With only 17 aircraft in inventory, the RB-1 was not feasible to maintain on the active list, and it was retired from U.S. Navy service in early 1945.
The RB-1s were then transferred to the War Assets Administration (WAA) to be sold as war surplus.
In 1945, the WAA sold 12 Conestogas to the National Skyway Freight Corp for $28,642 each at a time when new C-47s were selling for approximately $100,000 each.
The new company, founded by members of the AVG Flying Tigers immediately sold four RB-1 aircraft to other buyers, which paid for the entire WAA contract.
In 1947, the U.S. Army gave National Skyway Freight a large contract for trans-Pacific freight, for which it leased military aircraft. The company replaced the RB-1s with C-47s for its U.S. freight routes; the RB-1s were sold off to other buyers. One of these aircraft, a prototype RB-1, was sold to the Tucker Motor Company to transport its demonstration 1948 Tucker Sedan to auto shows around the U.S.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Budd_RB_Conestoga
https://www.facebook.com/groups/617321618289389/permalink/1974288195926051
Having an unnatural devotion to all things aeronautical, I can't help but wonder what this might have been if it had been constructed of aluminum. It's design and layout was brilliantly forward thinking. As a former aircraft maintainer I know I'd have hated working stainless steel panels everywhere, though the problems with corrosion would have been nil. Though it reportedly handled like a freight car, Budd did a superb job in building something they'd never done before.
ReplyDeleteCan only think of one other plane built in stainless steel: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bristol_188
ReplyDeleteThanks for the morning tidbit :)
ReplyDeleteI suppose the British equivalent would be the wonderfully named Beardmore Inflexible of 1928.
ReplyDeleteBeardmore was a heavy engineering/shipbuilding company on the Clyde who only made a couple of experimental aeroplanes, none of them successful. Even with 3 engines the Inflexible was woefully underpowered and eventually dismantled. One of its main wheels ended up in the London Science Museum; it's massive, about 8 feet in diameter, almost unbelievable when you stand next to it. I have to wonder if it's the largest aircraft wheel ever made.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beardmore_Inflexible
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTo3aak_A60
Regards,
Tony
largest aircraft wheel... hmmm. It probably was! The tires on an Airbus A 380 https://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2015/09/airbus-380-tire-check.html or the space shuttle
Deletehttps://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2014/04/space-shuttle-endeavor-and-set-of-its.html