Akerman Kactor and Tuscar H-series

[steelpillow]

Has anybody ever come across the Akerman Kactor or Tuscar tailless aeroplanes?

A letter published in the 12 December 1941 issue of Aeroplane (attached) describes the Akerman Kactor as a tailless monoplane which appeared in 1936.
I can find no reference anywhere else.

Similarly it mentions the Tuscar as a pusher monoplane with 95 hp Menacho engine. There is a little about the Tuscar (including some photos), which seems to have been modified from H-70 to H-71 types during its life, at http://aerofiles.com/_ti.html :

"1937: Management & Research Inc, New York NY. c.1939: Tuscar Metals Co Inc.​

"H-70, -71 1937 = 2pClwM; 95hp Menasco B-4 pusher. Thomas Hoff, derivative of Stearman-Hammond Y. Tailless (except for wingtip rudders), flying-wing design with rudders mounted at the trailing edge and trailing-edge flap-type controllers. POP: 1 [NX20399], originally built by Management & Research under a DoC program contract for lightplane development, it did fly, although difficult to turn, but crashed in testing 1/27/38. Rebuilt by Tuscar as H-71 and flown at Floyd Bennett Field for about 60 hours before crashing to finality in Aug 1945."​

Notes on other types:
(The Stearman-Hammond Y mentioned was a twin-boom type)
(The Waterman Pterodactyl mentioned in the letter was a flying car, better known today as the Arrowbile: https://www.secretprojects.co.uk/threads/waldo-waterman-projects.27419 ).
(Note also some obscure factoids about the Dunne machines, in the letter from said pioneer.)

 

[Dagger]

Maybe the attachments are of some use for you.

Taken from: Rudolf Storck 'Flying Wings' Bernard & Graefe Verlag 2003.

 

[steelpillow]

Maybe the attachments are of some use for you.

Taken from: Rudolf Storck 'Flying Wings' Bernard & Graefe Verlag 2003.

Thank you. Translation soon to begin!

 

[steelpillow]

Here are the relevant translations from Herr Storck.
It bears repeating that these are not flying wings but tailless aircraft, a point lost on far too many people who ought to know better.
I might add that it is so typical of tailless aircraft knowledge among the so-called experts that one plane should behave very nicely and an almost identical looking contemporary be a near-deathtrap.

"Akerman, Tailless Experimental Aircraft — 1936
"Prof. John D. Akerman was a professor of aeronautical engineering at the University of Minnesota and, after studying Lippisch's flying wings, designed a tailless low-wing monoplane as part of a job creation program for the Minnesota Labor Office and also for his students to build themselves. Thanks to its elevons, landing flaps and rudder end plates, the small single-seater with a radial engine had good flight characteristics during take-off, slow flight and landing. The slightly swept wing had slots on the leading edge that acted as slats. The type was first flown at World-Chamberlain Field, Minneapolis in 1936. A reporter standing on the runway forced Akerman to land early to avoid a collision. University officials were irritated by the allegedly risky flight maneuvers and believed they could not carry the responsibility for the university and stopped further testing, which marked the end of development. The aircraft has been owned by NASM since 1970 and is on display at Silver Hill."
Silver Hill is a/the archive site for the Smithsonian NASM.
Note too that the plane was registered as X14880.

And on the Tuscar:
"Management & Research Inc. —- Mod. »H-70-71«, Airplane - 1937
"On behalf of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce for Economic Development, as part of the 1937 job creation program New York's Management & Research Inc. built the H-70-71 tailless sport aircraft, registered as NX20399. It was one of many test prototypes from that time, but was not successful. The type was a derivative of the 1936 Stearman-Hammond Y built as part of the light aircraft development program. The trapezoidal wing had inner elevators with large trim tabs, outer ailerons and a pair of rudders inside and outside on each wing side. A 70 kW Menasco engine gave the tailless aircraft a cruising speed of 160 km/h. The Type 1937 was flown by test pilot Jimmy Taylor, who had a great deal of experience and considered the flight characteristics to be marginal. The machine was badly damaged in a crash in 1938 while it was still being tested at the Floyd Bennet Field near New York. The company Tuscar Metals Inc., which bought up the wreckage, repaired the H-71 under Th. Hoff and flew the aircraft for about 60 flight hours until the end of 1944. During a demonstration flight in 1945, the machine was eventually destroyed, which was also the death sentence for the development of tailless sports aircraft at that time. "