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For those with an interest in the Goodyear inflatoplane.

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fly_boy_bc

Well-Known Member
Joined
Aug 20, 2008
Messages
236
Location
Agssiz BC
Hello all!
I have started a Yahoo group dedicated to the Goodyear Inflatoplane.

http://ca.groups.yahoo.com/group/inflatoplane

There is a lot of information available on the web about this unique aircraft but much of it is very hard to find. I was VERY surprised when after a concerted effort to find vintage documentation I actually FOUND some! My unexpected finds include:

AIRMAT MATERIALS INVESTIGATION
OF ONE-PLACE INFLATOPLANE
GA-468
CONTRACT Nonr= 2368 (CO)
GER 10270 30 June 1961
Code 25500
19990610106


Stress analysis of Inflatoplane model GA_468 <-----Lookie here!
OER-9861
S(or 8?)97-3
Contract No. Nonr=2368(C0)
Jan. 16 1961
19990624002

RESEARCH MEMORANDUM
WIND-TUNNEL INVESTIGATION OF THE AERODYNAMIC <-----And here!
AND STRUCTURAL DEFLECTION CHARACTERISTICS
OF THE GOODYEAR INFLATOPLANE
By Bennie W. Cocke, Jr.
Langley Aeronautical Laboratory
Langley Field, Va.
NATIONAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE
FOR AERONAUTICS
WASHINGTON
September I0, 1958

And the 16mm. Films of the wind tunnel testing at LANGLEY.

I have searched the web many times before but I went much "Deeper" this time,(14 hours overnight) it was WELL worth it! These materials are amazing! This was a real aircraft development program and the results were fantastic. The death of the test pilot had nothing to do with the aircraft structure rather it was a control system failure. As for the comment in Wikipedia attributed to some Army official to the effect that the Inflatoplane could be taken down by a "well aimed bow and arrow" it's just not true. Tests were conducted with leaks and at lowered pressures and it flew and responded down to 3 Lbs/in. (from 7)

There are two important documents missing from this series however:
1.......GER 10118 "Utility Handbook Flight Operation, Maintenance and
Inspection, Inflatoplane Model GA 468", 6 March 1961.

2.......GER 9066, "Demonstration Progress and Instrumentation Report on the GA 468 Inflatoplane", 1 November 1958.

Yet another missing document:
GAC letter X52-764 to ONR, dated 11 November 1960.
And another:

MIL-C-21189 (AER), Amendment 1, dated 15 July 1959.
I do not know what these two docs are but they are referenced in AIRMAT MATERIALS INVESTIGATION OF ONE-PLACE INFLATOPLANE GA-468
(May be unimportant)

Please feel free to join the group and access the documents all I ask is that you keep your eyes and ears open for material that can be added to the collection.


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