[HN Gopher] Ugliest Airplane Ever Built Predicted the Future ___________________________________________________________________ Ugliest Airplane Ever Built Predicted the Future Author : prostoalex Score : 53 points Date : 2022-10-07 01:54 UTC (2 days ago) (HTM) web link (hackaday.com) (TXT) w3m dump (hackaday.com) | pier25 wrote: | Honestly I think it's actually kinda cute. Would totally work in | a Ghibli film. | krisoft wrote: | Based on the title I was so sure it will be about the Northrop | Tacit Blue. | | Ugliest airplane (in my opinion): check. Predicted the future (by | being a fore-runner of modern low observeability stealth planes): | check. | pedalpete wrote: | For reference https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northrop_Tacit_Blue | [deleted] | theteapot wrote: | Ugly?! I quite like it. The mig15's stouter big brother. | rosywoozlechan wrote: | I agree, it's not ugly at all. Looks super cool. | bitwize wrote: | Some guy on YouTube builds model planes propelled by power tools. | This one reminds me of the plane he built with a leaf blower as | its propulsion system: | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBC6AZY_O80 | MichaelCollins wrote: | The Stipa-Caproni was certainly odd, but I wouldn't call it ugly. | Imho, the ugliest plane ever made was the M-15 Belphegor, which | has the unusual distinction of being a _jet powered_ crop dusting | biplane. | [deleted] | capableweb wrote: | Hey now, I think the M-15 Belphegor is not that ugly, just | unique :) | | The Boeing Phalcon 707 however, is a really ugly airplane. | Something with its look just make me wanna look away in shame. | anigbrowl wrote: | > Boeing Phalcon 707 | | I'm not sure what's worse, the nosecone or the name. | orthoxerox wrote: | The whole thread makes me want to rewatch Dastardly and | Muttley in Their Flying Machines. | 867-5309 wrote: | Charlie Brown would like a word.. | northwest65 wrote: | Now that is ugly, I'm dying to see if somebody can one up | that one! | tomcam wrote: | Even better... a jet-powered _biplane_ crop duster. And boy is | that some ugly shit. | p_l wrote: | The name Belphegor reflects some of the feelings about how it | looked, I guess, as it is one of the devils/demons in | Christian apocrypha | WalterBright wrote: | > the Stipa-Caproni was the direct predecessor of the turbofan | engine | | That's a bit of a stretch. The axial flow turbojet design's | compressor evolved in stages into the turbofan. | p1mrx wrote: | Looks like the old Google App Engine logo: | https://imgur.com/a/h1S7Nop | anigbrowl wrote: | Given that it's apparently extremely stable in flight and the | takeoff/landing are the main issues (largely because pilots | literally couldn't see what they were doing), I wonder if this | design will make a comeback for unmanned drones? it seems ideal | for low power applications where agility isn't the top | consideration. | mannykannot wrote: | The design appears to have an exit nozzle area at least equal to | that of the inlet. If so, this is sub-optimal from a propulsive | efficiency point of view. The cross-sectional area inside is | clearly less (mainly due to the engine nacelle), making this a | convergent-divergent nozzle, which is desirable only when the | flow goes supersonic. For subsonic conditions, a convergent | nozzle, with its exit narrower than its intake, is better. | | See de Piolenc, 'Ducted Fan Design vol. 1.', 2001 | kulor wrote: | Reminds me of the sleek F6 which looks like someone simply added | a cockpit and wings to a jet engine: | https://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/research/collections/british-ai.... | vehgtuft wrote: | dingaling wrote: | Same principle later implemented by Willard Custer but using wing | channelling rather than the fuselage | | https://www.historynet.com/custers-channel-wing/ | vehgtuftg wrote: | This isn't convincing. The turbofan is a good idea because the | propulsive efficiency is better than a turbojet. | | The Stipa is a ducted fan, but the resemblance to a turbofan is | superficial. | | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turbofan#Principles | Retric wrote: | You can also stick a propeller on a turbojet to increase | efficiency without the need for extra ducting though at a cost | of cabin noise. That saves weight, but copying this design is a | net gain at high speeds. | | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propfan | | It includes an interesting chart where Turbofan is only better | above about a Mach 0.75. | GekkePrutser wrote: | I absolutely love the Caproni C22J in Microsoft flight simulator. | He wasn't just building weird planes, this one is amazing. | hodgesrm wrote: | I came here expecting to see something about the A380. Completely | wrong but not disappointed! The Stipa Caproni is definitely in a | class of its own! | | p.s., A380s are nice inside but the outside hardly makes the | heart sing. They remind me of the Spruce Goose. [0] | | [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hughes_H-4_Hercules | chasil wrote: | A380s were a big bet that does not appear to have worked out. | | A few exponential increases in aircraft travelers could prove | this wrong, and restart production, but that does not seem a | near-term future. | | It was a noble effort, though. | bobthepanda wrote: | The major issue is increased open skies agreements and better | twin engine planes totally obviating a lot of hub-to-hub | travel. | | The only real hubs with enough traffic to support a double | deck plane are the massive Middle Eastern ones. | | Also, unlike the 747, the A380 is too heavy to be a | freighter. | chasil wrote: | Interesting. | | I did not know that it wasn't designed with this | flexibility. This seems short-sighted. | bobthepanda wrote: | The 747 was actually designed with this in mind from the | get-go (hence the raised jumbo hump to allow front-nose | loading), because the expectation was that they would not | be in service very long until supersonic transports | became the norm. | | The A380 is just too heavy when empty to carry much | freight. It was already a struggle to find engines that | could fly the thing, and for airports to upgrade runways | to deal with its weight. | nawgz wrote: | I think the weight constraint must make it incredibly hard to | fly outside of select routes; it is not trivial to build a | runway which you can land and takeoff those bad boys from | | I can't see a world they ever build more of them in | csours wrote: | The airplanes of the late 1920s through the late 1930s are | absolutely wild. Engines were starting to become more capable, | designers had more of a clue, people were willing to spend money | on things... but the designers didn't have the whole clue yet, so | you get some really amazing things like open top monoplanes that | flew at 10k feet. | | This YouTube channel covers some really interesting stuff from | that time frame: | | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0g8HiAbNAE | | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5uFNOtsucKE | | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwa9unx9mpQ | | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9Qz6c38sGk | | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVnxQCa4ieM | | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DNGBIqiOaw | | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KD0SYy-stt4 | | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2v5MvgAkaI | | Oh, and the Stipa Caproni herself: | | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3K0QPfmznY ___________________________________________________________________ (page generated 2022-10-09 23:00 UTC)