Looks like a Fruitbat to me.
Blackburn F.7/30 on the July 11th update at:
Looks like a Fruitbat to me.
Blackburn F.7/30 on the July 11th update at:
Way too small and pretty for a Fruitbat. Besides, the Fruitbat is a quasiplane, not a biplane.
So, does that mean that the Fruitbat used a Quasimoto to power it?
I'm sorry. I have no excuse. :-)
Tom
in article snipped-for-privacy@mb-m23.aol.com, Maiesm72 at snipped-for-privacy@aol.com wrote on 7/12/04 7:36 PM:
Does this mean it's a hunch-backed quasiplane? Is it French?
(I have no excuse either.)
MB
Well, it certainly sounds like a Fruitbat:
"It was a one-off that never flew only because it broke its back while taxiing; that must have been comforting to the pilot."
Cheers,
The Keeper (of too much crap)
The Hispano-Suiza Quasimodo or the Gnome-Rhone Quasimodo? (Thinks about it...) Hmm, actually, it was both. Some engine designer tried to combine the benefits of the inline and the radial rotary in the same motor. The cylinder banks would clash into one another with resounding "bong"'s. Farleigh was the only builder to even consider mounting the thing in an airplane. The torque would rip propellers to shreds--and nobody was brave enough to hand-crank the thing.
Stephen "FPilot" Bierce/IPMS #35922 {Sig Quotes Removed on Request}
So, was the Fruitbat with that powerplant known as a Bongbat? A Fruitbong?
Oh, brother! This has to end somewhere.
Tom
Tom questioned:
No, the pilot used a "bong" before each and every test flight to build up enough courage to get into the contraption.
Tom further commented:
It does/did...."BONG" was the sound of the Fruitbat, MK VI prototype hitting the hanger during a lowspeed pass at the test facility. (There was no highspeed capability.)
Now lets get back to "Let's split this group" .We're 27 months behind schedule!!
Oxmoron1 Your mother builds Combat Vacs.....
However, that was with the production RR "Emu" 27cyl. inverted Y engine. The various Fruitbats all "flew" with variations of the RR Ratite line of engines (Moa, Emu, Ostrich, Rhea, Cassowary, Kiwi)
Steve noted:
Steve, Since you have done such an exhaustive study on Fruitbat powerplants perhaps you can comment on the RR "DoDo" variant which supposedly disappeared?
Oxmoron1
That's how my ex-wife's father ended his flying carreer. He tried to take a PT-19 through an empty hanger. He hit the inside wall about ten ft. in, doing serious damage to his back and washing him out. After going through gunnery and navigation schools then retraining on B-29s he ended up on a troop ship to Saipan when the war ended.
Tom
Ah, yes, Farleigh's early Stealth experiment, unfortunately cut short when the test crew forgot where they left it after a test flight.
Jon.
I'm not familiar with the Dodo, a powerplant that might have been in the group of technological mishaps that fell under the Official Secrets Act (as did the Fruitbat itself for many years). However, with the desperate efforts to get the Fruitbat in the air (and away from the grounds of Farleigh Ltd.) I would not be suprised at what might have been strapped on to the horrible things.
All known examples of that engine were clubbed out of existence shortly after production. The story goes that they were too slow to get away...
a friend in the isles swears there's an airframe living under an overpass on one of their motorways. takes pot shots from a bent lewis gun at anyone approaching.
in article snipped-for-privacy@mb-m15.aol.com, OXMORON1 at snipped-for-privacy@aol.com wrote on 7/13/04 3:29 PM:
If the aircraft were equipped with Bongs, that may explain why the crew often lost the ground or believed they were invisible (early stealth concept: perception over reality).
MB
Prompting the new Bruckheimer movie, "Dude, Where's My Plane?"
Bill Banaszak, MFE
The Dodo was actually the last project of the Pobjoy company while under control of Shorts. It was a license built Gnome Rhone 2-2 (or Deux-Deux)
4 cylinder air-cooled three-stroke radial rated at 0-78 HP, the low end of the scale being attained quickly when opposed cylinders fired simultaneously, as the engine was prone to detonation (in both senses of the term.) It was considered not for the Fruitbat VI, but as the powerplant for the ultralight observation plane planned to be mounted on a trapeze between the main landing skids of the projected Fruitbat VIIa; this small plane was to be called the Fruitpit. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your perspective), none of this reached the hardware stage besides the Dodo. The last known example of the Dodo is currently in use as an anchor for a houseboat moored on the Darling River in Australia.There might also be some confusion with the APU intended to power the multiple passenger relief tubes in the commercial version of the Fruitbat. This unit was often referred to as the 'Doo Doo,' though it is doubtful the moniker had any relation to the manufacturer's actual designation. This item is in fact not identifiable at this distance in history, as it was indeed covered by the Official Secrets Act, as a close relative of the Assistant Minister of APU Production made a small fortune on this device.
Mark Schynert
Milton intoned:
The bongs were used before flight. This use lead to the slang term for Fruitbat crew members which was adopted by US West Coast recreational water persons and persists until today................
"Hey Dewd!" or "Hey Dude!"
RC MFE
"Dude! you got a Fruitbat!" "So did you, Dude! What's the name of my Fruitbat?"
"Swweeet! What's the name of my Fruitbat?"
"Dude! What about mine?"
"Sweeeeeeeet!"
etc. etc. ...
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