Weird Wings - Canadian Car & Foundry lifting body designs

Canadian Car & Foundry's B-2000B Super Bomber design was their response to a 1942 B-36 design competition. The 222 ft. span aircraft was to have been powered by eight coupled Allison 3420 engines, paired in four nacelles, each pair providing 5,000 hp.

Not quite a pure lifting fuselage, the layout was nonetheless one consisting of a continuous wing from which a forward fuselage section of similar depth projected (this being of rather Lancaster-like lines in the model).

With a 40,000 lb. bomb load, the aircraft's deigned all-up wight would have been 220,000 lb and range 4,000 miles, with a top speed of 300 mph. Defensive armament was proposed in the form of paired 20 mm cannon in turrets in the nose, at each end of each tail boom, and above and below the booms.

The Canadian Car & Foundry's V-1000 was designed by Charles Villiers, and displayed a more advanced lifting fuselage design, almost absorbing the forward cockpit area and dispensing with tail booms.

Cargo space would have been incorporated into the large wing/fuselage section, permitting a reduced structure weight and increased cabin capacity. These were features of the Burnelli concept, which produced designs that added carrying space into wing areas, and allowed the fuselage, usually dead weight, to contribute to lift.

Its 220 ft. span was comparable to that of the B-2000B, giving a wing area of 4,499 sq. ft. It was expected to have the ability to carry 135 passengers with baggage 4,500 miles at 220 mph, running at only 45% power thanks to the efficiency of the lifting fuselage. Maximum endurance was put at 21 hours.

Empty weight was estimated at 120,000 lb, gross weight 220,000 lb.
The National Research Council of Canada tested a wind tunnel model, but no prototype V-1000 was built.

CC&F would ultimately build a total of eight aircraft on a Burnelli-based design. The last was the Loadmaster I (pictured below) of 1946. The aircraft met the conditions which permitted a Canadian type certificate to be issued, but did not enter production. Manufacturing rights reverted to Ballard Aircraft Corporation.

The Loadmaster next appeared in 1957 at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, when the U.S. Army was exploring potential for a new troop carrier. During a demonstration, the Loadmaster made a forced landing, and was removed to Beacon Field, Alexandria, Virginia.

It stayed there until, in October 1959, an inspection revealed that it had suffered only minor damage - a bent propellor and skin tearing from the belly-landing. As Beacon Field was closing down to make way for a housing development, the Loadmaster, after an unusually short takeoff run, flew out to Richmond. There it was to undergo modifications, before moving on to Hayes Aircraft, Alabama, for complete overhaul.