Hello Ken,

There was only 1 Bellanca Skyrocket II built, retractable undercarriage....doesn't fit the silhouette exact, though. Any relation?

Hi Karl...no connection with the Skyrocket II. And this one is more recent - 1980's.

Breaking off for dinner. Will check in later.

Evening Ken,

Could it be the Beechcraft 38P Lightning ??

G'day Trevor. :)

I looked at that earlier but thought the transition line from fuselage to fin should be smoother, follow my dots. :) And I thought the exhaust would be more prominent?

http://img97.imageshack.us/img97/5278/img352e.jpg

And at $797,000, I went shopping elsewhere.

G'day Graeme :),

Yes mate, I see what you mean, however, your illustration also shows a straight wing L/E, whereas the only photo I found shows a small inboard swept section, it also shows two aerials which doesn't match the silhouette (yours has none). I think (hope) that the L/E sweep and the PT6's exhaust are just not visible at that angle.

We'll see, I'm encouraged by the fact that it's hard to find many photo's and there's not much on Aerofiles, which characterise a typical good skytrain challenge :confused: Haven't had time to look more or at your challenge yet as I've been in the kitchen!!

Edit: No need now, good call Kitbag :ok:

I think I'm staring at Ken's silhouette too much.

Snake (Boa Constrictor?)on a plane - at far right.

http://img43.imageshack.us/img43/2839/34eaf855.jpg

Time for coffee.

That's a good one mate, but yes, you're probably staring too hard :)!!

I try and reconcile that with two little protruberances on the wing L/E just inboard of the tips on the photo I found, (plus the tailplane for its gaping maw)! The eye is a product of your very vivid imagination!

Evening/Morning all
Not from Beech Trevor, although it is from a well known GA manufacturer. Not a PT6 engine either - and in fact its not turboprop powered..
I mentioned that its spirit lives on...just to expand on that, there is an association with a more recent design, which is still in production today.
Only a few photos of this on the web, and it gets a mention in Aerofiles.

Nice snake Graeme...in fact all it is are slightly lowered flaps!

Mooney 301?

If it is, open house.

Going shopping. :(

Could it be the Mooney 301 ??

Edit, bugger too late I see :)!!

That's the one Graeme:ok: The Mooney 301 which as a result of the financial state of Mooney never went beyond the prototype stage. Eventually the design underwent a transformation, got a turborprop engine and became the TBM-700. One wonders what might have been had Mooney had the resources and finances to develop it themselves?

http://i551.photobucket.com/albums/i...r/8601eb67.jpg

Sorry Trevor, Graeme got there first. However he has declared OH so I'm sure he won't mind if I hand control over to you.

Thanks Ken,

Another good one :ok: Not many keywords in its Aerofiles entry and Wiki has the Mooney 301 categorised under United States civil utility aircraft 1950–1959 :confused:, so I missed it on the first pass!!

The reason I didn't look further than the Beech Lighting at the time was what wiki said about the seemed to fit the clue well.

"Beechcraft originally planned to put the Lightning into production but the economic downturn among general aviation manufacturers in the United States in the 1980s led to the project being shelved"

I was going to bed, but seeing as I've still got a cockpit to monitor I will take Graeme's OH and put something up shortly.

Something that promised to be a little swifter!

http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/.../TC-wtf186.jpg

Does look fast. High speed missile/drone thingy? Or is that tiny incy-wincy little white rectangle on the side profile a cockpit window mate?

Russian, Yank or neither?

'Artnoon Graeme,

Yup, 'tiz a cockpit! Well spotted and appropriately, it's a recce jobber! Not Russian or Yank though :)

Another British example of "Project Cancelled?"

Avro?

'Tiz British Mate, but not Avro!

Shame.

We talking Mach 2 or Hypersonic? Had to squint, but 16 jet engines within the wing and where are the intakes?

Would we be classed as Challengologists? PhD in Challengology - I like it!

Do you have Dr Ken's number? I need to ring and get him up and about and looking at this.

It was intended to fly at mach 2.5+, but was only Alumunium Alloy, so the plus bit was optimistic and proved to be its downfall :(!