International Harvester Transall______finished Pics Page 3

[63cpe]

Thanks guys. Much appreciated!

@Zenrat, your dark red suggestion got me thinking......again. Could also try a white top, dark red cheatline and dull aluminum lower fuselage........definitely more civil and kinda 50-ies/60-ies airliner. By the way how do I get me "Zenrat industies" titles? Is it a decal? or decals?

David

[zenrat]

I print the zenrat industries decals myself.
I can send you some if you want.
Just pm me the height of the lettering, the diameter of the round zi logos for the vertical stabilisers and your address.

You obviously realise that use of the decals will make you a wholly owned subsidiary of zenrat industries and thus subject to my every whim.

[63cpe]

Hahahaha, I'd say!

Do you realize i'm in Holland (Europe). But then again Zenrat Industries is expanding its activities all over the world! I like the concept....the European branch of Zenrat industries... 
Could you print the decals in color? (Dark red/Bordeaux)?

I'll PM you the details on the decals color, sizes, costs details....


David

[zenrat]

I didn't know you were in Holland, I assumed* you were in the UK.  But as i'm in Australia it costs the same to post to either - and thats not very much for a small envelope with decals in.

I can print on a clear or a white backing in any colour except white. I'd suggest a dark colour on clear would work best so dark red or bordeaux (or maroon or burgundy or claret...) would be fine.  I can't match to a specific colour though - my printer isn't that sophisticated.  Light colours don't have enough opacity to work on a dark background but might be OK on white paint.

small z BTW.  But you'll learn that during the brainwashing corporate indoctrination sessions.


*and we all know what assumption is the mother of don't we boys and girls...

[63cpe]

Hahaha, Ok. I've measured the sizes for the decals. So, PM inbound....

Maybe it's best to adapt color of the cheatline to color of the ZENRAT INDUSTRIES decals.......don't let me get overboard in enthousiasm....

David

[Old Wombat]

(... or burgundy or claret...)

... or shiraz or merlot, or even muscat, in a pinch ...

[63cpe]

Ok, with just 2,5 hours left is sent in my contribution to the Old Kit GB..........

It took quite a while, due to set back of the chemical sort (filler not being compatible to paint, sanding all off and start all over again). But nevertheless: Here goes.

International Harvester Transall:

IMG_3861 by David Dunnebier, on Flickr

International Harvester was a producer of usually agricultural machinery like Balers, Combines and Tractors but also made utility vehicles. So why didn't they produce cropdusters? Let's face it; at that time all cropdusters were based on surplus WW2 aircraft like Avengers, Stearman etc. These models were cheap to operate but could spray less per run and where less efficient. The need for a more modern, efficient cropduster was clear as the mass mechanization after the second world war was at it's peak in the early fifties. This was not only the case in the US, but also for Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Europe. IH (International Harvester) were in the midst of the agricultural business, jet power was new and had a great future ahead. So, what if IH did respond to the research of the National Flying farmers association and develop a cropduster, in cooperation with Westinghouse and a former Boeing and Lockheed Aeronautical Engineer?

IMG_3864 by David Dunnebier, on Flickr

Enter John W. Thorpe, Aeronautical engineer who just drawn up the FL-23 for Fletcher Aviation. He was asked by IH to design a large jetpowered cropduster to be cheap and efficient in use, able to spray an swath of land 60 meters wide and 15 kilometers long in 15 minutes, Good low-speed flight characteristics, even with a heavy load, calling for a high-lift wing and STOL abilities and easy to maintained by un/low skilled personnel. IH earlier tried to team up with Fred Weick, also aeronautical engineer, but the preferred working for Piper on the Ag-1 predecessor of the Piper Pawnee.

So, Thorpe designed the basic layout consisting off a fully glazed cockpit for pilot and navigator/trimmer in a practical twin boom, low wing and center fuselage pod design with a fixed tricycle undercarriage. The Westinghouse J-34 would be mounted on the pod just like the He-162. It did resemble the Weick W-1A although it had a low wing and was off all aluminum, cantilever construction.

IMG_3865 by David Dunnebier, on Flickr

Thorpe was very much involved in Fletcher Aviation and didn't really have the time to work on the IH project and the FL-23 Defender at the same time. So IH took the basic design and formed a project team with former Aeronca (Aeronca stopped building General Aviation planes in Middletown, Ohio in 1951) employees to develop the Thorpe designs into the IH Transall. This revised version had a double-decker, sesquiplane layout with hopper tanks between the upper and lower wings. The wings had an unusually thick (thickness/chord 21%), constant chord wing, fitted with full span slotted flaps and slot-lip ailerons. The twin booms were moved high on the hopper tanks and the fuselage was lengthened to accommodate a larger tank. The tanks could either hold liquid or dry bulk materials. The fuselage tank could also be removed (slid-out) of the fuselage and being used as cargo hold.

IMG_3868 by David Dunnebier, on Flickr

The first prototype was built in 1952 at the IH plant at Louisville, KY and made it's maidenflight in October 1953. Soon the Transall proved to be underpowered with the J34 engine so the bigger J46 was ordered. The prototype was adapted to accept the bigger J46 and was extensively tested during 1954. While the J46 and provided sufficient power it was not as economical to run as expected nor was it easy to maintain. So, major requirements were not met and couldn't be met at that time. Only the prototype was built and tested. To IH it was a big disappointment for such a promising concept and it came at huge costs!

During 1955 the US Chemical Corps contracted Zenrat Industries as third party to test new herbicides (later known as the rainbow herbicides) sprayed by aircraft over land as the US Chemical Corps didn't have any aircraft themselves. US airforce wasn't able to free up freighters as they understood how dangerous the to be tested herbicides were.  Zenrat Industries had no aircraft either, but was very much motivated to deliver the services and started looking for a suitable aircraft, big enough to carry a large load in it's tanks. Soon they found the IH Transall readily available, although some maintance was needed to get the Transall in flyable condition.

But it never came to testing these herbicides, the CIA had a more urgent need to live test chemical solutions over populated area's in the vicinity of area 51. In 1955 Area 51 or Groom Lake was chosen as test site for the U-2 (article 341). So Zenrat Industries took the IH Transall to Groom Lake and was used for spraying herbicides over the sagebrush in the vicinity of Groom Lake. When more sophisticated and less harmfull solutions came available during 1959-1960 and these substances were assessed to be suitable for full scale testing the Transall was used to spray different sets off chemical solutions over populated area's like Alamo, Mercury, Sugar Bunker, Beatty and Goldfield, NV. These solutions later became known as Chem Trails. During the Oxcart and Tagboard programs the Transall was used as a mind control craft as sightings of testplanes were too frequent. CIA rationed: If secrecy had to be maintained these chemical mind control had to be used. Operations continued during the sixties as programs were developed at Groom Lake, but seemed to have been stopped in 1970 most likely caused by changed ethical morale and public opinion. The fate of the IH Transall is yet unknown. Possibly it was destroyed in the early 1970. It might as well still be around as the chemical solutions used could be highly toxic just like the C-123 used to spray Agent Orange in Operation Ranch hand.

IMG_3870 by David Dunnebier, on Flickr

IMG_3871 by David Dunnebier, on Flickr

IMG_3873 by David Dunnebier, on Flickr

IMG_3875 by David Dunnebier, on Flickr

IMG_3877 by David Dunnebier, on Flickr

For the complete album: https://www.flickr.com/photos/jetsonsspecial/albums/72157673414703343/with/31327670304/

It still has got to be weathered and i'll take better pictures in spring, when it's less cold and slippery in the garden....
Hope you'll like it.

David

[PR19_Kit]

Brilliant, I love it! 

[TheChronicOne]

 

My goodness!! That is glorious!! I had similar filler/paint issues on mine that almost drove me nuts, glad you overcame that problem with a marvelous result. The collabo on the scheme paid off well with the ZI livery and I like how you worked all that into the story. "If it weren't for you meddling CIA kids... . .!"   

[Steel Penguin]

    wonderfully bonkers, top notch story, and build.

[Librarian]

If I was reading a Yefim Gordon book on Soviet civilian designs and he slipped that in just for fun I'd completely believe it . Just looks totally believable...and mega-kudos on the NM finish .

[TheChronicOne]

Voting is going to be torture..   

[McColm]

Great build and back story, reminds me of the German Tragerflugzeug.

[NARSES2]

Amazing build 

Voting is going to be torture..   

Absolutely

[zenrat]

Heh heh heh heh.   



Yes, we are everywhere.
Zenrat Industries (North America) was established in early 1952 and this was its first aircraft.  It uses upper case Z and I (rather than lower case like the parent company) due to a typo made by a junior clerk when filling in a company registration document.

I'm impressed Dave.  It's an honour to see zi logos on such a handsome beast.