Have you ever seen flying tank?

The most radical of all of the proposals under the first
OTAC program was the one man armored reconnaisance
aircraft. A vertical take off and landing vehicle with the
flying characteristics of a helicopter, it was designed to
be carried by and launched from a tracked carrier based
on the Rex tank. The aircraft portion of this combination
was called Falcon and the tracked vehicle was appropriately
named Aerie.
Powered by an aircraft radial engine, the 113 inch
diameter flying vehicle was protected by one inch thick
titanium armor. Armed with ten 4.5 inch free flight rockets
and a .30 caliber machine gun, the estimated weight of
the Falcon was 3000 pounds. Its speed range was calculated
to vary from 0 (hover) to 100 miles per hour with
an endurance of about one hour. An emergency parachute
installed at the top center of the aircraft was expected to
be capable of providing a safe landing from an altitude as
low as 100 feet.
The Aerie carrier alone was estimated to weigh 20 tons
with space in the front hull for a two man crew. It was
fitted with a hydraulically retractable take off platform for
the Falcon.

reply to post by matej


How much thrust are you going to need to make something weighing 20tons hover? Is this really possible?

Originally posted by matej
...the estimated weight of the Falcon was 3000 pounds...

Originally posted by matej
...Aerie carrier alone was estimated to weigh 20 tons...

Why have a manned craft launch from the tank (if it all possible) and have an unmanned drone do the job for you? much easier and the tech is already made

Don't know where I got this pic but it's not mine

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/ed17c16c99c8.jpg[/atsimg]

[edit on 13-7-2009 by Pockets]

Isn't the A-10 Warthog really a flying tank? I mean I know it is a tank buster but it is pretty much a tank in it's own right. Then you have the AC-130 which is defiantly a flying tank. This thing can destroy everything.

I actually have the Popular Science Magazine with the flying tanks from July 1932. It is on my shelf.

"Flying Tanks - Wars Deadliest Weapon"

It has pictures of them building one at Linden Jew Jersey.



[edit on 13-7-2009 by Exuberant1]

reply to post by CaptGizmo
Your video has embedding disabled



I share your love of the A-10

[edit on 13-7-2009 by Pockets]

ahh.. sorry i misread the OP.

Originally posted by Pockets
Why have a manned craft launch from the tank (if it all possible) and have an unmanned drone do the job for you? much easier and the tech is already made

Probably because it was proposed in the mid 50s, when even the semi-autonomous RPV drones were much sci-fi than reality.

Imagine the predecessors...

www.youtube.com...