FMA IA 36 Cóndor
| Industry | Aerospace |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1951 |
| Founder | Kurt Tank |
| Defunct | 1958 |
| Headquarters | Argentina |
The IA 36 Cóndor was an Argentine jet-powered medium-range airliner concept developed in the early 1950s by Kurt Tank for the Fábrica Militar de Aviones. Although a full-scale wooden mockup was constructed, the initiative was discontinued in 1958 before any prototype aircraft were produced.
Design and development
The project commenced in late 1951 under the direction of German engineer Kurt Tank. During development, a 1:34 scale model for wind tunnel testing and a life-size wooden fuselage mockup were created. The government led by Pedro Eugenio Aramburu decided to halt the program in 1958, following the political upheaval of the 1955 Revolución Libertadora that removed Juan Domingo Perón from power.
The IA 36’s propulsion system was planned to consist of five Rolls-Royce "Nene II" turbojet engines arranged in a ring around the rear fuselage, reflecting design philosophies seen in aircraft such as the Messerschmitt P.1110 and Heinkel He 211. Subsequent variants were intended to incorporate lighter and more powerful engines.
Positioning the engines at the rear fuselage introduced aerodynamic complications: this location subjected them to low-energy boundary layer airflow, which diminished inlet pressure and overall engine efficiency when compared to configurations where engines are mounted away from the fuselage, like those on the Boeing 727 or Douglas DC-9. Furthermore, clustering all engines closely heightened fire hazards and increased vulnerability to damage from an engine malfunction, unlike designs that space engines apart to enhance safety.
Designed to accommodate between 32 and 40 passengers, the IA 36 was projected to reach a maximum speed surpassing that of contemporaneous aircraft such as the de Havilland Comet 3 (). Its aerodynamic profile included swept wings with a wingspan of , contributing to an estimated operational range of .
Further reading
External links
- MilitariaArg website (accessed 2016-04-21)