Could failed experimental designs from history have worked if not ignored?

We will research on previous historic concepts that never materialized but had great potential. Then, we will see if the ideas could work in the modern world.
Grade 8

Problem

There are many modes of transport today: Jetliners, submarines, ships, etc, but some of the better, more efficient ideas are frozen in history. Take the example of the Fairey Rotodyne, which brought the average helicopter CASM(Cost Per Available Seat Mile) from 20-30 cents to 4 cents. There are many ideas people have had but never reached their true potential. In this research we will be studying four ideas (Dornier Do-335, Fairey Rotodyne, Ekranoplan, and the I-400 Submaine Carrier)that could have been revolutionary at their time and perhaps even ours.

Method

We will divide the ideas (Dornier Do-335 and I-400 Submarine Carrier with Gleb; Fairey Rotodyne and Ekranoplan with Aadrit) and then start our research. We will explore documents and videos we find reliable about the history of the design and based on that see if it was able to be a breakthrough.

Research

Four designs: Dornier Do-335, Fairey Rotodyne, Ekranoplan, and I-400 Submarine.

Fairey Rotodyne:

In 1923 a genius successfully flew an invention that later helped Fairey to make the Rotodyne, a mix of weird, fascinating, and efficient. That genius, named Juan de la Cierva, was hoping to make a way a plane wouldn’t stall. He devised the autogyro, a normal plane with an unpowered rotor. When Fairey saw the potential of this idea, they started on the Rotodyne, a fully government-funded project made for intercity transport. During the time of the Rotodyne, airlines were on the rise. This was good for the airlines but cities were congested. To solve this, many helicopter airlines for intercity transport were introduced. These airlines didn’t earn profit and relied on government funds. When the Rotodyne was introduced, it greatly brought costs down (the unpowered rotor could carry half the Rotodyne). The testing version had space for 40 passengers, a 700-kilometer range, and a maximum speed of 300+ km/h. Fairey did start on a production version but as the British Treasury couldn’t afford to fund all the aviation companies, Fairey merged into Westland Helicopters. This led to the Rotodyne being disregarded. A German manufacturer named Autogyro has been selling autogyros to the public since 2003. In recent years, they sold over 3,100 autogyros. This idea is now higher valued than the 1900’s.

Ekranoplan:

The ekranoplan (screen plane)was an interesting idea that originated in the Soviet Union by an ingenious person named Rostislav Evgenievich Alexeyev. Alexeyev was the director and chief designer for Central Hydrofoil Bureau, Gurky U.S.S.R. The ekranoplan used a long-known concept, a cushion of air beneath the wing, called the ground effect. It was very stealthy as it was too low for radar to detect and not in the water at all being invisible to sonar. As it was out of the water, it was unaffected by sea mines and able to access shallow waters. This caught the eye of the Soviet Premier, Nikita Khrushchev, and he was interested and willing to fund the project. Then he started making the ekranoplans: SM-1, SM-2, SM-3, SM-4, SM-5, SM-2P7, (KM)Korabl Maket. Out of all of these, the biggest was the KM. The KM had a speed of 500 km/h, weighed 265 tons, and had a 600-ton lift power. It had ten engines, eight to get airborne and two to stay airborne. The ingenious idea came with some flaws: Maintenance required extreme precision, Hard to maneuver (Wide turns), All ten engines prone to damage. A new Soviet leader, Leonid Brezhnev, wasn’t willing to risk the money and stopped most of the project's funding. Alexeyev was demoted thrice from director and chief designer for Central Hydrofoil Bureau to Head of Bureau to Head of Project to employee. Despite these hard setbacks, he still managed to make other ekranoplans such as the A-90 and then the Lun-Class, which was able to shoot nuclear warheads. Sadly, later he died.

Dornier Do-335:

In 1937, Claudius Dornier patented the push-pull engine configuration, which sparked his crazy ideas using this engine configuration. This proved to be effective since it decreased drag and provided more maneuverability compared to traditional twin- engine fighters. The RLM (German Air Ministry) wanted to economically fund the start of push pull aircraft, which at the time was used on seaplanes and bombers. In 1942, The RLM requested the development for a Schnellbomber or fast bomber in german and in January 1943 Dornier submitted the design of the Dornier Do-335 V-1, V standing for Versuchs or experimental in german. After testing, the RLM requested 14 prototypes, 10 prior to production models, all A-0, eleven A-1, three A-10 designs and A-12 twin seater training aircraft.

I-400 Submarine Carrier:

Following Pearl Harbor, Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto and Captain Kameto Kuroshima wanted to find a way to attack the U.S with the Japanese Navy or IJN so in 1941, with the captain, they designed the I-400 that could circumnavigate the earth and attack the U.S by surprise. There were 30 I-400 submarines planned to produce but since Admiral Yamamoto died, it got decreased to 3 being I-400, I-401 and I-402 respectively. One was sunk, one was turned into a tanker and the last fighting until the end of the war.

 

Data

Dornier Do-335 "Pfeil" : The Pfiel would have changed the war due to it's higher top speed compared to the Hawker Hurracanes and P-51 mustangs , higher  maneuverability compared to Allied single engigne and traditional dual engigne fighter and a wide range of roles of either fighter bomber or bomber due to it's 1 ton bomb load which P-51 mustangs couldn't do, it's two powerful DB-603 producing twice as much engine power to the latest P-51H mustangs and it's powerful 30mm mk.103 autocannon and 2 20mm mk. 151 autocannons which could shred any bomber and fighter it came across. It was came with a one-of-a-kind ejection seat which used explosives to eject the pilot out of the aircraft unlike any Allied fighters during World War 2.

I-400 submarine carriers: These submarine carriers would be lethal. It would travel farther than an average american submarines in world war 2 and would be special since it would have airplanes unlike any submarines of the second world war and torpedoes. It would be stealthier than any american submarine in WW2. Capable in matching the American submarines in World War 2 while exposed and quicker than any american submarine in World War 2 while submerged, it would be swiftly past through radio dectection devices of world war 2 without a notice. Some would have been fitted with a german snorkel which removed surfacing times.

Fairey Rotodyne:

Made 60 years ago

The large rotor is unpowered and spins with forward motion

Large rotor carries half the weight

Made for intercity transport

(Autogyro) Envisioned by Juan de la Cierva

Rotodyne had 40 passengers, a 700 km range, 300+ km/h max speed

Problems: Noisy tip jets and a little better engines

Fairey Aviation merged into Westland helicopters

VTOL capable

Ekranoplan:

Secret soviet design

Seen as a replacement for hydrofoils by Rostislav Evgenievich Alexeyev

Uses the ground effect, a commonly known principle

Ekranoplan translates to screen plane

Invisible to sonar and radar

Immune to sea mines-it flew over them

Able to access shallow seas

created:

SM-1 early 1961

SM-2 late 1961

SM-3 early 1962

SM-4 late 1962

SM-5 early 1963

SM-2P7 early 1964

Korabl Maket early 1966

Korabl Maket:

265 ton, 500 km/h, 600-ton lift power, eight engines to take off and two to stay airborne(total ten), 5 stories high tail

Problems: Highly precise maintenance, all engines prone to damage and long turns

New Soviet Leader Leonid Brezhnev cut funding for the project and demoted Alexeyev from Role Director and Chief Designer for Central Hydrofoil Beareau to an employee.

Despite setbacks, he made the A-90 and the the lun-class which could fire nuclear warheads.

Conclusion

Four designs: Dornier Do-335, Fairey Rotodyne, Ekranoplan, I-400 Submarine

Dornier Do-335: The Do-335 would have been a lethal machine. If mass-produced, this would change the tide of World War 2 with it's powerful engines and cannons. Even though it was laid off to much, this is still a extraordinary design.

Fairey Rotodye: The Fairey Rotodyne was an old concept with a new, better look and was quite a reliable machine. It used a simple concept to improve the plane and helicopter. This was definitely able to transform its time and the idea could presumably work in today's society.

Ekranoplan: The Ekranoplan was rejected by a Soviet premier but was going to bring sweeping change. The huge size of the KM may have been the reason it was hard to maneuver but the following designs were scaled down and still a big threat (pun intended). If the idea was given some more time it would surely be successful and is successful in today's world.

I-400 Submarine: These submarines were a one-of-a-kind creation. Although only 3 were ever produced by Japan, this revolutionized how people look at subamarines as underwater torpedo boats to it can be anything. This radical design really shocked me in how we looked at submarines

Acknowledgement

We would like to thank David Cassidy at Calgary Classical Academy for giving us this opportunity to expand our knowledge on past designs and we are very grateful that we had this opportunity this year.

We also would like to thank Chris Pedersen at Calgary Classical Academy for helping us find sources related to the projects.