FTFC '18 WWII V-173 Flying Pancake
Sir Fly
Vought V-173 Prototype Fighter
AKA "Flying Pancake," "Zimmer Skimmer"
http://forum.flitetest.com/showthread.php?35984-FTCC-18-WWII-Vought-V-173-quot-Flying-Pancake-quot
Known for its revolutionary elliptical lifting body, the "Flying Pancake" was a unusual aircraft designed by Charles H Zimmerman in the late 1930's and developed throughout the war with the Vought company. Even though the prototype aircraft maidened in 1942, one year after the US entered the war, the fighter that was designed after the prototype, the XF5U, never entered service. After the war, jet technology entertained Navy generals more than the V-173/XF5U's STOL and carrier-based fighter capabilities, and the first shipment of XF5U aircraft was sent to the scrapyard. The only remaining V-173 prototype was acquired by the Smithsonian and is currently undergoing restoration.
NOTE: I am designing the V-173, not the XF5U. I personally think the V-173 prototype is more interesting.
The XF5U can be distinguished from the V-173 by the two large engine intakes on either side of the cockpit and its four-bladed props, neither of which appear on the V-173.