Name of craft or a site, please. A pair of blown big blocks in tandem with contra-rotating props? I'm hooked. More?
The new RP-4 aircraft, is being built to attack the World 3, 15 and 100 Kilometer Speed Records. Engines: Two high performance V-8 engines power the RP-4, representing the best compromise among size, weight, power and availability. Tandem mounted, each engine drives its own propeller. The front engine drives the front prop directly and the rear engine, through gearboxes which bypass the front engine, drives the rear prop in contra rotation. Independent fuel and cooling systems allow for single engine operation. Propellers: Utilizing NASA Unducted Fan Technology, two four-blade propellers with variable pitch hubs were constructed. The blades consist of 84 layers of prepreg carbon fiber and are 58 inches in diameter. Cooling: During engine warm up, thermostats cycle engine water through the oil sump heat exchanger to quickly bring engine oil to operating temperature. Once up to temperature, the thermostats then direct engine water to a series of aluminum tubes within the wing. These tubes are immersed in 50 gallons of water which carry engine heat to the wing surfaces which are cooled by the slipstream. Separate series of tubes are provided for each engine enabling autonomous cooling of either engine. Wing water can be diverted through an auxiliary radiator located in the tail cone for cooling on the ground if needed. The forced induction systems generate high inlet temperatures and induction air is directed through evaporators charged by air conditioning compressors. This system also provides conditioned air to the cockpit. Fuel: A 100 gallon fuel cell below the wing supplies fuel to engine-driven pumps which feed the injectors. Gear: All gear retract aft into the fuselage. The main gear articulates as it retracts holding the wheels parallel to the fuselage throughout retraction. Wing: The RP-4 wing is one of the most complex ever constructed. Less than 3 inches at its thickest point, it nevertheless contains flaps and ailerons as well as 200 feet of tubing and nearly 400 fabricated fittings and connectors which comprise the cooling systems. Fuselage: Built entirely of large diameter chrome moly tubing, the fuselage is skinned in 60 thousandths aluminum and is 31 inches in diameter. Empennage: The vertical and horizontal stabilizers are, like the wing, both riveted and bonded together. The vertical stabilizer houses the nav/comm antennas as well as pitot and cockpit ventilation systems. Performance: The RP-4 is designed to be a high performance aircraft. Eric Hereth, master machinist, fabricator and welder, built all components of this remarkable aircraft from scratch, with the exceptions of engine long blocks, wheels, and hydraulic components. Jerry Baer assisted in all phases of construction.
Looks like a giant metal weiner with ninja swords on it to me A really cool giant metal weiner with ninja swords, but still
The term "no visible means of support" comes to mind when I look at those pics. Its gonna make a nice lawn dart somewhere. I remember in the 80's a fella named Bob Pond tried a similar concept, all power no wing with tragic results. Going back even further the granville brothers killed a pile of pilots with there famous line of G-bee racers. If it scared the hell out of Jimmy Dolittle I know I for one wouldn't want to strap it on.
The G-bee planes crashed on landing. The guy who owns the replica says you have to use the left wheel to feel for the ground then you can level out and land. He flies it all the time with no problems.
I wish all concerned well. I would be very scared of that beast myself. Apparently supersonic wing design mated to a piston engined prop plane. CG looks to be way forward. The stall will be wicked. The F-104 comes to mind. It at least had droop leading leading edges to aid in lower speed charterstics
The pond racer: bob ponds aircraft and design (built by the legendary burt rutan) were both very sound. The engines, which were turbocharged V6's never made the promised 600hp. Only somewhere around 400hp was attained before one engine threw a rod at full throttle. The resulting torque effect combined with the oil spray and fire resulted in loss of control. No wing area or handling issues were ever a problem with this craft Granville Brothers: the Granville brothers built 3 racers and had the luck of having some of the most proficient pilots fly them. every pilot that has flown one of the GB racers has commented on how well they flew. there were 3 deaths involved in the GB house racers. one was in the GeeBee model Z that involves a fuel cap that came loose and struck the pilot in the face at high speed. the resulting jerk of the control stick caused the wing to sheer during a high speed run. the R1 and R2 were flown successfully for their first entire race season by jimmy doolittle and lee Gehlbache without incident they had this to say about there two respective aircraft: s [SIZE=+1]At the Eastern States Exposition in September of 1932, Jimmy, in speaking of Z. D. Granville. said, "He builds a most excellent airplane and it was the airplane that did the job." Finally, in a letter dated September 7, 1932, and addressed to Granville Brothers Aircraft. Doolittle commented, "Just a note to tell you that the big Gee Bee functioned perfectly in both the Thompson trophy race and the Shell speed dashes. With sincere wishes for your continued success, I am, as ever, Jim. [/SIZE][SIZE=+1]Lee Gehlbach indicated his confidence in Number 7 when he told members of the press, "Number 7 is the most wonderful handling ship I've ever flown. Doolittle added his praise of Number 11 by stating. She s got plenty of stuff. I gave her the gun for just a few seconds and she hit 260 like a bullet without any change for momentum and without diving for speed and she had plenty of reserve miles in her when I shut her down. [/SIZE]problems were encountered the next year (1933) after both planes were refitted. The wing area and engine size on the R1 was increased and flaps were added to both planes. new pilots were behind the controls of both aircraft. The pilot of the R1 that year happened to be the president of the board of directors of the Springfield Air Racing Association that owned the GeeBee racers. After refueling his craft during the bendix trophy race he lost control during takeoff at approx. 45ft in the air. this is the only fatal incident that could have been associated with a poor handling characteristic of the craft. the two racers parts were combine then, to form the R-1/R-2 hybrid this plane was crashed on it's third landing with no resulting injuries. the cause was determined to be pilot error. A new plane dubbed "intestinal fortitude"/R-3/international supersportster/longtail racer was created from what was left of the planes and spare parts. this plane was sold and modified with a larger fuel tank the moved the center of gravity too far back (against the granville bros and pete millers strong suggestions). the result was an uncontrollable craft that killed it's owner immediately after takeoff. [SIZE=+1] [/SIZE] most incidents that involved landings can be attributed to the three point landing style that was then the norm. the GB racers required the main gear to touch first then the tail wheel. also note, due to the shear strength of the plane although there were a few landing incidents none of them involved serious injury
Wow! Get the Tequila and margarita mix, oh and some limes and salt. That's the biggest blender I've ever seen. Party on!
Reserving judgement till they put a spinner on that prop... On the Gee Bees,ask the guy that owns one. (Good read) http://www.fantasyofflight.com/aircraftpages/geebee.htm I saved some Merlin pieces from a 1980's piston powered record speed attempt by "Precious Metal". Iirc set the record on the first leg then had an oil line failure on the return run. Loss of oil pressure put the counter rotating prop into low pitch sending the rpm to the moon and all the rods into multiple pieces. Somehow he managed to make it back to the runway.
Well this much I can tell you Jimmy, while sitting in my hanger during a Quietbirdmen party told me as well as my dad that it flat scared the shit out of him. That was good enough for me.
I seem to remember film of a Gee-Bee barrel-rolling wildly about 30 feet from the ground just before it "crashed on landing". They were so powerful and dimensionally unstable from their lack of size that the flying parameters consisted of a very small window.
Now that's living proof that a brick can fly if you give it enough power. Looks awesome, iwould like to see it fly, Rags
That was the one where a fuel cap came loose, went thru the windshield and incapacitated the pilot, then went into those violent barrel rolls and crashed.
Yeah, some of those plane guys are nuttier that squirrel shit...with enough $$$ to make their hair-brained ideas into reality. Exhibit A. Lets add off road suspension, 40" mudders, an F-111 magnesium nose gear, a 1000hp turbine, and a train horn to what was already a good short field plane........just to reach that special mountain landing strip.
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