Unique aircraft

[DR505]

Old saying regarding foreign aircraft: If it is ugly, it is British; if it is weird, it is French; if it is ugly and weird, it is Russian.

 

[cmort666]

How about a twin mustang

Contrary to appearances, it's not two stock P-51 fuselages stuck together. They were different and made expressly for the P-82.

 

[PR24]

Confederate Air Force?.....I see they have been intimidated into changing their name to Commemorative Air Force. Some people got their panties in a wad. I'm so done with political correctness!!

 

[PR24]

The previous pic of the Luftwaffe HO-229 shows how the Germans were pretty slick with their designs... But: they also did some aeronautic contrivances after too many schnapps. The BV-141?? Looks about as stable as a 3 legged *******.

 

[PR24]

Other view.

 

[Camster]

I had the privilege last weekend of seeing an uncle that I hadn't seen in many years.
I had thought that his WW2 duty was in US shore patrol,done in a PBY,but I was wrong.
He served all over the Pacific,finishing in Shanghai,as a radioman/gunner in Privateer (PB4Y,I believe) which was a Navy version of the B26 with a large single tail.I was unacquainted with that plane,though I thought that I knew most WW2 birds.

 

[jeffsmith]

Privateer Single Tail version of the Consolidated B-24
(the Martin B-26 was a Medium 2 Engine Bomber)

Consolidated PB4Y-2 Privateer - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[Bob R]

Here is a group shot from 2010 at the Fairchild AFB air show.

Here is a distant cousin of the Osprey, the Bell Tilt Rotor, undergoing evaluation in the late 70's early 80's @ NAS Moffet Field CA. They were a strange sight to see flying around there. NASA also had a couple of VSTOL aircraft they were working with that was pretty amazing to watch.

Here is one you don't see a lot of, a Bear F, we found this one laying sonobouys one day, so we listened in with him. You very seldom caught one doing real ASW work.

bob

 

[rwsmith]

Since not specifially military....

The Gee Bee racer was a plane that not anybody could fly. It took a pilot like Jimmy Doolittle to really get the best out of it.

 

[don5]

Bob, that is a great picture of the A10,F4 and P51. Those are my three favorite airplanes. I still like the lines on the F-4 though. It is sleek and wicked looking.

 

[rwsmith]

A few more entries

Vought V 173 ''Flying Pancake.' A Navy WWIi fighter, test flown by Charles Lindbergh who thought it flew well.

McDonald FX 85 'Goblin' Parasite fighter to launch and recover from the bomb bay of a Convair B 36 Bomber. Proved to tricky to recover.

Avro Canada VZ 9 Avrocar - A real flying, one to two man saucer. Joint venture with the US. Military experiment throughout the 1950s.

 

[Bob R]

Bob, that is a great picture of the A10,F4 and P51. Those are my three favorite airplanes. I still like the lines on the F-4 though. It is sleek and wicked looking.

I have a very special fondness for the F4. When I was a young pup, and the Navy was a different beast than it is today, one of my re-enlistment incentives was a launch and trap from the deck of my home, the USS Forrestal. Well, the launch and trap was nothing new, I was on the COD crew, so I talked to the fine people in one of the F4 squadrons onboard and was able to get a sortie (1.7hrs) in the back seat of a F4J. Still has to rank as one of the most fun times I have ever had with my clothes on!!! That was 40 years ago this year.

Same plane in the other pic, they came up from Holliman AFB. It is from the squadron that converts planes to drones for the Air Force, I am very glad they still have one that isn't a drone.

bob

 

[THE PILGRIM]

Privateer Single Tail version of the Consolidated B-24
(the Martin B-26 was a Medium 2 Engine Bomber)

Consolidated PB4Y-2 Privateer - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I haven't checked for right now but a few years ago, there were several of the Old Navy privateers still being used as water bombers.
When we have the bad Los Alamos fire, my house was on the flightpath from Albuquerque airport to Los Alamos.
I had old piston engine airplanes moaning low Over my house, before sunup all the way to sunset.
I think the privateer was the last B-24 type built, making them the 'youngest.'
Ever hear the saying one a day, in Tampa Bay?
They were talking about the Martin B-26.

 

[jeffsmith]

According to the Wiki Article, after the 2002 crash
the remaining Privateers were retired from Tanker Service
and another Article i founds says the last Flyable one
was at Casa Grande (AZ) Municipal Airport
as of 2011

the last Flight recorded on Flight-aware
was in August 2013

and yes i have heard that saying
I live about 30 miles from MacDill
as the Crow Flies

 

[Straightshooter2]

Well, it's not a military aircraft but Huff-Daland Dusters was the first crop dusting company formed to combat the boll weevil. Then it became Delta Air Service out of Monroe, LA. Of course the company later moved to Atlanta and is now Delta Air Lines.

CW

 

[cmort666]

Old saying regarding foreign aircraft: If it is ugly, it is British; if it is weird, it is French; if it is ugly and weird, it is Russian.

Nothing ugly about the:

• Spitfire
• Dewoitine D-520
• Yak-9

Admittedly, at the start of the war, the British had too many kinds of bombers, the French too many kinds of fighters, and the Soviets too many biplanes.

 

[cmort666]

The previous pic of the Luftwaffe HO-229 shows how the Germans were pretty slick with their designs... But: they also did some aeronautic contrivances after too many schnapps. The BV-141?? Looks about as stable as a 3 legged *******.

It was actually quite a good aircraft until the Luftwaffe started changing the requirements. They just never wanted it in the first place because of the unconventionality of the design and did what they could to prevent it from winning that reconnaissance/army cooperation competition. A more conventional twin boom design (Fw-189) was picked instead.

 

[zzzippper]

Actually the Soviets weren't savvy enough to realize how dangerous those two aircraft were to fly, with the mid engine, and driveshaft, a stall/spin was a thrill waiting for the opportunity to happen. Give me a Mustang, Spitfire, Me-109, Hawker Sea Fury, even a Thunderbolt, but please don't give me a P-39 or P-63, they did probably beat freezing to death. Very kool looking aircraft, but that aft CG was BAAAAAD! The Mustang, P-38, Hellcat, Corsair, and Bearcat where all outstanding and fast... billy

The Soviets didn't care if it was dangerous, it flew and killed Germans. Several top aces flew it.

 

[zzzippper]

The F-4, the world's largest distributer of MIG parts.

 

[PR24]

The ubiquitous Soviet TU-95 Bear is a bit of an anachronism being propeller driven in the jet age. I do like the many pictures near the Alaska coast when the Bears are intercepted by USAF fighters as they skim our airspace. Lots of 1 finger salutes exchanged between the aircrews & color pics of same!

Silly Russians...