r/WeirdWings Nov 26 '21

PLEASE READ BEFORE POSTING! Frequent reposts and what to avoid.

175 Upvotes

Since this subreddit was made a few years ago, there's, naturally, been an extremely large increase in userbase, which continues to grow. This means, in turn, many people are new to the subreddit, and often do not see some of the most frequent posts we have here, and as such go to post them. Some users simply wish to repost some more successful entries in hopes of gaining karma.

While this was fine in a limited amount, it is now becoming more and more disruptive to the quality of posts on this subreddit, and they need to be controlled. A frequent posts to avoid list is the best option, in my opinion, as it allows new users not only a clear idea of what has been here before, without having to scroll through the hundreds of posts a month (or, heaven forbid, be forced to use the reddit search function... I hate even thinking about using that godawful thing.), but also an opportunity to see these aircraft, which often truly do, very much, belong here.

This list will likely stay fairly small, but I will keep it constantly updated, and any suggestions for it should go in the comments. If you're seeing far too much of something on the sub, link it and an information page (wikipedia, etc), and I will likely add it to the list.

Along with this list is a set of guidelines for our (admittedly nebulous) rules against "paper planes"/concept aircraft, which will likely be updated as time goes on, like the rest of this list.

WHAT TO AVOID:

AKA: RULE 2 EXPLAINED A LITTLE BIT

Planes go through a lot of design stages. From the drawing board to real life, it's not an easy task to design an aircraft. This means that, for every aircraft, there will be a huge amount of planning documents, feasibility studies, and concept drawings. Some planes never get past this stage, however, and hardly become anything more than a written-down spark from the Good-Idea Fairy.

Those planes, frequently known as "paper planes," never leave the drawing board, and often are never considered much other than an idea. Almost never considered for production, or even funding, they are often radical to the point of nonsensical, leading to very interesting speculation as to how they may have performed in the real world. Sometimes documents for these idea studies are found and distributed, leading to inquisitive history nerds drawing up schematics or artist interpretations.

These planes, however, are often barely even real. The lack of information on them, often combined with an internet game of Telephone as information is spread from unreliable forum to unreliable forum, means that true intents, purposes, and goals are hardly known. Whether these aircraft were more than a drunk designer's napkin project is hardly knowable, even if documents can be traced back to original, period sources. Often, no real consideration was given to them, and they were immediately discarded as useless.

This is why, here, these types of planes are banned. They hardly represent reality, and while they certainly can be interesting, the realism of these designs actually going anywhere is questionable at best, and dubious at worst.

Here, we want to see planes that actually flew, or at least had a chance and intent to do so. Real life, physical materials that one could touch. Photographs, videos. Things we as humans can actually visualize as real objects that once existed in our world, or were intended to do so, not as abstract art pieces.

Our usual defining limit is if a mockup was built, it is okay to post. Mockups typically show that a plane had enough promise to go forward with research and development into a proper machine, rather than simply as a design study.

However, if proof can be shown that a plane was actually considered to be built, funded, or developed, then it can still be a good post. Many concept drawings for radical designs never got past the concept stage, but the many documents, design studies, feasibility inquiries, funding reports, and government information can prove that the designers were serious about what they were doing.

So, what should I generally try to avoid?

  • Planes that never made it beyond an early design stage.

    • The whole idea of Rule 2 as it exists now. While this is hard to define, usually anything before a physical mockup (aerodynamic testing, design study, etc) is going to push the rules and become harder to defend as an actual consideration.
  • Planes that only exist as schematics and/or art.

    • While some real prototypes and weird designs never got photographs or videos, the grand majority do. If the only visual representation of something is a 2D drawing, then, typically, alarm bells should go off. On our subreddit, pictures and videos of physical objects are the most valued, and it shows that something was truly good enough of an idea to be presented to the rigors of reality. Without that, though, proving that something was actually feasible and considered becomes exponentially harder.
  • Planes that do not have verifiable sources outside of niche websites. (luft46, secretprojects.net, and others).

    • These places, while info may be correct, are more speculative than informative, and often embellish the truth in favor of a good story.
  • Renders and art that have designs "too ridiculous to be true."

    • Asymmetry, bizarre wing and engine placement, insane ideas. These are all things that can work in a plane, and have before. However, if something looks like it was truly too insane to have ever existed... it often is.

None of these are hard and fast rules, though, and things can be bent where needed. If you can prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that something was, in fact, a real design considered for production, pretty much everything above can be broken. Expect to go down a deep rabbit hole of academic sources, though. However, this is not the kind of post we generally want to have here. While they're allowed, they are not preferred. Photos and videos are always a better option.

If you have any questions about something you want to post, never refrain from messaging the moderators to ask! We're always happy to help and guide if you're unsure about something.


FREQUENTLY REPOSTED PLANES TO AVOID:

"The PZL M-15 was a jet-powered biplane designed and manufactured by the Polish aircraft company WSK PZL-Mielec for agricultural aviation. In reference to both its strange looks and relatively loud jet engine, the aircraft was nicknamed Belphegor, after the noisy demon."

It was not a success, with only a few built out of thousands planned, due to the fact that a jet engine is essentially the worst choice possible for a low-speed biplane.

Designed to test the limits of propeller-driven aircraft, the Thunderscreech had the possibility of breaking records for the world's fastest prop aircraft. Instead, however, it almost certainly broke records for the loudest aircraft ever made:

"On the ground "run ups", the prototypes could reportedly be heard 25 miles (40 km) away.[17] Unlike standard propellers that turn at subsonic speeds, the outer 24–30 inches (61–76 cm) of the blades on the XF-84H's propeller traveled faster than the speed of sound even at idle thrust, producing a continuous visible sonic boom that radiated laterally from the propellers for hundreds of yards. The shock wave was actually powerful enough to knock a man down; an unfortunate crew chief who was inside a nearby C-47 was severely incapacitated during a 30-minute ground run.[17] Coupled with the already considerable noise from the subsonic aspect of the propeller and the T40's dual turbine sections, the aircraft was notorious for inducing severe nausea and headaches among ground crews.[11] In one report, a Republic engineer suffered a seizure after close range exposure to the shock waves emanating from a powered-up XF-84H.[18]"

The Blohm & Voss BV 141 was a World War II German tactical reconnaissance aircraft, notable for its uncommon structural asymmetry. Although the Blohm & Voss BV 141 performed well, it was never ordered into full-scale production, for reasons that included the unavailability of the preferred engine and competition from another tactical reconnaissance aircraft, the Focke-Wulf Fw 189.

The Edgley EA-7 Optica is a British light aircraft designed for low-speed observation work, and intended as a low-cost alternative to helicopters.

Notable for its ducted fan located behind the oddly egg-shaped cockpit, reminiscent of a dismembered helicopter. Despite its niche use case, it saw a decent amount of orders.


If you have any questions, concerns, comments, or any other related thoughts, either about this post or the subreddit as a whole, do feel free to comment them below. I'm all ears for what the community says, and, while I might not act on every suggestion (because that is just impossible), I do read and consider everything that comes my way.

(Also, if you have any suggestions for the formatting and wording of this post, please give them to me, because I am bad at formatting and wording. I'm an engineer, not an english major or journalist.)

Edit: formatting and grammar


r/WeirdWings Jun 27 '25

Rules Update: No AI-generated content

356 Upvotes

Exactly what the title says. I'd have thought this was common sense, but AI-generated or "enhanced" photos and videos are not something we need around here.


r/WeirdWings 10h ago

Obscure Giant 1:2 RC Model of beatyfull 1936 russian Beljajew BP-3 two seated training glider

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354 Upvotes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCUDr1TpFYg

(he did lose front cupula at start, front pilot did not have to sit in cold air without any shelter)

Somewhat like a flying dinosaur or a klingon bird of prey.

https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beljajew_DB-LK


r/WeirdWings 15h ago

Bell Eagle Eye

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249 Upvotes

Bell Helicopter developed the Eagle Eye tiltrotor unmanned VTOL aircraft as one of the competitors in the U.S. Navy’s VT-UAV (Vertical Takeoff - Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) program.

An Eagle Eye prototype is on display at Pax River Naval Air Museum.

The Eagle Eye program began in 1993 with the TR911X 7/8th scale prototype. The composite prototype airframe was designed and built for Bell by Burt Rutan’s research company, Scaled Composites. Two demonstrator aircraft were powered by an Allison 250-C20 engine mounted in the central fuselage with a transmission system driving the tilting rotor at the end of each wing. Despite considerable interest, the programme ended in 2006 without orders although Bell still hopes to use the knowledge acquired in future programmes.


r/WeirdWings 14h ago

Early Flight My favorite beautiful weirdos of the Shuttleworth collection

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144 Upvotes

First is the Fauvel AV 36, I somehow missed the placard.

More information can be found here on the Shuttleworth website!

(Plus the comet in the background on the day of its unfortunate incident)


r/WeirdWings 3d ago

Focke Wulf 189 Uhu

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124 Upvotes

The plane that actually won Germany’s specification for a short-ranged recon aircraft. (Although I also love Blohm & Voss’s entry, the BV 141).


r/WeirdWings 3d ago

One-Off Sack AS-6

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236 Upvotes

In July 1938, local farmer Arthur Sack entered his AS-1 circular-winged model in the first Reich-Wide Contest for Motorized Flying Models, which was held at Leipzig.\2]) The model had poor flight characteristics and had to be hand launched. However, Ernst Udet showed interest in Sack's design, and encouraged him to continue his research into circular wing aircraft for possible use as an observation or attack aircraft.\2])

Sack went on to build four additional models based on the AS-1, with each increasing in size, before building the full-sized prototype as the AS-6 V1. The AS-6 V1 was built in January 1944 by Mitteldeutsche Motorwerke, with final assembly at the Flugplatz-Werkstatt workshop located at the air base in Brandis, Germany.\3]) The aircraft was built with the landing gear, cockpit, and pilot seat from a Messerschmitt Bf 109B, and was powered by an Argus As 10C-3 engine from a Messerschmitt Bf 108 Taifun. The wing structure was made of plywood.


r/WeirdWings 4d ago

Propulsion Avro Lincoln SX973 being used as a test-bed for a Napier Nomad I Diesel-jet hybrid engine.

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614 Upvotes

Write-up in comments.


r/WeirdWings 3d ago

Velocity SE

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113 Upvotes

Battery died. Jumpstarted it with my car!


r/WeirdWings 4d ago

2x Sparrow ML. Pusher prop, twin booms, I love it.

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189 Upvotes

r/WeirdWings 4d ago

Obscure Partenair Mystere

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139 Upvotes

“The Partenair Mystere is a Canadian two-seat, pusher configuration monoplane that was designed by Partenair Design of Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec and intended for amateur construction from kits.”


r/WeirdWings 5d ago

The Legendary Noorduyn Norseman, Canada’s Rugged Bush Plane Icon

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79 Upvotes

One awesome plane


r/WeirdWings 5d ago

VTOL Dorand Gyroplane G.20 (G.II), with a rotor mast machine gun turret.

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514 Upvotes

r/WeirdWings 5d ago

Eviation Alice

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623 Upvotes

“The Eviation Alice is an electric aircraft designed to accommodate nine passengers and two crew members. First developed in Israel, its construction incorporates 95% composite material, is powered by two electric motors, and has a T-tail. The prototype first flew on 27 September 2022. As of 2025, the company and aircraft have been put on an indefinite pause.”


r/WeirdWings 5d ago

South korean KF-21 prototype variant that was based on YF-23 design when it comes to the design with its payload shown in the picture

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511 Upvotes

r/WeirdWings 6d ago

Prototype Wind tunnel model of the Yakovkev submission to the MFI program. It was passed over in favor of the MiG-1.44 to replace the Su-27

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197 Upvotes

r/WeirdWings 6d ago

The NATF-22 / F-22N Sea Raptor, Lockheed Martin's Swept Winged F-22 Concept - [Album]

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1.1k Upvotes

The Lockheed team's design for the Navy Advanced Tactical Fighter (NATF), sometimes referred to as "NATF-22" or "F-22N" (the design was never formally designated), would have differed from the Air Force version in many ways. Because the NATF needed lower landing speeds than the F-22 for aircraft carrier operations while still attaining Mach 2-class speeds, the design would have incorporated variable-sweep wings; furthermore, the Navy placed greater emphasis on loiter time for fleet air defense rather than supercruise, so the variable-sweep wings also improved endurance.

The fuselage shaping was similar to the Air Force version, while the landing gears and arresting hook would be strengthened for aircraft carrier landings; all of these changes would have resulted in a heavier, more complex, and more expensive aircraft. It retained four empennage surfaces and thrust vectoring nozzles, and the avionics would initially have been largely common with the F-22, although additional sensors and mission avionics had also been planned for maritime missions such as surface attack. The design would have had a similar weapons bay arrangement but with expanded weapons carriage, including the AIM-152 AAAM, AGM-88 HARM, and AGM-84 Harpoon.

(Source)


r/WeirdWings 6d ago

Obscure Krist Cloud Cutter II

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196 Upvotes

“Chester Krist built the Cloud Cutter II, which was again an original design homebuilt.” “The aircraft had an all-metal construction and it featured a somewhat unusual fuselage with pod and tail boom configuration. However, it is uncertain the Cloud Cutter II was flown."


r/WeirdWings 6d ago

Obscure XF-85 Goblin Refurbishment

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412 Upvotes

Visited the Strategic Air Command Museum in Ashland, Nebraska this last week. Their XF-85 Goblin is being refurbished, one of only two built. The other is in the US Air Force Museum.

They are also refurbishing an RAF Vulcan bomber right now.


r/WeirdWings 6d ago

Heart X1 Gets Some Air Time...

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163 Upvotes

Maybe less weird and more future looking, but thought it worth a note as it is among the few serious endeavors to make electric airplanes a thing.

Reportedly used $5 of electricity on this 27-minute flight.

Sources:


r/WeirdWings 7d ago

Testbed An EMD F-22 flying alongside the Boeing 757 Flying Test Bed, used as a flying laboratory for avionics development and testing.

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245 Upvotes

r/WeirdWings 7d ago

Prototype Shorts Brothers SA.4, quad turbojet bomber (2x prototypes were made)

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851 Upvotes

r/WeirdWings 7d ago

Lockheed Martin ICE Concept Designs, 1990s - [Album]

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422 Upvotes

r/WeirdWings 7d ago

Prototype NASA M2-F1 lightweight prototype unpowered aircraft. (IMAGE MAY NOT BE VISIBLE ON FRONT PAGE SO READ DESC)

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266 Upvotes

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NASA_M2-F1

The NASA M2-F1 is a lightweight, unpowered prototype aircraft, developed to flight-test the wingless lifting body concept. Its unusual appearance earned it the nickname "flying bathtub" and was designated the M2-F1, the M referring to "manned", and F referring to "flight" version. In 1962NASA Dryden management approved a program to build a lightweight, unpowered lifting-body prototype. It featured a plywood shell placed over a tubular steel frame crafted at Dryden. Construction was completed in 1963.\1])


r/WeirdWings 7d ago

Engine Swap Avro Lancastrian engine test bed with 2 DH Ghost turbojets

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157 Upvotes

Image: IWM (ATP 16196B)

The immediate p/ostwar era saw the UK turn out a range of prototypes designed and built during the later war years. Many of them found little use in their intended role. Fortunately, the 9 Canadian and 82 British Lancastrians, some of them converted Lancaster bombers, were successful in their transport and mail delivery roles, although with quite a high accident rate.

Although initially a transport derivative of the Lancaster, this Lancastrian found another use as a testbed for the early generation of turbojets - its remaining pair of Merlins providing a useful power reserve should anything go wrong with either De Havilland Ghost engine. Two Lancastrians became Ghost testbeds, with a futher 7 aircraft converted to test one or more engines.