Page Content (OCR)
Underside of Zimmerman’s V-162 model demonstrator, which was flown within a Vought company hangar. The similarity between this design and the larger manned V-173 is very apparent in this photograph. Vought Heritage Designed in 1938, this Zimmerman semi-circular low aspect ratio concept was called the Aeromobile and many of the design features found their way into the later V-173. US Patent Office components. To make the project easier, a rotating steel framework was built which allowed the aircraft to be turned to different positions while it was being worked on. Finally, V-173 was re-painted in the original yellow and silver scheme. After exhibition at the Dallas Frontiers of Flight Museum, V-173 will be returned to the Smithsonian. Underside of Zimmerman’s V-162 model demonstrator, which was flown within a Vought company hangar. The similarity between this design and the larger manned V-173 is very apparent in this photograph. Vought Heritage Designed in 1938, this Zimmerman semi-circular low aspect ratio concept was called the Aeromobile and many of the design features found their way into the later V-173. US Patent Office components. To make the project easier, a rotating steel framework was built which allowed the aircraft to be turned to different positions while it was being worked on. Finally, V-173 was re-painted in the original yellow and silver scheme. After exhibition at the Dallas Frontiers of Flight Museum, V-173 will be returned to the Smithsonian. The XF5U-1 Even before the V-173 had completed its first test flight, Zimmerman was busily working on a high-performance weaponised successor called the (Vought-Sikorsky) VS-315, which would later become the Vought XF5U-1. Described in some UFO literature as a ‘still secret 100ft (30.4m) wide flying saucer with rocket propulsion’, the XF5U-1 was simply a second-generation V-173. Again, Zimmer- man planned to use a prone pilot position, but the US Navy rejected this in favour of a mod- ern fighter cockpit layout, with the pilot sitting upright inside a blister canopy. While Zimmerman continued to refine his design, the Navy issued a Letter of Intent to Vought on 10th September 1942 and work finally commenced on the construction of a mock-up and two XF5U-1 prototypes, one of which was destined for destructive static test- ing. Known as the Skimmer or Zimmer Skim- mer, but more formally referred to as the second Flying Pancake or Flying Flapjack, the XF5U-1 was conceived as a prototype long- range carrier-based fighter-bomber with exceptional STOL performance and_ the potential to hover at a very high inclination. The Vought XF5U-1 was fitted with two Pratt & Whitney R2000-7 radial air-cooled engines, rated at 1,350hp (1,006kW), driving propellers through complex gearbox arrange- ments. This was expected to provide a per- formance range extending from about 50mph to 425mph (80-683km/h). Once initial trials had been completed, there were plans to install slightly more powerful Pratt & Whit- ney R-2000-2 (D) Wasp turbo-supercharged 14-cylinder engines rated at 1,600hp (1,193kW). Using these engines, it was pre- dicted that the aircraft would be able to land at 40mph (64km/h) and almost reach 500mph at an altitude of 30,000ft (9,144m), 27 Early Circular-Winged Aircraft