Some thoughts of a couple possibilities

[maxmwill]

I had mentioned in another thread a manned BOMARC, and so I thought that I could expend a bit on that and offer a few other suggestions, in case anyone would like to try and possibly model them.

Many many years ago, during those halcyon days of allegedly misspent youth, I discovered Wings and Airpower. While these were enjoyable to read, and provided a lot more information on the flying machines that had fascinated me ever since I was gifted with my first Guillow kit(at the tender age of 5), I admit that I had always been a bit confused as to how the magazines were published, with Wings published at one month, while Airpower was published the following month, each one supplementing the other, with a series of articles published, first in Wings, then the next chapter of the series in Airpower. Perhaps the publisher did that as a tax writeoff, or perhaps to make more money. regardless it was a minor question, and an even smaller minor annoyance.

Anyway, in one of the early issues of Wings/Airpower(I can even remember specifically which), there was an article about the Boeing BOMARC project. And in the middle of the article, was a photo of a BOMARC mockup with a cockpit, and there was a caption, but details of which escape me, but that picture stuck with me. And lately, I as I mull over possible future projects, I have been think about that.

Now, years later, and lots of research in other aircraft types, I came upon the Bachem Natter, and became familiar with the history on that, especially the first test flight and the immediate result, which has caused me to think that perhaps an Air Force test pilot in a manned BOMARC might've met the same fate.

Still, as a modeling project, it might have possibilities, as not only is it decidedly different in concept from most, but as it was simply a concept that had a mockup that became lost over time, one could take a model of a BOMARC and just about do what one pleases and no one would argue about how faithful to the original it doesn't look.

On to something a bit more down to earth, is anyone familiar with the Coanda Jet of 1910? Henri Coanda, who one of the fathers of modern aerodynamics(what Coanda' Law says, basically, is that moving air is sticky) whose writings have resulted in many of the innovations of the past lots of years, such as Fowler flaps, leading edge slats an slots, blown flaps, and even the type of wing design which led to the Antonov AN72 Coaler and the Boeing YC14.

Anyway, back around 1910 or so, Henri realized that he could dispense with the prop and have an aeroplane propelled through the air by dint of thrust from a jet, in this case a ducted fan of his own design. Initially it wouldn't fly, until he put a sheet of plywood on either side of the back of the nozzle, attached to the sides of the fuselage. As he was able to later calculate, which led to the law that bears his name, it flew, and because thrust was produced by injecting fuel after the fan, and being ignited, that's where the flame went, too, which resulted in the inevitable fire then crash(although there is still some dispute as to him actually leaving the ground).

Now, segue to WW2 and change countries, and look at Caproni-Campini and the N1.

Why? Because both are about the same, the differences being that the Coanda Jet was a delicate biplane of wood construction and flammable as all get out, and the N1 is all metal, and a big bulky test plane with a graceful elliptical wing. Both used ducted fans. And if you want to try it, Valom has a 72nd scale kit of the N1(they have two, one the test plane that became so famous) that they labeled a what if, as the box art shows it in  combat, even though the actual test bird was a heavy pig in the air, didn't fly all that fast, and its main claim to fame was to be the first jet to travel over 300 miles, and to be the first jet mail plane.

Anyway, what might have happened had a manufacturer become interested in Coanda's Jet, and provided funding for further development? WW1 becoming the first jet aircraft war?

While Willi Messerschmidt was still a few years to build his first, there was Fokker with his chief engineer Reinhold Platz, him of the Dr1 and D7 fame(yes, I know, there were others, a lot, before and after, and even beyond the Great War, but those are the most famous), then there was Claude Dornier.

Or even Geoffery De Havilland or Tommy Sopwith.

What might've resulted if any of them, or others I didn't mention, but who were designing the fighting machines of WW1?

Or even having done so during the War, were able to design something after the war?