Is this a wind tunnel model?

[G0ALY]

Hello, Fresh from tonight’s auction… I just purchased this all metal all one piece aircraft model. If nothing else I thought it would look good handing in the den. The detail is minimal. It is 24 inches long with a wingspan of 23 inches. The weight is 7 pounds. There are two holes on the bottom of the fuselage that must have been used to mount this.





I was wondering if it could have been for use in a wind tunnel?

Oddly, all of the engines are missing. And it is clear that they were meant to be removable. Perhaps that is the part that they were experimenting with?

What do you think?

[USRanger]

Sadly, due to budget cuts, this is the next generation of the U.S. Air Forces UAVs.  An airman runs and tosses it in the air & then vibrates his lips to make the engine sound.  The two holes on the bottom are for squirrels with cameras.

[curry1]

Looks like a Boeing 707 as my Dads' Joint Stars Model sitting on the shelf near me looks almost exactly like it (except mine has paint).

[G0ALY]

I did see other items, such as photos, that suggest this came from the estate of someone who was at Wright Patterson Air force base during the mid to late 1950s.

This looks like it was high quality at one time… Then maybe retired, covered in house paint and given to an employees kids to play with.

If it was a toy, I would call it “well loved”.

[oakranger]

Sadly, due to budget cuts, this is the next generation of the U.S. Air Forces UAVs.  An airman runs and tosses it in the air & then vibrates his lips to make the engine sound.  The two holes on the bottom are for squirrels with cameras.

LOL

[phatzo]

I rember seeing ash trays as a kid that would have aircraft like that mounted on them.