Weird Looking Aircraft

Capngrog

Capngrog

Pre-takeoff checklist
Joined
May 31, 2021
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378
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Paisley, Florida
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Capngrog
I ran across this image on the Aviation Week Network and was struck by how awkward this thing looks:

saab_delivers_first_globaleye.jpg


It's the Global 6000-derived Saab Global Eye. I realize that many ELINT/SIGINT aircraft must sprout all sorts of bumps, lumps and odd appurtenances as form follows function, but this thing almost elicited an "LOL" from me. The U.S. Army has also had this sort of thing happen to the otherwise beautiful lines of the King Air which became plagued with all sorts of malignant-looking growths when various antennas were installed for the Army's mission.

There have been all sorts of aeronautical oddities over the years ... The Blohm and Voss designs of WWII come to mind. What are/were some of the others?
 
Stipa-Caproni
1F124782-25C0-46BA-8B05-2F994CC1678F.jpeg

Transavia PL-12 Airtruk
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Dyke Delta and Facet Opal

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HH-43 and Kmax

BE80D684-ABEE-4F29-B95C-164F55FA7BC7.jpeg 6EC5487D-6FF5-4B63-99D0-2BC78DB8AA98.jpeg
 
ligeti stratos

DD2C6EB9-6BB4-4251-B53D-6AFB866D8778.jpeg

If you can’t tell, weird aircraft are kind of an obsession for me.
 
X3 Skier said:
The Boeing Program Manager once asked what I thought about that thing before it was being built. The best I could manage was “Interesting concept”.
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Back before memes were as widespread as they are now there was a 2-frame pic of an X-32 on the left and Phil Condit caught with his mouth wide open on the right, with the caption, "Separated at Birth?"

Funny, you can't find it *anywhere* now.

ETA: Somewhere there's a plane captain smacking his head every time he sees a checklist between the glareshield and the left side of the windscreen. :mad: :D

Nauga,
from the fringes
 
aewc-turkish.jpg
The 737 AWEC also has the odd antenna shape versus the traditional round AWAC E-2 or E-3 aircraft. My understanding is the radar is digitally scanned versus needing a rotating dish.
 
skier said:
Edgley Optica

View attachment 116133
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I was lucky enough to see an Edgley Optica one year at Sun 'N' Fun down here in Lakeland Florida. It didn't appear all that weird to me "in the flesh", and, as a matter of fact(actually, my opinion), I thought it was cool looking. I spoke with the owner and when he bought it, his Optica had been in South Africa, where it was being used for power line inspection and to count wild game. The owner remarked on how the airplane was intended to be a lower cost option to a helicopter and that in the design process, the Optica front end wound up resembling that of a helicopter. He further said that visibility was excellent in all directions, except, of course, directly aft.
 
Capngrog said:
I was lucky enough to see an Edgley Optica one year at Sun 'N' Fun down here in Lakeland Florida. It didn't appear all that weird to me "in the flesh", and, as a matter of fact(actually, my opinion), I thought it was cool looking. I spoke with the owner and when he bought it, his Optica had been in South Africa, where it was being used for power line inspection and to count wild game. The owner remarked on how the airplane was intended to be a lower cost option to a helicopter and that in the design process, the Optica front end wound up resembling that of a helicopter. He further said that visibility was excellent in all directions, except, of course, directly aft.
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I believe there’s one at @Salty ‘s home field. I wonder whether it’s the same plane.
 
Half Fast said:
I believe there’s one at @Salty ‘s home field. I wonder whether it’s the same plane.
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Due to the proximity of Salty's home base to the Sun 'N' Fun base in Lakeland, Fla., I'd guess that it's the same airplane. I don't remember if I asked the owner where he was based; however, at my age, even if I'd asked, I'd have forgotten the reply by now.
 
Half Fast said:
I believe there’s one at @Salty ‘s home field. I wonder whether it’s the same plane.
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If it was the same one it was at least five years ago. It changed ownership about then and it flies regularly, but hasn’t been to sun n fun.
 
It hasn't ever been to Sun 'N' Fun, or hasn't been to Sun 'N' Fun under the new ownership?
 
Capngrog said:
It hasn't ever been to Sun 'N' Fun, or hasn't been to Sun 'N' Fun under the new ownership?
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Not in the last 5 years. I don’t know previous to that.
 
The Optica in the previous photo is regestered in GB. There was one in the Twin Cities of MN area for a number of years, maybe it's been sold by now.
This was at the local fly-in at ANE a few years ago.
N130DP
upload_2023-3-28_18-17-35.jpeg
 
The local one is 198dp
 
nauga said:
Back before memes were as widespread as they are now there was a 2-frame pic of an X-32 on the left and Phil Condit caught with his mouth wide open on the right, with the caption, "Separated at Birth?"

Funny, you can't find it *anywhere* now.

ETA: Somewhere there's a plane captain smacking his head every time he sees a checklist between the glareshield and the left side of the windscreen. :mad: :D

Nauga,
from the fringes
Click to expand...
I worked for a company that made the molds for the intake ducts on the Lockheed JSF (now F-35). The Lockheed guys referred to the Boeing entry as "Monica". If you were an adult in the late 90s that was pretty funny.
 
The Flying Bathtub on The History Guy
 
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