The U.S. Navy's Unconventional 'Flying Pancake' Fighter

Vought V-173 prototype's 427 square feet of wing area gave it the capability of taking off nearly vertically with typical wind over a ship’s deck.

Jason McDowell

Tuesday, October 15, 2024 at 11:21 AM ET

Verified

Edited By:

Kimberly Johnson

With the 22-degree deck angle on the Vought V-173, the pilot was forced to look forward, past his feet, through windows on the underside of the nose. [Courtesy: U.S. Navy]

Key Takeaways:

The Vought V-173, nicknamed the "Flying Pancake," was an unconventional, disc-shaped aircraft designed by Charles Zimmerman in the late 1930s that defied initial skepticism and proved highly functional.
Developed for the U.S. Navy, its unique design featured a nearly all-wing airframe with two small engines and massive propellers, enabling exceptional Short Take-Off and Landing (STOL) capabilities, including a 22 mph landing speed.
The V-173 prototype successfully demonstrated its remarkable performance during 131 hours of flight testing, even surviving a forced landing, and influenced the design of the more powerful but uncompleted XF5U.
Although the program was ultimately abandoned, the original V-173 was later meticulously restored and is now on display at the Frontiers of Flight Museum, celebrating Zimmerman's innovative aeronautical vision.

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If one were to claim that their new aircraft design utilized two 80 hp Piper Cub engines that turned two 16.5-foot propellers, that individual’s mental state might be called into question. If that individual were to go on to claim that their new aircraft design would resemble a flying saucer and could land at 22 mph, we might suggest that they sketch their design out on paper so they could show it to a psychiatrist and receive powerful prescription medication to help them control their delusions.

Such a design did emerge in the late 1930s, but the designer, Charles Zimmerman, was not insane. On the contrary, his unconventional vision, which became the Vought V-173 and was nicknamed the “Flying Pancake,” did, in fact, come to fruition. Not only did it fly, but it demonstrated remarkable performance.