Budd RB-1 Conestoga, the ugliest transport plane ever built?

[ukron]

If I ask you to cite a US WWII transport aircraft, it is almost certain that the answer will fall on the C-47 and / or the C-46.
However this is to do wrong to some very ambitious projects but unfortunately killed in the bud because of political decisions or technical complexities, the Budd RB-1 is one of them.

1941, the demand for transport planes on the one hand and the growing shortage of aluminum on the other, caused the US Navy to call on Budd, a stainless steel auto body company to build an equivalent to the C-47 from the USAAF but with a larger payload capacity and entirely in stainless steel, Budd having acquired some aeronautical experience in the 1930s with the BB-1 Pioneer (engineer Enea Bossi Sr. is also known to have tried to develop a device with ... human propulsion!) quickly developed a monoplane with a high all-metal wing, equipped with a retractable tricycle undercarriage and allowing a carrying capacity from its nose to its rear door Electrically controlled, the cockpit fixed at the top of the hold allowed excellent visibility while allowing to increase its carrying capacity, the RB-1 then presented technical innovations never seen then (a high cabin linked by a stairs to the in the hold, a ramp system allowing the direct loading of a truck or a jeep, a carrying capacity of a stick of 24 paratroopers).
Because of its unsightly shapes, the device was aptly named Conestoga like the carts of the 19th century American pioneers, quite a program!

Making its first flight in October 1943, the Conestoga very quickly interested the USAAF which then considered an order for 600 aircraft, the crash of the RB-1 during a flight test in March 1944 does not seem to be the cause of the unfortunate fate. of the RB-1 (the pilot having survived, the one would have even announced that the metallic constitution had saved his life!), on the other hand these rather mediocre flight capacities, its complex manufacture and the end of the shortage of aluminum appears to have prompted the USAAF authorities to take the more conventional C-46 and 47s more seriously.
A small number of RB-1 were built and assigned to link air bases, end of story?
oh no, at the end of 1946 the administration sold the 20 aircraft built to the Flying Tiger Line, a freight company founded by former Flying Tigers, which would become one of the largest transport airlines of the Cold War, in short a glorious fate for an innovative but little-known aircraft?
Not so sure, the few RB-1s suffered from severe engine problems when it was too hot or too cold, which led to a few fatal crashes in the late 1940s.
A freight company in Brazil set its sights on an RB-1 in 47 but the destruction of this on landing marked the end of the Conestoga.

[gillan1220]

Looks like something out of sci-fi.

[lordroel]

Apr 2, 2021 9:30:33 GMT ukron said:

If I ask you to cite a US WWII transport aircraft, it is almost certain that the answer will fall on the C-47 and / or the C-46.
However this is to do wrong to some very ambitious projects but unfortunately killed in the bud because of political decisions or technical complexities, the Budd RB-1 is one of them.

1941, the demand for transport planes on the one hand and the growing shortage of aluminum on the other, caused the US Navy to call on Budd, a stainless steel auto body company to build an equivalent to the C-47 from the USAAF but with a larger payload capacity and entirely in stainless steel, Budd having acquired some aeronautical experience in the 1930s with the BB-1 Pioneer (engineer Enea Bossi Sr. is also known to have tried to develop a device with ... human propulsion!) quickly developed a monoplane with a high all-metal wing, equipped with a retractable tricycle undercarriage and allowing a carrying capacity from its nose to its rear door Electrically controlled, the cockpit fixed at the top of the hold allowed excellent visibility while allowing to increase its carrying capacity, the RB-1 then presented technical innovations never seen then (a high cabin linked by a stairs to the in the hold, a ramp system allowing the direct loading of a truck or a jeep, a carrying capacity of a stick of 24 paratroopers).
Because of its unsightly shapes, the device was aptly named Conestoga like the carts of the 19th century American pioneers, quite a program!

Making its first flight in October 1943, the Conestoga very quickly interested the USAAF which then considered an order for 600 aircraft, the crash of the RB-1 during a flight test in March 1944 does not seem to be the cause of the unfortunate fate. of the RB-1 (the pilot having survived, the one would have even announced that the metallic constitution had saved his life!), on the other hand these rather mediocre flight capacities, its complex manufacture and the end of the shortage of aluminum appears to have prompted the USAAF authorities to take the more conventional C-46 and 47s more seriously.
A small number of RB-1 were built and assigned to link air bases, end of story?
oh no, at the end of 1946 the administration sold the 20 aircraft built to the Flying Tiger Line, a freight company founded by former Flying Tigers, which would become one of the largest transport airlines of the Cold War, in short a glorious fate for an innovative but little-known aircraft?
Not so sure, the few RB-1s suffered from severe engine problems when it was too hot or too cold, which led to a few fatal crashes in the late 1940s.
A freight company in Brazil set its sights on an RB-1 in 47 but the destruction of this on landing marked the end of the Conestoga.

Looks like a ugly duckling, but i was wondering, if it was build in numbers, it would likely see service during the Korean War, but its range is not that long, only : 700 mi (1,100 km, 610 nmi), so could it fly from Japan to Korea.

[gillan1220]

Apr 3, 2021 10:11:46 GMT lordroel said:

Apr 2, 2021 9:30:33 GMT ukron said:

If I ask you to cite a US WWII transport aircraft, it is almost certain that the answer will fall on the C-47 and / or the C-46.
However this is to do wrong to some very ambitious projects but unfortunately killed in the bud because of political decisions or technical complexities, the Budd RB-1 is one of them.

1941, the demand for transport planes on the one hand and the growing shortage of aluminum on the other, caused the US Navy to call on Budd, a stainless steel auto body company to build an equivalent to the C-47 from the USAAF but with a larger payload capacity and entirely in stainless steel, Budd having acquired some aeronautical experience in the 1930s with the BB-1 Pioneer (engineer Enea Bossi Sr. is also known to have tried to develop a device with ... human propulsion!) quickly developed a monoplane with a high all-metal wing, equipped with a retractable tricycle undercarriage and allowing a carrying capacity from its nose to its rear door Electrically controlled, the cockpit fixed at the top of the hold allowed excellent visibility while allowing to increase its carrying capacity, the RB-1 then presented technical innovations never seen then (a high cabin linked by a stairs to the in the hold, a ramp system allowing the direct loading of a truck or a jeep, a carrying capacity of a stick of 24 paratroopers).
Because of its unsightly shapes, the device was aptly named Conestoga like the carts of the 19th century American pioneers, quite a program!

Making its first flight in October 1943, the Conestoga very quickly interested the USAAF which then considered an order for 600 aircraft, the crash of the RB-1 during a flight test in March 1944 does not seem to be the cause of the unfortunate fate. of the RB-1 (the pilot having survived, the one would have even announced that the metallic constitution had saved his life!), on the other hand these rather mediocre flight capacities, its complex manufacture and the end of the shortage of aluminum appears to have prompted the USAAF authorities to take the more conventional C-46 and 47s more seriously.
A small number of RB-1 were built and assigned to link air bases, end of story?
oh no, at the end of 1946 the administration sold the 20 aircraft built to the Flying Tiger Line, a freight company founded by former Flying Tigers, which would become one of the largest transport airlines of the Cold War, in short a glorious fate for an innovative but little-known aircraft?
Not so sure, the few RB-1s suffered from severe engine problems when it was too hot or too cold, which led to a few fatal crashes in the late 1940s.
A freight company in Brazil set its sights on an RB-1 in 47 but the destruction of this on landing marked the end of the Conestoga.

Looks like a ugly duckling, but i was wondering, if it was build in numbers, it would likely see service during the Korean War, but its range is not that long, only : 700 mi (1,100 km, 610 nmi), so could it fly from Japan to Korea.

It would serve alongside the C-47 and C-54s.

[lordroel]

Apr 3, 2021 10:38:07 GMT gillan1220 said:

Apr 3, 2021 10:11:46 GMT lordroel said:

Looks like a ugly duckling, but i was wondering, if it was build in numbers, it would likely see service during the Korean War, but its range is not that long, only : 700 mi (1,100 km, 610 nmi), so could it fly from Japan to Korea.

It would serve alongside the C-47 and C-54s.

Both with longer range then the RB-1 Conestoga.

[gillan1220]

Apr 3, 2021 10:44:52 GMT lordroel said:

Apr 3, 2021 10:38:07 GMT gillan1220 said:

It would serve alongside the C-47 and C-54s.

Both with longer range then the RB-1 Conestoga.

It would be useful for countries with islands like Indonesia and the Philippines. I could see some being sold as part of the FMS.

[oscssw]

Apr 3, 2021 10:49:57 GMT gillan1220 said:

Apr 3, 2021 10:44:52 GMT lordroel said:

Both with longer range then the RB-1 Conestoga.

It would be useful for countries with islands like Indonesia and the Philippines. I could see some being sold as part of the FMS.

I am impressed with the tail loading ramp and hatch.  That seems to be way ahead of it's time. 

[lordroel]

Apr 6, 2021 15:39:05 GMT oscssw said:

Apr 3, 2021 10:49:57 GMT gillan1220 said:

It would be useful for countries with islands like Indonesia and the Philippines. I could see some being sold as part of the FMS.

I am impressed with the tail loading ramp and hatch.  That seems to be way ahead of it's time. 

Think that is the only part of the plane that is ahead.

[kyng]

Yeah, that does look rather chunky and boxy to me .

Though, for another candidate, perhaps I should nominate the Super Guppy? It's what Airbus used to transport aircraft parts, before the Beluga entered service:


(Source: MilborneOne)