What protoype do you wish had seen service in WW2?

[schwarzpanzer]

How effective would that be in WW2 anyhow?

It was hard to find via radar, so would be good as a nightfighter or bomber.

It very fast and carried 2x Mk108 and could carry (IIRC) an internal 1000lb bomb, also 2 seater.

It was also made mainly of wood and so easy to buid.

I think it could also glide?


Marshall_Stack:

How about Howard Hughes' "Spruce Goose"?

Couldn't get off the ground... The biggest plane that never flew.

Regarding the XP-56, what advantage does an aircraft of magnesium material offer?

Aargh, elektrolite!

I suggest you look up the He-70:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heinkel_He_70

On a recon plane it's not too bad though.

It needs to be well covered in paint, and can fail completely like carbon-fibre.

A Jaguar racer was killed when one of his wheels crumbled.


I suppose my best bomber is the Barnes Wallis high-altitude 'Mega-Wellington', it looked a bit like a Ju-390.

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

Even if the Spruce Goose would have worked it would not have been practical. Too big and too easy of a target.

[RAGMAN]

The B29 engines were made from magnesium, and when they burned, it was spectacular.

I always wondered why the engine nacelles burned so easy. Everyday you learn something new every day.

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

Yeap and that is the great thing about this site, when the serious members here post things like that. It does not matter how knowledgable you are, you never stop learning things.

[Gnomey]

Yeap and that is the great thing about this site, when the serious members here post things like that. It does not matter how knowledgable you are, you never stop learning things.

Very true Alder that is why I am here

[evangilder]

I am not so sure that making an airplane out of wood is easier than making it out of metal, aside from availability of materials. And the Spruce Goose did fly, granted not for very far or very long, but it did fly.

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

Yes it flew for less than 30 sec did it not?

[P38 Pilot]

The first Mosquitoes were made from wood.

[Jabberwocky]

ALL mosquitos were made from wood

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

I see you got that one out before I did.

[syscom3]

Vast difference between using wood for a small 2 seat airplane, than a leviathan like the spruce goose.

[schwarzpanzer]

Spruce has the strongest weight/strength of most materials, rivalling or even beating carbon fibre IIRC!

Glues can also be stronger than rivetting or welding.

I think the worst material is the corrugated iron on German bombers.

[Nonskimmer]

Which bombers?

[FLYBOYJ]

Glues can also be stronger than rivetting or welding.

Not so - weld a piece of 7075 aluminum and heat treat it - it could have a tensile strength of up to 100,000 ksi. The only piece of wood you'll find that strong will be in a petrified forest

Now if you're talking about light alloy aluminums (6061) and pop rivets, yes a wood glue structure would be stronger, but light alloys are usually used for non-structral components.

Wood structures will not be stronger than 2024T-3 skins riveted on to 2024T-6 or 7075 main structural members, especially if 2117DD "Ice box" rivets are used - these are kept cold and actually work harden when driven.

The O-2 Kingfisher actually had a good portion of it's primary structure welded because of the catapult launching it will be subjected to.....

I think the worst material is the corrugated iron on German bombers.

Corrugated structure is one of the stronger aircraft assembly structures. The B-17s wings were corrugated with sheet metal riveted over the corrugations

[schwarzpanzer]

I couldn't be sure, but I think the bigger Junkers; Ju290/390 and Ju57(?)that FG plane, in the end of Where Eagles Dare. There were others?