Real world Kerbal aircraft

[RizzoTheRat]

The Hughes XH-17 cropped up on another thread as being a real world aircraft that looks like a Kerbal designed it

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHHTUPdwtvQ

 

My other suggestions would be the Kaspian Sea Monster

and the GeeBee

 

but there have been loads of really outlandish designs over the years, so what do people think is the most Kerbal real world aircraft that actually flew? 

[SSgt Baloo]

My nominee is this thing:
 

 

[Norcalplanner]

I nominate the Bachem Natter.  A rocket plane that launches straight up with 4 SRBs attached to the side just screams "Kerbal!"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bachem_Ba_349

Edited February 24, 2016 by Norcalplanner

[HebaruSan]

0.90 aero ftw:

 

[razark]

2 hours ago, HebaruSan said:

0.90 aero ftw:

Maybe two or three weeks ago, I saw that thing.  Weird as pictures of it look, there's no way to compare to seeing the thing actually flying.

 

 

I submit the Hiller Pawnee:

Edited February 24, 2016 by razark

[RizzoTheRat]

6 hours ago, HebaruSan said:

0.90 aero ftw:

 

That concept still lives with the Airbus Beluga, used for delivering wings I believe

[Tex_NL]

 

[el_coyoto]

I know Kerbals are kind of pacific and all, but my two most Whiskey Tango Foxtrot aircraft flying things are from the Age of Contraptions :

1. The Convair B-36 Peacemaker : a heavy bomber using 4 jets and 6 propellers in a pusher configuration (an arrangement described as "four burning, six turning"), because, y’know, we don’t trust no stinkin’ jets.

Erratic reliability led to the wisecrack, "two turning, two burning, two joking (sic), and two smoking, with two engines not accounted for".
The best is that this model was used to test an inflight nuclear reactor (NB-36H) : check the wiki, it’s awesome!

2. Project Pluto aka "The Flying Crowbar" is a doomsday weapon in the shape of nuclear ramjet cruise missile, using boosters to get to ramspeed. It was supposed to fly fast and low enough with an unshielded nuclear weapon to make it a deadly weapon (shockwaves, radiations and all that) even BEFORE releasing its nuclear payloads (yep, plural :D). Dr Strangelove would have been soooo happy.

The engineer's son has an awesome site about it : http://www.merkle.com/pluto/pluto.html
And wikipedia also provides quite a bunch of details : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Pluto

 

Edited February 24, 2016 by el_coyoto

[p1t1o]

17 minutes ago, el_coyoto said:

...project pluto...

Oh man, that has been one of my all-time favorite concepts for ages...I love that thing!

I also love the reason it doesnt exist - several times during the cold war, on both sides, weapons systems were concieved (and in cases, partway developed) and then at some point someone thought "Hang on, this is crazy we're going to blow up the world here!" and it gets cancelled. A more sober description of this is cancellation due to predicted "destabilising" effects, ie: the weapon is cancelled due to being too powerful  (it will either trigger an attack by the enemy by its very existence or the enemy will invent an EVEN MORE deadly weapon). And who wants something even more deadly than Project Pluto in the hands of your enemy!

How Kerbal is that!

 

FYI:

It was the engine exhaust that produced fallout as it flew overhead, not the warheads (which are not overly radioactive, due to not being critical [yet]).

It flew so fast, so low, that it would have glowed cherry red.

The reactor and engine was built and tested.

The main reactor elements were manufactured by "Coors" - yes, the beer company. (The reactor elements were glass/ceramic, beer comes in bottles, thats the connection)

 

 

For another quite Kerbally cold war tech, and another of my all-time favorite things, google for the "Sprint" missile.

Fun fact: this one accelerated at 100Gs (Mach 10 in 3 seconds) went so fast in the lower atmosphere that it glowed *white* hot, in fact, an oxy-acetylene torch played over its nose [in flight, hypothetically] would have cooled it down. Special technologies had to be invented to communicate with the missile through its plasma-sheath (same thing that blacks out communications during re-entry) and exhaust plume.

 

Edited February 24, 2016 by p1t1o

[el_coyoto]

18 minutes ago, p1t1o said:

FYI:

It was the engine exhaust that produced fallout as it flew overhead, not the warheads (which are not overly radioactive, due to not being critical [yet]).

Yup, it's true that I was a bit succinct in describing its craziness, but that was my favorite "feature".
Also, thanks for reminding me of the Sprint missile, another fine piece of Cold War engineering at its best! 

Edited February 24, 2016 by el_coyoto

[LN400]

I posted this elsewhere but this has got to be my favourite KSP-ish aircraft, the Sack AS-6 frankenplane

http://www.luft46.com/misc/sackas6.html

[Tex Mechs Robot]

5 hours ago, RizzoTheRat said:

That concept still lives with the Airbus Beluga, used for delivering wings I believe

That "concept" is the NASA Guppy and is still used to this day :-)  It just transported the Orion capsule from Louisiana to Florida a couple of weeks ago.

[razark]

1 minute ago, Tex Mechs Robot said:

It just transported the Orion capsule from Louisiana to Florida a couple of weeks ago.

So that's what she was up to when I saw her.

[Tex Mechs Robot]

Another one like this is the Boeing Dreamlifter which is a modified 747-400. It is used to transport complete fuselages for the 787 from suppliers to manufacturing facilities.

[RizzoTheRat]

Didn't someone (@SSgt Baloo?) recently post something they'd built in KSP with a circular wing like that AS-6?

 

[Evanitis]

Lovely thread.

And hey, I know a few too. But don't ask me what are these or how to get one for yourself.

[SSgt Baloo]

I think several of these qualify:

Some of these, as well:

 

[LN400]

Rizzo: That would have been a riot. A KSP clone of a real life KSP plane.

Evanitis: The last one would be the Goblin, if I'm not mistaking. A prototype interceptor that was supposed to hang under a large bomber for the ride, launch to intercept then hook up with the bomber. Only problem was air under a massive bomber in flight did not favour an already unstable fighter design. It also reminds me of one of the greatest mad ideas of early aerial adventures, the USS Macon with its fighters:

[SSgt Baloo]

More about the Arup "flying heel lift", this one with motion pictures!

 

[Norcalplanner]

1 hour ago, LN400 said:

Rizzo: That would have been a riot. A KSP clone of a real life KSP plane.

Evanitis: The last one would be the Goblin, if I'm not mistaking. A prototype interceptor that was supposed to hang under a large bomber for the ride, launch to intercept then hook up with the bomber. Only problem was air under a massive bomber in flight did not favour an already unstable fighter design. It also reminds me of one of the greatest mad ideas of early aerial adventures, the USS Macon with its fighters:

The Goblin was carried inside one if the bays of the b-36 posted by El coyoto. I saw it st Wright-Patterson 20 years ago.

[LN400]

1 minute ago, Norcalplanner said:

The Goblin was carried inside one if the bays of the b-36 posted by El coyoto. I saw it st Wright-Patterson 20 years ago.

Ah! Thanks for the correction. My memory leaves a bit to be desired it seems.

[RizzoTheRat]

22 minutes ago, Norcalplanner said:

The Goblin was carried inside one if the bays of the b-36 posted by El coyoto. I saw it st Wright-Patterson 20 years ago.

"Landing" looks interesting.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g46q-RUkAmc

[SSgt Baloo]

5 minutes ago, RizzoTheRat said:

"Landing" looks interesting.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g46q-RUkAmc

It wasn't supposed to land at all, but problems with turbulence between the two planes made more than one forced landing a neccessity. They finally developed a different parasite concept, but using an F-84(?) as a reconnaissance plane. They'd carry the fighter near a point of interest, release it to do some reconnaissance, recover it, and go back to base.

Also relevant: 

 

Dept. of "...And furthermore...":
 

 

 

[magnemoe]

15 hours ago, Norcalplanner said:

I nominate the Bachem Natter.  A rocket plane that launches straight up with 4 SRBs attached to the side just screams "Kerbal!"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bachem_Ba_349

I think we have an winner, more so as it looks a lot like early kerbal rockets. 

[Tex_NL]

Purely by chance (google cookies probably) I came across this clip and It fits this thread perfectly.