Unusual Aircraft

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Winters-Ryan PT-22.jpg
 
A sad end to a pretty plane, and loss of a good pilot.

I have actuially done a snap and a half while trying to do one, but I was also not trying to do it 20 feet off the ground in an airshow. If you're gonna' DO that, you better get it right.

One of our local airshow pilots. Rob Harrison (The Tumbling Bear) did a really entertaining airshow in a Zlinn Z-50. A few years back he was doing one and, at low altitude, slightly under-rotated a 3/4 snap into a hard turn, and pulled into the ground. Fortunately he wasn't killed and still flies. But it was a sober reminder of the unforgiving nature of low flying when bad things happen to good people.
 
Almost as ugly as Barracuda! This was a research airplane, built to investigate forward-swept wings. The war was going badly, and there was no reason to spend more than necessary to get it airborne. There was also no follow-up FSW aircraft, so they must not have been impressed.

The U.S.A. and USSR / Russia did some FSW aircraft many decades later, and carbon fiber gave stiffness that aluminum didn't have. I notice there are no FSW military aircraft in general use, and the civil Hansa Jet, though actually produced, never made it into large-scale production.

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I've never heard bad fight reports, but the chairman of the board was probably comparing the looks to something like this:

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As a civilian (non-pilot), which one looks like the one you want to arrive in? My bet is 99 out of 100 non-pilots would pick the Falcon 10.
 
The jolly old Luftwaffe did produce quite a few "Unusual" designs and proposals for aircraft in the latter stages of WW2
 
Almost as ugly as Barracuda!

To really appreciate the Barracuda, it is best viewed from the rear, on the ground

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Or as the crews used to sing

"Any old ire, any old ire,
Any, any, any old iron
Down at Lee you get them free,
Built by Faireys for a crew of three
Bags of fun, no front gun,
An engine you can't rely on
You know what you can do
With your Barracuda too
Old iron, old iron."
 
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Now that MUST have been designed by a committee, and none of the committees were talking with the others.



To really appreciate the Barracuda, it is best viewed from the rear, on the ground

Folded_zpsljhs8e4f.jpg


Or as the crews used to sing

"Any old ire, any old ire,
Any, any, any old iron
Down at Lee you get them free,
Built by Faireys for a crew of three
Bags of fun, no front gun,
An engine you can't rely on
You know what you can do
With your Barracuda too
Old iron, old iron."
 

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