Convair Model 116
| Model 116 ConVairCar | |
|---|---|
|
|
| Type: | Flying car |
| Design country: | |
| Manufacturer: | |
| First flight: |
July 12, 1946 |
| Number of pieces: |
1 |
The Convair Model 116 ConvAirCar (by the designer Ted Hall as Hall Flying Automobile known) was a flying car , only a prototype was built by the. The Convair model 116 ConvAirCar was supposed to serve the post-war air transport market with mass-produced private transport. But neither this type nor an improved version, the Convair Model 118 , ever reached production readiness.
history
Consolidated Vultee Aircraft Corporation (later Convair) sought entry into the post-war aviation boom with a flying car for a large group of buyers. Theodore P. "Ted" Hall had investigated the concept of a flying car before the Second World War , after which the company had unsuccessfully proposed the idea of such a vehicle for use in command units during the war in 1941 . After the end of the war Hall and Tommy Thompson designed and developed the Convair Model 116 flying car. It was featured in Popular Mechanics magazine in 1946 .
construction and development
The flying car consisted of a two-seat body powered by a rear-mounted 26 hp engine, a detachable monoplane wing, a tail unit, and a towing propeller configuration with a 90 hp Franklin 4A4 engine that powered a two-bladed wooden propeller. The Model 116 (NX90654) flew on July 12, 1946 with pilot Russell Rogers at the wheel. In August 1946 the aircraft engine was replaced by a Franklin 4AL-225 with 95 hp. The only prototype completed 66 test flights.
Hall then developed a more complex version of the Model 116, with a refined body and a more powerful aircraft engine, called the Model 118 (this development was also called "ConvAirCar"). Two copies of the Model 118 had their maiden flight in 1947. After the crash of the first prototype, the second continued the test program. But enthusiasm for the project waned and Convair ended the program. The rights to the model 116 as well as to the model 118 were again transferred to Hall, to which TR Hall Engineering Corp. founded. The final version of the Model 118 never reached production readiness.
Technical data (Model 116)
General Dynamics Aircraft and their Predecessors
- Aircraft engine: 1 × Franklin 4A4 air-cooled boxer engine , 90 PS (67 kW)
- Car engine: 1 × Crosley air-cooled, 26 PS (19 kW) (supports the body)
- Empty weight of the vehicle component: 260 kg
- Mass of the aircraft component: 227 kg
- Top speed: 181 km / h (flight operations)
See also
literature
- John Wegg: General Dynamics Aircraft and their Predecessors. Putnam, London 1990, ISBN 0-85177-833-X .
- Bill Yenne: The World's Worst Aircraft. Dorset Press, New York 1993, ISBN 0-88029-490-6 .
