Designed by Jules Verne |
Convair XF2Y-1 “Sea Dart” 1952
The Convair F2Y Sea Dart was a unique American seaplane fighter aircraft that rode on twin hydro-skis for takeoff. It only flew as a prototype, and never entered production, but it is still the only seaplane to exceed the speed of sound. The Sea Dart began as Convair’s's entry to a 1948 Navy contest for a supersonic interceptor aircraft. There was at the time much skepticism about operating supersonic aircraft from aircraft carrier decks, which explains why the US.Navy ordered so many subsonic fighters at that time. The worry had some foundation, since many supersonic designs of the time required long takeoff rolls and had high approach speeds, and were not very stable or easy to control - all factors that were troublesome on a carrier. Convair's proposal gained an order for two prototypes in late 1951. The aircraft was to be a delta-winged fighter with a watertight hull with twin retractable hydro-skis for takeoff and landing. When stationary or moving slowly in the water, the Sea Dart floated with the trailing edge of the wings touching the water. The skis were not extended until the aircraft reached about 10 mph (16 km/h) during its takeoff run. Twelve production aircraft were ordered before a prototype had even flown. No armament was ever fitted to any Sea Dart built, but the plan was to arm the production aircraft with four 20mm cannons and a battery of folding-fin unguided rockets. Four of this order were redesignated as service test vehicles, and an additional eight production aircraft were soon ordered as well. Power was to be a pair of afterburning Westinghouse XJ46 WE-02 turbojets, fed from intakes mounted high above the wings to avoid ingesting spray. These engines were not ready for the prototypes and twin Westinghouse J34-WE-32 engines of just over half the power were installed.The sole remaining prototype was fitted with an experimental single-ski configuration which proved to be rather more successful, while the second service test aircraft trialled (unsuccessfully) a new twin-ski design. Testing with several other experimental ski configurations continued with the prototype through 1957, after which it was placed into storage. All four remaining Sea Darts survive to this day. The prototype is awaiting restoration for the Smithonian Institute, and is in bad shape. The others are at the San Diego Aerospace Museum, the Wings of Freedom Air and Space Museum at Willow Grove, and at the Lakeland, Florida airport. Crew: 1 Length: 52 ft 7 in (16 m) Wingspan: 33 ft 8 in (10.3 m)Height: 16 ft 2 in (4.9 m) Wing area: 568 ft² (53 m²) Empty weight: 12,625 lb (5,730 kg)Loaded weight: 16,500 lb (7,480 kg) Max takeoff weight: 21,500 lb (9,750 kg)Powerplant: 2× Westinghouse J46-WE-2 {testbed: J43-WE-32 w/ 3,400 lbf each.[3] trubojets, 6,100. lbf (27 kN) each Maximum speed: 825 mph (1,325 km/h) Range: 513 mi (446 nm, 826 km) Service ceiling: 54,800 ft (16,700 m) Rate of climb: 17,100 ft/min (86.7 m/s)Wing loading: 29.0 lb/ft² (142 kg/m²) Thrust/weight: 1.45 Armament (planned)Guns: 4× 20 mm (0.787 in) cannon Rockets: Unguided rockets Missiles: 2× air to air missles USN 79 René Hieronymus Scale 1:72 Building time: approx 31 hrs. |