Republic XF-12 Rainbow

[Mark Nankivil]

I've recently received a number of photos from a friend that were originally scanned by the late Leo Polask. The images are from the Cradle of Aviation Museum in Garden City, Long Island, New York. I think they're worth sharing and I have gained permission to do so.

Overscan, if you think these should be split up and placed in other threads, please feel free to do so.

First off, the XR-12 Rainbow and its proposed airliner variant....

Enjoy the Day! Mark

 

[Mark Nankivil]

... and a few more...

 

[Triton]

Republic Rainbow

Republic RC-2 Rainbow. Images from Goleta Air and Space Museum.

First image:

Although Republic did build a prototype of its RC-2 Rainbow military reconaissance aircraft, its proposed civil transport never came to be. Many thanks to Brian Lockett, Web master of the virtual Goleta Air & Space Museum for allowing me to reproduce this picture. His site is http://www.air-and-space.com/home.htm and well worth visiting if you are a fan of large propliners and other interesting aircraft.

http://rides.webshots.com/photo/2501471570048918155xwsbO

Second image:

This is what the mighty Republic Rainbow would have looked like inside. She kind of reminds me of the Bristol Britannia, the Whispering Giant. Many thanks to Brian Lockett, Web master of the virtual Goleta Air & Spece Museum for allowing me to reproduce this picture. His site is http://www.air-and-space.com/home.htm and well worth visiting if you are a fan of large propliners and other interesting aircraft.

http://rides.webshots.com/photo/2101631480048918155bWtNdQ

 

[RyanC]

From my trip at the Archives last week...

 

[RyanC]

Closeups of it on the ground.

 

[RyanC]

The Crash.

 

[Stargazer]

Oh my... The Rainbow is one of my all-time favorite designs! Christmas comes early this year... Thank you SO much for sharing these!

 

[Mark Nankivil]

Thank you, thank you, thank you. One of my all time favorite piston powered beauties. All I have ever seen is a simplistic three view - any chance you found some drawings?! (Sounds of candles being lit and good fortune chants being sung in the background with the hope of....)

Enjoy the Day! Mark

 

[RyanC]

Thank you for reminding me. We found the original Republic Proposal for AP-41; and in it, it had the first clear 3 view of the Rainbow I've ever found.

Now, some details may be different between the original AP-41 proposal, and what finally got built....

EDIT: just remembered the other stuff I scanned in! (adds more)

 

[Sundog]

You didn't happen to find any cockpit photos, did you? I've only a found a few interior shots of the Rainbow, but haven't found any good cockpit details. Thanks for sharing what you have, I've always thought this was one of the most beautiful piston engined aircraft ever developed.

 

[RyanC]

You didn't happen to find any cockpit photos, did you? I've only a found a few interior shots of the Rainbow, but haven't found any good cockpit details.

The Rainbow Mockup folder was chock full with interior mockup views -- but I didn't scan those in. :-\ Mainly because there was so much detail in them, who needs to see the exact location of the air flasks installed for high altitude cruising.

But.....there may be hope!

I've never been to the Still Photo floor at Archives II -- in teh Textural Floor, there are lots of memos that say "see attached dwg/photo" and there's no attached photo! So perhaps theyre on the upstairs floor for photos...

 

[Steve Pace]

Here's two more images.

 

[Steve Pace]

And a color one...

 

[elmayerle]

You didn't happen to find any cockpit photos, did you? I've only a found a few interior shots of the Rainbow, but haven't found any good cockpit details.

The Rainbow Mockup folder was chock full with interior mockup views -- but I didn't scan those in. :-\ Mainly because there was so much detail in them, who needs to see the exact location of the air flasks installed for high altitude cruising.

But.....there may be hope!

I've never been to the Still Photo floor at Archives II -- in teh Textural Floor, there are lots of memos that say "see attached dwg/photo" and there's no attached photo! So perhaps theyre on the upstairs floor for photos...

I'm curious, was there anything on the proposed airliner interior?

 

[Justo Miranda]

Some additional info-Post-1

 

[Justo Miranda]

Some additional info-Post-2

 

[Justo Miranda]

Some additional info-Post-3

 

[Justo Miranda]

Some additional info-Post-4

 

[Antonio]

Many Thanks Justo!

BTW, can you identify that man in the pic?

 

[Stargazer]

This thread is AWESOME!

I have restored the fold-out poster into one single picture, but it's over 2 Mb. Here is a lower-sized version of it, but if anyone is interested, I can send the large one by mail.

 

[Steve Pace]

Please send me one. Thanks!

Steve

 

[Justo Miranda]

Many Thanks Justo!

BTW, can you identify that man in the pic?

Lowery Brabham (left) and Oscar Hass,they were the pilot and co-pilot respectively on the first flight.
Brabham is better known as the first man to fly the Thunderbolt

 

[Stargazer]

I have also restored the picture that was saturated with green... Here is the small size version:

Of course, if any of you is interested, bla bla... (I will forward it automatically to those who received the first one, anyway...)

 

[Abraham Gubler]

This is all great stuff but I was wondering is there any interior configuration layouts for the photo-recce version?

 

[Stargazer]

Here is an improved version of the restored picture I presented above...

 

[RyanC]

This is all great stuff but I was wondering is there any interior configuration layouts for the photo-recce version?

*cough*

 

[Abraham Gubler]

Thanks! I was wondering if it had a photo lab onboard, which it didn't. Very interesting how the nose windscreen is actually an appendage to the pressure hull which ends with the thick, tiltback glass inside this windscreen. Also quite inefficient that so much pressurised volume is just fuel tankage. I guess Republic had their eye on the civilian applications compared to Hughes and their all military ‘Buck Rodgers ship’ the XF-15.

 

[RyanC]

I guess Republic had their eye on the civilian applications compared to Hughes and their all military ‘Buck Rodgers ship’ the XF-15.

You mean XF-11?

I have a bit of data on the XF-11; and apparently the military recommended the XF-12 over the XF-11; there was a memo series on it that I scanned in.

 

[Abraham Gubler]

Yeah (XF-11), should have checked that on Google :-*

Be interesting to see the evaluation of the XF-11 vs XF-12. Assuming they both worked the XF-11 should be a lot cheaper with only two engines and two crew. Yet the XF-12 may have fitted the legacy long range photo-recce sqns more thanks to the bigger crew. Forces love to replace like for like. XF-11 vs XF-12 could have been a very similar debate to Mosquito vs Lancaster for RAF Bomber Command.

 

[fightingirish]

I must say, that this aircraft is beautiful and this thread is nearly to be called "The thread of the month".
Has anyone got any pictures about the "RC-2", the "stretched" airline version of the XF-12?
I have already read about the modifications at Wikipedia.
Original source: Machat, Mike. "Somewhere, Under a Rainbow." Wings Volume 24, No. 2, April 1994.

 

[Stargazer]

There never was a civilian RC-2 Rainbow as planned, because of the cancellation of the military program which Republic was counting on (the way that the military Constellation had helped the civilian post-war marketing I guess). Only paintings and models existed, not even a full-scale mockup.

The other trouble is that after the war, the civil market was literally flooded by C-47s, C-69s and C-54s sold and/or returned to the airlines, and a new design would have been a lot more costly and less profitable. In retrospect, many aviation enthusiasts consider the RC-2 as a splendid design that never got a chance. This being said, by the time it would have been in operational services, chances are it would have had a hard time competing with the Constellation, which was already well established, and the Convair Liner series.

 

[lark]

Just put -Republic Rainbow- in the 'search' and
a lot of additional info will comes up...

 

[Justo Miranda]

Thanks! I was wondering if it had a photo lab onboard, which it didn't. Very interesting how the nose windscreen is actually an appendage to the pressure hull which ends with the thick, tiltback glass inside this windscreen. Also quite inefficient that so much pressurised volume is just fuel tankage. I guess Republic had their eye on the civilian applications compared to Hughes and their all military ‘Buck Rodgers ship’ the XF-15.

Camera installation here

 

[fightingirish]

Just put -Republic Rainbow- in the 'search' and
a lot of additional info will comes up...

Thanks for the advice. :-*
I found a pic of the (turboprop) Rainbow with "a solid metal nose with a bifurcated windshield".

Did we have an artwork of the turboprop Rainbow yet?

SOURCE: aero magazine 1958 (page 127)

 

[RyanC]

Here's the XF-12 vs XF-11 memo I found:

 

[Stargazer]

I simply love that phrase:

d. From a cost standpoint, it would be false economy to procure XF-11's instead of F-12's as a strategic reconnaissance airplane.

How well inspired the people in charge of military procurement (and the congressmen behind) would be if they took that sound piece of advice from an era when they were developing, producing, procuring and using aircraft by the thousands every year and had more than respectable knowledge of how NOT to do it...

 

[RyanC]

Here's the requirements that led to the XF-12:

 

[zbrubaker]

RyanCrierie and everyone else,

Thanks for the photos of the XF-12, information has been very hard to come by. A friend and I have designed a 1/19 scale RC Rainbow. Unfortunately we were only able to find very poor reference materials. Still, I believe it turned out well and it flies wonderfully! I have a few pictures I can add and I'll also include a couple pictures of the model we built as soon as I figure out how to attach the images (seems it may not be enabled since I'm new).

 

[Stargazer]

Welcome aboard zbrubaker! Too bad you didn't get proper resolution pics and plans... but since the model flies and it looks good, that's the important thing, right?

Can't wait to see pictures of it... when you can upload stuff of course.

 

[zbrubaker]

Here are the XF-12 pics that I have:

[IMG]http://www.parkscalemodels.com/images/xf-12/blueprints.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://www.parkscalemodels.com/images/xf-12/enginerunupf84s.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://www.parkscalemodels.com/images/xf-12/geardrawing.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://www.parkscalemodels.com/images/xf-12/hangarrollout.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://www.parkscalemodels.com/images/xf-12/lineupp47seehangar3bkgrd.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://www.parkscalemodels.com/images/xf-12/nosestrut.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://www.parkscalemodels.com/images/xf-12/p47pal.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://www.parkscalemodels.com/images/xf-12/PopularMechanicsMar1946-01.JPG[/IMG]
[IMG]http://www.parkscalemodels.com/images/xf-12/PopularMechanicsMar1946-02.JPG[/IMG]
[IMG]http://www.parkscalemodels.com/images/xf-12/rampfromtower.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://www.parkscalemodels.com/images/xf-12/rounduphangr4tower.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://www.parkscalemodels.com/images/xf-12/techpals.jpg[/IMG]

Here are some pics of the XF-12 that I built on it's second flight:

[IMG]http://www.parkscalemodels.com/images/xf-12/IMG_2752.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://www.parkscalemodels.com/images/xf-12/IMG_2753.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://www.parkscalemodels.com/images/xf-12/IMG_2755.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://www.parkscalemodels.com/images/xf-12/IMG_2756.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://www.parkscalemodels.com/images/xf-12/IMG_2758.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://www.parkscalemodels.com/images/xf-12/IMG_2760.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://www.parkscalemodels.com/images/xf-12/IMG_2761.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://www.parkscalemodels.com/images/xf-12/IMG_2767.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://www.parkscalemodels.com/images/xf-12/IMG_2771.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://www.parkscalemodels.com/images/xf-12/IMG_2772.jpg[/IMG]

And here's a video of the second flight. The announcer had been given some mis-information regarding the full size Rainbow and the model, so just ignore the inaccuracies.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DqXskw8GrMk

Mod comment: OMG! Mod edit. Download all images in one pack: http://www.mediafire.com/file/o2iyjzzwkzx/republic_xf-12_rainbow.rar