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As well as their famous blimps, the Goodyear Company built military
aircraft under licence, such as versions of the Vought Corsair. Of course,
what they really wanted to do was build rubber aeroplanes and they got their
chance in the 1950s. The US Army was particularly open to new ideas and
sponsored development of the Inflatoplane (sometimes called the Inflatibird).
Goodyear claimed it was 'suitable for all types of Army field operations,
particularly reconnaissance'. It could be packed into a 1.25 cubic metre container and transported by truck, jeep trailer or aircraft. One
proposed use was to
drop the container
behind enemy lines so
downed pilots could
rescue themselves.
Testing of a single- and
two-seat version carried
on into the 1970s, but
no orders were ever
forthcoming.
| CREW | 2 |
| ENGINE | 1 x 60hp McCulloch 4318 piston engine |
| WEIGHTS |
| Take-off weight | 336 kg | 741 lb |
| DIMENSIONS |
| Wingspan | 8.53 m | 27 ft 12 in |
| Length | 5.82 m | 19 ft 1 in |
| Height | 1.22 m | 4 ft 0 in |
| PERFORMANCE |
| Cruise speed | 113 km/h | 70 mph |
| Gary B, fly_boy_bc(@)yahoo.com, 19.08.2008 http://ca.groups.yahoo.com/group/inflatoplane | | Jim Stoveken, missy2(@)atmc.net, 24.07.2008 the surviving test pilot of that plane now lives in Washington NC. His name is Phil Talbott and he is a very good friend of mine. |
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Do you have any comments about this aircraft ?
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| FACTS AND FIGURES© The Inflatoplane was pressurized
at 544mbar, less than a car
tyre, and could be inflated in less
than 10 minutes. Endurance was
over five hours on the two-seater. © The original single-seat model
had a 40hp Nelson
engine and the two-seater had a
60hp McCulioch. In
both cases the engine was started
by hand-swinging the propeller. © The Inflatoplane's
undercarriage allowed the
packed-up aeroplane to be
moved around like a
wheelbarrow.
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