Aviation Pictures: A-Seven-th Thread--CorsAirin' Through Time and Airspace

[MoneyLovinOgre4Hire]

Just slap some duct tape on it and it’ll be fine.

[Cannonshop]

Ran into a bit of trouble on a CAP . . .



A heavily damaged F4U-1D on Okinawa, 1945. 2nd Lt Alton Frazer's FG-1D Corsair after an engagement with N1K2-J Shiden-Kais of the 343rd.

Looks like the left landing gear might be a bit wobbly.

Throw some tape on it and it'll be fine...

[Colt Ward]

Looking at the gouge behind the cockpit, I wonder if they had some mid-air collision- or flying debris- during the dogfight.

[chanman]

The previous picture I posted of an F-22 and an F-35C was actually two pictures scaled to match. Here's an F-22 and F-35A side-by-side from Operation Pitch Black in Australia:

[Daryk]

That definitely shows the size difference better! :)

[chanman]

Videos of the MiG-21 'Analog' aerodynamic testbed for the Tu-144's compound delta wing, with guest appearances by the Tu-144 as well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_XXVBO7wqc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GAs0gVAMDx4

[glitterboy2098]

Videos of the MiG-21 'Analog' aerodynamic testbed for the Tu-144's compound delta wing, with guest appearances by the Tu-144 as well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_XXVBO7wqc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GAs0gVAMDx4

seems to be the inspiration for the old Kenner 'megaforce' diecast toys.. the Triax Fighter Bombers:

[Failure16]

Looking at the gouge behind the cockpit, I wonder if they had some mid-air collision- or flying debris- during the dogfight.

Twenty millimeter fire from Shindens. If you find this book you can read about it. The section is not present in that preview, but it made the cover, at least.

[I am Belch II]

seems to be the inspiration for the old Kenner 'megaforce' diecast toys.. the Triax Fighter Bombers:

Love the Mega Force Toys.

[chanman]

Hawaii Mars II (one of 7 Martin Mars built) undergoing testing in preparation for flying to its new home at the BC Aviation Museum. Sister plane Philippine Mars should be undergoing the same soon as it's scheduled to be delivered to the Pima Air & Space museum this year as well

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j674q7lMDi0

[ANS Kamas P81]

Now that's a bigass seaplane!

[glitterboy2098]

Twenty millimeter fire from Shindens. If you find this book you can read about it. The section is not present in that preview, but it made the cover, at least.

for a moment i was about to contest that, until i noticed the caption under the picture stating the N1K2 Shiden (reporting name 'George'.) if you say 'shinden' a lot of people tend to think of the more dramatic but never saw combat J7W Shinden (no reporting name). that 'n' in the spelling is rather important it seems.

[Failure16]

Sure, autocorrect is a thing.

That's the second time I have given some kind of supporting data to correct a misapprehension or question and all that gets mentioned is an extra letter. Nice.

Shiden


Shinden

[Cannonshop]

parallel evolution?



XP-55 Ascender



Shinden.

[I am Belch II]

parallel evolution?



XP-55 Ascender



Shinden.

That XP-55 is at the Air Zoo in Kalamazoo.

[glitterboy2098]

IIRC they were being developed at the same time, with neither side aware of the other. largely a convergence of the same needs.. better visibility and performance leading to the choice of the pusher-canard combination. that style had been experimented with a bunch in the 30's, so both sides were probably drawing on the same inspirations. (one design, the Ambrosini SS.4, had an almost identical layout. and it flew in 1939. it followed an earlier SS.2 with a similar layout that had been designed as a kind of motorized glider)

the SS.2


the SS.4

[chanman]

Once you go with a pusher prop for a single engine, the logical engine position will be close to the engine instead of doing a reverse-P-39 and running a long driveshaft.

Of course, once your center of gravity is that far back, the canard layout becomes a very logical choice for moving the center of lift as close as possible to the CoG. Other than the tendency for rear-engines to have issues with cooling, I suspect the very rear-biased CoG and CoL would cause potentially dangerous stability issues that wouldn't be worth ironing out for the limited benefits with visibility and concentrated armament.

[glitterboy2098]

Once you go with a pusher prop for a single engine, the logical engine position will be close to the engine instead of doing a reverse-P-39 and running a long driveshaft.

Of course, once your center of gravity is that far back, the canard layout becomes a very logical choice for moving the center of lift as close as possible to the CoG. Other than the tendency for rear-engines to have issues with cooling, I suspect the very rear-biased CoG and CoL would cause potentially dangerous stability issues that wouldn't be worth ironing out for the limited benefits with visibility and concentrated armament.

and there had been enough gliders made with canard configurations since the start of aviation to know that paired mid-wing mounted vertical stabilizers was the way to go for control surfaces.

[chanman]

I also don't think it needs to be said that bailing out of a pusher prop canard plane is going to be a lot trickier from the need to clear both the prop, the wing, and the vertical tail surfaces. I think a rudimentary ejection seat or a way to bail out through the bottom like on some twin-engined planes would be necessary too.

It is more practical with much lighter turboprops or civil aviation engines I guess. I had a post with a bunch of those canard-pusher designs last year: https://bg.battletech.com/forums/index.php?topic=82495.msg1974388#msg1974388

In the same vein, have a LearAvia Lear Fan: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LearAvia_Lear_Fan
Twin engines driving a single propeller, like multi-engine helicopters, and an early composite construction commercial aircraft. It's a minor miracle that Burt Rutan wasn't involved in some way.

[Daryk]

What museum is N626BL hanging in?  I didn't know anyone other than the Smithsonian had a Blackbird...

[chanman]

Beech Starship and other Rutanisms
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQHsZmDXV5s

[Fat Guy]

I didn't know anyone other than the Smithsonian had a Blackbird...

The National Museum of the United States Air Force has a couple, and the Intrepid has one. And those are just the ones I've been to.

[Fat Guy]

And a quick google search comes up with a list of all of 'em: https://www.sr-71.org/blackbird/locations.php

[Daryk]

Wow!  That's a LOT more than I thought were out there where the public can see them.  Thanks Fat Guy! :)

[chanman]

What museum is N626BL hanging in?  I didn't know anyone other than the Smithsonian had a Blackbird...

As far as I know, every surviving SR-71 and A-12 Blackbird is preserved in a museum. The one you mentioned should be the Museum of Flight in Seattle. The wikipedia pages have their disposition, but for convenience:

Serial number, model, location.

60-6924    A-12       Air Force Flight Test Center Museum Annex, Blackbird Airpark, at Plant 42, Palmdale, California
60-6925    A-12       Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum, parked on the deck of the aircraft carrier USS Intrepid, New York City
60-6927    A-12 trainer       California Science Center in Los Angeles, California.
60-6930    A-12       U.S. Space and Rocket Center, Huntsville, Alabama
60-6931    A-12       CIA headquarters, Langley, Virginia
60-6933    A-12       San Diego Air & Space Museum, Balboa Park, San Diego, California
60-6937    A-12       Southern Museum of Flight, Birmingham, Alabama
60-6938    A-12       Battleship Memorial Park (USS Alabama), Mobile, Alabama
60-6940    A-12       Museum of Flight, Seattle, Washington

60-6935    YF-12A    National Museum of the U.S. Air Force, Wright-Patterson AFB, Dayton, Ohio

61-7951    SR-71A    Pima Air & Space Museum, Tucson, Arizona
61-7955    SR-71A    Air Force Flight Test Center Museum, Edwards Air Force Base, California
61-7956    SR-71B    Air Zoo, Kalamazoo, Michigan
61-7958    SR-71A    Museum of Aviation, Robins Air Force Base, Warner Robins, Georgia
61-7959    SR-71A    Air Force Armament Museum, Eglin Air Force Base, Florida
61-7960    SR-71A    Castle Air Museum at the former Castle Air Force Base, Atwater, California
61-7961    SR-71A    Cosmosphere, Hutchinson, Kansas
61-7962    SR-71A    American Air Museum in Britain, Imperial War Museum Duxford, Cambridgeshire, England
61-7963    SR-71A    Beale Air Force Base, Marysville, California
61-7964    SR-71A    Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum, Ashland, Nebraska
61-7967    SR-71A    Barksdale Air Force Base, Bossier City, Louisiana
61-7968    SR-71A    Science Museum of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia
61-7971    SR-71A    Evergreen Aviation Museum, McMinnville, Oregon
61-7972    SR-71A    Smithsonian Institution Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, Washington Dulles International Airport, Chantilly, Virginia
61-7973    SR-71A    Blackbird Airpark, Air Force Plant 42, Palmdale, California
61-7975    SR-71A    March Field Air Museum, March Air Reserve Base (former March AFB), Riverside, California
61-7976    SR-71A    National Museum of the United States Air Force, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, near Dayton, Ohio
61-7977    SR-71A    Lost, 10 October 1968. Cockpit section survived and located at the Seattle Museum of Flight
61-7979    SR-71A    Lackland Air Force Base, San Antonio, Texas
61-7980    SR-71A    Armstrong Flight Research Center, Edwards Air Force Base, California
61-7981    SR-71C    Hill Aerospace Museum, Hill Air Force Base, Ogden, Utah (formerly YF-12A 60-6934)

[Fat Guy]

Not a single one went to the boneyard it seems.

[chanman]

Wow!  That's a LOT more than I thought were out there where the public can see them.  Thanks Fat Guy! :)

Blackbird is like Concorde. Long before they left service, anyone who know anything about it already knew they'd be centerpiece attractions wherever they went. There were some photos of the A-12 after they were retired/officially replaced by the publicly acknowledged SR-71 and put into storage, partly for spares, and partly because I assume everyone already knew they'd be in demand as museum exhibits pretty much the moment they were declassified.

I bet the same is true of the F-117 and B-2 as well, once they pull out whatever classified baffling/low-observability materials. The F-117 especially is already a 40-year old aircraft. The real question is how many survivors will remain after they're completely used up after their current post-retirement activities.

[glitterboy2098]

Blackbird is like Concorde. Long before they left service, anyone who know anything about it already knew they'd be centerpiece attractions wherever they went. There were some photos of the A-12 after they were retired/officially replaced by the publicly acknowledged SR-71 and put into storage, partly for spares, and partly because I assume everyone already knew they'd be in demand as museum exhibits pretty much the moment they were declassified.

I bet the same is true of the F-117 and B-2 as well, once they pull out whatever classified baffling/low-observability materials. The F-117 especially is already a 40-year old aircraft. The real question is how many survivors will remain after they're completely used up after their current post-retirement activities.

F-117, while officially retired, still remains in operation (it's apparently being used for developing counter-stealth technologies). so there are comparatively few of those on display. the rest are in Tonopah.

YF-117A

    79-10780 Scorpion 1 – Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada
    79-10781 Scorpion 2 – National Museum of the United States Air Force at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base outside Dayton, Ohio.
    79-10782 Scorpion 3 – Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico.
    79-10783 Scorpion 4 – It had been previously on display at the Blackbird Airpark Museum at Air Force Plant 42, Palmdale, California. In June 2012, Scorpion 4 was transported from Blackbird Airpark to Edwards AFB for restoration work; it is planned for the aircraft to be displayed at the Air Force Flight Test Museum.[137]

F-117A
    80-0785 – Pole-mounted outside the Skunk Works facility at United States Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale, California.
    81-0794 Delta Dawn - Museum of Aviation (Warner Robins)
    82-0799 Midnight Rider – Hill Aerospace Museum
    82-0803 Unexpected Guest – Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California
    84-0810 Dark Angel – Pima Air & Space Museum.
    85-0813 The Toxic Avenger – Castle Air Museum in Atwater, California
    85-0816 Lone Wolf - Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum, McMinnville, Oregon
    85-0817 Shaba[146] – Kalamazoo Air Zoo
    85-0819 Raven Beauty – Stafford Air & Space Museum
    85-0831 – Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum in Ashland, Nebraska
    85-0833 Black Devil – Palm Springs Air Museum

[chanman]

Not a single one went to the boneyard it seems.

I don't think it's surprising. They're gorgeous hand-built exotics, and a bunch were lost in service, making them even rarer, and they're well-known in the public consciousness. Kinda like how limited-production super cars or limited edition racers for homologation purposes are pretty much destined to end up in museums or private collections. Same deal with the surviving US Space Shuttle orbiters.

Like with Concorde, if you're an air museum, it automatically becomes a centerpiece display because it's at the Venn diagram overlap of gorgeous, rare, and well-known.

[nerd]

I don't think it's surprising. They're gorgeous hand-built exotics, and a bunch were lost in service, making them even rarer, and they're well-known in the public consciousness. Kinda like how limited-production super cars or limited edition racers for homologation purposes are pretty much destined to end up in museums or private collections. Same deal with the surviving US Space Shuttle orbiters.

Like with Concorde, if you're an air museum, it automatically becomes a centerpiece display because it's at the Venn diagram overlap of gorgeous, rare, and well-known.

Except the Museum of Flight has a Concorde, Blackbird, Space Shuttle trainer, prototype 747, and a whole bunch more. On one visit, I looked up at the F-5 hanging behind the LearFan. You can really see the area-rule coke bottle shape from below.