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Ten Military Aircraft that Never Made it Past the Test Phase
As one would expect, planes have to go through a lot of trial runs before the military is willing to put the money and resources required into their production.
So when an airplane disintegrates in midflight or can only be operated successfully by expert pilots with hours of training, that plane joins hundreds of others that were great in theory, but never made it to mass production. Here we present you with ten of the ambitious and flawed aircraft concepts, and why only a few of them ever got made.
10. HK-1 Hercules (The Spruce Goose)
While the original idea for the HK-1 Hercules came from Henry J. Kaiser, a shipbuilder during World War II and the U.S. Army, Howard Hughes was the one who brought the Spruce Goose into existence in 1947.
The 400,000-pound wooden airplane had a 320-foot wingspan (thats just 40 feet less than a football field) and was proposed as a way to build a plane that could carry troops and cargo without using precious wartime materials. The plane had a single large hull, produced thrust with eight engines and by the time it was completed in 1947, had cost the U.S. government $22 million and Hughes $18 million.
Hughes planned for the plane to carry 750 fully equipped troops or one M4 Sherman tank. The HK-1 was the largest airplane ever built up to that point, in fact, it was three times larger than any plane that came before it. Despite all the money and time that went into its creation, the plane only flew once; it traveled a distance of one mile, at a height of about 33 feet.
9. HZ-1 Aerocycle
The HZ-1 Aerocycle - known as the motorcylce of the air was one of several single person flying platforms that the U.S. Army looked into during the 1950s and 60s.
The Aerocycle carried a single pilot and its engine on a circular platform, all of which was located just above two 15-foot long rotating propellers. The crafts pilot would stand toward the rear of the platform, secured by a tether attached to the steering column.
Single person flying platforms were going to be used for reconnaissance missions. The belief was that they were easy to pilot so little experience was needed to operate one. They learned otherwise during the testing phase when two pilots crashed because the Aerocycle was too hard to steer without experience.
8. X-13 Vertijet
Its origins sound more like a bet than a Navy contract; the Ryan Company was tasked with seeing if they could develop a plane that could launch from the vertical position like a rocket. The Navy came up with the idea as a way to launch aircraft from a submarine. The nose of the aircraft had a hook on the underside, which was used to hang the Vertijet from the vertical trailer-bed landing platform. From there it was able to take off, achieve horizontal flight and then land back in the vertical position.
The plane was finally tested in 1957, but was never developed further due to a lack of operational requirement. The military simply had no use for it on the battlefield anymore.
7. XC-120 Packplane
In an attempt to create a plane that was easier to unload, Fairchild developed the Packplane, which had removal cargo pods.
The pod was positioned below the fuselage and made getting cargo on and off the plane much quicker the pod could be removed, a new one placed in and the aircraft would be ready for take off again. The Packplanes upper component had a flat bottom and could be flown without the cargo hold being attached.
The company only built one XC-120, but the idea was never pursued further as it didn′t really improve that much on airplanes with traditional cargo carrying compartments.
6. XF-85 Goblin
The XF Goblin resembles a plane you expect to see a video game character piloting. It was conceived during World War Two, and was supposed to be a plane within a plane.
Nicknamed the Flying Egg, the Goblin was meant to act as a defender a parasite fighter which would be dropped from the bomb bay of the mother ship to deal with enemy fighters while its carrier, the Peacemaker B-36, went on its way. Because it needed to fit in the bay of the B-36, there were a lot of size constraints. The Goblin could only be sixteen feet long, and only five feet wide when stowed. Its wings were designed to fold up alongside each side of the fuselage to fit into the B-36.
There were multiple reasons that the Goblin never made it past the testing phases. The little plane was no match for conventional enemy fighters: it was too slow and too lightly armed. In addition, the increasing range of jet escort fighters, thanks to the advent of in-flight refueling, allowed them to accompany bombers on their full missions.
As one would expect, planes have to go through a lot of trial runs before the military is willing to put the money and resources required into their production.
So when an airplane disintegrates in midflight or can only be operated successfully by expert pilots with hours of training, that plane joins hundreds of others that were great in theory, but never made it to mass production. Here we present you with ten of the ambitious and flawed aircraft concepts, and why only a few of them ever got made.
10. HK-1 Hercules (The Spruce Goose)
While the original idea for the HK-1 Hercules came from Henry J. Kaiser, a shipbuilder during World War II and the U.S. Army, Howard Hughes was the one who brought the Spruce Goose into existence in 1947.
The 400,000-pound wooden airplane had a 320-foot wingspan (thats just 40 feet less than a football field) and was proposed as a way to build a plane that could carry troops and cargo without using precious wartime materials. The plane had a single large hull, produced thrust with eight engines and by the time it was completed in 1947, had cost the U.S. government $22 million and Hughes $18 million.
Hughes planned for the plane to carry 750 fully equipped troops or one M4 Sherman tank. The HK-1 was the largest airplane ever built up to that point, in fact, it was three times larger than any plane that came before it. Despite all the money and time that went into its creation, the plane only flew once; it traveled a distance of one mile, at a height of about 33 feet.
9. HZ-1 Aerocycle
The HZ-1 Aerocycle - known as the motorcylce of the air was one of several single person flying platforms that the U.S. Army looked into during the 1950s and 60s.
The Aerocycle carried a single pilot and its engine on a circular platform, all of which was located just above two 15-foot long rotating propellers. The crafts pilot would stand toward the rear of the platform, secured by a tether attached to the steering column.
Single person flying platforms were going to be used for reconnaissance missions. The belief was that they were easy to pilot so little experience was needed to operate one. They learned otherwise during the testing phase when two pilots crashed because the Aerocycle was too hard to steer without experience.
8. X-13 Vertijet
Its origins sound more like a bet than a Navy contract; the Ryan Company was tasked with seeing if they could develop a plane that could launch from the vertical position like a rocket. The Navy came up with the idea as a way to launch aircraft from a submarine. The nose of the aircraft had a hook on the underside, which was used to hang the Vertijet from the vertical trailer-bed landing platform. From there it was able to take off, achieve horizontal flight and then land back in the vertical position.
The plane was finally tested in 1957, but was never developed further due to a lack of operational requirement. The military simply had no use for it on the battlefield anymore.
7. XC-120 Packplane
In an attempt to create a plane that was easier to unload, Fairchild developed the Packplane, which had removal cargo pods.
The pod was positioned below the fuselage and made getting cargo on and off the plane much quicker the pod could be removed, a new one placed in and the aircraft would be ready for take off again. The Packplanes upper component had a flat bottom and could be flown without the cargo hold being attached.
The company only built one XC-120, but the idea was never pursued further as it didn′t really improve that much on airplanes with traditional cargo carrying compartments.
6. XF-85 Goblin
The XF Goblin resembles a plane you expect to see a video game character piloting. It was conceived during World War Two, and was supposed to be a plane within a plane.
Nicknamed the Flying Egg, the Goblin was meant to act as a defender a parasite fighter which would be dropped from the bomb bay of the mother ship to deal with enemy fighters while its carrier, the Peacemaker B-36, went on its way. Because it needed to fit in the bay of the B-36, there were a lot of size constraints. The Goblin could only be sixteen feet long, and only five feet wide when stowed. Its wings were designed to fold up alongside each side of the fuselage to fit into the B-36.
There were multiple reasons that the Goblin never made it past the testing phases. The little plane was no match for conventional enemy fighters: it was too slow and too lightly armed. In addition, the increasing range of jet escort fighters, thanks to the advent of in-flight refueling, allowed them to accompany bombers on their full missions.
