Frustated Projects

In 1939, Douglas designers, Ed Heinemann and Bob Donovan began work on a VTB Proposal to replace the TBD Devastator torpedo bomber. In 1942, the team led by Heinemann and Donovan began work on a new project named the "Devastator II". On 31 October 1943, just four days after the new Midway class aircraft carriers were ordered into production, Douglas received a contract for two prototypes, designated TB2D, receiving the official name: "Skypirate". The TB2D was powered by a Pratt Whitney R-4360 Wasp Major driving contra-rotating propellers. Four torpedoes or an equivalent bomb load could be carried on underwing pylons. Defensive armament consisted of two 20 mm (.79 in) cannon in the wings and .50 in (12.7 mm) machine guns mounted in a power-operated dorsal turret. Very large for a single-engined aircraft, the TB2D would have been the largest piston-engined carrierborne aircraft at the time if it had been deployed. It could carry four times the weapon load of the TBF Avenger and was larger, heavier and faster than a B-25 Mitchell bomber. With only limited support from the US Navy, and facing a recommendation for cancellation on 20 May 1944 due to the aircraft being designed only for the CVB and CV9 carriers, the TB2B project was in peril even at the design and mock-up stage.

The two "Skypirate" prototypes, BuNo 36933 and 36934 were ready for flight trials in 1945 with the first prototype XTB2D-1 flying on 13 March 1945. The second example had a 58 cm increase in the length of the fuselage, and flew later in summer 1945. Both prototypes were test flown without any armament. Despite the flying trials proceeding on schedule, the collapse of the Japanese forces in the Pacific along with delays in the Midway class, eliminated the need for the type and the 23 pre-production aircraft on order were subsequently cancelled. The flight trials were suspended and the two prototypes were eventually reduced to scrap in 1948.

Source: Douglas XTB2D Skypirate - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The first Me 209 was a completely new aircraft designed only to break speed records whose designation was used by Messerschmitt as a propaganda tool. Although the aircraft was a "single purpose" high-speed experimental prototype, it was hoped that its name would associate it and its world-beating performance with the Bf 109 already in combat service. The Me 209 was constructed in 1937 and shared only its Daimler-Benz DB 601 engine with the Bf 109. Willy Messerschmitt designed the small aircraft with a cockpit placed far back along the fuselage just in front of its unique cross-shaped tail section. Unlike the Bf 109, the Me 209 featured a broad-track, inwardly-retracting undercarriage mounted in the wing section.

The idea of adapting the Me 209 racer to the fighter role gained momentum when, during the Battle of Britain, the Bf 109 failed to gain superiority over the RAF Supermarine Spitfires. The little record-setter, however, was not up to the task of air combat. Its wings were almost completely occupied by the engine's liquid cooling system and therefore prohibited conventional installation of armament. The aircraft also proved difficult to fly and extremely hard to control on the ground. Nevertheless, the Messerschmitt team made several attempts to improve the aircraft's performance by giving it longer wings, a taller vertical stabilizer, and installing two 7.92 mm (.312 in) MG 17 machine guns in the engine cowling. Its various modifications, however, added so much weight that the Me 209 ended up slower than the contemporary Bf 109E. This first Me 209 project was soon cancelled, and though it never went into wide-scale production, Messerschmitt's design did make its mark with its impressive speed record, which was not officially broken by another piston-engined aircraft until 16 August 1969, by Darryl Greenamyer's highly modified Conquest I F8F Bearcat, now at the Smithsonian's NASM]. In 1939, the speed record achievement of the Me-209 was used for a propaganda disinformation campaign, wherein the aircraft was given the designation of Me 109R. This disinformation was naturally designed to give an aura of invincibility to the Bf 109, an aura not dispelled until the conclusion of the Battle of Britain.

Source: Messerschmitt Me 209 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia http://www.aer.ita.br/~bmattos/mundo/ww2/messersschmitt_me209.htm

The Luftwaffe's first Chief of Staff, Generalleutnant Walther Wever, was a keen advocate of the long-range stra-o tegic bomber and, largely as a result of his promptings, the RLM's Technische Amt issued a specification for a four-engined heavy bomber of this category. Both Dornier and Junkers completed preliminary studies for such an aircraft, and each received in late 1935 an order for three prototypes under the respective designations Dornier Do 19 and Ju 89.

A mid-wing cantilever monoplane, largely of metal construction, the Do 19 had a rectangular-section fuselage; a tail unit with braced twin fins and rudders mounted on the upper surface of the tail-plane, at approximately mid-span on each side; tailwheel landing gear, with all three units retracting; and powerplant comprising four Bramo 322H-2 radial engines, mounted in nacelles at the wing leading edges. Accommodation was provided for a crew of nine, consisting of pilot, co-pilot/navigator, bomb-aimer, radio operator and five gunners.

The Do 19 V1 prototype flew for the first time on 28 October 1936, but by then an event had occurred which was to bring development of the long-range strategic bombers to an end. On 3 June 1936 Generalleutnant Wever had lost his life in an aircraft crash and his successor, o Generalleutnant Albert Kesselring, concluded that the Luftwaffe's more urgent requirements were increased numbers of fighters and tactical bombers of greater capability. The Do 19 V2, which was almost ready to fly, and the incomplete Do 19 V3 were both scrapped; the Do 19 V1 saw limited use as a military transport following conversion for such a role during 1939.

Source: Dornier Do 19 - experimental bomber

The P-60 designation applies to a family of widely different Curtiss fighters, each reflecting the urgency of the builder's unsuccessful effort to develop a P-40 replacement. Though only four airframes carried out the P-60 programme, no fewer than nine designations were involved: XP-60, XP-60A, YP-60A, P-60A, XP-60B, XP-60C, XP-60D, XP-60E and YP-60E. The programme ran from early 1941 to December 1944 and was Curtiss's last gasp in the propeller-driven fighter field, an ambitious but unfocussed effort which involved several engines, propellers, and canopy configurations.

The XP-60 was a low-wing, conventional-gear fighter developed from the uncompleted XP-53 but powered by a 969kW Packard V-1560-1 licence-built Merlin, belatedly determined by the USAAF to be the best engine available in 1941. This airframe flew on 18 September 1941. With all Merlin-related resources soon committed to the P-51 Mustang programme, the USAAF then decided to employ the ubiquitous 1062kW Allison V-1710-75 in planned production-model P-60s. On 31 October 1941, 1,950 such fighters were ordered. Soon, however, it became evident that Curtiss' Buffalo, New York, plant could be more usefully employed building P-47G Thunderbolts and the contract was cancelled. Three XP-60A airframes were tested with the Allison powerplant before being re-engined. The proposed YP-60A, which would have had a 1491kW Pratt Whitney R-2800-10 radial, was another variation which did not result in a finished airframe. The XP-60B was to have been the original machine with a shift from Merlin to Allison power but apparently this change was never made.

The XP-60C, converted in 1943 from one of the three Allison test ships, employed the R-2800 radial. This was the sole example tested with Curtiss Electric contra-rotating propellers. The XP-60D was the original machine retaining its Merlin but with enlarged tail surfaces and other minor changes. The XP-60E was another R-2800 radial-powered variant. Last in the series was the YP-60E, another conversion, again R-2800 radial-powered but now uncamouflaged and with bubble canopy, the result being formidable competition to the Curtiss P-40Q for the claim of most beautiful fighter ever built. In November 1942, the US Army ordered 500 Pratt Whitney-powered P-60 fighters but the production contract was soon set aside in favour of other priorities. The P-60 programme ended by mid-1944, the last airframe being scrapped on 22 December 1944.

In 1944, the Army accepted a modified version of the C-46A and designated it as XC-46B. The aircraft was converted from the first C-46A built at the Curtiss plant in St. Louis, Mo. (S/N 43-46953). The plane featured two major changes. First, the nose section was redesigned. The windshield was changed from a streamlined version to a stepped design. The stepped windshield was tested because it was the standard design used on most cargo and bomber aircraft and it was thought the plane might be easier to fly for pilot trainees. After flight tests, it was determined that the windshield posed no significant problems for pilots, and visibility was essentially the same as the original design. The stepped windshield design was incorporated into the C-46E design but only 17 aircraft were completed at the Curtiss St. Louis plant. The nose section design of the XC-46B increased the plane's overall length to 77 feet, 8 inches more than the A model. The second major design change was the installation of water injected Pratt Whitney Double Wasp engines. The water-injected version of the engine had 100 horsepower more than the model used on the C-46A and was installed primarily to improve take-off performance with larger loads. The B model had a gross weight of 51,000 pounds -- 1,400 pounds more than the A model. The performance of the XB-46B was basically the same as the C-46A and the design changes were not adopted for production aircraft.

The Curtiss XP-42, a conversion of a P-36A Mohawk airframe, was employed as a testbed at Wright Field, Ohio, beginning in March 1939 to determine whether stream-lining could reduce drag in a radial-powered fighter and make it competitive with more advanced fighters employing inline engines. This concept was seen as an alternative to adapting the P-36A airframe to an inline powerplant, as had been done with the prototype P-40 Warhawk. Delivered to the Army in March 1939, the XP-42 was powered by a 783kW Pratt Whitney R-1830-31 Twin Wasp radial enclosed by a bullet-shaped, sheet-metal cowling extended forward to culminate in a large, pointed spinner. An airscoop below the spinner provided cooling air, while smaller intakes above the engine provided air to the carburettor. It was immediately clear that this sleek, long-nosed configuration offered none of the advantages of the inline engine employed not only by the P-40 but also by such types as the Messerschmitt Bf 109 and North American Mustang. The aerodynamic nose shape provided almost no reduction in drag, and cooling problems proved almost insurmountable. While the XP-42 was marginally faster than the open-cowl P-36A, its performance did not compare favourably with the P-40 or with other, newer fighters of the immediate pre-war period.

A variety of nose configurations was tried on the XP-42, altering its fuselage length with each change, but none vindicated the enclosed radial engine and Curtiss's production facilities, in the event, were taken up with the inline-powered P-40. When hostilities began, the XP-42 had been ruled out as a possible production aircraft but continued to aid in research. In 1942, the XP-42 tested an all-flying stabilizer, similar to the stabilator found on modern jets. The XP-42 had begun flying in natural metal finish and was camouflaged during one of its minor rebuilds. The airframe, which contributed knowledge to designers and engineers, was eventually taken out of service as other wartime priorities beckoned. Curtiss would continue to explore new fighter ideas with XP-46, XP-60 and XF-87, but the company's predominant role in the fighter field was fast becoming history.

The XP-46 of 1939 was a late attempt by Curtiss to capitalize on lessons from early fighting in Europe and to develop a fighter powered by an inline engine which could succeed the P-40 Warhawk on production lines. The lacklustre performance of the Curtiss XP-37 and XP-42 designs was yet to become fully apparent on 29 September 1939, when this most promising of the three Curtiss designs was ordered in prototype form. The US Army ordered one XP-46 and one XP-46A, the latter without armament to expedite the testing programme. Both were powered by the 857kW Allison V-1710-39 inline engine, which promised to be readily available if production materialized, being the powerplant for the P-40D already on factory lines. The XP-46A flew first on 15 February 1941 and both machines were being tested by the time of Pearl Harbor. The XP-46 and XP-46A had moderately good performance except for their limited range of 523km. They were heavier and costlier than the P-40D, however, and seemed to lack 'stretching' potential for further development. The two airframes were markedly different from each other in detail, especially in cockpit layout, the XP-46 being viewed by pilots as cramped and uncomfortable, a 'sweatbox'. Clearly the two machines added knowledge, but a production order eluded them.

In May 1944, Curtiss indicated to the AAF that it wished to abandon further work on the P-60 series fighters because of the disappointing results achieved with the XP-60C and XP-60E. Earlier, the P-60 had been eliminated from the production schedules, the number of aircraft on contract having been reduced to two. However, the AAF insisted on completion of one of the two aircraft still on order. These, originally ordered as YP-60As, had been redesignated as YP-60Es because the design modifications incorporated were most directly descended from the XP-60E. The YP-60E differed principally in having a 2,100hp R-2800-18 engine, a deeper cowling incorporating the ventral cooler intake, a cut-down rear fuselage and a bubble-type cockpit canopy. The sole YP-60E completed was flown on 13 July 1944, but only one further flight was made before the aircraft was transferred to Wright Field where it was eventually disposed of without further testing. Armament comprised six wing-mounted 12.7mm machine guns.

In the early 1930s, the Northrop Corporation had produced the Gamma 2C, a company-financed prototype for a two-seat attack aircraft. The Gamma 2C was based on the Gamma 2A and 2B research aircraft. It retained the wings and trousered undercarriage of the previous two Gamma aircraft, but differed from them in having a new fuselage with a new two-seat enclosed cockpit. The cockpit was moved much further forward, with the pilot now sitting slightly behind the wing leading edge. The Gamma 2C was powered by a 735 hp Wright SR-1820-F2 nine-cylinder air-cooled radial driving a two-bladed propeller. The Gamma 2C was armed with four wing-mounted 0.30-inch machine guns and one flexible 0.30-inch machine gun firing either upward from the rear cockpit or downward through a ventral hatch underneath the fuselage. It was able to carry up to 1100 pounds of bombs externally between its trousered main undercarriage units. The Army purchased the Gamma 2C under the designation YA-13 on June 28, 1934. The serial number 34-27 was applied.

Flight tests of the YA-13 indicated that the installation of an engine of greater power would result in substantially increased performance. In addition, the large diameter of the Wright SR-1820 radial engine of the YA-13 obscured the pilot's forward view. In order to improve the performance and the pilot's forward visibility, the YA-13 aircraft was returned to Northrop in January of 1935 to be re-engined with the smaller diameter but more powerful 950 hp Pratt Whitney R-1830-7 Twin Wasp fourteen-cylinder air-cooled radial. This engine change resulted in the YA-13 being redesignated YA-16. The XA-16 flew for the first time in March of 1935. Flight tests indicated that the XA-16 was now over-powered, and that if the aircraft ever went into production it should either have a smaller engine or else have larger tail surfaces. The Gamma 2F, another private venture project of Northrop, already featured a smaller engine and this version was ordered into production as the A-17, so no further work was carried out on the XA-16. The XA-16 was later fitted with a 950 hp R-1830-9 engine. It ended its life at an aircraft mechanics' school at Roosevelt Field.

Source: Northrop XA-16

The SAB AB-20 was a four engine night bomber development of the three engine Dyle et Bacalan DB-70 airliner. The change of manufacturer's name was the result of the financial failure of Dyle et Bacalan in 1929, followed by its immediate reappearance as SAB, who took over DB-70 development. The latter was built around a thick, wide chord airfoil centre section which provided generous internal space for passengers. The engines were mounted on this structure as were twin fuselages to carry the tail. Outer wings of normal thickness and chord, the cockpit and the under carriage were also attached to the centre section. The generous intra-wing volume equally offered crew, fuel and bomb room for military purposes. Initially the AB-20 was intended to have three engines like its forebear, but during the design phase there was a military request for a bombardier's position and a gunner's cockpit in the nose, which required the removal of the centre engine and its replacement by two extra engines wing mounted outboard of the centre section.Apart from the extra engines and the very different crew compartment, together with the removal of passenger accommodation, the AB-20 and DB-70 had much in common: the thick centre section and high mounted outer wings, twin fuselages carrying a long horizontal stabilizer and twin fins and rudders. Both aircraft had conventional undercarriages with pairs of mainwheels widely separated on V-struts attached to the lower longerons of the centre section.

The new central crew pod was flat sided and tapered forwards to a complicated cylindrical nose, formed of a simple lower part with an overhanging, windowed cabin for the navigator/bombardier and an open gunner's cockpit, fitted with a machine gun ring, directly above. The nose also carried a long, conical probe with fine extensions, possibly pressure sensors. Further aft there was an enclosed pilot's cabin. A second gunner was stationed rearwards, on top of the centre section and a third fired from a ventral turret.

Evolved by Ingenieur-General Vernisse and M Badie, the VB 10 was an all-metal single-seat fighter powered by engines mounted in tandem fore and aft of the pilot's cockpit and driving contra-rotating co-axial propellers. Thirty VG 10s were ordered off the drawing board in May 1940, and work continued under the Vichy government. The first prototype with two 860hp Hispano- Suiza 12Y31 12-cylinder liquid-cooled engines was flown on 7 July 1945. The second prototype with 1150hp HS 12Z12/13 engines and an armament of four 20mm Hispano-Suiza cannon and six 12.7mm Browning machine guns flew on 21 September 1946. A contract for 200 aircraft had been placed on 22 December 1945 (this later being cut back to 50 aircraft), and the first production VB 10 flew on 3 November 1947 with 1150hp HS 12Z Ars 15/16 engines and an armament of four 20mm cannon. Production was cancelled on 21 September 1948 after completion and testing of four series aircraft.

In May 1937, the French Air Ministry placed an order with Société des Avions Marcel Bloch for two prototype floatplanes intended to fulfill a French Navy requirement for a twin-engined torpedo-bomber/reconnaissance floatplane. Bloch's design, the Bloch MB.480 was a low-winged monoplane that closely resembled the earlier Bloch MB.131 reconnaissance/bomber landplane. It was powered by two 1,060 hp (791 kW) Gnome-Rhône 14N radial engines and carried a crew of five. Defensive armament was a 7.5 mm Darne machine gun in the nose and a ventral bath, while a 20 mm cannon was fitted in a powered dorsal mounting. A heavy load of bombs, torpedoes or auxiliary fuel tanks could be carried in an internal bomb bay. The first prototype made its maiden flight from Étang de Berre in June 1939. The aircraft's twin tail was raised to avoid spray on take-off and landing, and the tail fins were cropped to restore a good field of fire for the dorsal cannon after the tail assembly had been raised. The second prototype flew in October 1939.

Although testing was relatively successful, the French Navy had meanwhile decided that the torpedo-bomber reconnaissance role could be better met by landplanes, with the much faster Lioré et Olivier LeO 451, already on order as a medium bomber for the French Air Force being chosen. On 9 September 1939, Bloch was told to suspend development trials, while on 10 December it was officially announced that no orders would be placed for either the MB.480 or its two competitors, the SNCAC NC-410 and the Loire-Nieuport 10. The first prototype was destroyed after colliding with a pier on Étang de Thau on 23 June 1940, while the second prototype was placed into storage in July, and was not flown again.

gekho said:

The SAB AB-20 was a four engine night bomber development of the three engine Dyle et Bacalan DB-70 airliner. The change of manufacturer's name was the result of the financial failure of Dyle et Bacalan in 1929, followed by its immediate reappearance as SAB, who took over DB-70 development. The latter was built around a thick, wide chord airfoil centre section which provided generous internal space for passengers. The engines were mounted on this structure as were twin fuselages to carry the tail. Outer wings of normal thickness and chord, the cockpit and the under carriage were also attached to the centre section. The generous intra-wing volume equally offered crew, fuel and bomb room for military purposes. Initially the AB-20 was intended to have three engines like its forebear, but during the design phase there was a military request for a bombardier's position and a gunner's cockpit in the nose, which required the removal of the centre engine and its replacement by two extra engines wing mounted outboard of the centre section.Apart from the extra engines and the very different crew compartment, together with the removal of passenger accommodation, the AB-20 and DB-70 had much in common: the thick centre section and high mounted outer wings, twin fuselages carrying a long horizontal stabilizer and twin fins and rudders. Both aircraft had conventional undercarriages with pairs of mainwheels widely separated on V-struts attached to the lower longerons of the centre section.

The new central crew pod was flat sided and tapered forwards to a complicated cylindrical nose, formed of a simple lower part with an overhanging, windowed cabin for the navigator/bombardier and an open gunner's cockpit, fitted with a machine gun ring, directly above. The nose also carried a long, conical probe with fine extensions, possibly pressure sensors. Further aft there was an enclosed pilot's cabin. A second gunner was stationed rearwards, on top of the centre section and a third fired from a ventral turret.

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That is one ugly plane.

herman1rg said:

That is one ugly plane.

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It´s french; what did you expect??

René RIOUT Aircraft experimental butterfly aircraft from 1937.

What are the odds it flow.

Ornithopter ....

Ornithopter - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

MM

The aircraft was designed by the racing driver (and world land speed record holder) Sir Henry Segrave as a twin-engine four-seat touring monoplane. A wooden prototype, designated Saro Segrave Meteor I was built by Saunders Roe at Cowes. The prototype (registered G-AAXP) first flew on 28 May 1930. Development was delayed by the death of the designer on 13 June 1930 in a speedboat accident. The aircraft was demonstrated in Rome to the Italian Air Ministry, and a licence agreement was signed to produce the aircraft as the Piaggio P.12, although only two appear to have been made. With lack of space at Cowes and with the decision to build a metal version, two aircraft were built by Blackburn Aircraft at Brough Aerodrome with the designation Blackburn CA.18 Segrave. Blackburn changed the designation system, and the aircraft became the Blackburn B.1 Segrave. Despite sales tours around Europe, the aircraft was not ordered, and only one further example was built. This was completed by Blackburn as the Blackburn CA.20 Segrave II to test a new single-spar wing.

Not seen that one before....

The aircraft designer Filippo Zappata developed a four-engined civil transport for operation over both European and transatlantic routes. Construction of the Breda-Zappata B.Z.308 was started during 1946 at Breda's Sesto San Giovanni works. The allied control commission halted the work, which was not resumed until January 1947. Further delays in the delivery of Bristol Centaurus engines delayed the first flight, which was on the 27th August 1948, piloted by Mario Stoppani. The B.Z.308 was a large low-wing monoplane of all-metal construction, the fuselage had an oval cross-section. It had a large tailplane with endplate fins and rudders, retractable landing gear. Powered by four Bristol Centaurus radial engines driving five-bladded propellers. It was designed for a flightcrew of five, and 55 passengers in two cabins, a high-density model was planned with seats for 80. Although flight testing went well, financial problems and the realisation that competition from American-built airliners would take a major share of the post-war airliner market, along with the pressures to close down the Aeronautical section of the Breda industries as requested by the Marshall plan, led to the project being abandoned. Breda stopped producing airplanes subsequently.

The prototype B.Z.308 was acquired by the Italian Air Force in 1949 as a transport aircraft. Despite orders in 1950 from India, Argentina and Persia, only the prototype was built, allegedly also due to pressure from the allies for Italy to refrain from competing in civilian aircraft manufacture after the war. On the 27th August 1948 the Bz 308 made its maiden flight, in front of civil and military authorities, politicians and the Italian President. The prototype, which passed to the Italian Air Force in 1950 and was used to fly between Rome and Mogadishu until one day, following damage during a poor landing, it was abandoned in a field in Somalia before being broken up in 1954. It was also the first Italian transatlantic aircraft, and the first aircraft to fly into the new Malpensa airport in 1948. The aircraft is also clearly visible in the airport scene of the film Roman Holiday.