Convair Model 118
{{Short description|American flying car}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2022}}
{{Use American English|date=September 2022}}
| {{Infobox aircraft begin
| name= Model 118 ConVairCar | image=ConvairCar Model 118.jpg | caption=Company photograph taken over San Diego, California, USA, November 1947 }}{{Infobox aircraft type | type= Flying car | national origin= United States of America | manufacturer= Convair | designer= Ted Hall | first flight= November 1, 1947 (Model 116: 1946) | introduced= | retired= | status= | primary user= | produced= | number built=2 | developed from= Convair Model 116 | variants with their own articles= }} |
The Convair Model 118 ConvAirCar (also known as the Hall Flying Automobile) was a prototype flying car of which two were built. Intended for mainstream consumers, two prototypes were built and flown. The first prototype was lost in an accident due to fuel exhaustion. Subsequently, the second prototype was rebuilt from the damaged aircraft and flown. By that time, little enthusiasm remained for the project and the program ended shortly thereafter.Yenne 1993, p. 117.
Design and development
Consolidated Vultee Aircraft (later Convair) was seeking entry into the post-war aviation boom with a mainstream flying car. Theodore P. "Ted" Hall had studied the concept of a flying car before World War II, with Consolidated unsuccessfully proposing the idea for use in commando-type raids. Following the end of the war, Hall and Tommy Thompson designed and developed the Convair Model 116 Flying Car, featured in Popular Mechanics magazine in 1946,[https://books.google.com/books?id=niEDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA92 "Drive Right Up", April 1946, Popular Science] Ted Hall's original concept "roadable" airplane which was the starting point for the Model 116 which consisted of a two-seat car body, powered by a rear-mounted {{convert|26|hp|kW|0|abbr=on}} engine, with detachable monoplane wings and tail, fitted with their own tractor configuration {{convert|90|hp|kW|0|abbr=on}} Franklin 4A4 engine driving a two-bladed wooden propeller. This flew on July 12, 1946, completing 66 test flights.Wegg 1990, p. 184.
Hall subsequently designed a more sophisticated development of the Model 116, with a more refined car body and a more powerful "flight" engine. A {{convert|25|hp|kW|0|abbr=on}} Crosley engine was in the rear, powering the plastic-bodied four-seat car and a {{convert|190|hp|kW|0|abbr=on}} Lycoming O-435C was used for the powerplant of the aircraft. A lofty production target of 160,000 was planned, with a projected $1,500 price tag. Convair anticipated that the Model 118 would be purchased in large numbers to be rented at airports.[http://www.fiddlersgreen.net/models/aircraft/Aerocar.html "Aerocar."] fiddlersgreen.net. Retrieved: May 23, 2010.
Operational history
Test pilot Reuben Snodgrass flew the prototype, registration No. NX90850, for the first time on November 15, 1947. On November 18, 1947, while on a one-hour demonstration flight, it made a low fuel forced landing near San Diego, California, destroying the car body and damaging the wing. The pilot, who escaped with minor injuries, reportedly took off with little or no aviation fuel aboard. Although the fuel gauge he had visually checked during the pre-flight check indicated that the tank was full, it was the automobile's fuel gauge, not the aircraft's gauge."Flying Auto Crashes; Lands in California Mud Flats – Pilot Is Only Bruised. The New York Times, November 19, 1947. Using the same wing and another car body, the second prototype flew again on January 29, 1948, piloted by W.G. Griswold, but enthusiasm for the project waned and Convair cancelled the program.[http://1000aircraftphotos.com/Contributions/Visschedijk/2722.htm "No. 2722. Convair 118 ConvairCar (NX90850)."] Johan Visschedijk Collection, June 18, 2003. Retrieved: May 23, 2010. The rights reverted to Hall, who formed T.R Hall Engineering Corp., but the Model 118 in its new incarnation never achieved production status.
Specifications (Model 118)
{{Aircraft specs
|ref=General Dynamics Aircraft and their PredecessorsWegg 1990, pp. 186–187.
|prime units?=imp
|genhide=
|crew=one
|capacity=three passengers
|length m=
|length ft=
|length in=
|length note=
|span m=
|span ft=34
|span in=5
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|height m=
|height ft=8
|height in=4
|height note=
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|empty weight kg=
|empty weight lb=1524
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|gross weight lb=2550
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|more general=
|eng1 number=1
|eng1 name=Lycoming O-435C
|eng1 type=air-cooled flat-six
|eng1 kw=
|eng1 hp=190
|eng1 note=
|eng2 number=1
|eng2 name=Crosley
|eng2 type=air-cooled
|eng2 kw=
|eng2 hp=25
|eng2 note=(powered the car body)
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|cruise speed mph=125
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References
=Notes=
{{reflist}}
=Bibliography=
- Wegg, John. General Dynamics Aircraft and their Predecessors. London: Putnam, 1990. {{ISBN|0-85177-833-X}}.
- Yenne, Bill. The World's Worst Aircraft. New York: Dorset Press, 1993. {{ISBN|0-88029-490-6}}.
External links
{{commons category|Convair Model 118}}
- [https://www.theregister.co.uk/2001/04/18/flights_of_fantasy/ Flights of Fantasy]
{{Flying cars}}
{{Convair/GD aircraft}}
Category:Single-engined tractor aircraft
Category:Aircraft first flown in 1947