When I was a child, I saw the movie "Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines" (1963). One of the aircraft was the Bristol Boxkite, nicknamed "The Phoenix Flyer" and inaccurately referred to as a Curtiss. Three flying replicas were built for the movie.

Since the original Boxkite had been built at Filton, Bristol in the U.K. (near where I grew up) one of those replicas was donated to Bristol City Museum and Art Gallery where it hangs in the main hall on display.Every Saturday I would catch the bus into town, stand on the balcony and gaze at it in awe dreaming of building and flying one.

Another of the replicas from the movie was donated to the Shuttleworth Collection in Bedfordshire, where it is still flown during displays (video below), and the third to the Museum of Australian Army Flying in Queensland.


History

A highly successful aircraft, the Boxkite (officially the Bristol Biplane) was the first aircraft produced by the British and Colonial Aeroplane Company (later known as the Bristol Aeroplane Company) at Filton where Concorde was later developed and Rolls Royce aircraft engines are still made.

After unsuccessful attempts to build licensed copies of the Zodiac biplane due to its unsatisfactory wing section and underpowered engine, the founder and chairman of Bristol Aircraft, Sir George White was advised to acquire rights to build copies of the successful Farman biplane. This proved impossible since George Holt Thomas was...Continue Reading

History

The P.215 was an advanced jet night fighter project by Blohm & Voss during WWII. With a crew of three including the pilot, a navigator and radar/radio operator/rear gunner, it would have been powered by twin Heinkel HeS 011 jet engines set low to the rear, had a tailless swept-wing layout and heavy armament. An order for three prototypes was received in 1945 just weeks before the war ended before any significant detail design work could be begun.

Highly advanced, it would have featured a comprehensive all-weather radio navigation suite and the advanced FuG 244 target acquisition and gun-laying radar.

The P.215 featured a main wing of constant chord and moderate sweep, with small landing flaps forming rear root fillets. Stub tailbooms at the wing tips supported tapered outboard tail surfaces. The horizontal stabilisers and attached elevators were angled downwards both in incidence and, more sharply, in anhedral. The neutral or negative angle of incidence provided longitudinal stability and, in conjunction with the anhedral, contributed to directional stability. Small vertical fins added to the directional stability and supported rudders.

Several armament options were proposed, with the main armament clustered around the nose intake and comprising a mix of heavy 30 mm or cannon with or without rockets. An unusual feature was a further pair of 30 mm cannon set either side of the rear fuselage and pivoting more than 90° to fire either rearwards or upwards. Provision was also made behind the cockpit for a single rearward-facing 20 mm gun with up to 50° elevation, and for two 500 kg bombs beneath the fuselage.

This aircraft would have been formidable with a prospective speed of 860 km/h (534 mph) at 6,000m, a range of 2,200 km (1,367 miles) and a service ceiling of 11,000 m (36,000 ft)!


The Phoenix Model.

Derived from a SketchUp model by Matias G.

you can download the model here.

BMW Flugelrad For Phoenix Flight Simulator (1 min 14 sec)

History

The existence of the experimental flying disc aircraft program and "Nazi UFOs" under the direction of the Nazi SS “Projekt Flugkreisel” during the end of WWII is controversial.

Rob Arndt argues that inspired by the work of Rudolph Schriever, BMW began work in 1943 on a series of Flügelrad (Winged Wheel) prototype aircraft which were powered by their 003 jet engine.

However, it is not clear where Arndt's information comes from as he states that everything was destroyed with the advance of the Russians to keep the technology out of their hands. He also claims that the U.S.A. was able to retrieve some material which will remain classified until 2020. Not much longer to go!

Arndt states "The Flügelrad I V-1 (1943) was a single seater that performed its first flight tests at the Czech aerodrome at Prag-Kbley between August and September of that year."

"The first design was very crude so work proceeded on the second prototype designated BMW Flügelrad I V-2 in 1944. This time, the cockpit was enlarged to house two pilots and serve as a support for the addition of an aerodynamic rudder for better control. The fixed landing gear was replaced with a more practical semi-retractable one. Rotor diameter increased to 8 meters but kept the 16 disc blades. This machine was painted yellow and performed its first flight tests in late autumn 1944 at the Neubiberg Aerodrome...Continue Reading

History

In the late 1870s, Charles F. Ritchel (1844-1911) of Portland, Main, U.S.A. designed and built a small, one-man, hand powered dirigible.

The aircraft consisted of a tubular brass frame constructed at Folansbee Machine Shop, Bridgeport, Connecticut which hung beneath a cylindrical hydrogen filled gas bag, 12 feet in diameter and 24 feet in length made by Goodyear from rubberised black silk. The bag held 3,000 square feet of gas.

A small hand cranked propeller drove the craft that the pilot could steer using foot pedals. A "fan" was also used to provide lift allowing the craft to overcome the inherent limitations of balloons.

The aircraft could reach a height of 61m (200 ft).

Ritchel first exhibited his dirigible in Philadelphia, where he made several flights inside one of the large buildings that had been part of the Centennial Exhibition held in 1876.

The dirigible was then first demonstrated outdoors in public on June 28th, 1878 at Hartford Connecticut, Pennsylvania. The event was reported in Scientific American no less.

Subsequently, Mark Quinlan (presumably the person seen illustrated in the Posters) made most of the demonstration flights including two flights which lasted over an hour each.

Ritchel built and sold five of his "Flying-Machines".

Chas Ritchel is fully articulated; his head rotates with the Rudder, his arms respond to Ailerons and his legs (and also the propeller control block) respond to the Elevators. The hand crank turns on application of throttle. The prop spins once underway.

Derived from a SketchUp model by ARGO Industries.

Chas derived from The Red Baron by Max Grueter

The model can be downloaded here.