Republic XF-12 Rainbow

Designated XF-12, when F stood for 'photo' in the pre-1947 system, and later XR-12, the Rainbow was a high-speed high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft, intended to scout targets over Japan for the B-29s. This may have happened if the programme had started earlier, because when the war ended with the atomic bombings, the first aircraft was only partly complete. Republic still hoped to make the Rainbow into a 46-seat airliner, which they called the RC-2. Their selling point was speed, for which customers would pay a premium. Unfortunately, the expected postwar boom was not immediate and the airlines bought the slower but roomier DC-4 and Boeing 377 instead. An XR-12 was not delivered to the Air Force until late 1948, but crashed on its second test flight. The other Rainbow was sent to a gunnery range.

FACTS AND FIGURES

© Each engine nacelle was as long as a P-47 Thunderbolt.

© The tail fin design was later used in reduced size on the F-84 Thunderjet.

© To fit inside the confines of the laminar flow wing, the Rainbow had large, thin, single wheels. One wheel fell off after a hard landing but the XF-12 was only lightly damaged.

© The Rainbow had its own darkroom in order to develop reconnaissance images on the way back from a long photo mission.

Republic XF-12 Rainbow on YOUTUBE