Could This Be The Long-Lost #1 Bat Plane?

black mamba

These shots are not up to my usual standards.....way too much noise for one thing, even after getting a Noise Ninja treatment. Unfortunately, my camera controls had inadvertently gotten moved and the resultant pictures were so underexposed that I was barely able to salvage them at all. However, I wanted you to see this most unusual plane so please just overlook the picture's faults.

Panther

Morning Tom,

From reading your opening remarks I thought, these are going to be pretty dark and noisy.

I have to say, I know they aren't up to your usual crisp sharp details but I thought they turned out very well.

That is a neat plane, is it an older one or a HomeBuilt one off an older design?

Regardless, I really like the looks of it and you have to love that color!!!


Oh by the way, I've been looking for that "inadvertently" position on my camera, can't seem to find it, I know I'd certainly love to have those shots compared to some I end up with:D:D:D

Jack'll do

Quite an interesting subject Tom. I have to agree with Craig though, not too bad (especially #1). #2 & #3 certainly show the uniqueness of this plane. Thanks for sharing. Now how bout some info on it?

black mamba

Hey Craig,

Thanks for your kind comments. These shots came out of the camera almost totally black. I'm frankly amazed that they could be salvaged as well as they were. This digital stuff really changed photography, didn't it?

I believe this is an older plane.....I'm not sure if it was a kit job or not. I know I've never seen another one like it.

Take care my friend,

Tom

black mamba

Yo Jack,

I wish I could tell you more about this plane. Most of the time, the paper band around the prop will give you some basic facts .....year made, manufacturer ( or kit maker ), etc. This one's band didn't include much info. Also, in many cases the owner is sitting around and is available to tell you all about the craft. I could never find the owner of this one.

I sure don't believe that this was a production model.....I've never seen anything like it before and, as you know, I get around to quite a few shows like this one. It's far more likely that this was a limited-run kit, or perhaps even a one-off home-built. From what I could see, it had a pretty powerful engine and, swinging a three-bladed prop, it probably had a fair degree of performance. I really wish I could have talked with the owner so as to get an idea of just how this thing handled. I'm under the impression that the plane might have been a bit tricky to deal with, but I'm not sure.

See ya,

Tom

Gary752

Sorta looks like the stealth fighter. Maybe this was an experimental plane testing that concept (make sure it could fly) before putting the big bucks into the real thing. Just a thought.

GaryB

dixonduke

That is a very interesting plane for sure. I found this blog post about that tells a bit of the planes history...

black mamba

Hey GaryB,

Thanks for looking in.

Tom

black mamba

Hi Duke,

Thanks for the research in finding the great blog about this plane. We now know there are at least two of these craft in existence. We still don't know if it is a kit production item or built from scratch from plans. As I suspected, this plane is a strong performer but also one that can be a bit tricky in flight.

I had a good laugh when the guy gave his thoughts about taking an experimental aircraft up for the first time. I've been there, done that, and I can really relate to his comments.

Thanks again for digging up this info.

Tom