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Aviation History
1946
1946 - 1628.PDF
192 FLIGHT AUGUST 22ND, 1946 Republic A Transport of Ex- ceptional Performance: IT is evident from what little infor-mation has been released on theRainbow high-speed transport now- being developed in America by theRepublic Aircraft Corporation that this machine will set a new perform-ance standard for large aircraft • powered by piston engines. A mem-ber of the Editorial Staff of Flight, who lately visited America, was privi-leged to make a brief inspection of the military prototype of the Rainbow andhis impressions are given below, together with some notes on the new transport. Themilitary machine, designated XF-12, was designed solely for long-range, high-altitude, high-speed reconnaissance,particularly in the Pacific theatre, and is claimed to have a range of 4,500 miles. Of this machine Flight's represen-tative writes: — One of the reasons why the Rainbow gives the impressionof being "medium-sized" is its excellent proportions and beauty of line. When inside the pressurized fuselage of themilitary prototype, in spite of the large amount of experi- mental, photographic and recording equipment, it is easyto' visualize a reasonably spacious passenger cabin. The first airline Rainbows are due about the end of 1947 andorders include twenty for American airlines and six, plus probably twelve more, for Pan American. The Republic type of " ring " fuselage construction lendsitself particularly well to a pressurized structure, and al- though the Rainbow is a mid-wing aircraft there are nothrough-spars, all loads being transferred to the fuselage centre-section frames. The four Wasp Majors on the military version wereexamined on the second example, which was in an ad- REPUBLIC RAINBOW (RC-2) FOUR PRATT AND WHITNEY R-4360 ENGINES Span 129ft 2in Length 98ft 9in Height 29ft 11 in Max. fuselage diameter ... ... 10ft 3in Wing area 1,640 sq/ft Empty weight 66,980 1b Grass weight 114,200 1b Cruising speed Over 400 m.p.h. at 40,000ft Maximum speed ... 450 m.p.h. at 40,000ft Rate of climb on 2 engines :.. 320ft/min (at 5,000ft) Service ceiling 41,000ft Take-off run over 50ft screen 4;300ft Stalling speed 95 m.p.h. Rainbow Impressions of the Military Prototype vanced stage of construction in theassembly shop. The layout of each power plant and its two exhaust-driventurbines with jet outlets from each, is extremely intricate and compact.The civil version will have only one turbine and jet per power unit and isexpected to be about 20 m.p.h. slower. The power available from each of thedouble-jets on the military version is about 200 lb thrust under maximumpower conditions for the Wasp Majors. A notable feature of the Rainbow is the admirable layout of the pilot's cockpit and the visionfrom it. In view of the spinner-shaped nose and internal "windscreen" many will have questioned the view fromthe pilot's seat. This view is, in fact, excellent. Each pilot is faced by his wheel and a group of essential instru-ments. In the middle is a neat pedestal carrying controls for engines and aneillaries. The front Of the cockpit isdivided from the conical non-pressurized nose by glass screens i-^in thick, and the top half of the nose itself istransparent. It is intended that on later models the trans- parent "quarter-cone" nose panels, which are merelyfairings, shall fold round and down for take-off and landing, leavipg, in effect, a large conventional windscreen and thelower half of the nose. Any risk of steaming or icing-up can then be dealt with in the usual way. The Rainbow, or' RC-2, is fitted with four Pratt andWhitney Wasp Major R-4360 28-cylinder radials rated at 3,000 h.p each and driving 4-blade airscrews over 16ft indiameter. Utilizing the full power (equivalent to 3*250- 3,500 h.p , including thrust irom the turbo-blower exhaust)the Rainbow will have a maximum speed of 450 m.p.h. at 40,000ft and will cruise at 400 m.p.h. or more at the samelevel. The rate of climb at sea level is claimed as 1,680 ft/min at a gross weight of 114,200 lb; the pay load fora range of 4,100 miles will be 10,000 lb, including forty pas- sengers, 1,600 lb of baggage and 1,700 lb of cargo. The Republic designers foresee that the Rainbow willmake regular flights from New York to London in ahqut 9 hours. Pressurizing and air conditioning will be standardand although the fuselage of the Rainbow will be com- paratively small by comparison with other transports ofsimilar power the seating will permit "full relaxation." Complete dining facilities, a lounge and a bar will be pro-vided. A "plane-to-shore" telephone is also foreseen.
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