1. Name the early production monoplane with an unusual attribute that quickly earned it the nickname "Rubber Duck", Make, name and model number needed.
2. Who invented/designed this airplane?
3. What was the unusual attribute of this airplane?
4. What engine powered this airplane? Name and horsepower?
5. How many seats in the airplane?
6. Why was it not a success?
Bonus for the Registration Number of the sole production aircraft serial #1.
What started as the Waterman Flex-wing with the 125 hp Kinner engine registration NX169W was developed by the designer Waldo Dean Waterman into the W-1 registration NC169W with a 210 horse Kinner C5. This was nicknamed the Rubber Duck. It was a four seater and a nice looking aeroplane. What was particularly interesting was that one could adjust the incidence and dihedral of the wings and it had shock absorbing struts. The only reason I can find out for it not being a success is that what with the Wall Street crash there was a lack of funding to continue development etc.
If I've got the wrong Rubber Duck or my facts wrong, I've found the exercise entertaining and informative nevertheless. Thanks Doug.
Rob
Congratulations Rob, you basically got it right. Here are my answers with some detail elaboration of the why of the lack of success in the aircraft marketplace.
1. Waterman "Flex-Wing" model 4CLM.
2. Waldo Waterman of California.
3. In theory and in practice the "flex wing" could change dihedral of the low wing as well as the wing's angle of incidence. The strut bracing the low wing to the fuselage on each side was actually a hydraulic piston that could change the length of the strut thus changing the wing's dihedral, but the wings also could pivot about the axis of the mount to the fuselage. The wings initially were hinged at a 30 degree angle to the thrust line. When dihedral angle of the wings was changed manually from the cockpit, so was the angle of incidence. For a landing, the wing was set nearly flat span-wise, thus offering the most angle of incidence for a slower glide and slower touchdown. It was a fixed-gear cabin taildragger and the wing pivot points were inboard of the main landing gear struts, angled back to the fuselage. So, at maximum dihedral the main gear were well-canted, rather than vertical to the runway. A streamlined gear fairing is shown in some photos.
4. My reference states that Robert Porter, President of Kinner Motors donated the Kinner C5 five cylinder radial engine of 190 Horsepower. Twenty-four other syndicate "subscribers" donated $1,000 each for the aircraft's development.
5. Airplane seated four.
6. The idea behind the flex-wing theoretically was to absorb jolts in rough and bumpy air to smooth the ride. While on the ramp the wing's angle of incidence could be preset for takeoff manually from the cockpit and also for most efficient angle of dihedral. The assumption was that the wings under air load would flex against the hydraulic struts to dampen the bumps of rough air. In practice, the wings more or less stayed in place under the air load and THE FUSELAGE ROSE AND FELL with the rise and fall of air currents or maneuvering of the aircraft about its axes. It has been said that Waterman called it the "Flapper." One needed a strong stomach to fly or ride in the airplane.
Initially it was registered as X-169W (serial #1), later NC169W. I believe the American aircraft registration system was in a state of flux in 1929 and 1930. Waterman took the aircraft to the National Air Races of 1930 held in Chicago in August and September for national exposure. It flew nearly every day and became a feature of the show between races. The aircraft became a hangar queen for a time and final disposition is unknown. As you state, the economic crash of 1929 probably did in a number of fledgling aircraft manufacturers who got their impetus from the Lindbergh trans-Atlantic solo non-stop non-refueled flight in 1927. This accomplishment ignited an aviation frenzy at the time.
Again, thanks for your diligence in answering these quizzes. It is getting harder to stump the audience out there. Now, I have to come up with another poser.
Thanks for the explanation of how the flex-wing operated Doug. Fascinating.
I wonder how many of the nascent aeroplane manufacturers would have gone on to be major players in the US aircraft industry had the economic situation not deteriorated as it did. I think maybe US fighter and bomber technology would have been further ahead than it was at the beginning of World War II.
Actually Rob, there was quite a technology shift in American military aviation, at least, by 1939 because of your country's entry into WWII in 1940. Our president Franklin D. Roosevelt had the foresight to jump start military fighter improvements and then heavy bombers, which continued with radial engines, but with the new NACA cowling. Also, fixed landing gear with "trousers" were replaced by retractable landing gear, giving a quantum leap in airspeed.
For example, the fat, blunt Curtiss P-36 Hawk 75 had a radial engine which limited its speed until it was modified by switch to an in-line liquid-cooled engine-ergo the longer Curtiss P-40 and Tomahawk models which were so effective early on that were more efficient at high altitudes. For America, the Republic P-47 Thunderbolt, or "Jug" with a 2,535 Hp Double Wasp in the D model was a notable radial-powered exception with a 42,000 foot ceiling and 1,860 mile range.
Generally, the U.S.Navy remained committed to radial engines in WWII, while the U.S. Army Air Corps and the Royal Air Force went to liquid-cooled engines in the war. Turbocharged or supercharged in-line engines were particularly effective at high altitudes. Use of ethylene glycol cooling and tetra-ethyl lead gasoline were major altitude advantages also.
Waterman's folly with the "Rubber Duck" was just one of aviation's idiosyncrasies of an earlier time. Now, we have NASA's the late Dr. Richard Whitcomb's proven transonic area-rule fuselage and a Mach 6 outer space explorer.
Thanks again for your interest.
