Davis "Manta"

hesham

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My dears,

do you know Davis Manta fighter ?.
just model;
 

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My dears,

for Davis Manta it was a really fighter project.

In 1938 USN issue a specification a light high performance carrier
based fighter to replace biplane fighters then in service,the main
contenders were Bell Model-5 XFL-1,Grumman G-34 XF5F-1,Vought
V.166B XF4U-1,Brewster and Curtiss,I search for the last two companys
but I found nothing,does anyone know those two proposals ?.specially
one of two company submitted a twin engined design.
 
Any more information on the Manta? With a rendering similar to the one displayed on this thread, the artist stated that the aircraft was cancelled without explaination. ???
 
Should have posted this before;

Davis Manta

From Miranda aviation mag
 

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Davis Manta

From Miranda aviation mag

I didn't knew about this Manta. It looks like an advanced version of the original project posted above, could you tell us more about if?
 
red admiral said:
Should have posted this before;

Davis Manta

From Miranda aviation mag

Nice pic. But, is there anymore information about the history? (Specification, engine, project timeline, ect.?)
 
About the 'Manta' fighter.

Design by David R.Davis. (of Davis-wing fame)

purpose : ultra longrange fighter.

Manufacturer (planned) : Manta Aircraft Corporation
Los Angeles .California.
Year : 1942.

engine : 1 Allison ? of 1150hp.
span : 14,935m ( or with 2e wingset 15,240m)
lenght : 11,580m
height : 4,877m

performence:

max speed :720km/h
cruise :560km/h
landing sp. :96km/h

range . 5600km
max.flying time : h.10
ceiling. 12.000m

armament :4x20mmm cannon
4x 12.5 mmMG

weight : unknown

one 1/1 mock-up constructed

source:Luftfahrt-Lexikon 3061-801-2 Luftfahrt International 25.
further reading:Davis Manta Fighter ,Flying models ,October 1956.
Future Fighter,Air Trails,September 1941
 
That Manta info is great!. Thanks for it hesham :)
 
Here some pics of the twin booms version from
-"Die Deutsche Sportflieger" sept 1942
-"Aeronautical Engineering Review" june 1942
-"Luftahrt International" No 25
-"Le Fanatique de l´Aviation" 216-217
 

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Some speculative drawings by myself
SOURCE GRADING 2-3
 

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Thanks a lot Justo. That twin tail layout came earlier than the more conventional one?
 
pometablava said:
Thanks a lot Justo. That twin tail layout came earlier than the more conventional one?

In my opinion the conventional fuselage version dates of 1940
 

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Here some pics of the conventional version
 

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Some speculative drawings by myself
SOURCE GRADING 3-4
 

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Thank you very much Justo, you help me a lot.
I had a fighter profile from a french magazine labeled McDonnell Manta fighter from 1942. I posted it here:

http://www.secretprojects.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,650.0/highlight,tophe.html

Thanks to your info I see that when we delete the word "McDonnell", we have "Manta fighter from 1942" and that has more sense.
 
Again from that french magazine: the twin tailed manta would have been powered with Allison V-3420-B2 engine instead of early conventional version with Allison V-1710. ( That powerplant alone could have doomed the project prior any other technical or operational consideration :p)
 
Unidentified french magazine is Le Fanatique de lÁviation Nr. 216-217-218
Please see attached some drawings of the unknown plane from:
-Wings & Airpower September 1972
-Die Deutsche Sportflieger Sept 1942
-Le Fanatique de l'Aviation No 216
 

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Thanks again Justo,

I clearly see that the unknown fighter drawing from Le Fana has no real similarity with the Brewster Model 33 other than its layout. Loocking at the drawings and text from your post I guess it is not a real project but one of this "future aircraft concept" so popular in pre-WWII mags. Something like that I knew from Lark's post here:

http://www.secretprojects.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,773.0.html
 
pometablava said:
Thanks again Justo,

I clearly see that the unknown fighter drawing from Le Fana has no real similarity with the Brewster Model 33 other than its layout. Loocking at the drawings and text from your post I guess it is not a real project but one of this "future aircraft concept" so popular in pre-WWII mags. Something like that I knew from Lark's post here:

http://www.secretprojects.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,773.0.html

From "Die Deutsche Sportflieger" September 1942
 

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An old PM article on the Manta for sale:
http://books.google.com/books?id=RicDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA62&lpg=PA62&dq=Davis+Manta+fighter&source=bl&ots=-2O69S6hmQ&sig=Unmzyf1Ij8ESoLM2QyRJ6hICuvI&hl=en&ei=QXHCSoqEEZSOswOioJHTAg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2#v=onepage&q=Davis%20Manta%20fighter&f=false
 
This old topic seems to consider (like I often do myself) that the Davis Manta and the McDonnell Model 1 Manta were one and the same. But do we have evidence of this?

Meanwhile, here is a marvelous scale model of the Davis Manta found on a Japanese website:
http://www.ne.jp/asahi/tsmc/net/work-16.html

Next is a fake "maiden flight" picture once saved from the web (but I don't remember where from).

Finally, a three-page article from Popular Science dated June 1942.
 

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Quote from: Apophenia on Today at 01:03:05 am
Quote from: Stargazer2006 on Yesterday at 09:20:57 pm
Next is a fake "maiden flight" picture once saved from the web (but I don't remember where from).

Stéphane, the "maiden flight" is a slope flying model. At a guess, the model is about 1m long.

Image from here: http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1166269

Thanks Apophenia!
+
I've recently become a member on RCGroups.com, so I've posted a link to this thread on the topic over there...




cheers,
Robin.
 
Here's an article about building a gliding model of the Manta.

http://www.theplanpage.com/Months/2806/Manta.htm
 

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In a very dusty corner of my website lives this...
http://digitalaviationart.com/skyraider3d/manta_1.htm
Embarassingly amateuristic image by now... :-[
 
Hehe nice mod! :)

Compared to the detail and realism of my current 3D models, that Manta really is pretty poor! Then again, it's a dozen years old by now. If I find some time, I might rework it and bring it up to a more modern standard perhaps.
 
Hi! Manta fighter.
 

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From recent Japanese book.
Japanese text says that propeller diameter is abnormally small.
 

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Thanks blackkite, but we already had a topic on this... Topics merged.

Please think of using the search engine!
 
blackkite said:
Wow! Sorry for duplication.

No problem... We've all made that mistake at times, and even using the search engine sometimes doesn't turn up the results we need, so no worries. Besides you added more images so it's cool... ;)
 
Hi,


a clearer drawing to Davis Manta fighter,from Luftfahrt International.
 

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