Ryan X-13 Vertijet.
Kick-ass concept, but infortunately, required too much pilot. Modern control systems could make it a lot easier to fly, but it’s a problem that’s already been solved adequately by other means.
My mother worked on that project as a data reduction mathematician. With the right pilot, you could literally waltz the damned thing around the landing pad standing on the column of thrust. Unfortunately, the ‘right pilot’ was a rare commodity - almost no one had the necessary skills, experience, and reflexes to fly it.
You reminded me of the Martin Mars. A few were converted into water bombers and are still flying. You can go to Sproat Lake on Vancouver Island and take a boat right up to them. Awe inspiring.
Or how about some iconic bushplanes: The Twin Otter and the Beaver. Neither have been produced for ages, but they are still flying. Absolutely wonderful aircraft.
Actually, the Twin Otter is back in production. Check the New Production section of your link.
We’re considering getting a pair of Twin Otters for our northern operations. They are in a league of their own when it comes to utility and versatility.
The DeHavilland Beaver, I know it well. I did a college internship at a company that reconditions and modifies old Beavers. I went along on a pickup flight once; two Beavers in loose formation following I-35 north out of Kansas City. Those seats were probably fine for a guy with a full parachute pack on his back and his ass, not so much when all you’ve got is an old, folded-up bedspread.
Gotta love those radial engines, though. Before every flight, fill it up with oil and check the gas.
Well I doubt anyone would ever call it a C-130 lite, but I was looking at the cockpit of a DC-3/C-47 and I thought that was really tiny. Im still trying to figure out the rationale for that capability , concidering that casualties were being casevac’d by helicopter and did not need a prepared field, and any commando types were probably inserted via other means.
I can probably assume that it fell under the superceded by technology heading.
Declan
That may have been a design feature , the sixites were really big on short take off and landing. The predessesor to the DH-5 Buffalo , was the Caribou and I believe that either of those two airplanes was able to take off and land in a baseball diamond.
The high shoulder mounted wings and tail plane area would have given it good rough field capability to take off and land in the bush , or the side of a mountain,depending.
Just what I was coming in to say (tried a day or two back, minor database problem ate my post). It was an oddball, right enough. “You know what would be cool? Take the crew cabin out of the fuselage and stick it halfway along the wing.” Incidentally, it’s far from the oddest idea Blohm und Voss ever had.
