Tuesday, July 17, 2007

What the ..... ???!!!




This photo is from the National Archives. It shows a B-17 with a nose-mounted engine. That's about all I can tell you about it. Anyone know about this obviously experimental program?

Very little time for posting this week. Today Oregon is cool, in the sixties.
I contacted aviation artist Bill Phillips and his wife, who live in Ashland, about visiting, but they were booked for the week. Bill's my favorite aviation artist. He did the cover of Untold Valor and his work has a special quality because of his Christian beliefs. Bill puts planes in beautiful skies and glowing sunsets, as if to contrast the sadness and stress of war with the eternal beauty of the earth.



2 comments:

TONYP said...

This is ex 44-85734 now N5111N.
The 4 wing engines are standard R-1820-97 and the Fifth engine on the nose was a XT-34 turbo-prop. This was an experimental test bed for the turboprop, this could keep the ship airbourne on it's own with the 4 wing engines feathered.

Anonymous said...

Thanks, Tony!
I appreciate the info.
Rob