Two Rarities Added; Curtiss F8C Helldiver and FMA I.A.-33 Pulqui II.
Two very different machines have been added to my site; the first, a reproduction built for a movie role and the second a prototype of a failed fighter design, both of which are rarities. Of the Helldiver, no original example survives and this reproduction was built for a starring role in film director Sir Peter Jackson's 2005 movie King Kong. Rumour has it that it was to fly in the film, but it wasn't completed in time before production commenced. It was photographed in The Vintage Aviator hangar at Hood Aerodrome, Masterton, New Zealand. Of the Pulqui II, this was designed by celebrated German aircraft designer Kurt Tank, who was invited to Argentina after the end of World War Two by President Juan Perón and was a follow-on from Argentina's first indigenous jet, the unsuccessful Pulqui I, which was designed by French designer Émile Dewoitine - see the relevant entry on this site. The sole surviving example of the Pulqui II was the fifth prototype of five constructed; the type did not enter production. It was photographed at the Museo Nacional de Aeronautica (MNA) at Morón, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Derived from the Curtiss F8C Falcon multi-purpose aeroplane in US Navy service, the Helldiver was designed specifically as a dive bomber following experiments carried out by the US Marine Corps. In 1929, Curtiss configured the Falcon to carry a 500lb bomb under the fuselage or two 116lb bombs under its wings, as well as other changes, including reduced span wings and a change of rudder shape. Because of its dive bombing role, the navy designated the type as the XF8C-2 and -4 Helldiver. Only 25 F8C-4s were built, serving primarily with VF-1B aboard the aircraft carrier USS Saratoga and then to the US Marines. 63 F8C-5s primarily built for observation were designated O2C-1s in service, all going to the Marines in 1931. In the classic 1933 feature film King Kong, during its climactic sequence, while Kong was astride the peak of the Empire State Building, he was attacked by four Helldivers. To maintain cinematic accuracy, Jackson, in his 2005 remake also opted to depict Helldivers attacking Kong; a brace of six of the red-tailed biplanes peel off to shoot at the beast as he scales the Empire State's tower. Without a flying reproduction however, the aircraft in flight are digitally created. Click on the image below to go to the Helldiver page:
Embodying design features from the Ta 183 jet fighter concept designed by Focke Wulf Flugzeugbau AG personnel, the I.A.33 Pulqui II was conceived as a successor to the Gloster Meteor F.4s in Fuerza Aérea Argentina (FAA) service. In 1947, Tank entered Argentina under the alias Pedro Matthies, but owing to his warm welcome elected not to continue the subterfuge of using an alias. Along with other ex-Fw engineers, Tank was instrumental in evolving the Instituto Aerotécnico into the national aircraft design and production facility, Fábrica Militar de Aviones, or FMA. Beginning with the basic Ta 183 design, Tank altered it to carry the Rolls-Royce Nene engine, which entailed considerably enlarging the fuselage, the I.A.33 was merged with an indigenous project managed by Juan Ignacio San Martín, the institute's director. Following the construction of two gliders to trial the type's aerodynamics (designed and built by another German import, Reimar Horten), five prototypes were built, the first of which was non-flying, to be tested to destruction. First flying on 27 June 1950, during the type's flight testing regime, it was discovered that the design suffered from lateral instability and had a severe stall; Tank himself took over the flying programme to investigate its many issues. After successfully completing trials, the air force ordered an initial production batch of 12 examples, but tragically in 1951, during flight testing after severe vibration was encountered, the first flying prototype was destroyed owing to structural failure, the pilot was killed during ejection. Sadly, the second flying prototype was also destroyed, killing its pilot, practising for a demonstration for the president.
Over the following four years, the project stalled due to various political machinations at work within the government, this was not aided by Tank's contract not being renewed, which saw him leave the country as Perón and his government became the subject of a bloody coup d'etat. Eventually, an offer of F-86 Sabres to the FAA from the United States was accepted and the Pulqui II's fate was decided. This was despite the promise of a production order of 100 examples and an 800 kilometre demonstration flight by the third flying prototype. At the end of this however, that example was damaged beyond repair on landing, leaving the last (fourth flying) prototype as the sole survivor. It is believed that the third flying prototype actually flew combat operations during the 1955 coup to oust Perón, but the exact nature of these is not known. Inevitable cancellation came in 1960, by which time the Pulqui II was obsolete and the last surviving example was placed in storage. After many years outdoors on display at the Aeroparque Jorge Newbery, it was restored to its former glory and placed on display at the MNA as a mute reminder of Argentina's quest for technological supremacy on the South American continent. Click on the image to go to the Pulqui II's page:
