Piasecki PA-59 Airgeep and derived projects

JC Carbonel

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I know two pix of this design : both show the right side . Is there any picture of the left side ?

JCC
 
US Army Aircraft since 1947
Stephen Harding
Airlife
ISBN 1-85310-102-8

Piasecki (Model 59) VZ-8P Airgeep Vehicle Number 1 sn 58-5510

Pic number one shows the exhaust shroud for the Turbomeca Artouste IIB turbine.

The man in photo 2 is Frank Piasecki :)

I hope this could help you JC
 

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Thank you .

my question refers specifically to the non-flying mock-up as kitted by ITC and now Glencoe :
img11.jpg

I am especially wondering about the left-side "bulge" presumably accomodating the engine which is depicted on the model kit (invisible on either photograph I know or on John Amendola's boxart pictured above) . I also need info on the rear wheel which was moved from under the pilot compartment in the mock-up to the extreme rear of the machine on the flying versions. I have no good view of this wheel on the mock-up.
Actually I think that even better than a picture of the mock-up would be engineering sketches/cutaway. I presume there must be a patent for this machine but I never found it .

sincerely

JCC
 
A picture of an armed Piasecki flying jeep can be found in Aviation Week August 1957,
but the vehicle seems to be much larger, than the VZ-8P.
 

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Thank you all . Yes Anigrand has a new picture of the mock-up (left picture). It suggests there are probably more lurking around, waiting to be found.

JCC
 
I don't understand the topic's title... The Piasecki PA-59 Airgeep (mind the spelling!) was much more than a mock-up! Developed by Piasecki under his new company (which means no involvement of Vertol at all), there were two distinct prototypes constructed and test-flown over a period of five years. Three variants existed:

PA-59K ....... US Army VZ-8P AIRGEEP (initially called the SKY CAR) (1958)
PA-59N ....... US Navy 'PA-59' SEAGEEP (1961)
PA-59H ....... US Army VZ-8P AIRGEEP II "bent" in the middle so that the rotors were tilted fore and aft (1962)

First two pictures below show the mock-up, which was much more basic than the finished product.
 

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The U.S. Army acquired a prototype registered as 58-5510 and designated VZ-8P (the Army's designations had constructor prefixes directly stuck to the numeral).
 

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The pictures below show the airframe with alternate bumper-types and with none:
 

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The U.S. Navy also showed interest in the PA-59, and evaluated a float version of it, PA-59N Seageep. They simply designated it the "PA-59". This is one version I'd love to find more pictures of. Please note that this is simply the Army's 58-5510 with the mention "Army-Navy" added on the sides.
 

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A second vehicle, which received the serial 58-5511, was built with a canted airframe. In this configuration, the type was now designated PA-59H Airgeep II and received the designation VZ-8P-2 or VZ-8P[B], depending on the sources (Fort Rucker's museum gives the former one on the aircraft's information sign).
 

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Finally, a beautiful photograph showing both 58-5510 and 58-5511 side-by-side.
 

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Stargazer2006 said:
The U.S. Navy also showed interest in the PA-59, and evaluated a float version of it, PA-59N Seageep. They simply designated it the "PA-59". This is one version I'd love to find more pictures of. Please note that this is simply the Army's 58-5510 with the mention "Army-Navy" added on the sides.


Better picture over here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sdasmarchives/6313184134/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sdasmarchives/6313184134/sizes/l/in/photostream/

[photo replaced by larger version further in the thread]
 
What aerodynamic advantage was conferred by bending the chassis/fuselage in the middle in the way they did in second version? Did it improve controllability?
 
The theme of the topic is as follow :

There is a kit which depicts the mock-up of the Piasecki Flying Jeep. The design evolved somewhat between the initial mock-up and the flying articles (which themselves as you pointed out, existed in different variants). The flying articles are "well" documented, not so with the initial mock-up of which only one (now four) pictures are known. For example is there any picture of the left (port) side of the mock-up? any picture of the rear landing gear of the mock-up? etc...
This is not about the Flying Jeep program but about its early iteration.

JCC
 
Hi,


and may be Piasecki submitted those concepts.
 

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hesham said:
Hi,


and may be Piasecki submitted those concepts.


Top one is the Chrysler VZ-6 concept, bottom-left is the Aerophysics/Curtiss-Wright VZ-7, bottom-right is a Piasecki concept.
 
  • First flight of the AirGeep (Sept 22, 1958)
  • First flight of the SeaGeep (Sept 18, 1961)
  • First flight of the AirGeep II (Feb 15, 1962)
NHHS Photos from the San Diego Aerospace Museum's galleries:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sdasmarchives/
 

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In Aero, December 1958, I've found an artist impression of a civil derivative of the
VZ-8P, called "Skycar". Actually it looks like the kind of private means of transportation,
we were expecting from the year 2000 back in the '60s ...
 

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The Aircar was on this book cover.
 

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XP67_Moonbat said:
The Aircar was on this book cover.

I'm afraid not. This is the Hiller Aerial Sedan, straight from a Popular Mechanics cover of the time.
 
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