1950 trailer truck airplane - GIF, video, and photos

[Jon]

The Fairchild XC-120 Packplane, a 1950 experimental airplane with removable cargo pods. Only one was built.



On the ground:




Composite image (that's why you see two XC-120s, when only one was ever built):



4:25 video:

This was the fixed-wing version of the Sikorsky S-64 Skycrane helicopter:



More: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairch...-120_Packplane

Previously:

Suspended cable runway for airplane takeoff and landing - GIFs and video
Operation Credible Sport: C-130s modified with rockets for hostage rescue
airplane short takeoff/landing records
Microburst causes planes to takeoff by themselves - video
bird strike through windshield of Cessna 210
Helicopter lands on ship in rough seas
Tiger Moth biplane hits cow on landing
Tree-assisted plane landing - GIF
1963 video of USS Enterprise, the first nuclear aircraft carrier
Parallel parking a fighter jet on an aircraft carrier - GIF
Harrier jump jet lands on a stool - GIF and video
Perfect belly landing in 1966 Piper PA30 - GIF
C-5 Galaxy landing gear - video

[sossol]

I met and interviewed the designer of the cargo pod portion of this plane for one if my Industrial Design classes when I was in college. Somewhere I have a copy of one of his presentation drawings for this plane. He was a nice guy and very accommodating. He also designed the Coppertop battery, the iconic Boston pencil sharpener and invented the twin-wheel furniture caster.

[Toolmaker51]

I met and interviewed the designer of the cargo pod portion of this plane for one if my Industrial Design classes when I was in college. Somewhere I have a copy of one of his presentation drawings for this plane. He was a nice guy and very accommodating. He also designed the Coppertop battery, the iconic Boston pencil sharpener and invented the twin-wheel furniture caster.

I'll continue this evening, with an analogy.

Flight Of The Phoenix 1965 with Jimmy Stewart, Hardy Kruger and others...when their cargo plane crashes in the desert, an aircraft designer [Kruger] originates how to cannibalize remainder and re-construct a flyable craft. Other members of party are enthused until his applications are scale hobby craft - not passenger planes. He argues a model only rolls along the floor, his are true planes that operate in same manner as full size. With him as the only reasonable means of returning to civilization, some accept the proposal.

Link to script https://www.springfieldspringfield.c...of-the-phoenix

Well, I'd fly along in the same kind of instance. Whose mind wouldn't it cross flying along when someone up's and says he also designed casters and pencil sharpeners? But on the other hand, might a real engineer have more than one field of expertise?

John asks why this concept didn't "take off". One, to be efficient, one plane needs more than container. Anything cargo-carrying must transit to produce income, not wait for a load to collect or fly unladen; even worse.
It does make me wonder, did this concept birth modular container system planes use now?

[Jon]

Can anyone explain why this idea never, ahem, "took off"?

[Frank S]

Can anyone explain why this idea never, ahem, "took off"?

One of the reasons was the need to transport the empty specialized containers back to point of origin for refilling.
with the advent of cargo planes such as the Military C130 and many others there was no requirement of the specialized containers Palatalized cargo could even be air dropped.
The As64 flying crane could carry a wide variety of suspended cargo. But even those were not as useful as the C47 series Chinooks with these they could either transport cargo inside or up to 47 troops or lift up to 20,000 lbs under belly suspended from 1 or all 3 of the winches
Currently the King of air cargo craft would the Antanov AN 225. But that may be upstaged soon by the stratolaunch maybe not in capacity though.

[greyhoundollie]

I think it was a timing thing. Jets came along after wwII and started to phase out the prop aircraft. I think this plane just fell into the phase out category before it really go started. It required lots of extra folks at handle it at each landing location as well as a lot of extra "pods" detachable cargo sections at each location. It is a little like the ocean going containers ships we have today.