Forgotten Aircraft: Republic XF-12 Rainbow

The XF-12 Rainbow was a four-engine, all-metal prototype monoplane designed by the Republic Aviation Company in the late 1940s. Like most large airplanes of the era, it used radial engines—in this case, the Pratt & Whitney R-4360 "Wasp Major"—to drive propellers.

The United States Army wanted a long-range photo-reconnaissance aircraft, and the Rainbow was Republic's attempt to provide it. With a cruise speed of over 450 statute miles per hour (725 kilometers per hour), it was certainly fast, but the Air Force (which had separated from the Army in 1947) decided that the Boeing RB-50 would fill the need instead. As a result, Republic cancelled its plans to build not only the XF-12 but the RC-2 civilian airliner version as well, leaving only the two prototypes. One crashed leaving Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, and the other ended up as a target on the Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland.

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Entertainment

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• Republic
• XF-12
• XR-12
• Rainbow
• reconnaissance
• aircraft
• aviation
• history

[Ascanifj]

I test flew that bird at the contractor's facility way back in the late '40s. The competition was for the XR-12 built by Howard Hughes. I flew that one also.

Test pilot Fred Ascani

[Axgoodofdunemaul]

@Ascanifj Gen Fred Ascani passed away in March 2010. He now flies with the other heroes of WWII in Valhalla.

[mikemachat]

Good observation on the similarity of designer Alexander Kartveli's XR-12 tail shape to that of the F-84 Thunderjet. Both aircraft shared the same overall proportions. The Hughes XF-11 never had an official name assigned - the Reporter was actually Northrop's twin-boom F-15, a variant of their World War II night fighter, the P-61 Black Widow. A total of 36 Northrop F-15s were built.

[375GTB]

And it was a Hughes XF-11 Reporter

"He who knows not history..."

[375GTB]

It was F for Foto, before 1948.... USAAF designator..

R came in as RF and RB after that..USAF

[375GTB]

That tail is the same as used on the F-84.

It is as clean as any.. just not squared of

Look at a Spitfire.. or a P-38

Your argument does not hold water..

The P-51 copies the wing plan of the Bf-109..

The NACA air foil type is the real deal..

J.C.

[CorrieBergeron]

Beautiful airplane.

[AryanKnight]

~Was an absolutely lovely aerodynamic-design, except for the terribly silly if stogy looking 1930's vertical-stabilizer (-designer hall-of-shame, which really spoiled the dynamics); -had the tail been of crisp P-51 like shape the plane would look quite modern even by today's standards and likely also a bit faster..!!

[CaptainNomura]

August 1969 issue of Air Classics magazine have a very nice article, in there it was American and Pan-Am airlines that ordered the civil version of the Rainbow before it was cancelled. Pan-Am held long enough to make ads.

[mwmaxwgreen]

She was a pretty bird, a testament to the metalsmiths at Republic. It is a shame that she was cancelled, as an airliner might've come from her.

Still, in contrast, Connie was a gorgeous airliner.

[gto66solstice08]

Looks like a scaled down McDonald "Moonbat"

[mikemachat]

Technically, the Republic XR-12 Rainbow is the world's fastest four-engine piston powered aircraft with a top speed of 462 mph in level flight. The German Dornier Do335 is indeed the fastest "multi-engine" piston-powered aircraft at 474 mph. The XR-12, however, was a much larger and much heavier airplane. Brand new book on the Rainbow is available on Amazon.com.