Ford Model 15-P

The Ford Model 15-P was a two passenger flying wing, a tailless design, and the last aircraft developed by the Stout Metal Airplane Division of the Ford Motor Company. A press release of January 1936 said that Ford was designing behind closed doors a new flivver that would use its new V-8 engine, and the 15-P was the result. A rear mounted Ford V-8 drove a tractor propeller through a driveshaft. The fuselage was steel tube with an aluminum covering, the wings were fabric covered, and the landing gear was fully faired with large landing lights mounted in the fairings. Test pilot Harry Russell made several flights, but after an accident the aircraft was put in storage. The Federal Bureau of Air Commerce licensed it in 1936, the same year Ford closed its aircraft division, and its remains were used to build a prototype autogyro that was itself scrapped, so all trace of the 15-P disappeared. Ford later returned to aviation by building Consolidated B-24 Liberators under license.