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KirovRampager — XC-99

Published: 2012-07-13 01:07:16 +0000 UTC; Views: 1838; Favourites: 15; Downloads: 73
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Description Elektra.

No name short of that of an ancient Greek heroine (female hero, not the drug) would be so fitting of such a powerful lady of the air. Holding many records in lifting ability, Elektra was the largest land-based, piston-engined aircraft ever to fly, her strength giving her parity with her "big brother", Hugo, the B-36.

Born sometime in early 1947 at the Convair plant, she made her first flight on November 23rd, 1947, not long after her brother Hugo. And after testing was delivered to the US Air Force exactly 2 years to the day later. Her capacity was 100,000 pounds, by far the heaviest capacity of any transport of the day, and even today transports have difficulty carrying similar loads. Of course, she would end up carrying more than this on several record-breaking flights, beginning with July 1950's "Operation Elephant", during which she carried parts of B-36 Peacekeepers between the Convair plant in San Diego, California to Kelly AFB in San Antonio, Texas, carrying a whopping 101,266 lbs of cargo, though she soon broke this record by carrying 104,000 lbs of cargo along a similar route. In addition, she made a long-distance flight of a then-unheard-of distance of 12,000 miles all the way to Rhein-Main AFB in Germany from Bermuda, while still carrying over 60,000 lbs of cargo there and back.

Her incredible abilities, however, also prove Elektra's fault, as the USAF decided she was simply TOO strong and TOO long-legged to be of use economically speaking. After carrying over 60 million lbs of cargo over 7,400 hours of flight, she finally was retired to Kelly AFB. While she was considered for restoration, it was considered impractical due to her high magnesium content causing corrosion, condemning her to 47 years of anguish and sorrow as she slowly withered away in the middle of a grassy field, ever envious of her modern counterparts that continued to fly.

Eventually, she was sort-of put out of her misery with her disassembly in 2004, Elektra's restoration beginning in 2010 after corrosion control was completed. While this meant she was still undergoing reassembly when the revolution reached San Antonio, she was discovered by the revolutionaries and lovingly restored to flying condition by a team led by none other than her own brother. While definitely NOT intended for combat, she DID end up joining the fight actively; after all, who else could pick up an AT-1 AI-Controlled Tank with one hand in anthro form and toss it over a mile without any effort?

General characteristics

Crew: Five duty + five reserve crew
Capacity: 400 troops
Payload: 100,000 lb (45,000 kg)
Length: 182 ft 6 in (55.64 m)
Wingspan: 230 ft 0 in (70.12 m)
Height: 57 ft 6 in (17.53 m)
Wing area: 4,772 ft² (443.5 m²)
Empty weight: 135,232 lb (61,469 kg)
Loaded weight: 265,000 lb (120,455 kg)
Max. takeoff weight: 320,000 lb (145,455 kg)
Powerplant: 6 × Pratt & Whitney R-4360-41 Wasp Major 28-cylinder air-cooled radial engine, 3,500 hp (2,611 kW) each

Performance

Maximum speed: 307 mph (267 knots, 494 km/h)
Range: 8,100 mi (7,043 nmi, 13,041 km)
Service ceiling: 30,000 ft (9,150 m)
Related content
Comments: 45

CorporalDeath49 [2012-07-13 04:34:18 +0000 UTC]

shes wonderful

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sharkplane77 [2012-07-13 03:38:01 +0000 UTC]

giving somebody the evil eye!

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KirovRampager In reply to sharkplane77 [2012-07-13 03:46:50 +0000 UTC]

no she is just a dark one ^-

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sharkplane77 In reply to KirovRampager [2012-07-13 03:49:38 +0000 UTC]

ah still though, makes me nervous O.O lol

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TankaaKumawani [2012-07-13 01:50:55 +0000 UTC]

Yeah, the thimble radomes are rather unbecoming, but until they started building stuff with the radar in mind, there really weren't too many other options.

It's a pity that some of these early postwar attempts at superheavy aircraft were duds, some very interesting things could have resulted...

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KirovRampager In reply to TankaaKumawani [2012-07-13 02:04:37 +0000 UTC]

Indeed kinda ugly but it is better than some arrangments of radomes for sure. The XC-99 was well used and liked I know this for sure

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ZeroRM In reply to KirovRampager [2012-07-13 02:09:33 +0000 UTC]

Hey. Functionality in of itself is beautiful!

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KirovRampager In reply to ZeroRM [2012-07-13 02:10:04 +0000 UTC]

I know right?

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ZeroRM In reply to KirovRampager [2012-07-13 02:11:52 +0000 UTC]

Oh by the way, the bio you requested is complete; check your inbox.

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KirovRampager In reply to ZeroRM [2012-07-13 02:12:52 +0000 UTC]

I see it and love it hon brilliant job

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ZeroRM In reply to KirovRampager [2012-07-13 02:15:50 +0000 UTC]

Thanks! *Grabs a helmet in case a tank gets thrown at*

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KirovRampager In reply to ZeroRM [2012-07-13 02:16:50 +0000 UTC]

Heheheh

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ZeroRM In reply to KirovRampager [2012-07-13 02:19:27 +0000 UTC]

Wouldn't be as funny on the receiving end.

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KirovRampager In reply to ZeroRM [2012-07-13 02:20:05 +0000 UTC]

oh heavens no but great fun on the throwing end ^^

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ZeroRM In reply to KirovRampager [2012-07-13 02:22:02 +0000 UTC]

I would agree, especially with the guaranteed explosion when that AT-1 hits the ground. As Heavy Weapons Guy from TF2 puts it:

"More Rubble: Less Trouble!"

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KirovRampager In reply to ZeroRM [2012-07-13 02:23:00 +0000 UTC]

hehe now to find a possible mate for this massive hauler

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ZeroRM In reply to KirovRampager [2012-07-13 02:29:24 +0000 UTC]

I'd say another big plane: she'd like somebody strong I'd guess.

Maybe a C-5, an AN-225 or even the Hughes H-4 Hercules (better known as the "Spruce Goose")

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KirovRampager In reply to ZeroRM [2012-07-13 02:30:24 +0000 UTC]

heh it is hard to say she kinda has beva's personality a little bit easily agitated

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ZeroRM In reply to KirovRampager [2012-07-13 02:33:32 +0000 UTC]

Yep, though I'd imagine her to be an interesting fit with the H-4, especially if you threw in the twist of it being fused with the spirit of its creator: Howard Hughes. The two would be an...interesting pair, to say the least.

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KirovRampager In reply to ZeroRM [2012-07-13 02:35:46 +0000 UTC]

indeed even more so that hughes was insane when he died

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ZeroRM In reply to KirovRampager [2012-07-13 02:36:47 +0000 UTC]

He was indeed; it'd force her to show a slightly softer side too, as I'd imagine he'd be a bit unstable after figuring out all that's going on.

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KirovRampager In reply to ZeroRM [2012-07-13 02:38:17 +0000 UTC]

I agree maybe because he never knew his spirit would inhabit his creation

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ZeroRM In reply to KirovRampager [2012-07-13 02:39:48 +0000 UTC]

Or that history would take the course it did...not to mention he was a HUGE germaphobe, and war is ANYTHING but tidy.

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KirovRampager In reply to ZeroRM [2012-07-13 02:41:19 +0000 UTC]

heheh we so need to make him a character too

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ZeroRM In reply to KirovRampager [2012-07-13 02:54:38 +0000 UTC]

Agreed

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KirovRampager In reply to ZeroRM [2012-07-13 02:56:56 +0000 UTC]

I wonder how an anthro version of Elektra would turn out

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ZeroRM In reply to KirovRampager [2012-07-13 03:08:42 +0000 UTC]

Busty and muscular?

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KirovRampager In reply to ZeroRM [2012-07-13 03:19:18 +0000 UTC]

maybe both ^^

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ZeroRM In reply to KirovRampager [2012-07-13 03:23:24 +0000 UTC]

That's what I implied so yes.

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KirovRampager In reply to ZeroRM [2012-07-13 03:24:14 +0000 UTC]

I am wondering though should she be armed for wartime maybe a few defensive turrets?

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ZeroRM In reply to KirovRampager [2012-07-13 03:31:36 +0000 UTC]

Some extra armor and maybe as an added measure would be fitted with water-methanol injection, maybe having her piston engines replaced with turboprops?

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KirovRampager In reply to ZeroRM [2012-07-13 03:38:06 +0000 UTC]

hmm maybe but I was thinking giving her even larger piston engines

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ZeroRM In reply to KirovRampager [2012-07-13 04:21:10 +0000 UTC]

Yep, maybe like the uprated Wasp Majors on late-model B-36s that got in excess of 4,000 horsepower each?

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KirovRampager In reply to ZeroRM [2012-07-13 11:02:35 +0000 UTC]

no was thinking a set of these [link]

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ZeroRM In reply to KirovRampager [2012-07-13 13:19:34 +0000 UTC]

Great idea.

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biocoal [2012-07-13 01:18:38 +0000 UTC]

Oh wow, this is interesting. Nice view.

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KirovRampager In reply to biocoal [2012-07-13 01:29:56 +0000 UTC]

thankies

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biocoal In reply to KirovRampager [2012-07-13 01:32:04 +0000 UTC]

Your welcome.

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Der-Buchstabe-R [2012-07-13 01:13:58 +0000 UTC]

I love the Mickey Mouse nose that they gave some aircraft, never knew that the XC-99 had it though.

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KirovRampager In reply to Der-Buchstabe-R [2012-07-13 01:15:05 +0000 UTC]

hehe yup

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Der-Buchstabe-R In reply to KirovRampager [2012-07-13 01:18:14 +0000 UTC]

Why did they do that anyways? Radar or just for shits and giggles?

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KirovRampager In reply to Der-Buchstabe-R [2012-07-13 01:29:51 +0000 UTC]

no they needed radar for such things as clocking the weather

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Der-Buchstabe-R In reply to KirovRampager [2012-07-13 01:33:56 +0000 UTC]

Ok good, I knew the Mickey Mouse nose was used for a reason.

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A-Delicate-Robot-Pal [2012-07-13 01:09:12 +0000 UTC]

Very serious looking beast that one is. ^^

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KirovRampager In reply to A-Delicate-Robot-Pal [2012-07-13 01:09:38 +0000 UTC]

^^

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