V-173 - Base Prototype Series Designation; single example completed. It gained its nickname, the Flying Pancake, because of its flattened, rounded shape.

The V-173 has a circular wing 23.3 feet in diameter and a symmetrical NACA airfoil section. Facing engineering challenges on a scale more massive than any road-going vehicle, X-planes act as test-beds for specific aviation concepts, proving or disproving any proposed engineering advancements, and in turn contributing to the development of production aircraft. Vought V-173, the “Flying Pancake”, an American experimental fighter aircraft for the United States Navy (1942). The Vought XF5U "Flying Flapjack" was an experimental U.S. Navy fighter aircraft designed by Charles H. Zimmerman for Vought during World War II.This unorthodox design consisted of a flat, somewhat disc-shaped body (hence its name) serving as the lifting surface. The "Military Factory" name and MilitaryFactory.com logo are registered ® U.S. trademarks protected by all applicable domestic and international intellectual property laws. [7] Charles Lindbergh piloted the V-173 during this time and found it surprisingly easy to handle and exhibiting impressive low-speed capabilities. @media only screen and (min-device-width : 320px) and (max-device-width : 480px) {

Despite this, the X-3's wing design paved the way for the legendary F-104 Starfighter and brought useful insights into the dangerous "roll coupling" (unintended movement of other control axes when rolling the plane) effect that plagued early supersonic fighter jets. On one occasion, the V-173 was forced to make an emergency landing on a beach. Flying Pancake. Vought V-173 "Flying Pancake" (x-post from /r/Experimental_Aviation) Close. The substantially elliptical cross-sectional shape provided an effective dihedral angle on the lower surface, and the fore-and-aft contour is such as to secure a smooth, substantially undisturbed flow of air over the craft. var script = document.createElement("script"); }, Page last modified: One of the aircrafts built was the Vought V-173 “Flying Pancake” designed by Charles H. Zimmerman. Yet, it didn't really work out, as the craft was far less stable, and could carry a lesser load than first thought.

Having one of the least conventional, and most alien designs of all time, the Proteus had a focus on long endurance high altitude operations, like satellite communications and reconnaissance. Unfortunately, during testing just months after its first flight, the C.450 crashed, and the program was abandoned. Vought XF5U ''Flying Pancake'' Sign in to follow this . While the maximum aerodynamic efficiency was realized by the sectional contour, it was understood that the enclosure for the pilot and passengers may be made deeper and be suitably faired into the adjacent part of the surface of the craft. Looking as if it would be at home in a sci-fi cartoon, the X-3 Stiletto is one of the sleekest x-planes ever built, albeit one that failed to complete its intended mission. The Vought V-173 "Flying Pancake" designed by Charles H. Zimmerman was an American experimental test aircraft built as part of the Vought XF5U "Flying Flapjack" World War II United States Navy fighter aircraft program. [4], The disc wing design featured a low aspect ratio that overcame the built-in disadvantages of induced drag created at the wingtips with the large propellers actively cancelling the drag-causing tip vortices.

Apply this concept to the world of military and aviation, and the purpose of experimental planes (X-planes) becomes clear. Carrying out missions to test flight dynamics of proposed spacecraft, and prove the concept of wing-less lift, every X-plane in the 1960s lifting body series looks thoroughly alien.

30.07.2018 - Просмотрите доску «Flying Pancake» пользователя Dbrnjh в Pinterest.

[1] Two piston engines buried in the body drove propellers located on the leading edge at the wingtips.[2]. Designed to be powered by a ramjet - a type of engine that uses high-speed air passing through the aircraft's intake instead of a jet turbine - the Leduc 0.2 series were experiments into the emerging field of supersonic flight during the '50s. The military version of this aircraft, the XF5U-1 - a fighter aircraft with an almost circular wing, was constructed later but never flown. The propellers are of the controllable-pitch type so that they may be given a low pitch when taking off or hovering and a higher pitch for high speed, substantially horizontal flight. Authored By: Staff Writer | Last Edited: The most LOL-worthy things the Internet has to offer. He had started his career at NACA Langley in 1929, only two years after Lindbergh's transatlantic flight. Going beyond the lunacy of such a massive sea-plane, the VVA-14 was designed to hunt down American submarines that may have been lurking in Soviet waters. Zimmerman developed a unique design centered around a wing-less frame which was rounded in its general appearance (hence the nickname of "Flying Pancake" assigned to the type).

Zimmerman was a long-time employee of the NACA, a member of the Space Task Group (the Project Mercury management team), an aircraft industry designer, an Army aviation chief engineer, and a NACA Headquarters manager, among other accomplishments. The XF5U "Flying Pancake" was an experimental U.S. Navy fighter aircraft designed during World War II. Charles Zimmerman (1908-1996) served as an aeronautical engineer through most of his life and operated under the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory in the 1930s during the world lead-up to World War 2. r/aviation: Anything related to aircraft, airplanes, aviation and flying. Charles Zimmerman, famous for the XF5U "flying flapjack," which he designed for Vought during the 1940s, had been busy for a number of years trying to make the airplane into a VTOL machine.