Breguet 941 Baby Hercules. Adorable.
Posted by kegman83@reddit | WeirdWings | View on Reddit | 39 comments
Posted by kegman83@reddit | WeirdWings | View on Reddit | 39 comments
ackermann@reddit
Confused by the scale here. In particular, the passenger windows look too low on the fuselage, assuming passengers can comfortably look out them.
How miniature was this miniature Hercules?
kegman83@reddit (OP)
Breguet: Wingspan 76ft 9in
C-130: Wingspan 132ft 7in
Breguet: Length 77ft 11in
C-130: Length 97ft 9in
LoopsAndBoars@reddit
20’ 2”, no need for the “about.”
SirThoreth@reddit
Only about 20 ft shorter than a C-130, but with a much shorter wingspan.
Lxvert89@reddit
'The Adventures of Lil Herc'
2ndcheesedrawer@reddit
MU-4? /s
okonom@reddit
I wonder if fewer people would have died in the MU-2 if it had a shaft linking the props in the case of engine failure like this plane has.
isaac32767@reddit
r/cutewings
The_Cosmic_Coyote@reddit
Very sad that this isn’t a thing
pdf27@reddit
Crazy good STOL performance (propellers are all geared together and blow air over the huge flaps), but controllability at low speed will have been sketchy.
quietflyr@reddit
Reports say its low-speed handling was just fine. It was actually cruise speed handling that wasn't great, because its longitudinal stability was somewhat marginal, and it had very powerful elevators. FBW or even stability augmentation systems would make this a non-issue.
kegman83@reddit (OP)
The single shaft powering all the props seemed like a game changer at the time but was just too expensive. However, I think a similar idea powers the CV-22.
Activision19@reddit
Yeah the cv-22 has a shaft linking both rotors/engines together in case of a failure in one engine.
Holiday-Hyena-5952@reddit
Disney put in a strip at DisneyWorld, 1971. Scheduled flights from Orlandos small airport. Those were the planned aircraft!
kegman83@reddit (OP)
Disney had a fairly large helicopter fleet in the 60s and 70s, so I'm not surprised. Though many of those helicopters had some pretty tragic crashes so the idea was scrapped.
PsychologicalSock523@reddit
Great no? its french
Hadri1_Fr@reddit
Il faut revoir la traduction pelo
PsychologicalSock523@reddit
Je suis pas un pelo je suis un pnj🤓
Tyraid@reddit
I like all the airplanes that were made before gas cost money
alvarezg@reddit
That's a really old picture: McDonnell sign with no Douglas.
speedyundeadhittite@reddit
Looks like a C-130 converted to carry people commercially..
zyberteq@reddit
I still have a dream of converting such a plane into a flying camper. Very impractical, expensive and unobtainable. Still a fun idea.
propsie@reddit
There's a reason [the Landseaire](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9TaBTjHVx6A) wasn't more popular
zyberteq@reddit
Calum! good videos from that guy!
System0verlord@reddit
I still dream of doing this. And one day, waking up early, and taking off into the slowly brightening sky, leaving it all behind.
Then again, if I had the money to do this, I wouldn’t be wanting to in the first place.
ScissorNightRam@reddit
Was this a non-flying promotional thing?
Ceskaz@reddit
I just read the wiki page : it was developed as a STOL transport. It could take off on 250m runway, and land on 200m.
Johnny-Cash-Facts@reddit
You can Google this & get an answer. But no, it flew commercially & was tested by NASA & the DOD.
ackermann@reddit
Why painted in American Airlines livery then, if it was a NASA/DOD project?
Johnny-Cash-Facts@reddit
Read Operational History:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bréguet_941
ScissorNightRam@reddit
Yeah, I’m confusing this with another “aircraft”. It was like a half-size thing that the USAF would wheel out for promotional days and events. That one didn’t fly, just looked cool
kegman83@reddit (OP)
It flew apparently, not for American Airlines though, at least not officially. It was designed to exploit small, rural airports that didnt have service at the time. It turned out to be too complex and heavy to enter service.
isaac32767@reddit
It was invented on the theory that it would bring passenger service to small airports with short runways. But airlines wanted jets, even if that limited the airports they could serve. So only 4 production craft were ever made.
WhiskeyMikeMike@reddit
They just tore down the building behind it to make room for the next gen plant.
fuzzusmaximus@reddit
I was 99% sure that was the MD plant in St Louis.
WhiskeyMikeMike@reddit
That’s right.
fuzzusmaximus@reddit
Thousands of fighters rolled out of those doors over the years. Sad to see it go but it is being done for a new modern assembly line.
Besides it hasn't looked right since Boeing replaced the sign.
WhiskeyMikeMike@reddit
It was basically deemed unusable and was taken of the National historic places registry. It had been basically falling apart since Boeing stopped using it in the early 2000s.
GnarlyNarwhalNoms@reddit
My First Tactical Airlifter