The Lockheed Flatbed concept aircraft

[Retro]

This "flatbed pick-up truck" concept is one of the more interesting planes that never flew.

Having open air cargo seems like a crazy idea to me, so I'm not suprised that it never took off. Still fascinating though. Check it out.

Problems with the concept include the cargo being blown off, bits of the cargo being blown off, aerodynamic issues and likely more that I haven't thought of.

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[secretprojects]

There's a detailed report on this concept available here:

Study of an advanced transport airplane design concept known as Flatbed - NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

The design concept and configuration of the Flatbed transport aircraft are presented. The Flatbed configuration combines into one frame, the ability to haul cargo, virtually unrestrained by cross sectional dimensions of the fuselage. The feasibility and capability of the Flatbed is discussed in...

ntrs.nasa.gov

In the Soviet Union Myashischev made a smaller but similar concept: