The
Ford Company involvement in the aviation industry had some bizarre, lesser known
sides that are probably much more interesting than the Fokker-like proverbial
three-motor.
Of this obscure past almost nothing exists now, as
if a stealthy hand had erased the trail of some strange ventures.
Among those ventures are the Stout Dragonfly (a
tandem amphibian design) and the subject of this article: the Ford 15P flying
wing. These designs followed the same pattern of the Flivver, aiming to provide
an affordable ride to every-day people and in doing so supposedly replicate the
success of the Ford automobile.
Not many photos exist to document the 15P. There
was a mock-up with a faked registration and then the real thing. The lines were
very attractive; the engine was behind the two-seat side-by-side cockpit and
transmitted power to the tractor propeller via a shaft. And in case you are
asking yourself yes, the engine was indeed a Ford V-8 engine.
For 1932 the design does really look futuristic,
with those curvaceous, trousered landing gear legs and the tear-drop blended
fuselage. The 15P flew quietly into oblivion, though.
Click on
images below to see larger images
The
model consists basically in one upper and one lower vacformed shells with
the addition of wrap-around style styrene sheet wings. A succinct interior
was provided and a few external details added. The gear legs, given its
complex curvatures, provoked a bit of head-scratching during the
construction process. The issue was finally solved using several pieces of
styrene to determine the general shapes and then “rounding” with
Milliput. MV Products lenses were used as landing lights. The originals
look a lot like car headlights.
Finally,
the chubby although somehow racy shape of the 15P came to light and surely
Humpty-Dumpty would not have been uncomfortable flying this plane that, like the
character, just makes you smile.
-I would
like to thank Mike Fletcher and Jim Schubert for their help with this project.
Gabriel
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images below to see larger images
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