Douglas Cloudster II
| Douglas Cloudster II | |
|---|---|
 Douglas Cloudster II in flight |
|
| Type: | Prototype of a light touring aircraft with a tail propeller |
| Design country: | |
| Manufacturer: | |
| First flight: |
March 12, 1947 |
| Commissioning: |
Flight tests ended in 1949 |
| Number of pieces: |
1 |
The Douglas Cloudster II was the prototype of a five-seater light touring aircraft of the late 1940s. It was of an unusual design; two concealed piston motors drove a single rear propeller . Only one copy was built, and it only flew twice, as it turned out to be too expensive to be a commercial success.
Development and history
During the early 1940s, Douglas Aircraft Corporation developed a configuration for twin-engine airplanes in which engines hidden in the fuselage powered propellers located behind a conventional tail unit. By avoiding structures on the wings, friction (aerodynamic resistance) could be reduced. This arrangement was first demonstrated with the Douglas XB-42 "Mixmaster" bomber, which demonstrated 30% drag reduction compared to conventional twin-engine designs. At the same time, any problems that occur under asymmetric thrust when flying with only one engine have been eliminated.
Given the success of the XB-42, Douglas adopted this promising new design for a medium-haul aircraft, the never-built DC-8 "Skybus" passenger aircraft, and a five-seater light aircraft for use in business and charter traffic called the Model 1015 or Cloudster II.
The Cloudster II was a low-wing aircraft with a retractable nose wheel landing gear . The pilot and four passengers sat in a pressurized cabin far in front of the unearthed wing. Two air-cooled piston engines were housed in the rear part of the fuselage. They drove a single two-bladed propeller 2.5 m in diameter. This was mounted behind the tail unit and was driven by shafts that had been taken over from the Bell P-39 fighter .
The Cloudster II made its maiden flight on March 12, 1947. Although performance and handling were good, it suffered from severe vibration and tended to overheat on the ground. After only two flights of the prototype, further development was given up at the end of 1947. The civil aircraft market did not develop as hoped after the war, while the sales price rose from the originally planned $ 30,000 to $ 68,000, making this aircraft economically unprofitable.
Technical specifications
| Parameter | Data |
|---|---|
| crew | 1 |
| Passengers | 4th |
| length | 12.13 m |
| span | 10.78 m |
| height | 3.66 m |
| Empty mass | 1475 kg |
| Top speed | 370 km / h |
| Service ceiling | 6800 m |
| Range | 1530 km (fully occupied), 1890 km (transfer flight) |
| Engines | two piston engines Continental E250, each 190 kW |
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Francillon, René J. McDonnell Douglas Aircraft since 1920 . London: Putnam, 1979. ISBN 0-370-00050-1 , pp. 372-377 et al. 432–434 and on “DC-8” pp. 714–715