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British Weird Airplanes- Part2

10/5/2011

Now most of the planes I have covered in these articles on Weird Airplanes were produced in small numbers at best. Not so the Heyford, of which 124 were built. The Heyford served in RAF heavy bomber units from 1933 to 1939. First flown in prototype form in mid-1930, the Heyford was the last of the RAF's long-range biplane night bombers. It was powered in Mk I form by two 391.2kW Rolls-Royce Kestrel III engines and in the Mk II and Mk III by 428.5kW Kestrel VI. The Heyford had one Lewis gun in the nose position, one in the dorsal position, and one in a retractable "dustbin" turret underneath (I bet it was a wild ride for the guy in that gun position). The Heyford was an equal-span biplane with staggered wings: the upper wing centre-section rested on top of the fuselage, while the lower was positioned well below the fuselage, connected to the under-fuselage by N-type struts. The inner interplane struts supported the engine mountings. An interesting feature of the design was that bombs of various sizes were carried inside the thickened centre-section of the lower wing, each bomb being carried in a separate cell closed by spring doors. The fixed landing gear comprised two large wheels faired into the lower wing. This design was chosen so the plane could be loaded with bombs while the engines ran, but it left the pilot some 17 ft off the ground. It was well thought of by it's crews, but I imagine they wouldn't have they had to fly it in combat.

Heyford Mk IA

Wingspan 75 ft 2 inches

Length 58 ft 1 inch

Height 17ft 5 inches

Max speed 142 mph

Ceiling 21,000 feet

Range 920 miles

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British Weird Aircraft - Part 1

9/28/2011

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Westland Pterodactyl Mk1 A and MK 1B
You just have to love a plane that it's own designers named after an extinct flying lizard.

In the early 1920's G T R Hill began studying aircraft design in order to design a plane with better low speed stability and handling. He and his wife built a glider that he demonstrated to the British Air Ministry (yes, this series of planes was actually ordered by the British Government, unlike so many American weird planes that the designers had to fund themselves). Sufficently impressed, a powered version was built (using a 34 hp British Cherub Engine). This was later modified to a Mk 1b with 70hp Armstrong Siddeley Genet and small rudders. Two seater with a wingspan of 45 ft 6 inches.

This lead to the

Pterodactyl Mk IV-1931

A three-place cabin aircraft powered by a 120hp D.H. Gipsy III four-cylinder air-cooled engine. With a wingspan of 44 ft 6 inches, a max speed of 113 MPH, and a max altitude of 17,000 feet. This very capable plane was able to do acrobatics. One feature it had was a gear, by which it was possible to sweep the wings backward and forward through an angular range of 4.75°. This operation, which enabled the machine to be trimmed when the centre of gravity was varied by alternative loadings, could be effected by the pilot while in flight.

The success of the MkIV lead to the ultimate Pterodactyl

Westland Pterodactyl Mk V-1932
The other Pterodactyls had been experimental planes of limited military use, The Mk V was an attempt to use the concepts that the early planes had developed to build a proper military aircraft. A 2- seater fighter it had a 600hp Rolls Royce Goshawk steam-cooled vee-type engine, a wingspan of 47 ft 8 inches, a max speed of 190 mph, and a max altitude of 30,000 feet (for comparison a Hawker Demon 2 seat fighter from the same time had a max speed of 182 MPH and a ceiling of 27,500 ft). Armed with twin Vickers it was also to have an electrically-operated twin-gun turret that had an incredible field of fire. Fully acrobatic and capable of inverted flight.

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Burnelli's Flying Wings

10/14/2010

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Burnelli’s Flying Wings

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.

So let’s hear it for the Burnelli Flying Wings, The Pulpiest of all Pulp Airplanes.

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Weird Planes of the 20's and 30's Part B

10/11/2010

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Some more weird aircraft

Besler

http://mysteriousbill.weebly.com/besler.html

Brown

http://mysteriousbill.weebly.com/brown.html

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Weird planes of the 20's and 30's

10/3/2010

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A lot of people and companies you’ve never heard of built air planes in the 20’s and 30’s. Usually just one or a few, but sometimes several dozen. Most were conventional such as a two-seater biplane with fixed landing gear or a high wing monoplane three engine transport, but some were a little strange. Since my gaming has shut down for a while I thought I’d go over some of the stranger planes that might be suitable for pulp gaming.

Alcor Duo 6

http://mysteriousbill.weebly.com/alcour-duo.html

American Gyro Crusader

http://mysteriousbill.weebly.com/american-gyro.html

Arup Flying Wing

http://mysteriousbill.weebly.com/arup.html

Auto Giro

http://mysteriousbill.weebly.com/auto-giro.html

Abrams

http://mysteriousbill.weebly.com/abrams.html

I recommend the following two sites for more info on American planes of all eras.

http://www.aviastar.org/air/usa/index.php

http://www.aerofiles.com/aircraft.html

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Real Life Home-Made Armored Cars.

8/5/2010

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In Southern Illinois, in the early Twenties, two groups of gangsters/moonshiners had their own armored cars. One gang even tried aerial bombing!!!
http://mysteriousbill.weebly.com/armored-cars-of-southern-illinois.html

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British Weird Airplanes- Part2

British Weird Aircraft - Part 1

Burnelli's Flying Wings

Weird Planes of the 20's and 30's Part B

Weird planes of the 20's and 30's

Real Life Home-Made Armored Cars.

Mysterious Bill

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