Planes you'd never heard of

3point14 said:
I have an odd an unexplained fascination with military aircraft. I'm not really sure why. I think it's because they tend to be cutting edge and because I'm fascinated with the reasons they haven't really become any faster in the last 50 years or so.

Preamble aside, I simply wasn't aware that this thing (nearly) existed and it's one of the most stunning airplanes I've ever seen.

I give you, the Martin P6M SeaMaster

http://www.aviation-history.com/martin/p6m-8a.jpg

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/97/Martin_P6M_Seamaster_in_flight_c1955.jpg

Look at it!!!



If anyone wants to tell me about any others of which I may be unaware, that'd be cool :)
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Looks like the Russians took that design concept and ran with it, to create the Beriev BE-200 Altair...

https://i.imgur.com/a1jcj8G.jpg


A firefighting water bomber.

Here's a YT video of it in action

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1nbX789Jis
 
smartcooky said:
Looks like the Russians took that design concept and ran with it, to create the Beriev BE-200 Altair...

https://i.imgur.com/a1jcj8G.jpg


A firefighting water bomber.

Here's a YT video of it in action

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1nbX789Jis
Click to expand...



That's a serious airplane. That blue/red/white livery does it no favours. I'll take mine in the grey please.


There seems to be something about the shape that a flying boat has to be that makes them very aesthetically pleasing to me
 
I'm at least somewhat familiar with all but one or two of those. Good choices, mostly.

The Avro Arrow story reminds me of the TSR-2, cancelled for similar political reasons. Both absolutely lovely and unaffordable. In all likelihood, neither would have lived up to the hype, but oh, weren't they lovely! When I joined Boeing, my group had several British ex-pats who had worked on the TSR-2. You didn't want to get them started talking about it unless you had an hour or two to kill.

Speaking of seaplane water bombers (well, someone was), the last one or two Martin Mars are on a lake on Vancouver Island maybe 100 miles from me. I need to get up there.
 
Don't forget the Supermarine 'Spiteful' a Griffon engined Spitfire successor with a whole new wing. or the Fleet Air Arm version the Supermarine Seafang.
Lovely aircraft but had very short life as they were swept aside by the new Jet technology and performance.
 
Captain_Swoop said:
Don't forget the Supermarine 'Spiteful' a Griffon engined Spitfire successor with a whole new wing. or the Fleet Air Arm version the Supermarine Seafang.
Lovely aircraft but had very short life as they were swept aside by the new Jet technology and performance.
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That happened to a lot of very nice post-WWII piston engined aircraft. Not all of them military.

There's even a boat racing parallel. The last really successful piston hydroplane was Miss Budweiser with a Griffon, a step above the Merlins. But not able to compete with the turbines. They really aren't "thunderboats" any more, and the whole sport seems to be dying.
ETA: The Griffon Budweiser appears to have been in 1984. Damn, I'm getting really old.
 
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Republic XF-91 Thunderceptor. Combined jet/rocket power, inverse taper and inverse chord variable angle of incidence wings.
 

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Pope130 said:
Republic XF-91 Thunderceptor. Combined jet/rocket power, inverse taper and inverse chord variable angle of incidence wings.
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And one modified later with a radar nose, the other with a butterfly tail.
 

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Trebuchet said:
I'm at least somewhat familiar with all but one or two of those. Good choices, mostly.

The Avro Arrow story reminds me of the TSR-2, cancelled for similar political reasons. Both absolutely lovely and unaffordable. In all likelihood, neither would have lived up to the hype, but oh, weren't they lovely! When I joined Boeing, my group had several British ex-pats who had worked on the TSR-2. You didn't want to get them started talking about it unless you had an hour or two to kill.

Speaking of seaplane water bombers (well, someone was), the last one or two Martin Mars are on a lake on Vancouver Island maybe 100 miles from me. I need to get up there.
Click to expand...

TSR-2 was years ahead of its time. Give it a decent avionics suite, and IMO, it would have still cut the mustard at least up the mid 1990s. Mach 2.35 at 40,000 ft (1.1+ at sea level), combat radius 1400km, 0 to 40,000 ft in four minutes)
 
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