Convair XF2Y-1 Seadart

Triton

Triton

Donald McKelvy
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Convair YF2Y-1 Sea Dart desk model by Topping found on eBay

URL: http://cgi.ebay.com/Convair-YF2Y-1-Sea-Dart-Factory-Desk-Model-/200598411127?_trksid=p4340.m1374&_trkparms=algo%3DPI%26its%3DC%26itu%3DUCC%26otn%3D5%26ps%3D63%26clkid%3D8554988181401034383

Seller's Description
This is the last factory model I will be selling. Factory resin Convair Seadart YF2Y-1 desk model. This model came form the San Diego area where the Sea Dart was made. 12 inches long and solid heavy resin.
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The pics:
 

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"...the impossible takes a little longer" film from Convair discussing the development of the XF2Y-1 Seadart. The World's first supersonic, water based interceptor! Also contains model footage of the Convair Skate.
From the archives of the San Diego Air and Space Museum http://www.sandiegoairandspace.org/research/

http://youtu.be/Z7DcqfFpb4Y
 
Wonderful.

Perhaps the lesson is that just because you can do it, it doesn't mean that it's necessarily a good idea.
 
LowObservable said:
Wonderful.

Perhaps the lesson is that just because you can do it, it doesn't mean that it's necessarily a good idea.
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I think that USN/Convair understood that - they did after all place and keep an X in front of the F. On the face of it, the idea of landing on skis isn't much more absurd than passing jetfuel between high-altitude, high-speed aircraft or operating a supersonic fighter from a ship.
 
Wow. Just wow. From now on whenever I think that the younger generation has invented something new, I'll look back on this as an example of how far forward the older generations really were.

I don't mean in terms of aquatic fighter technologies, but more in terms of coming up with the idea of really annoying and barely appropriate music on video mini documentaries.
 
Original Convair F2Y Sea Dart Documents

Starting bid 199.00. Note the 2-seat version in the drawings. This looks like a gold mine.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-50s-original-U-S-Navy-F2Y-Sea-Dart-Fighter-Jet-DESIGNS-notes-Studies-/322188510569?hash=item4b03ee8569:g:ArwAAOSwv9FXgwHv
 

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Re: Orignal Convair F2Y Sea Dart Documents

What a treasure! I hope it lands in the collection of an appreciative aviation historian who will take good care of it (and hopefully share with the rest of the aviation-loving community! ;D)
 
Re: Orignal Convair F2Y Sea Dart Documents

I am willing to donate money towards securing this (assuming the material is scanned and shared) if that's helpful.

If the current bidder is a member of the forum, please come forward so we can avoid a price war :)
 
Re: Original Convair F2Y Sea Dart Documents

Please count me in on this, I'd like to contribute per Paul's note.
 
Re: Original Convair F2Y Sea Dart Documents

I've run a few crowdfunded ebay efforts. This sure as hell looks like a dandy candidate. If nobody else here is already bidding, I'll do so and attempt to score this, as it needs to be secured and scanned.

EDIT:
Oh, what the heck, I'm'a going for it. As with some prior crowdfunding of ebay items, what I'm doing is offering a complete set of 300DPI scans (color where relevant) of the set to "contributors." This means anyone who signs on in advance promising to pay a straight fraction of the total. If ten people sign on and it goes for $500, that's $500/11 (10 people plus me) or $45.45 each. Which really ain't too bad for a haul like this. I'm also soliciting contributors to the effort over at my APR Patreon, so hopefully I can get a bunch of people interested. So... who's interested?

PS: As for the original items, I'm thinking that if I get this and make and distribute the scans, the best thing for the originals is to donate them to the San Diego Air & Space Museum... which is about the best place I can think of for 'em. But scans first...
 
Re: Original Convair F2Y Sea Dart Documents

I'm in!

This is even better than the Boeing SST documents deal you ran before.
 
Re: Original Convair F2Y Sea Dart Documents

Richard N said:
I'm in!

This is even better than the Boeing SST documents deal you ran before.
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I used to use some convoluted algorithms with these, but now it seems easiest and fairest to just divide the cost up evenly. The only distressing thing is that I of course cannot guarantee what this will go for. Right now I have 8 people who've signed on... if it goes for $400, then it'll only cost $44.44 each, but if it goes for a grand, that'll be $111.11. That's not *too* bad, but it'll still be a bit of a hit. But if the cost can be spread out among a wider group... (hint, hint)

I've seen some great stuff go on ebay for prices I couldn't hope to afford, and then it disappears. Doing it this way means that not only do I know that the data survives, I know that it survives *widely.*
 
Re: Original Convair F2Y Sea Dart Documents

I'm in, but the more the merrier :) If we move this to a more public area you might get more backers. Downside, you might get more bidders.
 
Re: Original Convair F2Y Sea Dart Documents

Just wish I could add my own 50 bucks or so... but there have been some dire changes in my personal situation over the past few days, and I'm currently in a major rut financially speaking — pretty much in fact on the verge of bankrupcy (costly divorce procedure, alimony and stuff) I just can't... :'( :'( :'(

PaulMM (Overscan) said:
If we move this to a more public area you might get more backers. Downside, you might get more bidders.
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That's why I think it's safest to keep it as it is. The risk of losing this treasure is just too high. Limitation in the number of bidders means greater chances of it landing in the proper hands.

Orionblamblam said:
PS: As for the original items, I'm thinking that if I get this and make and distribute the scans, the best thing for the originals is to donate them to the San Diego Air & Space Museum... which is about the best place I can think of for 'em.
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A very sensible approach that honors you. It's comforting to know that the material will not only benefit some very dedicated enthusiasts, but will also land in a place where it can properly be safeguarded and preserved for generations to come as a unique chapter of San Diego area's industrial heritage.
 
Re: Original Convair F2Y Sea Dart Documents

PaulMM (Overscan) said:
I'm in, but the more the merrier :) If we move this to a more public area you might get more backers. Downside, you might get more bidders.
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Currently have a total of 12. So if it goes to $1000, that's $76.92 each ($1000/13). Preference would be for it not going that high. And yeah, I'd rather not load up on competing bids.
 
Re: Original Convair F2Y Sea Dart Documents

One day left on this. Anyone else want to jump in on it? I've decided to baseline $100 as the per-contributor bid price (say there's 13 contributors, I'll bid $1300). If it goes for much less than that, the contributors only have to pay that fraction.

So, anyone else?

I've spoken to an archivist at the SDASM, someone who's name y'all should be familiar with. They are more than willing to accept donations of stuff like this, so once it is all scanned and distributed... that's where it's going.
 
Re: Original Convair F2Y Sea Dart Documents

I said I'd be in and I will be, but I'd be happier at $60 than $100.

Can't help feeling anyone prepared to pay above $1000 is probably already a member of this forum, no sense in a bidding war amongst ourselves.
 
Re: Original Convair F2Y Sea Dart Documents

PaulMM (Overscan) said:
I said I'd be in and I will be, but I'd be happier at $60 than $100.
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Yeah, me too. My bid for the Convair supersonic carrier airplane diagram was well above what it sold for, but I'm happier that it went for less.
 
Re: Original Convair F2Y Sea Dart Documents

Success! And at just short of $400, surprisingly affordable. Split 16 ways (15 confirmed contributors), that's only about $25 each. Which is a freakin' bargain.
 
Re: Original Convair F2Y Sea Dart Documents

Woohoo!

Sent my contribution (rounded up :))
 
Re: Original Convair F2Y Sea Dart Documents

Score!! Money is in the bank. Thanks Scott.
 
Re: Original Convair F2Y Sea Dart Documents

Scott,

Money sent. Looking forward to more successful projects.

Thanks,

Richard
 
Re: Original Convair F2Y Sea Dart Documents

The lot arrived today. It's one heck of a block of paper. At first glance the bulk of it is hand-written notes of probably minimal interest, but there are a whole lot of fol-out diagrams in there, including seaplane variants of the F-106.
 
Re: Original Convair F2Y Sea Dart Documents

FYI- The same guy has more Sea Dart stuff on Ebay. Photos of models and it looks like duplicates of some of the documents in this package. Starting price $199. Don't know if has enough different material to make it interesting.
 
Re: Original Convair F2Y Sea Dart Documents

The documents are all pretty much duplicates, at least the ones that are shown. But I did put in a bid on his Vultee flying boat facilities document...
 
FYI - scans of diagrams (PNG format) and documents (PDF) are being uploaded to the Dropbox folder for the contributors, a handful roughly every other day. Haven't heard much of anything from contributors, so I don't know if y'all are getting them...
 

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The documents look great. Appreciate you scanning all of this material.
 
Yeah, I just downloaded the latest batch today at work. i'll go through them tonight. I'm still drooling over the twin J-79 powered variant. :)
 
PaulMM (Overscan) said:
the scan quality is awesome.
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300 DPI, full color, saved as PNG format. That seems to about do it.

Some things aren't helpful, though. A report I'm about halfway through scanning (a hydrodynamics report, not a design report, sadly) is the actual original hand-typed copy. Which is cool and all, but one page is the graph of data, with hand-typed labels. Which were glued on. Sixty-five years ago. And sixty five years does glue no favors.
 
Seadart crash.
 

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General Arrangement for a single engine F2Y with either J-57, J-67 or J-75 engine.
 

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Configuration II (two J-73 or two J-79 engines) Performance Estimates
Configuration III (one J-57 or one J-67 or one J-75 engine) Performance Estimates
 

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Halcyon66 said:
Are these doc's available somehow?

Regards,
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NARA II RG 402 (National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, MD Record Group 402)
 
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