Crashman remembers the Goodyear Inflatoplane from an old Jane's ATWAC he was given as a kid - and he still thinks this idea is sound. With its engine-driven compressor, Army tests proved it could take several .38-cal bullet holes and fly on fine. 2 men can carry it, and it's a 2-place. Design secret: the shape of the wings, control airfoils and structure was maintained by little internal threads that held the different areas of the internal walls apart just so in each section, as it inflated. Now let's update it with a nice Rotax and some more modern, lighter silicone plastics/rubber - and WHY THE HECK ISN'T ANYBODY MAKING THESE NOW? Crashman WANTS ONE!! Yes, there was a crash during the development program, but that didn't cancel the P-38, SR-71, B-17, Gripen, etc etc etc projects.
Look at these numbers! Beautiful! Come down off the airliners for a second, guys - who here DOESN'T want an Inflatoplane? It's perfect for those of us who.. ahem! .. tend to crash a lot.
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The Inflatoplane's performance was comparable to that of a J3 Cub. The airplane was wheeled out like a wheelbarrow and inflated in about 5 minutes using less air pressure than a car tire. The aircraft used a two-cycle 40-hp Nelson engine that had to be hand-started. Its wing span was 22 feet and it had a length of 19 feet 7 inches. The airplane held 20 gallons of fuel and carried a maximum weight of 240 lb. The range was 390 miles with an endurance of 6.5 hours. Its cruise speed was 60 mph. Take off distance on sod was 250 feet with 575 feet needed to clear a 50-foot obstacle. It landed in 350 feet on sod. Rate of climb was 550 feet per minute. Its service ceiling was estimated at 10,000 feet.
The two-seat variant had slightly different characteristics. Inflation took about 6 minutes. The aircraft used a 60-hp McCulloch 4318 engine that was also hand-started. Its wing span was 28 feet and its length was 19 feet 2 inches. The airplane held 18 gallons of fuel and had a gross weight of 740 lb. The range was 275 miles with an endurance of 5.4 hours. Its cruise speed was 55 mph, stall speed 43 mph, and maximum speed 70 mph. Take off on sod was possible in 390 feet with 745 feet needed to clear a 50-foot obstacle. Rate of climb was 500 feet per minute. Its service ceiling was estimated at 6,500 feet.
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http://davidszondy.com/future/Flight/rubber_plane.htm
Inflatoplane Crash Stories
http://www.aero-web.org/specs/goodyear/xao-3g1.htm
Photo:
http://www.airfields-freeman.com/NJ/Inflat...ane_landing.jpg
Inflatoplane Cockpit:
http://www.airfields-freeman.com/NJ/Inflat...ane_cockpit.jpg
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Inflatoplane testing at Forrestal Labs, Princeton, NJ:
Former Forrestal Lab employee Albert Newton relates the story
of another unusual aircraft tested at Forrestal - the Goodyear Inflatoplane.
The Army & Navy had several of them built in the 1950's.
Their fuselage & wings were inflatable, made of a material similar to what Goodyear used to construct their blimps, rubber impregnated fabric, probably Dacron. It was inflated to about 5-7 PSI to make it semi-rigid.
When it is deflated, it was folded up & stuffed into a 5 sq-ft. box.
The only rigid parts were the engine & pedestal & landing gear assembly.
They were intended to be parachuted down to a stranded pilot that had been shot down behind enemy lines. The pilot was supposed to pull it out of the box, inflate it with a small air compressor (also in the box),
start the engine (hand crank), get into the cockpit & fly back home.
Newton says, "The airplanes did fly, but it was not easy to get it started & airborne. The Army did some flight tests but they had some fatalities & abandoned the whole idea.
In the early 1960's, Tom Sweeny got the idea to try to get one of these planes and do some flight testing on it at Forrestal. There was never any real documented information obtained on their flight characteristics and it would be worthwhile for student research."
"There were three Navy pilots here that were doing the flight testing
and I installed the test equipment & maintained the aircraft & cranked the engine. It was difficult to attach things because it was flexible. Some items had to be mounted on the landing gear structure. Other sensors had to be fastened with duct tape. At the speeds we were flying at, It held up pretty well. After several months, the testing was more or less completed. One of the test installations was a 16mm movie camera mounted on a outrigger.
When our Department Chairman saw the film of the fuselage bending & twisting, he said "Stop flying this airplane & get it out of here." We deflated it & put it back in the box & shipped it to Goodyear to put in their museum. I believe it still exists & is kept inflated."
http://www.airfields-freeman.com/NJ/Airfields_NJ_W.htm
How cool is the ...INFLATOPLANE!
Oct 13 2005, 06:40 PM
Supersonic speed flying in no time :lol:
