Oddball, Experimental, or One-off

[spacesailor]

May I enquire as too, ' replying ' to the drifting thread .

To do , or,  not to do ! .

That is my dilemma .

spacesailor

[red750]

The Scheutzow Model B or Scheutzow Bee was a two-seat utility helicopter developed in the United States in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

 

The aircraft was designed by Webb Scheutzow around a new type of rotorhead that he had developed, the FLEXIHUB. In this system, the two main rotor blades were mounted in rubber bushes, reducing vibration and requiring no lubrication. The design was otherwise entirely conventional, consisting of a cabin with two seats arranged side-by-side, a centrally-mounted engine and rotor mast, and an open-truss tail boom of triangular section that carried a two-blade tail rotor. The undercarriage consisted of skids. The frame was constructed of welded steel tube and the cabin was constructed of sheet metal. Power was transmitted from the engine to the rotor by a series of belts, eliminating the need for a gearbox and minimizing cabin noise.

 

The prototype (registration N564A) first flew on 26 January 1967 and Scheutzow initially planned to have flight testing for type certification completed by the end of the year. At the time, Scheutzow hoped to sell the helicopter for somewhere in the region of $10,000–$12,000, although the following year, the estimated price rose to $16,700. Scheutzow still hoped that the helicopter would be in production the following year and planned to build 191 examples in 1969. However, the flight test program to obtain type certification did not commence until 1971. Certification tests were almost complete by the end of 1973, at which point funding ran out. Testing resumed again in February 1975 and the Bee was certified in May 1976. Development was abandoned during the 1970s after only four examples were built.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[red750]

The Comp Air Jet is an American eight-seat, low-wing, pressurized, tricycle undercarriage, turbofan-powered civil utility aircraft marketed by Comp Air for amateur construction.

 

In 2002 the co-owners of Aerocomp, which is now known as Comp Air, Steve Young and Ron Lueck announced the Comp Air Jet project. The jet is constructed from a "proprietary carbon-fiber hybrid sandwich" and powered by a Ukrainian Ivchenko AI-25 engine. Alternative engines planned for included the Pratt & Whitney JT12-8 or CJ610 or projected future Williams International or Agilis engines.

 

On July 10, 2004 the Comp Air Jet flew for the first time from Merritt Island Airport. Though the gear was not retracted during the flight, the aircraft still reached speeds of 157 kn (291 km/h). The jet landed after 37 minutes with the landing taking about 2000 feet.

 

On January 11, 2005 Aerocomp flew the prototype back to the Merritt Island Airport for further development work after more than 30 hours of flight testing at Space Coast Regional Airport, Titusville, Florida.

 

As of April 2011 the prototype remained the sole example registered with the Federal Aviation Administration.

 

 

 

 

 

[red750]

The Doman LZ-5 was a utility helicopter developed in the United States in the early 1950s by Doman Helicopters Inc. of Danbury, Connecticut. Despite the procurement of international manufacturing agreements, no series production of the aircraft ever occurred, and only three prototypes were built. Two of these were purchased by the United States Army as the YH-31, but eventually becoming VH-31.

 

Like the preceding LZ-1 through LZ-4, the LZ-5 utilized designer Glidden Doman's unorthodox gimbaled rotor head system, which featured the elimination of rotor hinges and dampers and included blades of soft-in-plane dynamic design. The servo control system was entirely contained within the rotor head, with no external oil tanks or plumbing. The tail rotor was also hingeless and free floating to eliminate stresses in rapid tail rotor turns. In other ways, it had a conventional helicopter main rotor and tail rotor configuration. The pilot and co-were seated over the engine, which was in the nose, and a six-passenger compartment was located behind them. The engine was cooled by exhaust ejectors, producing an energy saving that increased payload by 800 pounds. The aircraft featured wheeled quadricycle undercarriage, the main units of which carried dual wheels.

 

The first prototype (registration N13458) flew on 27 April 1953, and by the end of 1955, two machines had been delivered to the Army (52-5779 and 52-5780). Eventually, the Army concluded that they had no requirement for an additional piston-powered helicopter model in this size category, and no further order was placed. After extensive flight testing and pilot training by the Army, one of the prototypes was taken over by the Navy for a helicopter flight research program at the Patuxent River Naval Air Test Center. Later that aircraft was re-purchased by the Doman company and used in its commercial sales efforts.

 

Doman continued with development, building another LZ-5 aircraft in a joint venture with Fleet in Canada. The LZ-5 helicopters were simultaneously Type Certificated in the U.S. and Canada in 1954. The third helicopter flew extensively in Canada under Canadian registration CF-IBG and in the United States, France, and Italy under U.S. registration N812. It flew in the Paris Air Show in 1960. This aircraft was also modified with the installation of full blind flight instrumentation, which was demonstrated extensively in the effort to sell it as a trainer. The aircraft thus equipped was advertised as the D-10. The planned production version would have been modified with a turbo-charged engine and designated as the D-10B. Doman sold production rights for military versions to Hiller and for the Italian market to Ambrosini.

 

Ultimately, none of these plans were to eventuate, and the LZ-5 never entered production.

 

 

 

 

[red750]

On 22/01/2025 at 7:49 PM, spacesailor said:

May I enquire as too, ' replying ' to the drifting thread .

To do , or,  not to do ! .

That is my dilemma .

Spacey, don't reply, it only encourages them.

[red750]

The Freedom Aviation Phoenix was a single-engine four-seat American airplane that was sold as a homebuilt composite canard aircraft.

 

The kit was produced at a facility on St. Lucie County International Airport at Ft. Pierce, Florida.

 

The Phoenix airframe was formed of carbon-fiber composite materials on factory molds. The aircraft was assembled as a homebuilt, with a factory-sponsored builder-assist program available.

.

The aircraft has a swept, dihedral canard mounted ahead of the cabin, and a swept main lifting surface. Each wing has a fin (with full-length rudder) mounted about midway to the tip. In addition, the wingtips have swept winglets, which provide additional yaw stability while decreasing induced drag.

 

The Phoenix is powered by a six-cylinder horizontally-opposed piston engine driving a pusher propeller. The tricycle landing gear is retractable.

 

Only one aircraft was ever built, and the company has since gone out of business.

 

 

 

 

 

[Moneybox]

• Boom Aerospace’s XB-1 broke the sound barrier for the first time
• Top speed achieved was Mach 1.122
• Flight covered 524 km and lasted 35 minutes

Boom Aerospace’s XB-1 became the first civilian aircraft since Concorde to break the sound barrier on 28 January, with the demonstrator aircraft achieving a top speed of Mach 1.122. 

[Arron25]

3 hours ago, Moneybox said:

 

• Boom Aerospace’s XB-1 broke the sound barrier for the first time
• Top speed achieved was Mach 1.122
• Flight covered 524 km and lasted 35 minutes

Boom Aerospace’s XB-1 became the first civilian aircraft since Concorde to break the sound barrier on 28 January, with the demonstrator aircraft achieving a top speed of Mach 1.122. 
 

But did it go Boom.... like is supposed to NOT do when it broke the barrier?

[Moneybox]

Quote

https://www.flightradar24.com/blog/boom-xb-1-completes-first-supersonic-flight/

 

[Arron25]

1 hour ago, Moneybox said:

 

But still no information if it didn't...sorta the whole point of it..  The chase plane ..if it was keeping up.. most certainly would have made a 'noise'🤦‍♂️

Look forward to more info after the second flight

[red750]

The Auster B.4 was an unusual British development of the Auster family of light aircraft in an attempt to create a light cargo aircraft.

 

The conventional fuselage was considerably redesigned, turning it into a pod-and-boom configuration carrying the tail unit on a high boom. The rear of the fuselage pod was equipped with clamshell doors for easy loading and unloading, and a quadricycle undercarriage was fitted, retaining the mainwheels from earlier Auster designs, but adding a tailwheel to each side of the fuselage pod. The fuselage floor had fittings for seats, cargo tie-downs, or litters for the air ambulance role.

 

The prototype was exhibited at the Farnborough Air Show in September 1953.

 

Although evaluated by the British Army in military markings, neither civil nor military orders ensued, and no examples were constructed beyond the single prototype.

 

[facthunter]

It was better B4.   nev

[IBob]

You mean the gentleman's aerial carriage, Nev?........)

[facthunter]

I'm bit of an "Auster" fan from wayback.  Nev

[Marty_d]

Would have thought W&B would be an issue with all the load aft of the CG in such a small plane.

[facthunter]

It would be potentially limiting. That Pic shows the Plane flying slow as it's nearly in the landing attitude but the elevator is still level.  Nev

[red750]

The Dominion Skytrader was a Canadian prototype STOL utility aircraft, originally designed by the Dominion Aircraft Corporation in Vancouver, British Columbia, but built in the United States in the early 1970s. Attempts to market the aircraft continued until the late 1980s, but proved fruitless.

 

The Skytrader was a conventional high-wing, strut-braced monoplane with fixed tricycle undercarriage. The design was optimised for easy freight handling and featured a fuselage of rectangular cross-section with large loading doors to the side and a loading ramp at the rear. The aircraft's tail unit was angled upwards from the rear fuselage to facilitate loading operations beneath it, and the main undercarriage was fitted in sponsons on the fuselage sides so as not to intrude into the internal cargo volume. Passenger, freight, executive transport, and water-bomber versions were projected.

 

As of 2007, the prototype lay derelict, with engines stripped, at Washington County Regional Airport, in Hagerstown, Maryland.