NEW possibilities in the line of aerial sport are indicated by the “Unicycle” (single-wheel) glider illustrated above, and intended to be driven by the operator, either on the ground or in the air, through pedals and gears. The sketches on this page, adapted from the patent drawings, show the method of applying the power suggested by the inventor; but other designs may readily occur to the mechanically-minded reader.
Paddle Wheels Drive Wingless Plane
PADDLE wheels take the place of wings, stabilizers, and propeller on a new airplane designed by a University of Washington scientist to permit hovering in the air and slower landing speeds. Revolving vanes in these wheels would propel the plane and control its vertical movements.
air travel for everybody
By DEVON FRANCIS
IN A half-dozen plants converted to peacetime pursuits, riveting hammers are pounding out aircraft to bring transportation by air to thousands of American hamlets at a price almost any traveler will be able to afford.
Some of these air liners, built from design lessons learned during the war, will be able to cross the United States in less than seven hours. Some, engineered specifically for local flights on interurban schedules, will be only half that fast. All of them, for the first time in the history of the U.S. air transport , are being built for specific purposes.
Seaplanes Launched From Deck of Ship on Canvas Slide
MAIL-STEAMERS not equipped with expensive catapults for launching airplanes at sea will welcome the invention of the Kiwull watersail, so named after its inventor, which is shown in operation in the above drawing. The invention is simple, consisting of a length of canvas 100 feet long and 32 feet wide which is unrolled from the stern of the ship, as shown, to form an incline down which a seaplane can be lowered to the water. The canvas is held taut by water pulling against a “drogue” or net at the trailing end. Seaplanes can also return aboard deck by this means.
A new style in tails has been shown recently to British fliers by Planet Aircraft, Ltd.
The plane, called the Satellite, has a tail prop, V-shaped stabilizers and an inverted fin. The engine, a Gipsy Queen, is mounted directly over the center of gravity and is linked to the prop by a magnesium shaft.
ROCKET PLANE POWERED BY 86 GUN BARRELS
A STANDARD type plane which can be made into a rocket-propelled machine by equipping it with gun-barrel attachments is shown in the picture at the left. The machine is the invention of Maurice Poirier of Burbank, Cal. Regular gasoline motors are used in the plane in addition to the rockets. There are 86 gun barrels attached to the fuselage of the plane, and the concussion resulting from explosions in the tubes is expected to give the plane a speed of 400 miles an hour.
Ocean Skimmer for Atlantic
Modern Mechanics’ cover this month depicts new adaptation of Alexander Graham Bell’s hydrofoil principle, showing new Atlantic “stepladder” liner.
AT LAST the “step ladder boats,” as the hydrofoil speeders planned by the son of Dr. Alexander Graham Bell have been called, are to make a bid for laurels as the fastest method of crossing the Atlantic.
If I had a nickel for every English robot pilot I came across, I’d have… er… a nickel.
Another English Robot Pilot
PROFESSOR J. POPJIE, an English pilot and designer, has recently invented and tested an electrical robot pilot which has successfully piloted a plane on short flights. Although details of this invention have not been revealed, it is known to be operated by a current from an air-screw driven generator.
My New Atlantic Air Liner
by HANS ROHRBACH
Famous German Seaplane Designer
The name of Rohrbach is well known in the aviation world because of the giant planes which he has designed. He built 5,500 airplanes for the German army during the World War, including four giant bombers with eight engines each. Since then he has designed most of the large European transport planes used on passenger lines.
AIRMAN’S heroic Juggling Saves Would-be Suicide
When Lieut. Harold F. Brown took off from the Los Angeles Eastside Airport recently he left the ground thinking that he was just taking another passenger for a ride. Little did he realize that within five minutes he would be called upon to bring into play every factor at his command to save a would-be aerial suicide as well as himself and the ship. The manner in which he accomplished this feat is detailed here.