The Ford Model 15-P flying wing was the last aircraft developed by the Stout Metal Airplane Division of the

Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. The company sells automobiles ...

. After several flights resulting in a crash, the program was halted. Ford eventually re-entered the aviation market producing

Consolidated B-24 Liberator The Consolidated B-24 Liberator is an American heavy bomber, designed by Consolidated Aircraft of San Diego, California. It was known within the company as the Model 32, and some initial production aircraft were laid down as export models ...

s under license from

Consolidated Aircraft The Consolidated Aircraft Corporation was founded in 1923 by Reuben H. Fleet in Buffalo, New York, the result of the Gallaudet Aircraft Company's liquidation and Fleet's purchase of designs from the Dayton-Wright Company as the subsidiary was bei ...

Development

A press release in Jan 1936 said that Ford was designing behind closed doors a new "flivver" using its new V-8 engine.

Design

The Model 15-P was a two-passenger "

flying wing A flying wing is a tailless fixed-wing aircraft that has no definite fuselage, with its crew, payload, fuel, and equipment housed inside the main wing structure. A flying wing may have various small protuberances such as pods, nacelles, blis ...

" or tailless design. It featured a rear-mounted Ford V-8 driving a tractor propeller with a driveshaft The fuselage was steel tube with an aluminum covering and the wings were fabric-covered. The landing gear was fully faired with large landing lights mounted in the fairings.

Operational history

Several test flights were made by test pilot Harry Russell, but after an accident the aircraft was put in storage. The aircraft was licensed by the Federal Bureau of Air Commerce in 1936, the same year Ford closed its aircraft division. The remains of the 15P were used to create a prototype autogyro, but all trace of the 15P disappeared when the autogyro was scrapped.

Specifications

References

External links