Oddball, Experimental, or One-off

[facthunter]

Used on a moon surface vehicle.. (Smooth Vibrations?)

[IBob]

Wasn't that a Beachboys song???

[Marty_d]

5 hours ago, Moneybox said:

I love the undercarriage deign. 

I like that they were so optimistic about it that they installed retractable gear.

[red750]

The Arnold AR-5 is an experimental single seat, low-wing sport monoplane with fixed conventional undercarriage, designed and built by Mike Arnold.

 

Originally conceived by Mike Arnold as a personal sport airplane with excellent performance and good handling qualities. The design outperformed initial performance estimates for its relatively low power output, exceeding 200mph with only 65hp. Constructed of fiberglass-epoxy matrix composite material utilizing the "moldless method" popularized by Burt Rutan. Careful attention to aerodynamic detail resulted in noteworthy laminar flow drag reduction, as documented by aerodynamicists Alex Strojnik and Bruce Carmichael.

 

In 1992, the AR-5 flown by Mike Arnold set the FAI C1a Class World Speed Record of 343,08 km/h over a 3.0km course Mike wrote several articles about his design methodology for various magazines. The sole existing example resides at the Hiller Aviation Museum, San Carlos, CA.

 

[red750]

The Ganzavia GAK-22 Dino was an unusual light utility aircraft built in Hungary in the early 1990s. In configuration, it was a biplane with cantilever wings and a very pronounced negative stagger, making it almost a tandem wing design. The pilot and a single passenger sat side by side under an expansive bubble canopy, and it had a fixed tricycle undercarriage. The fuselage was of welded steel tube construction, and the wings of duralumin, with the whole aircraft skinned in fabric, other than the forward fuselage which had aluminium skin. A single prototype flew in 1993, but the project was abandoned by the mid-1990s, with the aircraft itself placed in the Transport Museum of Budapest (Közlekedési Múzeum).

 

[red750]

The Vickers Type 432 was a British high-altitude fighter aircraft developed by the Vickers group during the Second World War. Intended to enable the Royal Air Force to engage the enemy's high-altitude bomber aircraft, it was to be armed with six cannon.

 

The origins of the Type 432 lay with a requirements set out in 1939 for twin-engined fighters with 20 or possibly 40 mm cannon. Vickers had set out a proposal for a Griffon-engined aircraft, equipped with a 40 mm cannon in a flexible mounting. This was subsequently encouraged by the Air Ministry. Further development was carried out for a design that could also meet F.6/39 for a fixed gun fighter with 20mm cannon. Specification F.22/39 was drawn up to cover the 40 mm project as the Vickers 414 to meet Operational Requirement (OR) 76. This was subsequently revised with aircraft redesigns to become specifications F.16/40 and then F.7/41 for OR. 108.

 

In appearance it resembled a larger version of the de Havilland Mosquito and was known to some as the "Tin Mosquito". The pilot had a pressurised cockpit in the nose, with a bubble dome, similar to an enlarged astrodome. The pressurised cockpit took up the nose section so the cannon would have been fitted in a fairing below the fuselage, to the rear of the aircraft.

 

The aircraft's elliptical wing was built using a unique stressed-skin structure, designed by Barnes Wallis for lightness. The top and bottom were manufactured separately, and then clamped together at the leading and trailing edges, this being named "peapod" or "lobster-claw" structure. This allowed a large internal space unobstructed by ribs, hence capable of housing large fuel tanks (similar to Wallis's geodetic designs).

 

The first prototype Type 432 DZ217 was flown on 24 December 1942. Initial trials revealed serious handling difficulties on the ground, the aircraft snaking while taxiing, necessitating aft movement of the mainwheels to correct the bad tracking. In flight tests, the Type 432 was unable to be landed in a standard "three-point" stance resulting in the replacement of the Irving-type ailerons with new Westland types along with an alteration of tail settings. The estimated maximum speed of 435 mph (700 km/h) at 28,000 ft (8,535 m) was never attained as the Merlin 61 engines did not run satisfactorily above 23,000 ft (7,010 m).

 

When the competing Westland Welkin was ordered into production, the second prototype of the Vickers fighter, the Type 446, was cancelled, before completion, on 1 May 1943. The first prototype was retained by Vickers for test purposes until the end of 1944, when the aircraft was scrapped after completing only 28 flights.

 

[red750]

The Reid and Sigrist R.S.3 Desford is a British twin-engined, propellor-driven, three-seat advanced trainer aircraft developed in the Second World War for postwar use. Although the R.S.3 was evaluated as a trainer, the type never entered production and was eventually rebuilt as the R.S.4 Bobsleigh as an experimental aircraft with the pilot in a prone position, seen as advantageous in minimising g-force effects in fighter aircraft.

 

Reid and Sigrist in Desford, Leicestershire, England, were an important instrument manufacturer in the interwar era, specialising in aircraft applications leading to the forming of an aviation division in 1937 at the New Malden, Surrey factory site. The first product was a twin-engined advanced trainer, the R.S.1 Snargasher (1939) which was eventually relegated to company hack used primarily at the factory and Desford aerodrome.

 

The follow-up design, the R.S.3 Desford (taking its name from the company site) was similar in size and concept to its predecessor although it was only configured for a pilot and trainee and featured a low-set wing. The R.S.3 was powered by two 130 hp de Havilland Gipsy Major Series I engines, rather than the higher powered de Havilland Gipsy Six engines of the earlier R.S.1.

 

The prototype, registered as G-AGOS first flew on 9 July 1945, shortly before VJ Day. Evaluated as a private venture project by test pilots including famed postwar flyer, Janusz Żurakowski at the Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment (A&AEE) at RAF Boscombe Down, the R.S.3 was generally found to be well suited as a multi-engine primary and intermediate trainer. However, RAF interest was lukewarm due to the glut of surplus wartime training aircraft available. The prototype appeared at the Farnborough Airshow in 1946, and was allocated to the Institute of Aviation Medicine but by May 1949, it was deregistered as a civilian aircraft, flying subsequently with RAF serial number VZ728.

 

Further development of the type continued as the company wanted to establish itself as an aviation engineering and production concern although its postwar work primarily centred on instrument and camera production, especially in creating a copy of the German Leica.

 

When Royal Air Force high-speed research explored high g-forces encountered in manoeuvres, a number of prone-pilot experimental aircraft including the Gloster Meteor F8 "Prone Pilot" were produced. To investigate low-speed applications, the R.S.4 Bobsleigh was a radical conversion of the R.S.3 reconfigured into a single pilot operation with a prone pilot station in the new rounded nose. This section was equipped with a transparent cone which covered a large section of the nose and two separate transparent ports to give minimal sideways and rearwards views. The R.S.4 was first flown in this form on 13 June 1951. Although useful data was obtained, the R.S.4's prone pilot did have difficulty with the initial control setup. Today's hang glider pilots have found the prone position an ideal means of controlling flight as well as providing a streamlined profile.

 

Experimental testing was conducted by the Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE) at Farnborough and continued until January 1956 when the R.S.4 returned to the UK civil registry, again as G-AGOS. It was used at one time as an air photo aircraft by Film Aviation Services and remained in flyable condition until 1973. After a period at the Snibston Discovery Park, the R.S.4 was moved to Spanhoe, Northamptonshire for restoration by Windmill Aviation. The restored Desford flew again on 22 April 2018, but the aircraft's owners, Leicestershire County Council, did not publicly display the Desford. The Desford was delivered to the Newark Air Museum on 19 August 2022.

 

R.S.3 Desford

 

 

R.S.4 Bobsleigh

 

 

 

[red750]

The Miller-Bohannon JM-2 Special, named Pushy Galore, is a one-of-a-kind American homebuilt Formula One racing and record-setting aircraft. It was based upon Jim W Miller's Miller JM-2 design, highly modified by Bruce Bohannon.

 

Bohannon began construction of Pushy Galore in 1988 and first flew it in the early part of 1989, first entering it in a race in June 1989.

 

The aircraft is of three-surface configuration, having a cantilever mid-wing, a single-seat enclosed cockpit under a bubble canopy, fixed main tricycle landing gear with a retractable nose wheel, a t-tail and a nose-mounted canard. It is powered by a single rear-mounted engine in pusher configuration.

 

The aircraft is made from welded steel tubing covered in molded carbon fiber. As required by the Formula One rules, its engine is a 100 hp (75 kW) Continental O-200A. 

 

Only one example was ever built.

 

[BrendAn]

50 minutes ago, red750 said:

The Miller-Bohannon JM-2 Special, named Pushy Galore, is a one-of-a-kind American homebuilt Formula One racing and record-setting aircraft. It was based upon Jim W Miller's Miller JM-2 design, highly modified by Bruce Bohannon.

 

Bohannon began construction of Pushy Galore in 1988 and first flew it in the early part of 1989, first entering it in a race in June 1989.

 

The aircraft is of three-surface configuration, having a cantilever mid-wing, a single-seat enclosed cockpit under a bubble canopy, fixed main tricycle landing gear with a retractable nose wheel, a t-tail and a nose-mounted canard. It is powered by a single rear-mounted engine in pusher configuration.

 

The aircraft is made from welded steel tubing covered in molded carbon fiber. As required by the Formula One rules, its engine is a 100 hp (75 kW) Continental O-200A. 

 

Only one example was ever built.

 

love the look of this

[kgwilson]

The photo is not as described. No front canard or retractable nosewheel. Either these were dropped or they were a later modification.

[red750]

This is rather odd, because there is no indication when these features were added or removed. But a web image search results in as many images with as without, and yet only one example was built. Here is an image with the canard and T-tail.

 

 

 

[red750]

The Ikarus 452M (B-452-2) was a Yugoslav experimental aircraft first revealed in 1953. It was Yugoslavia’s first swept-wing light jet fighter-interceptor. The all-metal aircraft featured retractable nose-wheel landing gear and was the first to incorporate a domestically produced light metal alloy for its fuselage skin.

 

A distinctive aspect of the design was its twin-fin tail unit, an uncommon feature in Yugoslav aviation. The fins were mounted on beams extending from the wings and connected by a V-shaped stabilizer. The aircraft had a 36º wing sweep, with plans to add slats for improved performance. It was powered by two Palas 056A turbojet engines arranged vertically in the fuselage, each fed by separate air intakes. As a technology demonstrator, its armament was minimal, consisting of two 12.7mm Browning machine guns.

 

It was publicly revealed on April 30, 1953. However, a test flight on July 24 ended in an emergency landing due to fuel system failure, severely damaging the aircraft and injuring the test pilot.

 

To address inadequate engine thrust, a three-engine variant (B-452-3) was proposed, with upgraded armament, but it remained at the design stage. A later iteration, the B-452-4, incorporated a more powerful Turbomeca Marbore II engine, an enlarged airframe, and twin 20mm cannons. Intended for both interception and ground attack, it was designed to carry air-to-surface high-velocity aircraft rockets (HVARs). Despite its modern concept, the project was ultimately shelved in favor of the B-12 interceptor.

 

Results of the experimental programme provided a basis for the production of the Soko Galeb. Only two prototypes built.

 

[kgwilson]

7 hours ago, red750 said:

This is rather odd, because there is no indication when these features were added or removed. But a web image search results in as many images with as without, and yet only one example was built. Here is an image with the canard and T-tail.

 

 

 

Plus a different wing configuration & no prop ducting

[Red]

..and different N-Registrations too. Seems either one was a complete rebuild and re-register of the other or 2 different airframes that shared the same type name

[Arron25]

12 hours ago, red750 said:

The Miller-Bohannon JM-2 Special, named Pushy Galore, is a one-of-a-kind American homebuilt Formula One racing and record-setting aircraft. It was based upon Jim W Miller's Miller JM-2 design, highly modified by Bruce Bohannon.

 

Bohannon began construction of Pushy Galore in 1988 and first flew it in the early part of 1989, first entering it in a race in June 1989.

 

The aircraft is of three-surface configuration, having a cantilever mid-wing, a single-seat enclosed cockpit under a bubble canopy, fixed main tricycle landing gear with a retractable nose wheel, a t-tail and a nose-mounted canard. It is powered by a single rear-mounted engine in pusher configuration.

 

The aircraft is made from welded steel tubing covered in molded carbon fiber. As required by the Formula One rules, its engine is a 100 hp (75 kW) Continental O-200A. 

 

Only one example was ever built.

 

This is Not the JM2 but the MILLER TEXAS GEM also by Jim Miller the first of the three variants..

The yellow one is Pushy Galore

See article..links

MILLER TEXAS GEM | Simanaitis Says

Miller JM-2

1000AIRCRAFTPHOTOS.COM

Aerial Visuals - Airframe Dossier - Miller JM-2 Special, c/n M104, c/r N414M

WWW.AERIALVISUALS.CA

---

This Aerial Visuals page provides airframe history details of a specific airframe from the airframe database.

 

Edited 21 hours ago by Arron25

[red750]

Thanks for clarifying, Arron25. I stand corrected.

[red750]

The Martin XB-48 was an American medium jet bomber developed in the mid-1940s. It competed with the Boeing B-47 Stratojet, which proved to be a superior design, and was largely considered as a backup plan in case the B-47 ran into development problems. It never saw production or active duty, and only two prototypes, serial numbers 45-59585 and 45-59586, were built.

 

In 1944, the U.S. War Department was aware of aviation advances in Germany and issued a requirement for a range of designs for medium bombers weighing from 80,000 pounds (36,000 kg) to more than 200,000 pounds (91,000 kg). Other designs resulting from this competition, sometimes nicknamed "The Class of '45", included the North American XB-45 and the Convair XB-46. Production orders finally went to the North American B-45 Tornado, and even this airplane served only for a couple of years before again being replaced by the much more modern Boeing B-47 Stratojet, although the B-45 had the inherent performance – especially if it was not burdened with a payload – for it to then serve as a reconnaissance aircraft.

 

All of the bombers comprising the Class of '45 were transitional aircraft, which combined the power of turbojets with the aeronautical knowledge of World War II.[citation needed] The XB-48 was no exception, as its round fuselage and unswept wings showed a distinct influence of Martin's B-26 Marauder medium bomber. Still, where the B-26 had enough thrust with two massive 18-cylinder radial engines, the XB-48 needed no less than six of the new jet engines.

 

At the time of the XB-48's design, jet propulsion was still in its infancy. And, although it appeared superficially to have six separate engine nacelles – that is, three under each wing – the XB-48 actually had only two, unusually wide, three-engined nacelles. Each of these large nacelles also contained an intricate set of air ducts that constituted the engines' cooling system.

 

The XB-48 was the first aircraft designed with bicycle-type tandem landing gear, which had previously been tested on a modified B-26. The wing airfoil was too thin to house conventional landing gear mechanisms. The main landing gear was in the fuselage and small outriggers located on each wing were used to balance the aircraft.

 

The XB-48 made its first flight on 22 June 1947, a 37-minute, 73 mi (117 km) hop from Martin's Baltimore, Maryland plant to NAS Patuxent River, Maryland, but blew all four tires on its fore-and-aft mounted undercarriage on landing when pilot Pat Tibbs applied heavy pressure to the specially-designed, but very slow to respond, insensitive air-braking lever. Tibbs and co-pilot Dutch Gelvin were uninjured.

 

[red750]

The Bell 533 was a research helicopter built by Bell Helicopter under contract with the United States Army during the 1960s, to explore the limits and conditions experienced by helicopter rotors at high airspeeds. The helicopter was a YH-40—a preproduction version of the UH-1 Iroquois—modified and tested in several helicopter and compound helicopter configurations. The Bell 533 was referred to as the High Performance Helicopter (HPH) by the Army, and reached a top speed of 274.6 knots (508.6 km/h; 316.0 mph) in 1969, before being retired.

 

The U.S. Army began a program to study improvements to current helicopters that could be demonstrated by testing. Analyses by three helicopter companies showed that performance could be greatly improved. Bell Helicopter was one of the participants and investigated improvements to the UH-1B Iroquois. After the study, Bell submitted a proposal for the High Performance Helicopter. On 7 August 1961, the Army's Transportation Research and Engineering Command (TRECOM) awarded a contract to Bell Helicopter for a high-performance helicopter to conduct research.

 

In response, Bell built the Model 533 from a YH-40-BF, one of the six preproduction UH-1s. The dynamic components of the YH-40 were updated with components designed for the UH-1B. The research for the contract was split into two phases; phase one would be to determine the benefits of an overall reduction in drag, phase two would determine the benefits of auxiliary thrust.

 

The Bell 533 was flight tested in three main configurations. The first configuration was the basic YH-40 helicopter with drag reduction changes. The second configuration added a pair of jet engines for additional thrust. The third configuration added swept wings for extra lift.

 

Second configuration.

 

Third configuration.

 

 

[red750]

Lithuanian Vladas Kensgaila began work on the prototype Kensgaila VK-9 in 1994. Compared to contemporary aircraft like the Tu-24, it looked very modern with a streamlined fuselage, winglets and a retractable tricycle landing gear. Much of the aeroplanes structure was made of class fibre plastic composite material. It was a low wing monoplane and was built at the Kensgaila Aircraft Plant (factory?) at the former Lithuanian Air National Guard field at Stetiskiai near Paneveyzs. Only one unit produced.

 

ENGINE: 1 x M-14PS (360 hp)
WING SPAN: 14.0 m
LENGTH: 10.24 m
HEIGHT: 3.94 m
WING AREA: 26 sq m
EMPTY WEIGHT: 1,200 kgs
MAXIMUM TAKE OFF WEIGHT: 2,400 kgs
ACCOMODATION: 6 passengers

CRUISING SPEED: 350 km/ph
RANGE: 2,000 kms with 45 minutes reserve
TAKE-OFF RUN: 200 m
LANDING RUN: 250 m
FIRST FLIGHT: 1996
PRODUCTION: 1
G-LIMITS: +5 / -2.5

 

 

 

These details were the only ones I could locate, and came from Secret Projects forum. No Wikipedia page.

[Marty_d]

21 minutes ago, red750 said:

Lithuanian Vladas Kensgaila began work on the prototype Kensgaila VK-9 in 1994. Compared to contemporary aircraft like the Tu-24, it looked very modern with a streamlined fuselage, winglets and a retractable tricycle landing gear. Much of the aeroplanes structure was made of class fibre plastic composite material. It was a low wing monoplane and was built at the Kensgaila Aircraft Plant (factory?) at the former Lithuanian Air National Guard field at Stetiskiai near Paneveyzs. Only one unit produced.

 

ENGINE: 1 x M-14PS (360 hp)
WING SPAN: 14.0 m
LENGTH: 10.24 m
HEIGHT: 3.94 m
WING AREA: 26 sq m
EMPTY WEIGHT: 1,200 kgs
MAXIMUM TAKE OFF WEIGHT: 2,400 kgs
ACCOMODATION: 6 passengers

CRUISING SPEED: 350 km/ph
RANGE: 2,000 kms with 45 minutes reserve
TAKE-OFF RUN: 200 m
LANDING RUN: 250 m
FIRST FLIGHT: 1996
PRODUCTION: 1
G-LIMITS: +5 / -2.5

 

 

 

These details were the only ones I could locate, and came from Secret Projects forum. No Wikipedia page.

How come "ENGINE" says "1 x M14-PS" when it seems to have one on each wing?

[red750]

4 minutes ago, Marty_d said:

How come "ENGINE" says "1 x M14-PS" when it seems to have one on each wing?

Ask the secret projects forum.