, NASA test pilot Milton Thompson, and NASA test pilot William Dana.” (1966)
September 24, 2009, 8:01pm
after the war, three B-17 Flying Fortress bombers were converted to engine testbeds. The nose section was removed and replaced with a strengthened mount for a fifth engine. The Pratt & Whitney XT-34, Wright XT-35, Wright R-3350 and Allison T-56 engines were all flight tested on JB-17Gs.
September 17, 2009, 7:12pm
the Consolidated XB-24J hybrid aircraft, 1944.
A program to improve the performance of the B-24 Liberator bomber lead to the idea of putting the nose section of a B-17 Flying Fortress onto a B-24 airframe. Although more streamlined, the new nose section added more weight, and the project was discontinued.
(top image via here)
September 17, 2009, 5:05pm
The Russian Mil V-7 experimental helicopter, powered by turbojets mounted at the tips of the rotorblades.
“Deleting the mechanical transmission was expected not only to make the airframe simpler and lighter, but also to improve the payload-to-weight ratio considerably. Also, in this layout the main rotor was free from torque, which removed the need for power-consuming and cumbersome means of counteracting it.”
Various problems were encountered, culminating in both engines disintegrating almost simultaneously during a maximum RPM ground test. The project was abandoned in 1965.
August 18, 2009, 2:33pm
