Weldon B. Cooke, an early pioneer who taught himself to fly in a Curtiss pusher, started construction of a flying boat project in California.
The craft’s biplane wings rested on a full length boat hull that ended in a tail group supported by struts. Its single tractor propeller, mounted forward of the wing, was driven by a belt running from a 75-hp Roberts engine. Sometime in 1913, Cooke shipped the parts by rail to Sandusky, Ohio, where the aircraft was completed and flown.
Although the “Irene,” depicted in this image, suffered from design and construction flaws, she became famous locally when Cooke raced her against C. B. Lockwood’s motorboat “Chinook.” Cooke attained speeds of 35 miles per hour in the water and 50 miles per hour in the air. Lockwood’s fast motor boat reached a speed of 23 miles per hour.
California aviator Weldon B. Cooke teamed up with E. W. Roberts of the Roberts Motor Company, Frank Frey, James Flynn, Sr., and James Flynn, Jr. to found the Cooke Aeroplane Company.
Weldon B. Cooke, an early pioneer who taught himself to fly in a Curtiss pusher, started construction of a flying boat project in California.
After he left Sandusky to assist Benoist with the St.Petersburg-Tampa Air Boat Line, Cooke was killed during an exhibition flight in 1914.
The Cooke Avian Adventurer is a one-off design constructed of riveted alloy extrusions, and fabric covered. Design and built by Bruce Cooke of Cambridge, New Zealand, construction was over 10 years and the approximate cost to build was NZ$10000-$20000. A two seat side by side plus large baggage bay, ultralight, there are full dual controls.
The aircraft is influenced by the classic taildraggers such as the Piper Cub, Cessna Bird Dog and the Auster series. Construction is of rivetted interlocking aluminium extrusions. This construction method results in a high component count but it avoids the necessity for expensive sheetmetal tooling. The outward sloping cabin sides reduce the amount of bending required for the bottom longerons while allowing very generous shoulder room for the two side by side occupants and giving an almost directly down view through the fully glazed upward opening doors. The airframe is covered with Stits Polyfiber fabric.
The engine is Subaru EJ 20 “Matariki” (Subaru and Matariki both refer to the cluster of 6 stars in the Taurus constellation named Pleiades by the ancient Greeks), which produces 140 HP Nominal and drives a 3 bladed electrically variable Ivoprop through a Neil Hintz gearbox.
Bruce Cooke’s Avian Adventurer ZK-CKE c/n AV08-1 was first registered on 19/11/08, although it did not fly until March 2011.
The first flight in March 2011 was at Hamilton with test pilot Bob Monds.
John Cook was trained in England and emigrated to the US to work on aircraft when the UK industry imploded in the 60’s. After stints at several companies including Helio, he went to work for Northrop on the 747 (Northrop designed and built the center and aft fuselage) and after work in the evenings and on weekends, several co-workers went down to Torrance and helped production design this plane in return for stock in the company. They built a prototype and a static test article, intending to obtain an FAA Type Certificate. The aircraft first flew in May 1969 and performed well; it passed static tests with very minor fixes. During a spin test, the FAA pilot kept the power on during the first turn of the spin – we had always closed the throttle as it stalled – and the plane entered an unrecoverable spin mode. John and the FAA pilot parachuted to safety, but the plane N21CA fell into the LA Harbor.
They built a second prototype, N72CA first flying in November 1971, and John Cook and John Parker test flew it to determine a safe aft CG limit. During one of these tests in January 1972 they got into the same situation and bailed out. JP was fine but Cook’s parachute was hit by the spinning plane and he was killed.
The company continued for a while and a third prototype was first flown in 1972 (N123CA) and an attempt was made to market the project as a homebuilt. This was not successful, the company folded and the plane was sold.
Founded by John A. Cook in 1968 at Torrance, California, to market JC-1 Challenger four-seat cabin monoplane. Two prototypes built (first flight May 1969). Third prototype flew November 1971, but crashed January 1972, killing Cook. Company continued, hoping for certification with a fourth (modified) aircraft, first flown 1972, but activities ceased in mid-1970s.
The Westland Bush Plane was built by Russell Cook of Kaihinu, north of Hokitika, New Zealand, around 2008. It may look like a Cub, but the only original bit of a Cub is one wing. The dimensions are all bigger than the standard PA-18, and the whole lot is built from scratch. The tundra tyres are for landing in the West Coast river beds.
Registered ZK-WBP (c/n 0017251) the Westland Bush Plane has an extra side door to the luggage area behind the rear seat.
It received some minor damage on 23 July 2011 whilst landing on a river bed.
This “Flying Machine”, apparently also called the “Queen of the Air” was built in Mansfield, Ohio, by Daniel McFarland Cook an inventor who was granted some patents but died in poverty, known locally as “Crazy Cook”. Built in 1859, it was to “navigate the air at will with an inconceivable velocity”, “elevated, propelled and directed solely by the force of the electric engine, without hydrogen gas, steam fans or rudders”. It never did, it ended it’s days as a corn crib, a chicken coop and a smokehouse, and was found again in the 1960s. It has now finally landed at the North Central Ohio Industrial Museum.
As the result of Convertawings’ further developmental work on this four rotor configuration, a first prototype was completed in 1955 and it has flown successfully.
The four rotors of this helicopter are mounted laterally on outriggers in two tandem pairs. The four rotors were positioned in an “H” configuration, and the design incorporated simplified hubs with strap-mounted blades, a form of “hinge-less” rotor. The control mechanism is extremely simplified and obtained by differential change of thrust between the rotors. There is no cyclic control, but only collective control. In the experimental prototype the fuselage was of tubular steel, the booms supporting the rotors in aluminium alloy. Power is provided by two engines connected to the rotor drive system by multiple vee belts. Shafting and transmission cases ensure inter-connection between the four rotors, so that either engine can drive all of them. There is a tricycle undercarriage with two wheels in the rear section and a nose wheel which can swivel.
The first flights took place in March 1956, flown by its designer and test pilot, D.H.Kaplan. Despite successful testing and development, military support for the Quadrotor ceased after cutbacks in defense spending.
The Quadarotor A was a small test vehicle for the Projecled 60-76 passenger Model E Quadrotor on the same general lines. The Model E is intended to have four R-1820 piston-engines or Dart turboprops, mounted directly under the rotors.
However, the design – particularly its control system – was a precursor of future experimental vertical-rising aircraft.
Model A Engines: 2 x Continental 0-90, 90hp Rotor diameter: 5.92m / 15 ft Gross weight: 998kg / 1,950 lb Number of seats: 1
In March 1949 the US Air Force’s Air Research and Development Command (ARDC) invited proposals for a supersonic bomber, and after submissions had been reduced to two, from Boeing and Consolidated-Vultee’s Fort Worth Division, the latter was selected in August 1952 to develop its Convair Model 4 designed to the hardware stage under contract MX-1964. On 10 December 1952 the designation B-58 was allocated and late in that year Convair received a contract for 18 aircraft, to be powered by a new J79 engine for which General Electric received a development contract at the same time. The performance requirement for the new aircraft demanded considerable advances in aerodynamics, structures and materials. The resulting design, one of the first to incorporate the NACA/ Whitcomb-developed area-rule concept, was a delta-winged aircraft with four engines in underslung pods, a slim fuselage and, an under-fuselage pod. The thin fuselage provided some engineering issues early on as it prevented internal carriage of bombs and the required amount of fuel to power the four turbojet engines and allow for any reasonable operating radius to be achieved. As a result, a large external droppable two-component 18.90m long pod was affixed to the underside of the fuselage. This pod contained extra fuel and a nuclear weapon along with other mission-specific specialized gear. The three-man crew, in individual tandem cockpits, were provided with jettisonable escape capsules.
Distinctive features of the B-58 included sophisticated inertial guidance navigation and bombing systems. Extensive use of heat-resistant honeycomb sandwich skin panels were integrated into the construction of the wings and fuselage for high altitude-high velocity flight.
XB-58
B-36 transporting the XB-58 airframe using eight of ten engines (note both of the inboard propellers have been removed for this flight)
Convair easily transported the XB-58 prototype by air from Ft. Worth TX to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base (AFB) in Ohio for testing with the use of a modified Peacemaker bomber.
B-36 and XB-58 airframe mating, note the propeller has been removed from the wing’s inboard engine as well as the strut assembly joining the two wings together.
The left and right inboard engines had their propellers removed, along with the bomb bay doors since they did not clear the wings of the XB-58 which was mounted underneath the bomber.
Since the airframe was the subject of testing the XB-58 did not have the engines attached and the vertical fin assembly was left off, as well.
In June 1954 the 18-aircraft order was reduced to two XB-58 prototypes and 11 YB-58A pre-production examples, together with 31 pods. The first of these was rolled out at Fort Worth on 31 August 1956, making its first flight on 11 November 1956 piloted by B. A. Erikson. On 30 December, still without a pod, the XB-58 became the first bomber to exceed Mach 1.
A further 17 YB-58As were ordered on 14 February 1958, together with 35 MB-1 bomb pods, to bring to 30 the number of aircraft available for the manufacturer’s test programme and ARDC service trials with the 6592nd Test Squadron and the 3958th Operational Test and Evaluation Squadron at Carswell AFB.
The United States Air Force ordered between September 1958 and 1960 86 total Hustlers, which were operational in the Strategic Air Command (SAC) between 1960 and 1970.
The 86 production B-58A Hustlers were supplemented by 10 YB-58As which were brought up to production standard to equip the 43rd Bomb Wing, initially at Carswell but later assigned to Little Rock AFB, Arkansas, and the 305th Bomb Wing at Bunker Hill AFB, Indiana. The first was handed over to the 65th Combat Crew Training Squadron at Carswell on 1 December 1959 and the 43rd Bomb Wing, activated as the first B-58 unit on 15 March 1960, became operational on 1 August 1960. The 116th and last B-58A was delivered on 26 October 1962, the 116 having cost $3.2 billion.
By 1964 80 were reported as still operational. The type was withdrawn from Strategic Air Command service on 31 January 1970.
B-58s as a whole set 19 world speed and altitude records and won five different aviation trophies during their operational run – a vast engineering achievement realized. Despite these performance successes, the B-58 still suffered from limitations in operating range, payload capacity and overall series growth potential.
With such outstanding performance it was clear that the B-58A had record-breaking potential. On 12 January 1961 Major Henry Deutschendorf and his crew secured the 2000km closed-circuit record at 1708.8km/h and on 14 January Major Harold E. Confer’s aircraft raised the 1000km record to 2067.57km/h. On 10 May Major Elmer Murphy won the trophy presented by Louis Bleriot in 1930 for the first pilot to exceed 2000km/h for a continuous period of 30 minutes. Sixteen days later Major William Payne and his crew flew from Carswell to Paris setting, en route, record times of 3 hours 39 minutes 49 seconds from Washington and 3 hours 19 minutes 51 seconds from New York. The Hustler crashed at the Paris Air Show on 3 June with the loss of the crew. Other flights included a supersonic endurance record of 8 hours 35 minutes from Haneda, Tokyo to London, on 16 October 1963.
Convair built 86 standard B 58A bombers as well as 11 development aircraft later brought up to production standard and 17 YB 58A pre-production aircraft which were modified as RB 58A reconnaissance machines, Eight aircraft were converted into TB 58A trainers with a tandem pair of pilot stations. The regular bomber seated pilot, nav/bomb aimer and defensive systems operator in tandem cockpits containing special escape capsules which, in emergency, could close around the occupant, seat and controls and be ejected as a sealed package.
In 1970 the 43rd and its partner, the 305th Wing at Grissom AFB, were disbanded because of high operating cost. The last B-58 would be officially retired in January 1970.
Convair B-58A Hustler Engines: 4 x General Electric J79-GE 5A, -5B or 5C turbojet, 69.3kN / 15,600lbs thrust with reheat capability Length: 96 ft. 10 in (29.49m) Wingspan: 56 ft 10 in (17.32m) Wing area: 143.25 sq.m / 1541.93 sq ft Height: 31 ft 5 in (9.60m) Empty Weight: 55,561lbs (25,202kg) Maximum Take-Off Weight: 163,000 lb (73,936kg) Fuel capavity, wing & pod: 12,500+ gal Weight after inflight refuelling: 80237 kg (176,890 lb) Maximum Speed: 1,321mph (2,126kmh / 1,148kts / Mach 2.1) Cruising speed: 610 mph. Maximum Range: 4,400 miles without aerial refueling Service Ceiling: 62,999ft (19,202m; 11.9miles) Armament: 1 x 20mm Vulcan cannon in tail 1 x Under-fuselage pod carrying up to 19,450lb ordnance Crew: 3 Hardpoints: 1 Cost: US$12,442,000
Development of the Convair 990 began when the company lost a vital United Airlines order for 30 aircraft. To attract American Airlines, Convair designed an aircraft with transcontinental range and higher speed and on 30 July 1958 Convair announced the Model 30. This was a natural growth version of the 880 and used a turbofan of 16,050 lb. Originally known simply as the Convair 880M, the new aircraft was much more than a ‘slight modification’ contrary to what the General Dynamics’ board was told. The new variant used a redesigned engine (the CJ 805 23), with a rear mounted fan and a higher bypass ratio. This required a new engine nacelle, while the need to reduce drag led to the addition of Whitcomb bodies on the wing trailing edge to ‘area rule’ the aircraft. The new aircraft also included a new proportional anti skid system, a modified undercarriage and a hydraulically powered rudder. The rest of the aircraft was strengthened to accommodate much more fuel, and the fuselage was stretched 10 ft to house 106 passengers (foreign customers later fitted in over 140) and the tailplane was increased in area. Howard Hughes initially refused to allow Convair to give the new aircraft a designator ‘higher’ than 880, so the new aircraft was instead initially known as the Convair 600. Convair guaranteed a speed of 550kts (1021 km/h) (agreeing to financial penalties if it failed to deliver) and charged American only $100m for its 25 aircraft (later reduced to 20), taking $22.8m of the money in the form of 25 over valued DC 7s (worth $10m at most). Swissair converted its order for five 880s to an order for seven 990s. The Convair 990 originally failed to meet its guaranteed performance and the prices to American and Swissair were reduced. The airlines initially operated their aircraft without making progress or engine payments while Convair sorted out the problems. The problems were solved in the Convair 990A, but Convair’s chance to dominate the jetliner market vanished when Boeing re engined its 707s with Pratt & Whitney’s new JT3D turbofan, which could be produced by conversion of existing JT3C engines. Thus the fan engined 990 lost its unique selling point. Swissair and American began scheduled revenue services during March 1962. Other Convair 990 operators included Aerolineas Peruanas, Garuda, SAS, Thai International Airways and VARIG. Models built for Swissair and VARIG differed slightly from standard 990s. Powered by CJ 805 23B engines, they carried slightly more fuel and had higher operating weights. They were officially known as Coronados, a name later used to describe all Convair 990s. The announcement of the new jet was accompanied by a launch order for 20 from American Air¬lines. The aircraft was renamed Convair 990. The first off the production line flew on 24 January 1961, and by this time the programme was in deep trouble. Drag was well overestimate, and it took two years of extremely costly modifications to get near the guaranteed performance.
In addition to four large anti¬shock bodies above the trailing edge (sometimes called Küche¬mann carrots, these also served as fuel tanks) Kruger flaps were added under the wing and a com¬plex series of extensions, bumps and fairings added to the engine pods and pylons. The aircraft’s long range came about by using the four wing pods as fuel tanks. The 24-foot-long pods, known as “antishock bodies,” reduce the intensity of shock waves generated when an airplane reaches the speed of sound. In essence, they control the air flowing over the wing and therefore reduce drag. Payload, at 26,440 lb, was widely considered inadequate. The cabin was criti¬cised, as were the lack of customer options, and in the end, in addition to the launch order, only 17 aircraft were sold. American accepted the first (unmodified) 990 on 8 January 1963, and fully modified 990As en¬tered service late that year. Lebanese International Airways and MEA operated Coronados during the late 1960s and early 1970s. LIA went into liquidation after its two Coronados were destroyed on the ground by Israeli commandos in 1968, while MEA phased out its aircraft in favour of Boeing 707s and 720s in 1972. Following their retirement from major airlines, many Coronados found employment with travel clubs and minor airlines. Modern Air Transport obtained eight Convair 990s between January 4, 1967 and January 1971 and operated these primarily on charter work. These were often unorthodox, including polar flights landing at McMurdo Sound (the first commercial jets to do so) and even a unique 1970 Father’s Day ‘Get Away from Mama’ Busenvogel (Bosom flight) from Berlin to Paris and back, in which the stewardesses wore uniforms with transparent bodices. The company fitted new slim line seats which allowed capacity to increase to 149, without reducing leg room. The last major operator of the Coronado was the Spanish charter airline Spantax. Spantax delib¬erately collected used examples and retired the last of 14 aircraft in March 1987. One Spantax 990 survived a mid air collision with a DC 9 over France. Ten of the surviving airframes were scrapped at Palma between 1991 and 1993, but one was retained for preservation. In 1988 an ex Ports of Call 990 was sold to Ciskei International Airways, but this flew only a single pre inaugural flight when it could not acquire the necessary permits. The aircraft was eventually ferried to EI Paso in 1991. NASA had been a long term operator of the Coronado, using a succession of three aircraft for atmospheric, astronomical, meteorological and solar experiments and support duties. The final aircraft was reactivated in 1980 for three years, then again in 1988 for use as a landing systems research aircraft, testing the Space Shuttle undercarriage to expand the vehicle’s landing envelope and to allow increased use of the landing site at the Kennedy Space Center Every time a Shuttle landed at Edwards, it required a piggy back ride back to Kennedy atop a Boeing 747, costing $1m per time, all because Kennedy might have been just outside the Shuttle’s crosswind limits. The tests encompassed 155 test flights ending in August 1995. Two CV 990s remained in store at Mojave.
990 Coronado Engines: 4 x General Electric turbofan, 16,050 lb. Cruising speed 494kts (917km/h) at 35,000ft (10,668m). Range 7,741km (4,172nm). Weight empty 54,686kg (120,560 lb). Gross weight 115,668kg (255,000 lb). Payload: 26,440 lbs. Span 36.5m (120ft 0in). Length 42.49m (139ft 5in). Wing area 209sq.m (2,250 sq.ft). Pax cap: 104-140.
990A Engine : 4 x General Electric CJ-805-23B, 71613 N / 7300 kp Wing span: 120 ft 0 in (36.58 m). Length: 139 ft 5 in (42.5 m). Height: 39 ft 6 in (12.04 m). Max TO wt: 244,200 lb (110,765 kg). Max level speed: 540 kts / 625 mph (1006 kph). Service ceiling : 41011 ft / 12500 m Range : 2646 nm / 4900 km Crew : 9+116
