The magic beans

This week, with a little delay, we reach position number three of our “different” aircrafts list. This rank is for the McDonell XG-85 “Globin”. This strange aircraft was a parasite fighter created to protect the B36 being transported in its interior. The USAF’s idea was that this fighter could escort the bomber which carried it in case of a foe attack.

The XF-85 was a tiny egg shaped craft with peculiar stabilizers. It was build and tested in 1948 but the performances were lower than the foe fighters. This fact and the enormous difficulty of the reattachment to the host aircraft caused the abandonment of the project.

There were two prototypes built, that flew seven times with a total flight time of 2 hours and 19 minutes. Only on three occasions the reattachment to the trapezium was achieved.

The only flight pilot that flew it was McDonell’s Edwin Scott.

Both units are shown in museums, one in the Wright-Patterson (Ohio) and the other at the Strategic Air and Space Museum in Ashland, Nebraska.

Despite its strange look, it flew reasonably good and the USAF continued the study of parasite aircrafts after the cancellation of the program, with even more strange aircrafts.

Here you can find an interesting video of the XF-85 “Goblin” that shows the difficulty of the reattachment.

At the beginning of each new year, we usually have all kind of purposes to improve those aspects of our lives, that have not left us completely satisfied during the last year. Naturally this year couldn´t be an exception and now we all have prepared our list of good intentions for this year.

Las habichuelas mágicas

Esta semana, con un poco de retraso, llegamos al número tres de nuestra lista de aviones "diferentes". Y este puesto le ha correspondido al MacDonell XF-85 "Globin". Este extraño avión era un caza parásito pensado para proteger a los bombarderos B36 y que era transportado en el interior del mismo. La idea de la USAF era que este avión embarcado pudiera dar escolta al bombardero que lo transportaba en caso de un ataque de los cazas enemigos.

El XF-85 era un aparato diminuto con forma de huevo y unos estabilizadores cuando menos peculiares. Fue construido y probado en 1.948 pero las performances eran inferiores a los de los cazas con los que hubiera debido enfrentarse. Esto, añadido a la enorme dificultad de volver a engancharse al trapecio del que se soltaba hicieron que el proyecto fuese rápidamente abandonado.

 Se construyeron dos prototipos que volaron siete veces con un tiempo total de vuelo de 2 horas y 19 minutos. Tan solo en tres ocasiones se consiguió volver a enganchar el avión al trapecio de recogida.

El único piloto que lo voló fue el piloto d e pruebas de McDonell Edwin Scotch.

Ambas unidades acabaron en museos, uno de ellos en Wright-Patterson (Ohio) y el otro Startegic Air and Space Museum en Ashland, Nebraska.

A pesar de su extraño aspecto volaba razonablemente bien y la USAF, a pesar de la cancelación, todavía siguió estudiando el concepto de caza parásito con nuevos proyectos aún mas extraños.

Aquí os dejo un interesante video de nuestro XF-85 "Globin" donde puede apreciarse que volver a engancharse en la pértiga no era cualquier cosa.



Con la entrada de cada nuevo año, uno suele hacer propósitos de todo tipo orientados a mejorar aquellos aspectos de nuestra vida que, durante el año anterior, no nos han dejado plenamente satisfechos. Naturalmente este no podía ser una excepción y quien más quien menos ha preparado su libreta de buenos propósitos.

The engineer and the manager

After the Christmas holidays and starting with the New Year, we reach to number four of the weirdest aircrafts in history. And the one we have choosen for today is really a weirdo. It is the Vought V173 “Flying Pancake” designed by Charles H. Zimmerman, a notorious aeronautic engineer who worked on the concept of the disk shaped aircraft. This kind of configuration tried to avoid the adverse effects of the induced drag caused by a short wing aspect ratio with vortexes generated by the long propellers located in the tips. The original prototype was built of wood and fabric and was powered by two 80 HP engines spinning propellers that were taken from a F4U Corsair! Although later these were changed for others with a special design. In order to clear the ground on land, the aircraft had a standing angle distance of 22 degrees, what gave this aircraft almost VTOL capabilities.

The first flight of the V-173 was on 23 November of 1942 and had vibration problems due to the complex gearboxes that drove the propellers. During 1942 and 1943 190 the test flights that were performed showed the plane’s easy maneuverability and low speed qualities (even Charles Lindbergh flew it and assured this).

Unfortunately, like many other projects of this time, it was surpassed by the modern jet fighters. The last flight was in 1947.

A V-173 is still preserved in the Smithsonian.

This is a link to a Youtube video where different test phases are shown.

When we talked in previous posts about the specialists, I don’t think that any of you thought about the importance that these people have in the daily workout of a company. These men and women are a collective of which the direction board is very proud of, but they do not pay any attention to them. Although no one explicitly say it, the underlying message is that “these people have so much fun with what they do that they are sufficiently rewarded”.

El ingeniero y el manager

Tras la pausa navideña, y con el nuevo año llegamos al número cuatro de los aviones mas extraños de la historia. Y el que hemos elegido hoy si que es realmente raro. Se trata del Vought V-173 "Flying Pancake" disñado por Charles H. Zimmerman un notable ingeniero aeronáutico que trabajó sobre el concepto de avión "discoidal". Este tipo de configuración trataba de atenuar los efectos adversos de la resistencia inducida provocada por el bajo alargamiento del ala, mediante los vórtices generados por las largas hélices situadas en las puntas de los planos. El prototipo  original se construyó en madera y tela e iba impulsado por dos motores de de 80HP que giraban unas hélices provenientes de un ¡F4U Corsair! aunque posteriormente fueron cambiadas por unas de diseño especial. Para poder dejar guarda suficiente con el suelo el avión tenía un ángulo de incidencia posado de 22º lo que le conferían unas cualidades de despegue y aterrizaje casi VTOL.

El primer vuelo del V-173 tuvo lugar el 23 de Noviembre de 1.942 y mostró problemas de vibraciones debido a las complicadas cajas de engranajes que movían las hélices. Durante los años 1.942 y 1.943 se realizaron 190 vuelos de pruebas que demostraron las capacidades del avión en cuanto a su facilidad de manejo y sus cualidades a baja velocidad (el mismísimo Charles Lindbergh lo pilotó y dio fe de ellas ).

Desgraciadamente como otros muchos proyectos de la época fué superado por los modernos cazas a reacción. El último vuelo tuvo lugar en 1.947.

Un V-173 se conserva en el Smithsonian.










Aquí os dejo un vídeo de Youtube donde se ven distintas fases de las pruebas de este singular avión.



Cuando en entradas anteriores hablábamos de los especialistas no creo que ninguno de vosotros se parase a pensar la importancia que estas personas tienen en el funcionamiento de las empresas. Estos hombres y mujeres conforman un colectivo del que la Dirección se suele sentir muy orgulloso pero al que presta poca o ninguna atención. Aunque nadie lo diga explícitamente el mensaje que subyace es que "esta gente se divierte tanto con lo que hace que ya están suficientemente recompensados".

The Guardian of the Word

We reach today number five on our list of unusual aircrafts with the Caproni Stipa. Developed by Luigi Stipa and manufactured by the Italian aeronautic company Caproni this experimental aircraft with its ducted propeller (distant precursor of the turbofan), flew for the first time in October of 1932. Despite its ridiculous appearance (it was called ‘the flying barrel’) it performed well, but due to the big aerodynamic drag its maximum speed did not exceed 131 km/h. However its landing speed was extremely low (70 km/h) requiring a very short runway for landing.

 It had a wingspan of 14.3 meters and an overall length of 5.5 m. This double seat aircraft had a takeoff weight of 800 kg and was powered by a De Havilland Gipsy III 120 HP engine.

Only one prototype was built and the project was abandoned due to its limited performances.


Although the prototype does not remain, in 1988 a 3:5 scale replica was built in Australia (built like this so that it could be included in the ultralight category) and flew in 2001, again confirming the excellent maneuverability characteristics pointed out by the Italian test pilots 69 years ago. Currently this aircraft is in an Australian museum.




This is a YouTube video where you can watch one of the flights of the Stipa.



In one of our previous posts we spoke about the specialists. I will dedicate an upcoming chapter to them where I will tell you how they face their daily and special task, but today they will help us to introduce you all a very special figure. The Guardian.