15 Bizarre Experimental Aircraft

Fifteen bizarre experimental aircraft number 15 NASA Maxwell NASA is developing a true next-generation vehicle of the skies the x57 Maxwell will come equipped with the latest technology to reduce fuel consumption emissions and noise Maxwell is designed with 12 electric motors to be used during takeoff and landing and cue additional motors on the wing tips for cruising engineers hope that the craft will reduce the required amount of energy it takes for a private plane to cruise at 175 miles per hour by five times the plane is being built in California with a test flight plan sometime this year number 14 Avro Canada vz9 avrocar early on in the Cold War a Canadian company built this identified flying object as part of a secret US military project the vehicle could take off and land vertically thanks to being powered by a single turbo rotor though the American military hoped to turn the craft into a fighting unit capable of achieving high speeds and altitudes the project was scaled back several times before being abandoned entirely the avrocar proved to have unsolvable thrusts and stability problems only two were ever built and today the original sits in the national museum of the united states air force in dayton ohio number 13 boeing x36 the Boeing X 36 prototype jet is notable for lacking a traditional tail built to 28% scale of a possible fighter aircraft it made 31 successful research flights the first of which occurred on May 17 1997 it was controlled by a pilot and a ground station with a virtual cockpit which sounds like an incredibly fun job he was provided a view by a video camera that was mounted to the side of the X 36 while the craft proved to have a high amount of maneuverability and its test program was considered a resounding success it was retired and there has been no further development in the year since two were built and both still exist as display pieces number 12 Perry jet gyrodyne the British built this crazy aircraft with helicopter and gyrodyne characteristics it was built as a prelude to a follow-up design called the rotodyne test flights of the craft first occurred in 1954 and while it flew it was severely underpowered and could only stay in the air for 15 minutes at a time only one was ever made and it was scheduled for scrapping after being retired in 1961 luckily however it’s arrived this unenviable faith and Curly on display at the Museum of Berkshire aviation number 11 flying pancake part of the aptly named flying flapjack aircraft program this truly one-of-a-kind experimental vehicle was constructed by the United States Navy during World War two after going through tons of tests and encountering a variety of difficulties the craft officially called the Vaught v1 73 finally achieved its first flight on November 23 1942 over its 190 flights the plane would cause several nearby startled residents to report UFO sightings famous aviator Charles Lindbergh would pilot the v1 73 and gave it favourable reviews it was retired in 1947 having flown in the air for nearly 132 hours and after a lengthy restoration effort it was put on display at the frontiers of flight museum in Dallas in 2012 number 10 Douglass x3 Stiletto of the batch of early experimental aircraft in the United States Nunn looked cooler than a Douglas Stiletto it’s sleek slender fuselage and long nose were built for one thing speed construction of the craft was approved in 1949 with one goal to achieve a high of 2,000 miles per hour this goal was ambitious and ultimately proved unachievable the craft showed to be severely underpowered and its designers Dean the Stiletto a disappointment those trapezoidal wing design would be used successfully in the Lockheed f-104 starfighter the only stiletto ever built made 51 flights the last of which in May 1956 and since in a hangar of the National Museum of the United States Air Force today number nine martini berry of vva 14 unbelievably this huge odd creation only required three people to operate the Soviet Union constructed the bar teeny barrier VBA 14 during the Cold War in the early 70s as an amphibious craft it was designed to takeoff from the water and fly over long distances at high speeds it first flew in September of 1972 problematic inflatable pontoons were added in 1974 that had operational issues and only added to the odd appearance of the plane its creator Italian born designer Robert Bertini passed away in 1974 and the project involving the planes was slowed before drawing to an inevitable close two prototypes were designed that achieved 107 flights with 103 hours of time in the air one remains dismantled an on display at the Russian Federation central air force museum number eight Lockheed Martin X 56 designed to explore high altitude long endurance flight technologies the Lockheed Martin is an unmanned vehicle that first took to the skies in July of 2013 two were built and the crafts are small just seven and a half feet long with a 27 and a half foot wingspan they last made news in November of 2015 when the Air Force announced that one crashed during a flight at Edwards Air Force Base in California number seven Junkers ji 390 built by the Germans during World War two it’s a good thing these long-range bombers never got the chance to show their full capabilities the Junkers qu 390 was shown to Hitler on November 26 1943 at instr Berg East Prussia just a month after performing beautifully and its maiden flight two prototypes were built and the Air Ministry ordered 26 additional models to be constructed the Germans began to lose the war and these plans were scrapped by late 1944 the original prototype was destroyed of the Allies approached at the end of April 1945 number 6 Steve Bell caproni you’ve never seen an airplane quite like this before distinguished Italian aircraft designer Luigi’s debug’ built the caproni in 1932 it’s hollow barrel shaped fuselage completely enclosed its engine and propeller giving the plane its unique look only one original was ever built as the Italian Air Force showed no desires in pursuing further development of the craft interest must have persisted in the caproni however as a three-fifths replica was constructed in Australia in 1998 that was accurate down to the paint scheme it flew to successful test flights in 2001 and his on display today number five bell x22 of all the experimental planes built for the Navy the Bell x22 which was unveiled in Niagara Falls in 1965 was one of the most fascinating the odd-looking craft could take off vertically from a total standstill unfortunately its propellers failed during a test flight and the first prototype crashed in August of 1966 technicians salvaged the plane to build a second prototype which would first fly with improved performance in August of 1967 though the x-22 was deemed a success and the best of its kind the Navy canceled its program and the surviving prototype would be relegated to test flights the last of which occurred in 1988 number four Rockwell High map this remarkable looking craft was built to explore technologies for future fighter aircraft nasa-developed cue models in the late 70s and the first slides took place in 1979 its design team decided to make the craft remotely operated for several reasons firstly it would be safer to not have a pilot in the crap it was also cheaper to build it this way and meant that they didn’t have to fit it with an ejection seat testing of the aircraft concluded in 1983 and the two that were built remain on display to this day number three vertel VZ 2 only one of these bulky odd-looking crafts were ever constructed the United States built the vertol VZ 2 in 1957 and like the bell x 22 it was made to take off and land vertically the plane was part of a test program that came to an end in 1965 by which time it had amassed 450 flights due to its one-of-a-kind status the vertol VZ two was preserved by the National Air and Space Museum number two NASA mqf won one of the weirdest things you’ll ever see in flight the m2 f1 was developed by NASA in 1962 to test the wingless lifting body concept the vehicle had no means of powering itself so initial testing took place by tearing the craft across California’s Rogers dry lakebed behind a specially modified Pontiac Catalina convertible after this it was towed in midair for further tests by another NASA aircraft the c-47 the m2 f1 was retired in 1966 and remains on display at Edwards Air Force Base number one flaming pencil seeing as how this aircraft was built to research supersonic speeds it’s easy to understand how it got its nickname the speed of sound had been broken in 1948 but no one fully understood the effects that this great speed would have on a moving craft so the Royal Air Force began building what would become the bristol 188 or flaming pencil in 1954 it would take 8 years but the plane finally achieved flight on April 14 1962 it would record 51 total flights and in this time would managed a top speed of 1440 miles per hour at an altitude of 36,000 feet



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