Aircraft Quiz #53

[Doug Robertson]

I sense my quizzes are getting perhaps too easy, so here is my next stumper, that seems almost unbelievable! But, it actually flew. This dredged from my military service background of being an Aviation Electronics Technician-Radar, ATR-1 many years ago. (I am well into my ninth decade).

What aircraft intended to carry its production fire-control radar's air-intercept radome in the extra-large spinner forward of its contra-rotating propellers, but could never solve the problem of devising a method of stopping the radome/emitter antenna seeker group from also spinning?

1a. Make of aircraft, 1b. Nomenclature, 1c. Model name. 1d. Aircraft mission design goal, 1e. Year of first flights.

[SunvisorFlyer]

I keep looking for something that fits the profile but I'm having no luck.

Given that you pulled it from your ATR experience, am I to assume that the aircraft in question comes from the Americas rather than Britain or Russia (for example)?

[Doug Robertson]

Well, not from that experience in Naval Aviation specifically, but from my general aircraft and airborne Radar knowledge in the 1950s-think that period of an American military aircraft.

I thank you for your continued interest in these puzzles. I admit this is a difficult one.

[Doug Robertson]

With over 500 views and no answers, I seem to have achieved a degree of difficulty in this quiz. Here are the answers, which may surprise you.

1a. CONVAIR
1b. XFY-1
1c. "POGO"
1d. VTOL point defense fighter
1e. 1954

The US Navy requested designs for a point defense fighter that could take off and land vertically, powered by a powerful turboprop with counter-rotating propellers. Two manufacturers responded; Convair with the XFY-1 "POGO" and Lockheed with the XFV-1 "SALMON." This quiz is about POGO, the design that was built, tested and rejected beyond the one test aircraft that did make flights.

Much difficulty ensued in getting the POGO test pilot safely back down on a landing. If the vertical descent rate was greater than 10 feet/second, wind tunnel tests showed that POGO would tumble out of control. The sole test pilot, "Skeets" Coleman, was the only man to ever fly POGO. On landing he would have to look over his shoulder, adjust his ejection seat to a 45 degree angle, carefully judging the rate of descent while traveling backwards-think about that!

There was no zero-zero ejection seat at that time (a description, by the way, that Martin-Baker Aircraft, British maker of ejection seats, abhors). I know, as I toured their works at Upper Denham in September, 1971 on official business, meeting Sir James Martin who was still alive then, and getting a full factory briefing.

A further problem for "tail-sitter" POGO was its engine, an Allison XT-40 5,850 Hp turboprop that was unreliable, helping kill the POGO flight test program. Both the XFY and the XFV programs were cancelled in mid-1955.

Unlike a helicopter, POGO could not auto-rotate to a safe landing. A total of four castering wheels were fixed on the ends of the delta wings and its opposing tail surfaces. To board the aircraft a very tall ladder was required, with Coleman then lying on his back during the startup and takeoff sequence. Special moveable hangars were needed for mechanics to work on the engine. Armament was to be four 20mm cannons or a battery of air-to-air rockets in any production version.

The nose spinner was so large in diameter in order to accommodate two three blade each counter-rotatating propellers. The propeller tips were square, with a huge noise signature. Never to be solved was how to incorporate a non-spinning air-intercept radar's radome within the huge spinner. Slip-rings? Don't even go there!

POGO Specs

One-Off
Crew-1
Length-35'
Wingspan- 27' 7"
Tailspan-22' 11"
Powerplant-One 5,850 Hp Allison XT-40 Turboprop
Max speed- 610 mph
Weight maximum-16,250 lb.

Thank you for all who visited this quiz.