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Bizarre Homebuilt

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T

Tinbuzzard

Here is a real weirdie that actually flew! These photos were passed on to me by an airport bum aquaintance who is chock full of really good aviation lore. (He worked for Howard Hughes for a time and also pounded fairings and drove rivets on the P-51 prototype)

Time: 1952. Location: Anchorage, Alaska. Power: McCullogh drone engine.
Why: God only knows.

It made at least one runway flight of several hundred feet with no turns reported. The front rudder behind the engine nacelle was movable and may have controlled roll in conjunction with the vanes along the sides. I don't know if the vanes moved, or acted as slots on a very low aspect ratio surface. Sometimes human... er, aah, cough..... ingenuity is amazing!
 

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