Flying Pancake: Why the U.S. Navy Turned Down the Vought V-173
The Vought V-173, or "Flying Pancake," defied traditional aircraft design with its flat, flying-wing shape. Invented in the 1930s by Charles Zimmerman, the V-173 was designed in response to a Navy solicitation for an aircraft with short take-off and landing capability, enabling deployment from ships other than aircraft carriers.
What You Need to Know: The Vought V-173, or "Flying Pancake," defied traditional aircraft design with its flat, flying-wing shape. Invented in the 1930s by Charles Zimmerman, the V-173 was designed in response to a Navy solicitation for an aircraft with short take-off and landing capability, enabling deployment from ships other than aircraft carriers.
-Its 427-square-foot wing area and twin propellers allowed near-vertical takeoff and a landing speed of just 22 mph. Powered by two small 4-cylinder engines, the V-173 completed 131 flight hours, with even Charles Lindbergh taking a turn, though the Navy ultimately declined to adopt it.
The Vought V-173 "Flying Pancake": A Naval Aircraft Design Like No Other
Most aircraft, from commercial airliners like the Boeing 737 to general aviation staples like the Cessna 172 to modern fighters like the F-16 Falcon follow a fairly predictable structural pattern.
Nose, cockpit, fuselage, wings, tail. The features change based on the use of the aircraft, but the features are usually easy to point out and identify, so much so that most children can draw an approximation of an aircraft that would generally apply to most types.
But once in a while, an aircraft comes along that defies the standard rules of aircraft design. The Vought V-173 is one such aircraft.
Nicknamed the Flying Pancake, the V-173 cut against existing perceptions of what an aircraft was, or could be. As the name suggests, the V-173 was flat, with a flying wing shape that encompassed the entire fuselage. Although, aside from the distinct fuselage/wings, the V-173 did still feature two propeller engines, two horizontal stabilizers, and two vertical stabilizers about where you’d expect them.
Designing the Flying Pancake
Charles Zimmerman invented the V-173 in the 1930s and not only did the thing fly, “but it demonstrated remarkable performance.”
Here’s how the design came to be: The Navy wanted an aircraft that could operate from ships other than their aircraft carriers which would allow the Navy to deploy aircraft from just about anywhere in large quantities. Accordingly, the Navy asked for design submissions.
Zimmerman saw the solicitation, which demanded certain features he had already been working to incorporate into a novel design idea. Zimmerman, already a senior designer at Vought, was tasked with crafting an aircraft to meet the Navy’s request.
The Navy’s proposal, which would demand that an aircraft take off and land at very short distances, would require a lot of lift. Producing a lot of lift requires a large surface area. “Fortunately, Zimmerman’s design was nearly all wing.”
“The V-173 prototype would ultimately weigh just over 3,000 pounds fully loaded, with a massive 427 square feet of wing area,” Flying reported. “By comparison, a 3,100-pound Cessna 182T has only 174 square feet of wing area. While the 182’s wing loading is approximately 14 pounds per square foot, the V-173’s was just over five. The V-173 was kite-like by comparison.”
The aircraft was then outfitted with two enormous propellers, capable of producing immense propwash, and hence, more lift. The result was a landing speed of just twenty-two miles per hour and a near-vertical take-off ability.
Because the V-173 was designed to create such a remarkable lift, very little power was needed to power the aircraft. Zimmerman chose to install two 4-cylinder Continental A80 piston engines. The engines were so small that they could just be buried within the pancake-like fuselage, and of course, keep the aircraft’s overall weight down.
The V-173 would log 131 hours of flight time. Charles Lindbergh even flew the unique aircraft. But the Navy passed on Zimmerman’s proposal. Zimmerman would move on to bigger projects; he became a division chief for NASA’s Project Mercury, and later, NASA’s director of aeronautics.
About the Author: Harrison Kass
Harrison Kass is a defense and national security writer with over 1,000 total pieces on issues involving global affairs. An attorney, pilot, guitarist, and minor pro hockey player, Harrison joined the US Air Force as a Pilot Trainee but was medically discharged. Harrison holds a BA from Lake Forest College, a JD from the University of Oregon, and an MA from New York University. Harrison listens to Dokken.
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