unknown 40's or 50's airplane

J.J.Horst

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Does anybody know this airplane?

It is based on some test stand.

I'm unsure about the year, may be just before, during, or just after WW2.

Location: probably France or Germany, maybe other.
 

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On first sight it looks like an unpowered military glider, either for troop transport or as a towed target.
 
fightingirish said:
On first sight it looks like an unpowered military glider, either for troop transport or as a towed target.

It looks like a single-seater to me.
 
At first glance I would agree with Stargazer, that it is a single seater, it looks
as the headrest is visible under a transparent canopy. But the paint scheme
looks like the british black and yellow scheme for target tugs, so an aerial
target would be plausible. The Slingsby Type 19 came to my mind, I've once found
on a modeler site. More information can be found here http://cmac.synthasite.com/resources/mags/ST/09/ST33.pdf,
page 28, including a 3-view. It doesn't really match the photo, especially the shape of
the fin and rudder is different and of course there's no transparent canopy, but 3
different types are mentioned and how accurate the drawing really is, is hard to
consider.
 
It looks like something on a fair to me...
It seems there is no rudder visible. (nor a horizontal tailplane)
Is there something written across the fin on the top ?
 
Just one clarification that I forgot in my original post;

The plane is a model that is undergoeing (aerodynamic) tests, it seems that it is 1/2 or 1/3 scale.

As it is a model for testing, it need not have all the functionality of an actual airplane.
 
Triangular fin makes me think of British designs (Miles notably).

I know that Miles Technical School Students were working on an advanced glider design just after the war, but of course I have no idea if this could be related.
 
The white rectangle over the cockpit area looks like it was added to the picture.
 
alfakilo said:
The white rectangle over the cockpit area looks like it was added to the picture.
You are right, I also assumed (like others) that it is a cockpit, but it seems to be just painted white, either on the photo or on the actual plane.
 
Can you tell us something about the source of this photo ?
Maybe that's an additional clue.
 
I did not know much about the picture, now found out more.

It is part of a picture where the plane is tested on top of an automobile.

This was around 1960, in France, the plane being a glider.
 
Although the date of 1960 probably dismisses it, the first thing that comes to my mind is possibly something to do with the Bugatti Racer.
 
Hutter Ostmark high altitude zerstroyer concept, 1943.
Never made it off the drawing board.
Supposed to be powered by engines buried amidship.

Unicraft will cheerfully sell you a model.
 
Not seeing any sort of resemblance to the Ostmark.
 

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