5 Amazing Oddball Flying Machines

May 15, 2008

Clément Ader’s flying machine. Taken by Stephane Delbecque

In honor of Yves Rossy, the Swiss man who flew over the Alps on a personal jet-powered wing Wednesday, Environmental Graffiti was inspired to search for some of the other strangest devices that have carried men aloft. Obviously we have missed quite a few, so we’d appreciate it if you could help us out by dropping some more examples of weird flying machines in the comments.

5. The Gyrocopter

Image from wikipedia

I know, it’s not exactly in the spirit of Yves to have a conventional aircraft on the list at all, but look at the thing. It’s got a helicopter rotor, and a pusher propeller, and they’re almost universally ultra light. James Bond famously flew one in Never Say Never Again, but we’re still left with the feeling that this is one of the dorkiest ways imaginable to transit the skies.

4. The Lockheed XFV

Image from Wikipedia

The XFV, which was a 1950s experiment designed to protect convoys from marauding Soviet submarines in the event of war, was designed to take off and land from the deck of a ship while completely vertical; a space-saving innovation that would have allowed each convoy to protect itself instead of requiring aircraft carrier escorts. Unfortunately, only one prototype was ever built, and it flew only 32 times, never vertically.

3. Chance Vought’s Umbrella Plane

Image from UnrealAircraft.com

This is, in all likelihood, the first attempt at building a flying saucer, on this planet anyway. The “Umbrella Plane” failed miserably, having no aerodynamic principles applied to its design at all. However, the designer, Chance Vaught, went on to design multiple fighter aircraft for the U.S. before and during WWII, using a “trial and error” method that we clearly see backfiring here.

2. Aero Spacelines Pregnant Guppy

Image from wikipedia

The pregnant guppy, of which there were may iterations, including a modified 747,was first designed as a transport for the Apollo program, delivering parts from far-flung contractors to the assembly point in Cape Canaveral, Florida. The aircraft itself, which was a Boeing 377 in a previous life, was designed and built in Van Nuys, California by an independent contractor who believed that he could win a government contract if he had the right equipment. He was right.

1. NASA AD-1

Image from Wikipedia

The AD-1 was designed to prove a highly unusual concept: that aircraft could pivot their wings obliquely in flight. It flew 79 times, and gathered a substantial amount of data on how the wings behaved aerodynamically in that circumstance, as well as looking f’ing weird. The strangest discovery? Pivoting the wing reduced fuel consumption.

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Written by Ben · Filed Under Offbeat News

Comments

11 Responses to “5 Amazing Oddball Flying Machines”

Jimmy
Posted: May 16th, 2008 at 9:51 am
1

woah they are really cool! i love the first one.

Reply to this comment.
Stefan
Posted: May 16th, 2008 at 10:04 am
2

It was You Only Live Twice, not Never Say Never Again.

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Bizhack
Posted: May 16th, 2008 at 10:50 am

Great list! The Gyrocopter (or ‘Little Nelly’) was seen in You only Live Twice and not Never Say Never Again. Dorky maybe, but it took on and defeated a load of proper helicopters :)

Reply to this comment.

John
Posted: May 16th, 2008 at 11:52 am
4

James Bond flew a gyrocopter in You Only Live Twice

Reply to this comment.

Ben
Posted: May 16th, 2008 at 2:33 pm

Author Comment

Good catches, everybody– all I could remember was that he was in Asia, and that the opening scene of “Never” was in Hong Kong. Shows me to trust my memory and not do research.

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wtf
Posted: May 16th, 2008 at 3:59 pm

I like how the first one apologizes for including an aircraft, and then all the rest are aircraft too.

Reply to this comment.

Revelation
Posted: May 16th, 2008 at 4:38 pm

I like the umbrella plane. I don’t know if its aerodynamics were that stupidly thought out. With a big gust of wind and some twine it would make a bitchin kite. Having said that, when it comes to flying kites, I’m rubish. People would be mashed into the ground, there would be fires, and children crying.

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Squire Toad
Posted: May 16th, 2008 at 5:50 pm

The Lockheed XFV most certainly DID both take off and land in the vertical. I personally have seen films of them taking off and landing. Indeed, the first few flights (to check the power train and aerodynamics of the aircraft) were from improvised “horizontal” fixed landing gear. But after that, ALL the flights were from the vertical.

Damned hard it was too, according to the pilot .. but doable.

The films are out there: go google them.

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protogenxl
Posted: May 16th, 2008 at 7:20 pm

Brian: Peter, if you just let me talk, I’ll explain to you why you shouldn’t do this.

Peter: Later, later Brian, I gotta do something people will remember me for. Which is why I’ve invented a new type of flying machine.

Stewie: You know, I vaguely recall seeing footage somewhere of something exactly like this, which leads me to believe this probably won’t work.

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Jim Horn
Posted: May 16th, 2008 at 10:37 pm

A further note on the NASA AD-1 “Scissorswing” - it was built by the then-fledgling Scaled Composites, Inc. under Burt Rutan. They’ve since become better known for later designs they’ve done - the nonstop world-circling Voyager (1986) and Global Flyer (2006), SpaceShip One, and many more. Burt is legendary - Google “Rutan Boomerang” for an example.

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