Flying Cars
Page 9
TAYLOR’S AEROCAR
www.youtube.com/watch?v=-60kbxW27kM
Narrated by Molt Taylor.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=WiFjhw_Iq9s&feature=related
Aerocar on “I’ve Got a Secret.”
www.youtube.com/watch?v=#227471
“I’ve Got a Secret” in Spanish.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=#2275BA
Aerocar 3.
PORTER AND KISSELL
www.youtube.com/watch?v=gcT3muJSi-k
Acknowledgments
One of the great pleasures of working on this book has been meeting—in person, over the phone, or online—enthusiastic and generous people I would likely never have encountered otherwise.
John Brown, editor of Roadable Times, author of Flugautos aus aller Welt and webmaster of GustaveWhitehead.com, helped me sort through some historical and engineering information that was beyond my limited experience. His willingness to share his unparalleled scholarship on the subject went a long way toward making the book possible.
Jake Shultz started me in the right direction, thanks to his passion for Molt Taylor’s Aerocar and Taylor’s remarkable book, A Drive in the Clouds.
Patrick J. Gyger, former director of La maison d’ailleurs in Yverdon-les-Bains, Switzerland, offered encouragement and the inspiration of his elegant book Les Voitures Volantes.
Thanks also to the following:
Rick Leisenring, curator of the Curtiss Museum in Hammondsport, New York, for making the remarkable Autoplane photographs available, and to Dorothy Cochrane and Dom Pisano for letting me take a peek at their curatorial files at the Smithsonian.
Dan Corneliu Hadirca, for the extraordinary archival photos of Vuia’s airplane-automobile.
Eileen Jeffress, for encouragement and for sharing her knowledge of Daniel Zuck’s Plane-Mobile.
Bruce R. Charnov, PhD, Hofstra University, for generously guiding me through the curious history of the autogyro.
Rawn Fulton, for providing family photos and for filling in some gaps in his father’s fascinating story.
Craig Harmon, director of the Lincoln Highway National Museum and Archives, who went out of his way to help by searching and sharing the Pitcairn archives.
The Connecticut Discovery Museum, especially Andy Kosch, who reconstructed Gustave Whitehead’s 1901 flying automobile to see if the history books had made a mistake, as did the Historical Research Committee of the Deutsches Flugpioniermuseum Gustav Weisskopf, Leutershausen.
I am indebted to the archivists at the National Aeronautics and Space Museum Archive, the Seattle Museum of Flight, the Detroit Historical Society, the Henry Ford Museum, and the San Diego Air and Space Museum for their patience and expertise. And also to Aerofiles, Johann Visschedijk at 1000 Aircraft Photos, Iowa Memories, the Library of Congress, and the Florida archives for their generosity and curious photos, as well as Critical Past Videos.
I owe Dinah Stevenson much gratitude for her patience in directing me away from the merely amusing factoid to the genuine pleasure of discovering and conveying the twists and turns of the quest to construct from the fantasy a new reality in the form of a real flying car.
Picture Credits
Aerocar.com: 89
Bernard Hoffman/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images: 68 (top left), 68 (top right), 68 (center)
Bill Crump: 94 (above)
Chicago History Museum: 51
Courtesy of Lockheed Martin: 92 (bottom)
Courtesy of Vernon Porter: 94 (inset)
Courtesy, The Estate of R. Buckminster Fuller: 49 (above), 49 (below), 50
Creative Commons: 80 (Crosley poster)
CriticalPast: 33 (bottom), 42 (left), 42 (below)
Dan I. Hadirca: 12, 14 (above), 14 (center)
Daniel R. Zuck Trust: 72, 74
Detroit Historical Society: 52, 53, 54
From the collections of The Henry Ford: 30 (top), 55 (left)
G. H. Curtiss Museum, Hammondsport, NY: 18, 20, 21, 22 (below), 22 (right), 23
Garland Landmark Society, Inc.: Frontis, 58
Hargrave Images (public domain): 14 (inset)
Historical Flight Research Committee Gustave Whitehead: 10
Iowa Department of Transportation: 29
Johan Visschedijk, 1000aircraftphotos.com: 45 (top), 45 (bottom)
The Lincoln Highway National Museum and Archives/Hofstra University/Courtesy of the Pitcairn Aviation Archives and Stephen Pitcairn: 37, 38 (top), 38 (bottom), 39, 40 (left), 40 (below), 43
Moller International, USA: 92 (left)
Museum of Flight (Seattle): 77, 78, 81, 82, 83, 84, 86, 86 (inset), 87, 88
Office nationale de la propriete industrielle (public domain): 11
PAL-V Europe NV: 90 (upper right)
Photographed by the author: 90 (lower left)
Piasecki Aircraft Corporation: 91 (bottom)
RareNewspapers.com (History’s Newsstand): 30 (bottom)
Rawn Fulton: 65, 69
Roadable Times: 12, 15
San Diego Air & Space Museum: 33 (top), 34, 35, 46, 55 (below), 57 (above), 57 (below), 59, 60 (top), 61 (top), 61 (center), 61 (bottom), 63
Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum (Washington): 2, 4, 16, 24, 25, 32, 41, 60 (inset), 67, 73
State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory: 79
Stiles, Roadable Aircraft: 27
Thomas D. McAvoy/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images: 68 (bottom)
Urban Aeronautics Ltd.: 93
Wikimedia Commons (public domain): 1, 3, 19, 47, 80 (Ercoupe poster), 85
www.carplane.com: 91 (top)
www.gustave-whitehead.com, John Brown Collection: 5, 6, 7, 9
Index
Page numbers in bold type refer to photos and illustrations.
A
Advanced Vehicle Engineers (AVE), 96
Aerial Experiment Association, 19
Aerocar
Aerocar I, 83, 83–86, 84, 89, 92
Aerocar III, 85–88, 87
Aerocar 2000, 89, 89
design development, 79–83, 81
early ideas, 77, 77–79, 78
as team-built, 78
Aerocar Company, 84
Aero Club of America, 20, 20
aéroplane-automobile (Vuia 1), 11–15, 11–17, 17
ailerons
control of, 33, 80
coordination with rudder, 72
function, 36, 44, 72
lever to engage, 82
Aircar (Gwinn), 44, 45, 46, 46–47
Aircar (Spratt Stout), 55
aircraft
acrobatic, 25, 25
autonomous, 90, 93, 96
B-24 bomber, 57
Cessna Skymaster, 96
Coot, 88
Duckling, 77
Ercoupe, 71, 79, 80
first mass-produced. See JN-4.
Flyer, 10
flying wing, 31
Ford Tri-Motor, 52
Hisso Standard, 76
JN-4 (Jenny), 24–25, 25, 76
Mailwing, 36
military, 24–25, 35, 43, 57, 63, 76
passenger, 6, 25
Sky Flivver, 30, 30
Stinson Reliant, 66
unique requirements of, 21, 33
Air Jeep, 91, 91–92
Airphibian, 67, 69
design, 66–67, 79
production challenges, 69–70, 71
prototype testing, 69
publicity, 67, 68, 69, 77
An Airplane in Every Garage (Zuck), 73
Albatross (first), 3, 3–4, 4
Albatross (second), 4
amphibious craft, 7, 20, 26, 27, 88. See also Airphibian
Arrowbile, 33, 33–35, 34, 35, 80
Arrowplane, 32–33
Autogiro (autogyro), 36–37, 37–43, 39–43
automobiles. See cars
autonomous vehicles, 90, 93, 96
Autoplane (Flying Limousine)
design, 22, 22–23, 24
as first flying
car, 24, 26
promotion, 21, 22, 23
prototype, 25
Avion-Automobile, 23–24, 24, 41, 78
B
barnstormers, 25, 25, 72, 76
Beech-Nut Company, 39, 39, 40
Bel Geddes, Norman, 51, 60
Bell, Alexander Graham, 19
birds, design based on, 2, 2, 3, 3, 7, 12
Blake, Harold, 96
Boston Aeronautical Society, 5
brakes
airbrakes, 72
emergency, 53
foot pedal, 33, 67, 82
on landing wheels, 82
parking, 33
Brooks, Harry, 30, 30
B-24 bomber (Liberator), 57
Bureau of Air Commerce, 31, 32, 41
Burgess, Starling, 49
C
cannons, 26, 27
Carplane, 90–91, 91
cars
autonomous, 96
Crosley, 58, 60, 79, 80
the dream of, 28
Dymaxion-based, 49–50, 50, 74
electric-powered, 90–91
flying-driving as one technology or two, 15, 16, 21
Ford Mustang, 86, 86
Ford Pinto, 96
Geo Metro, 88
Honda CRX, 88
horseless carriages, 1, 15, 16, 21, 29
Humvee, 93
Jeep, 33, 91, 91–92
Lotus Elise, 89
mass-produced flivvers, 28–29, 76
Model T, 28, 29
Scarab, 53, 53–55, 54
three-wheeled, 34
Toyota Prius, 96
unique requirements of, 21
Cessna Skymaster, 96
CityHawk, 93, 93–94
Civil Aeronautics Administration, 69
Civil Aeronautics Authority, 84
Cold War, 74–75
Collier Trophy, 37
“combination vehicle,” 26, 27, 49
Condor 21, 6, 7, 7–8, 9, 10
Condor (replica), 10
Consolidated Aircraft Corporation, 44, 47
Consolidated Vultee, 35, 47, 55, 55, 57
Convair 103 (flying car), 55
Convair (company), 35, 59
ConvAirCar, 59–60, 60, 61, 62–63
Coot, 88
Crosley, 58, 60, 79, 80
Curtiss, Glenn Hammond
background, 18
June Bug, 19, 19–20
motorcycle speed record, 18, 18–19
as owner of first pilot’s license, 20, 20
Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company. See also Autoplane
JN-4 (Jenny), 24–25, 25, 76
name change to, 20
Triad hydroaeroplane, 20
Curtiss Aeroplane Company, 20
Curtiss School of Flight, 39
Curtiss-Wright Company, 25
D
Daedalus, 1–2
da Vinci, Leonardo, 2, 2–3
Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, 92
de la Cierva, Juan, 36–37, 37, 43
Department of Transportation (DOT), 87, 88
Dreyfuss, Henry, 60
Duckling, 77
ducted-fan technology, 92, 93–94
Dutch roll (graveyard spiral), 81
Dymaxion cars, 49, 49–50, 50, 51, 74
Dymaxion principles (dynamic maximum tension), 48, 74
E
Earhart, Amelia, 39, 39–40, 50
Easy Airplane Competition, 53, 71
Edison, Thomas, 1
Eisenhower, Gen. Dwight D., 54
engines
car, 33, 60
on the Condor, 6, 7, 8
Crosley, 60
Franklin, 58
internal combustion, 21, 91, 94
jet, 49
kerosene, 13
Lycoming air-cooled, 82
rear-mounted, 50, 53, 54, 80
rotary, 92
six-cylinder, 69, 94
steam, 6
V8, 18, 50, 57
Ercoupe, 71, 79, 80
F
Family Three, 34
fans. See ducted-fan technology
Federal Aeronautics Administration, 69
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), 89
fiction, flying cars in, 1
flivvers, mass-produced, 28–29, 76
Flyer, 10. See also Wright, Orville and Wilbur
flying
human-powered machine, 2, 2–3
in mythology, 1–2
Flying Car, 51
flying cars
the dream of, 1–3, 10, 26, 50, 73–74
in fiction, 1
first transcontinental flight, 39
flying-driving as one technology or two, 15, 16, 21
into the future, 89–94
with independent flight component, 59, 59, 60, 62, 93
number of patents, 26
as rescue vehicles, 93–94
unmanned, 93
weight-vs.-efficiency argument, 87
“flying flea,” 55
Ford, Henry, 28, 29, 29, 76
Ford Motor Company
Aerocar, 86
Mustang, 86, 86
Pinto, 96
Sky Flivver, 30, 30
Tri-Motor, 52
4-D Transport “Zoomobile,” 49, 49
Frisky, 34
Fuller, Richard Buckminster “Bucky,” 48–51, 52, 54, 74
Fulton, Florence, 67
Fulton, Robert Edison, Jr., 68, 69. See also Airphibian
background, 64
Gunairinstructor by, 66
motorcycle trip, 64–66, 65
Fulton, Robert, III, 69, 69
future designs, 89–94
G
Geo Metro, 88
Girocar, 41, 43
gliders
by Le Bris, 3, 3–4, 4
and Vuia, 12
by Whitehead, 5, 5—6. See also Condor 21.
Goliath, 34
Google, 96
Great Depression, 34, 64, 74
GT flyer, 94, 94
Gunairinstructor, 66
Gwinn, Joseph Marr, Jr., 44, 45, 47. See also Aircar
Gwinn Aircar Company, 44, 46, 47
gyroplane, 90, 90
H
Hall, Theodore P., 56–59, 71. See also ConvAirCar
Hanshue, Harris M., 35
Harkness, Nancy, 45
Hawks, Frank, 45, 46, 47, 47. See also Aircar
Helica, 15, 16
helicopter-like flying cars, 79, 79, 90, 90 See also Autogiro
helicopters, 17,42–43
Hisso Standard, 76
homebuilt vehicles, 88, 89
Honda CRX, 88
Hoover, Pres. Herbert, 37
horseless carriages, 1, 15, 16, 21, 29
hovercraft, 91, 91–92, 93
Hubbard, Mabel Gardiner, 19
human-powered flying machine, 2, 2–3
Humvee, 93
hydroaeroplane, 20
I
Iacocca, Lee, 86
Icarus, 2
J
Jeep, 33, 91, 91–92
JN-4 (Jenny), 24–25, 25, 76
June Bug, 19, 19
K
Kissell, Clarence, 94, 94
Kitchell, Charlie, 78
kite-based designs, 5, 5
kits, do-it-yourself, 88, 89
L
L’Aero-Club de France, 15
launch strategies
catapult, 77
facing into the wind, 4
horse-drawn cart, 4
jet engine, 49
sloping wooden track, 13, 17
vertical takeoff, 41, 90, 92, 94
Le Bris, Capt. Jean Marie, 3, 3–4, 4, 7, 13
Leyat, Marcel, 15, 16
Lindbergh, Charles, 29
Lockheed Martin, 93
Longobardi, Felix, 26, 27
Lotus Elise, 89
M
magazines and journals
Aerial Age, 52–53
Flying, 86
L’Aerophile, 15
Life, 67, 68
Popular Mechanics, 67
Popular Science, 58
Popular Science Monthly, 73
Mailwing, 36
Malloy, Gov. Dannel P., 10
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 90
mass production
airplanes, 25, 30
cars, 28–29, 76
concept by Ford, 28
flying cars, 62–63, 70, 83, 86, 96
houses, 48
Mid-Atlantic Air Museum, 75
Miller, Johnny, 39, 40, 43
Minnick, Jess, 78, 83, 85