Science: Flight Log

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¶ At Philadelphia, newsmen and Pentagon brass watched the YC-123E "Panto-base" plane, a new amphibious version of the Air Force's land-based Chase C-123 transport, go through its paces on the Delaware River. Pilot Bernie Hughes made a normal take-off from nearby Mustin Naval Air Station, then pulled up the wheels, lowered a pair of 13-ft. skis from the plane's belly and made several demonstration landings and take-offs on the water. Unlike regular amphibians, the two-engined YC-123E loses a minimum of speed and range with its new landing gear, can land on concrete runways or snow as well as water. Designed by Stroukoff Aircraft Corp., the Panto-base concept may later be adapted to other land-based transports that have engines placed so that propellers are clear during water landings and takeoffs.

¶ A radical new "XT-53" turbine engine, for use in turboprop planes and helicopters, was announced in Manhattan by Avco Manufacturing Corp. Designed by Austrian-born Dr. Anselm Franz, who built Nazi Germany's (and the world's) first mass-produced jet engine, the new turbine works on the "free power" principle. The conventional turboprop engine drives both the propeller and machinery used to compress air for combustion; hence, no matter what throttle setting, the shaft must always be kept turning fast enough to keep the compressors working. In Franz's turbine, the two functions are independent; one turbine drives the propeller, a second powers the compressors, lowering fuel consumption and increasing the plane's speed. First aircraft slated to use the XT-53 turbine: Bell's small XH-4O Army helicopter, with a designed cruising speed of 115 m.p.h. (compared to 70 m.p.h. for similar piston-engine copters).

¶ Without trying for any speed records, the Air Force's experimental XF-84H swept-wing turboprop fighter made its first flight at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. Designed as a flying test bed for supersonic propellers, the long-range XF-84H is the first single-engine turboprop fighter to use an afterburner to provide jetlike climbing power. For a landing, its three-bladed, more than 3,000 r.p.m. propeller simply goes into reverse and enables the new turboprop to use far less runway than any jet.