Most of the aircraft I have covered so far have been oddities that in the end didn’t amount to anything. Vincent Burnelli’s work was a serious attempt to radically change aircraft design. It didn’t succeed but was a noble effort to build a better airplane. Which he actually did. Why his designs went nowhere, even after many successful demonstrations, is a mystery to me. Some claim it was a conspiracy by the airlines and/or airplane manufacturers and/or the government. I think it was more the case that his designs were so different that people couldn’t accept them. Though called flying wings, they are actually what is known as lifting bodies, because they had tails. True flying wings are suppose to be tailess.
RB-2
http://mysteriousbill.weebly.com/rb-2.html
CB-16
http://mysteriousbill.weebly.com/cb-16.html
UB-20
http://mysteriousbill.weebly.com/ub-20.html
UB-14
http://mysteriousbill.weebly.com/ub-14.html
Though this after the time period that this series of posts covers, Burnelli built one more aircraft during the war, the CBY-3 Loadmaster. It could take off in less room and carry a ton more cargo than a DC-3, but by the time it flew (1945) DC-3’s were cheap and readily available.
Now why is this plane so important to Pulp Gamers. Please note the following photo of the bad’ guy’s airplane from the Dick Tracy Serial and the Fighting Devil Dogs serial.