XC-120 Packplane Thoughts

[kalos72]

I love this idea by the way, so useful. Imagine if you take it and use Conex boxes now?

We did... :)


"One twist that SoD McGregor was not expecting was the development of an entirely new aircraft. Pegasus engineers took the concept of the Fairchild XC-120 Packplane and updated the airframe and cargo pod to fit with the standard 20 or 40 ft Conex container and the Pegasus C-120 was born.

The C-120 used the C-119 fuselage just like the original but the rest of the aircraft was updated, engines, electronics, all of it. Pegasus was given production rights for a small production of the modified C-119 by Fairchild Industries, at the behest of the DoD. With Fairchild’s help, a working model was in testing by 1995 and 10 of them were completed by the time the US stepped in to help Germany in Novembers of 1996."

[StainlessSteelCynic]

You know that Fairchild (by then Fairchild had stopped making aircraft) bought Dornier's civil assetts in 1996 and renamed themselves Fairchild-Dornier. In this form, they started making aircraft again when they commenced the manufacture of the Dornier 328 under licence from DASA in Germany.
So where am I going with this?

You could perhaps have DASA making the Pegasus C-120 under licence for German government/military use in something of a reciprocal deal with Fairchild.
Just a random thought that would allow a few more C-120's into the gameworld.

[kalos72]

We looked at that actually but wanted the production to be before 1996. Plus we thought that Fairchild might NEED the extra cash from the limited production run to try and stave off the purchase. IDK... :)

[kato13]

I love this idea by the way, so useful. Imagine if you take it and use Conex boxes now?

We did... :)



I was thinking about this for MP. The issue I have with this is cargo planes need a loadmaster to keep the plane balanced. Prepacked MP containers with the interior cargo secured and balanced properly would probably work by simply hooking them to a plane. Attaching a random container that is not specifically balanced might lead to disaster. Planes in general, use multiple small containers to avoid this issue.

Doing a quick search shows your are not alone in your idea though.
https://www.popularmechanics.com/flight/a18929/boeing-patents-cargo-plane-move-shipping-containers/

This one would carry 12 conex containers. Again multiple contianers would mitigate some of the balance issues assuming you weighed and counterbalanced properly.

[kalos72]

LOVE
IT!

[unkated]

Actually, not seeing a lot of usefulness compared to other options...

1. Attached modules need to be faired (rounded, as in the example shown) or this a/c will not handle well in the air - in fact, probably dangerously in some wind/airspeed conditions.

2. If faired and rounded, you then have a large container (with amounts of dead space due to fairing) ... sitting at the airfield. This will need some large (specialized) vehicle to pick it up and move it (which comes from where?)

For the same effort, you can build an a/c with a cargo section that can handle standardized storage containers (such as Conex boxes), preferably with an internal system to move the containers.

As set of containers could be built to contain modular sections of whatever you wanted in the pre-packed module, and can more easily be moved to somewhere other than an airfield.

Does not require specially-built module or special module handling vehicle; can be used w/o specially built module; can be used with a wide variety of existing transport options (trucks, helis, barges).

You lose the "Thunderbirds Are Go" cachet, which is a shame, but I am not seeing an advantage.

Uncle Ted

[kato13]

Agree about aerodynamics but as you said fairings could solve that.

Here is a drone concept with a single conex container.

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-drive/culture/technology/a-drone-to-move-shipping-containers-including-homes/article31551618/

Again for me this is more of a Morrow thing than a t2k thing, but still interesting.
\


edit
a vtol plane version
https://www.popsci.com/canadian-designer-imagines-drones-that-carry-shipping-containers

[Legbreaker]

Actually, not seeing a lot of usefulness compared to other options...

And all that's probably why only one prototype was ever built and the entire project scrapped in 1951. Too many better, easier options available.