Ahhhh.
The glorious SimplePlanes community.

As I cry over having to judge 25 planes, and I have little enthusiasm to do so, I feel like writing this. The first issue of...

SOME LESSER KNOWN PLANEZ

Now, most of these planes I will end up building one day in this game (or in real life one day). This first issue will be on the glorious topic of the Propjets. I don't mean those weird thingies that are turbojets with a propeller on them.... something far superior.... the Mixed-Propulsion kind.
This issue will have 5-10 planes. I may do more later if I feel like it. I hope y'all enjoy! And also, I have a sneak-peak at the bottom.

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1 - Consolidated-Vultee Air (Convair) XP-81

The XP-81 was an experimental fighter plane that was pretty unique in the sense that it bonded WW2-style fuselage and wings with a turbojet. And also by those dope air intakes on the rear. It also had TWO turbojets, mind you. Most Propjets have a turbojet and a piston-driven propeller, but this plane had two turbojets. One for the prop, and one in the rear for the jet engine. It, as most of the propjets, never went beyond the experimental phase as pure-jet fighters took reign.

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2 - Mikoyan and Gurevich I-250 (13)

The MiG 13 is probably one of the least-known propjets ever. And I want you to guess... how many engines does this have?

If you said 2... WRONG. This thing has something that was never used: the Motorjet. The Caproni N.1 had one, but it only had the piston-driven jet, not the propeller. This aircraft, the I-250 (MiG 13), would have been the first aircraft to have a piston-driven engine power both the propeller and the turbojet.
Now, a motorjet is a jet engine powered by a piston engine. The engine spins the fan and powers the ignition chamber. This means it doesn't require a direct airflow (except the one that powers the engine)
It was designed in 1944 by the Soviet Union, and it was meant to stop Me. 262s and Boeing Superfortresses. It was meant to be cost-effective and fast, but was never completed past the experimental phase. Most likely because of engine issues.

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3 - Curtiss XF15C-1

The Curtiss XP15C-1 was an experimental fighter, that was actually built 3 times. I also made a replica of this if you want to fly it around.
Now, it was meant to be a naval fighter/interceptor/bomber. But the USAAF already claimed the Ryan FR Fireball as superior, even though the specs of the XF15C-1 were MUCH better. Albeit the structural problems. The 1st prototype had a low elevator, and crashed because of physics. The second two had high t-wings. They were successful. One was scrapped, and the other is in a museum in North Carolina.
OH and it also had a bubble canopy for greater visibility.

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4 - Ryan FR Fireball

The Ryan FR Fireball was the first actually-successful propjet. Having a VERY similar set up like the Curtiss XF15C-1, this plane was meant for carrier-based operations and over 66 were built. Though, it was still taken out of service relatively quick.
There are many survivors of this plane around the USA, and it is pretty cool. Sorry if I sound unenthusiastic about this one. Just nothing more to say. This was slower and heavier than the XF15C-1 too.

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5 - B-36 Peacemaker

Ah. The best for last.
This is my FAVORITE plane. I love it so much.
It was the first intercontinental bomber AND the first plane that could hold a nuclear bomb in its internal bay without any modifications. It had 4 bomb bays and a ferry range of 10,000 nautical miles. Yup. From coast to coast to coast.
It had a cargo variant, a NUCLEAR REACTOR POWERED VARIANT yes... a nuclear reactor..., and a regular propeller-based variant. But the one I care about the most is the B-36D/G/J models. These models had 4 jet engines, and 6 HUGE propellers. Also known as the "6 Turning, 4 Burnin'" plane, this never saw combat, but was put into service through much of the beginning of the cold war.
There are only 4 left in the world, none capable of flight, and one of them is the experimental cargo variant. A double-decker passenger variant was proposed, and it also competed against Boeing in the bomber competition for the USAF. Convair (Consolidated-Vultee Air) competed with the YB-60, which was just a fully-jet powered B-36, and Boeing won with the B-52 Stratofortress and the B-47 Stratojet (which is also a really interesting-looking plane).

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6 - Blohm and Voss P.194

This plane was never built, but it still is really cool. This plane is an asymmetric variant of the BV.141. It would be the same plane, but with a motorjet instead. Yup. Another motorjet. There really is nothing more to say. It would have been meant for aerial support and ground support, another Stuka bomber.

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Teaser

Now... I want to make a challenge, likely my last one for a while. The Mixed-Propulsion challenge.
It will be just for Jet-Rocket or Propeller-Jet aircraft, though. If you want to suggest another category, go ahead! I really like these aircraft, and I want to share these unique designs with y'all. This is why I built the XF15C-1 and the De Bruyere C1 planes. But, anyways. I hope you enjoyed this first issue!

Catch you next time!