All this is from August '50 Air Tails. Capt. Barnaby wrote the article championing the Convertaplane concept. Frank Tinsley did the art. I suspect Tinsley is responsible for this particular convertaplane. I imagine switching from helicopter to airplane, high above a crowded metropolis, would be a heart stopper for all involved.
Built as a No Cal, this would make a swell noncompetitive rule beater- the best kind as you avoid the ugly cries of "foul" from the beaten. You could carry gobs of rubber. A FAC No cal would be about 30" long. And the push-me-pull-you arrangement means there is no limit, caused by torque considerations, to the fatness of the motor and the size of the props. Why I think I'll try it myself.
And I did.. see below
I made this NoCal Convertaplane. It flies fine. But not, so far, well enough to beat the more conventional FAC NoCals.
The non Convertaplane part of the picture is a much modified engraving of a design for a canon foundary in the proposed city of Chaux, designed for Louis XV by Nicolas Ledoux.
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