XF-11 Coming!
December 5, 2011 by benf
Filed under featured, Guest Speakers, News
Hughes XF-11 Model for Coming to Expo.
From the Company that brought you the Planes of The Aviator, Aero Telemetry, comes the next chapter in our Hughes Aircraft Trilogy, the XF-11 with a 30 foot wing span. Aero Telemetry and Joe Bock have created the world’s largest, most historically accurate and detailed scale model of the Hughes XF-11.
Joe Bock and Aero Telemetry team readied XF-11 model for The Aviator movie.
Working with notable artist, author, & historian Mike Machat; Walter Boyne former director of the National Air and Space Museum; and several ex-Hughes Aircraft employees, Joe Bock and his team of Aviators were given access to “never before seen” photographs and original Hughes Aircraft blueprints detailing the intricacies of the complex and graceful XF-11. They have turned this information into one of the most sophisticated model airplanes ever built.
And so begins the life of the Aero Telemetry XF-11… version 2011.
According to Joe Bock, Founder or Aero Telemetry and AMA member, “In July of 2011, we received a phone call from a director asking us to provide an XF-11 similar to the one used in The Aviator for an upcoming Warren Beatty film. Filming is scheduled for 2012 and is expected to have an all-star cast.
With financing issues currently holding up production schedules we’re not sure who’s going to be involved with the film at this point. This, however, does not affect our decision to build a super scale version of the XF-11 for our own purpose, even if it isn’t used in the movie. Over the years, several of the original crew members from the Aero Telemetry team involved with The Aviator project have wanted to design, build and fly a new version of the XF-11 that featured an authentic all-metal wing, scale size radial engines, functioning counter-rotating propellers, and a fuselage/boom design that is as historically correct as possible.
We really wanted to be able to build that airplane on our own terms without regard for the compressed schedule and distractions we had during that project.”
To develop the 2011 XF-11, Joe’s Aero Telemetry team has used many of the innovations developed for the latest version of the H-1 Racer, a half-scale airplane weighing in at an amazing 123 lbs!
Second XF-11 in test flight during 1947.
The first XF-11 prototype, developed to be a reconnaissance aircraft, piloted by Hughes crashed on 7 July 1946 while on its maiden flight. Hughes elected to make an emergency landing on the golf course of the Los Angeles Country Club, but about 300 yards short of the course, the aircraft suddenly lost altitude and clipped three houses. The third house was completely destroyed by the fire resulting from the crash, and Hughes was nearly killed. The crash is dramatized in the 2004 film The Aviator. Only two XF-11 aircraft were built before the program was cancelled.
Looks like a giant P-38 that had been converted to an F5. As many know, almost half of all P-38′s were so converted because they had admirable characteristics for that role. Long range, high altitude capable (once they got the turbochargers working properly) and fast enough to outrun many if not most of the fighters of the day. Are there any performance specifications available?
The B-29 had Wright 3350 s for engines–not 4360s as you stated in the XF-11 tickler ad
Here’s some information on the PW-4360 engine and the B-28.
The PW-4360 was used in many (more than 30) airplane designs both commercial, experimental, and military. It was a popular engine due to its compact size (in diameter) and tremendous horsepower.
The B-29D was a B-29 variant that had PW4360 engines because the early Wright 3350′s crashed several airplanes, routinely caught on fire, and were miserably underpowered.
The B-29D was an improved version of the original B-29 design, featuring Pratt & Whitney R-4360-35 engines of 3500 hp (2600 kW) each — nearly 60% more powerful than the Wright R-3350. It also had a taller vertical stabiliser and a strengthened wing. The XB-44 was the testbed designation for the D model.
When World War II ended, drastic cutbacks were made in military spending, altering the outlook of the B-29 program. Because Congress was reluctant to continue funding wartime projects, the B-29D was redesignated B-50 to make it appear completely new. Congress fell for the trick, and the B-29D was kept alive, even though no planes flew under the original designation.
My dreams have been answered! I can’t wait to see it in person!
I want the CNC machine. Then you can make your own.
Hey guys if you want one in 1/12th scale just head over to http://www.parkscalemodels.com We have one already done and the prototype flew as predicted
The most common cause of maintenance headaches and catastrophic failures was the engine. Although the Wright R-3350 later became a trustworthy workhorse in large piston-engined aircraft, early models were beset with dangerous reliability problems. This problem was not fully cured until the aircraft was fitted with the more powerful Pratt & Whitney R-4360 “Wasp Major” in the B-29D/B-50 program, which arrived too late for World War II.