Aircraft Trivia Quiz

PhilB

Vickers Valiant.

Chance Vought F7U Cutlass ticks a lot of the boxes but I'm mystified by some of the clues!!

PhilB

Chance Vought F7U Cutlass ticks a lot of the boxes but I'm mystified by some of the clues!!

Yes Indeed Phil, the Cutlass ;

Couldn't find the reference to the undercarriage, but the peachy bit and the runway reference gave it away!!

This question could be simple, or maybe not:

This type was seen at one stage as being the fore-runner of large production numbers, having potential to rival then current conventional transport aircraft in terms of carrying capacity generating a great deal of interest from two air arms in the same country..

The prototype had piston engines, the development machines had turbines from a different manufacturer.

I keep wanting to say the B-36 (Transport version was the XC-99) But im pretty sure thats not right.

Smaller and only two engines, one behind the other - if that helps :-)

Awe we talking about rigid airships?

Is this aircraft part of a long line?

Not airships, though the manufacturer did do something odd in this area..  The company could hardly be said to have produced a long line of aircraft, though one type was produced in the hundreds.

To find the company, think innovative, even today, though the original operation that built the aircraft I'm looking for changed its name and then was bought out by a giant - which currently employs the founder's daughter - leaving a renamed rump which has some oddball designs but caters to passengers all over the world.

Sort that lot out then go fishing for a type!!

The Piasecki H-16 Transporter?

The long line was the 1944 HRP to the current CH-47.

I dunno about this one...he said that one type was produced in the hundreds....Piasecki built two designs in the hundreds each--the H-25/HUP Retriever, 339 built, and the H-21, over 700 built.  

Milairjunkie has it.

Piasecki changed its name to  Vertol in 1955, Frank Piasecki having left the company after a dispute, going on to form the Piasecki Aircraft Corporation that still exists working on a range of innovative designs in helicopter, UAV and other forms of aerostat development.  They are also a major supplier of  ovens for airliner galleys.

Vertol was bought out by Boeing in 1960.  Nicole Piasecki, Frank Piasecki's daughter, is vice president of Business Development & Strategic Integration for Boeing Commercial Airplanes.

The Pratt and Whitney powered YH-16 and Allison  powered YH-16A were the largest helicopters built up until then, matching the fuselage capacity of a number of current transports and generating great interest in both the US Army and Air Force.

There were plans for a 68 seater H-16B Turbotransporter but all further development ceased when the YH-16A broke apart in the air in December 1955 due to a rear rotor shaft failure.

F-8fanatic:  There were, according to a number of sources, 704 H-21s were built, there were also 13 Model 44A commercial versions built.

The H-25/HUP Retriever was a little different.  Many sources state 339 airframes across the range were built but the H-25 as delivered to the US Army, Canada and France was significantly different in airframe structure to the Retriever, enough to make it a separate type..

The figures are also confusing. Many internet sites stating the 339 airframes across the types, give the following:

XHUP-1     2

HUP-1     32

HUP-2   165

HUP-2S   20

HUP-3      50

H-25A       70

Total        339  

I believe this total to be wildly inaccurate due to double counting of transferred and converted airframes.  The 50 HUP-3s were built as model H-25A, delivered to the Army as part of the 70 ordered, 50 were transferred to the Navy when the Army found the type unsuitable.  This brings the total down to 289.

The 20 HUP-20 were conversions from the HUP-2 batch and were part of the 165 ordered.  This reduces the total HUP/H-25 airframes to to 269.  Take off the 70 H-25A and you are left with 199 HUP airframes.  

My rather pedantic "though one type was produced in the hundreds" referred to the H-21, which though produced with various engines, remained a standard airframe.

Finally, the reference to "Not airships, though the manufacturer did do something odd in this area" alluded to the PA-97 Helistat

First aircraft to use an air to air weapon with a nuclear warhead?

Northrop F-89 Scorpion, Genie unguided rocket

Yes - a Scorpion with a sting, but not in it's tail.......

This aircraft was a development of an operational fighter design which would have improved on its ancestor.

It was killed off, some say, because a competitor offered a better product which went on to serve with four air arms and one agency with a four figure production run; some say because, had the aircraft we are looking for gone into production, it would have given its manufacturer a virtual monopoly of supply to a given air arm.

The four aircraft that were built took part in a range of test programmes, two surviving into preservation.

One of the aircraft took part in something that sounded prehistoric

This whole question drags me towards a supermarine aircraft, but i cant find anything that matches.

You are being dragged in the wrong direction!

Ah, am i being dragged to the wrong language aswell?

No - the language is OK.

I'm thinking the big brother of the georgeous Ford - the F5D Skylancer?

My conscience, that is some deduction - or are you watching me by satellite?

The Skylancer lost out to the Chance Vought Crusader which served with the US Navy and Marines, the French Navy and the Philippines Air Force.

After losing the contract, Douglas were involved in various military projects using the 4 aircraft built. 2 were retired in 1961, 2 passed to NACA, later NASA, and one was involved in the Dyna Soar project.

PhilB

are you watching me by satellite?

Agency & prehistoric gave it away.......

This production aircraft's variable sweep wing design was considerably influenced by it's landing gear?

Thought you must have a spy satellite watching me put the clues together

SU-17?

Yes indeed Scorp the Su-17, based on the Su-7 & having a movable outer wing only & retaining the Su-7's landing gear amongst other things.

My other thought was the TU-22M but the SU-17 seemed to fit better.

Ok my question:

This single seat, ground attack aircraft was never made in this configuration, but there were battles made by some of the pilots to get surplus aircraft turned to this heavy lift, civillian role.

What is the aircraft, what is the role they wanted it turned to?

(This is fairly obscure, hope its not too hard)

Let me know if you need a hint to narrow it down.

Just a wild guess: Skyraider, turned into firefighter?