Wierdest Plane Ever

[FalconSix]

Milo, please point out where it says they had control problems. Whether or not they were commercially successful compared to conventional helicopters is completely irrelevant.

[FalconSix]

Originally posted by MiloMorai
What if the Hiller looses rudder control? hello top.

What if the Sikorsky loses tail rotor control? Same difference.

[FalconSix]

Originally posted by MiloMorai
And you want us to believe the Fw was a viable design.

When did I say that? It's so like you to be disingenuous and put words in peoples mouths.

[killnu]

seen a thing on history channel other day, a russian plane/submarine thing....very different....dont think they ever actually made one though.

[justin_g]

Originally posted by FalconSix
None of the other "tail sitters" were stable in a hover like this Fw would (could) be. The Fw is simply a helicopter with the cockpit mounted on top of the rotor mast. All the other tail sitters had to be balanced on a column of jet or prop thrust much like the Harrier jump jet. The Fw otoh hangs from a rotor like a helicopter, and is therefore much more stable, like helicopters are.

Which way does the pilot face when he tries to land that thing? Which way does a conventional helo pilot face when landing vertically? You have responded to a different issue than the one I mentioned...

[RightF00T]

There was a Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe on the Hist ch a couple days ago.  This plane and various others were shown in 3D flight and how they could have attacked bombers.

[Tails]

Milo, your question about why tip-jet copters are not seen was answered: They use ramjets at the blade tips. Ramjets are, basicly, afterburners minus the jet engine in front. They suck down fuel like it was being poured down a drain.

Other than that, they were torque-less. Bearing friction would try to spin the craft around a little, but is easily countered with aerodynamic controls.

The model you saw in the lower of Falcon's pictures was a little different, though. It had a conventional turbine engine, that was used as a 'gas producer'. Compressor bleed air was ducted to the blade-tips, rather than using ramjets. The end result was the same, though the difference in fuel usage between that and a ram-jet tipped model was negligable.

EDIT: Gah, I should of read more before opening my yap... This is what I get when posting when I feel like passing out from exhaustion

[BUG_EAF322]

Whatever it turned out to be A Headon attack with it would make it a nice target for the opposite party.

what about the gyroscopic effect it wouldnt make it very manouvrable.

[AdmRose]

Originally posted by BUG_EAF322
Whatever it turned out to be A Headon attack with it would make it a nice target for the opposite party.

what about the gyroscopic effect it wouldnt make it very manouvrable.

One would hope its pilot wouldn't be so stupid to throw all the plane's advantages in speed out the window like that. At full speed a HO by this thing would be about a .5 second shot opportunity.

[Emmanuel Gustin]

I've never understood why German aeronautical engineers, supposed to be in advance of everyone else on transsonic and supersonic aerodynamics, embraced such a silly concept.

The difficulties inherent in landing such an aircraft safely are indeed considerable and would probably make it far too dangerous for operational use.

But what really makes it so unlikely in my eyes is the use of what amounts to a large propeller with a significant amount of twist along its length, for high-speed flight. The supposed advantage was that the speed of the ramjet intakes could be constant by reducing rpm while forward speed increased. But the existing experience with conventional high-speed propellers suggests that the drag implications would have been horrific and the efficiency of the "wing" very poor; and the structural implications don't bear thinking about.

[FalconSix]

It's not a propeller. Its a rotary wing with variable pitch.

[RightF00T]

Hate to see what would happen if one of the engines or wing surfaces was damaged.  Would make it damn near impossible to survive.

[Crumpp]

From what I have read the design was squelched because the average German pilot in 1945 would not have had the skill the land it.

As it has already been pointed out, the concept was sound enough that the USAAF attempted to put it into action.

An experienced pilot could have done it but they were in short supply.

I think this Focke Wulf design is the most interesting and feasible of the concepts:

http://www.luft46.com/fw/ta183-i.html

Combined with the X4 Missiles I think it would have been a formidiable opponent.

Saw an interesting program on the "Military Channel" about the He-162.  According to that program, the Volksjager was actually a good performer for an early jet.

One pilot called it a "First Rate Combat Aircraft".

http://www.vectorsite.net/avhe162.html  

I always thought it was a poor performer in addition to its technical problems which stemmed mostly from Germany's lack of resources.

All the best,

Crumpp

[AmRaaM]

This was a terrific design, thats why you see them flying all over the place.


.....lol.

[Furious]

bail out = slice and dice