Inventors Patent Odd Designs For Safer Planes
Unusual ships, straying away from accepted designs, are being tried in an effort to increase safety and simplify air travel. Some of thef ideas are shown here!
The odd looking barrel shaped airplane above is based on the patent of Hans G. E. Roth, of New Rochelle. N. Y. It differs from the successful Stipa-Caproni barrel shaped ship, built some time ago in Italy, in that the propellers are not mounted within the tunnel itself and in the curious arrangement of vertical fins above and below the main wing. These fins aid in lateral and directional control. Passenger accommodations would probably be located in the thickened portion of die barrel about the main wing, while die crew would be in the lower fin as shown above.
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This is possibly the most difficult method of typing I’ve ever seen.
Type Keyboard Worn On Fingers
A MINIATURE typewriter, novel because the keyboard characters are attached to a pair of gloves, was recently invented by a Tyrolian merchant.
The apparatus, which threatens to revo-lutionize the present office typewriter, consists of two parallel rails between which are mounted a small carriage, a typewriter ribbon and an automatic spacer. To operate the device, the typist merely presses the single characters on the fingers through an opening in the carriage to the ribbon, thus recording the message on paper.
So apparently since 1935 the government has had the ability to accurately predict the weather, yet they have kept it from us.
Crystal Balls Tracing Planet Paths on Globe Predict Weather
POSITIVE predictions of weather at any future time are declared possible by James C. Brown of La Porte, Texas, once an eleven year period of tests for his “Astronomer” weather machine reaches completion. Depending upon movements of the planets for its weather predictions, the machine consists of an ordinary schoolroom globe on which have been traced the paths of the sun and moon. Crystal balls placed in pairs at 45 degree latitude on each side of the equator burn paths around the globe which, in the course of 24 hours, will record any variation in movements of the sun, moon, or stars.
The long test period is necessary to set up charts. Future readings of the machine can then be compared with similar readings on the charts to obtain the weather forecast. Movements of certain bright stars can also be recorded on the globe.
Filling in the Hudson to Rebuild New York
by ALFRED ALBELLI
PLUG up the Hudson river at both ends of Manhattan . . . divert that body of water into the Harlem river so that it might flow out into the East river and down to the Atlantic ocean . . . pump out the water from the area of the Hudson which has been dammed off … fill in that space . . . ultimately connecting the Island of Manhattan with the mainland of New Jersey . . . and you have the world’s eighth wonder—the reconstruction of Manhattan!
That is the essence of the plan proposed by Norman Sper, noted publicist and engineering scholar. It is calculated to solve New York City’s traffic and housing problems, which are threatening to devour the city’s civilization like a Frankenstein monster.
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It seems like they didn’t quite understand that the planes were the important part, not the tower.
Giant Air TOWER to GUARD PARIS
TO GET defense aircraft into action more quickly, architects of Paris have worked out plans for a huge aerodrome tower, more than a mile in height, which will literally hurl planes, into the air at the 5000-ft. level, ready for combat.
High-speed elevators would bring planes from the roof-top-level landing field up to each of the three aerodrome platforms. Swooping downward after leaving the inclined take-off platform, planes would reach flying speed with little loss of altitude.
If he actually tried to jump off that cliff with those I’m guessing this is the last picture of him alive.
Oregon Man Builds Flapping Wings for Mountain Gliding
WITH only a pair of strange cloth-covered wings strapped over his arms, Joe Fodie of Rowena, Oregon, hopes to glidfe through space by the power of his arms alone, after jumping from a mountain top precipice. Should this intrepid inventor glide safely to earth, it will be the first time man has flown through the air under his own power. The queer wings are hinged at their center, with a stop to prevent them from buckling upward. As the arms are moved upward in flight, the outer halves of the wings would naturally fold inward; on the downward stroke they flatten out again, providing lifting power. Fodie designed his wing action to resemble as closely as possible the flapping motion characteristic of a bird in flight.
Moon Farms to Banish Starvation
FIFTY years from now much of the world’s food may be grown high in the sky! Tomorrow’s farmers may raise their crops on artificial “moons” that have been launched into space and move in orbits around the earth. And the successful agriculturalist will probably be a combination chemist, biologist and engineer.
Fantastic as it may sound, this revolutionary type of farming is more than possible. Five years of intensive research in this country and 60 years of study by five other nations have explored its potentialities. This news comes from the very conservative Carnegie Institution of Washington which has released a 357 page report on the almost unbelievable new science of “algal culture.”
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This seems a bit sketchy, seeing as how it violates the laws of physics.
Cans Lift Up Water Column in Perpetual Motion Engine
THE latest in perpetual motion machines is a fuelless engine devised by a Frenchman of Paris, M. Miralle. The contraption functions on an application of Archimedes’ principle of floating bodies, and consists of a sort of thick set chimney made of sheet iron and equipped with fifteen flywheels.
The machine is set going by turning one of the flywheels about fifteen revolutions, which subsequently sets the remaining wheels in operation. Over these wheels passes an endless chain fixed in the interior of the chimney like a motor, in which is also a series of chambers made of vegetable cans.
The chimney is filled with water so that the chamber and the endless chain are submerged in the liquid. One of the columns of chambers contains water and the other, through a process known only to M. Miralle, is filled with air. The air-filled chambers tend to rise to the surface of the water-filled chimney, thus setting the motor in motion. The photo shows M. Miralle standing beside his invention.
While this does look fun, it seems like one would want a bus to have a bit more stability. A bus that hurls hurling passengers around would not be that fun to ride on.
Check out the history of mono-wheel vehicles here. (via)
DYNO-WHEEL Drives New MOTOR BUS
Rolling along on a single huge wheel, this motor bus combines safety with high speed.
by VICTOR J. PESEK
PROMISING to revolutionize the field of motor transportation, the new Dyno-Wheel bus operates upon practically the same principle as the tiny “Dynasphere” auto which was successfully built by Dr. J. A. Purves of Taunton, England, some years ago.
A single huge drum wheel supports the car at high speeds. Control wheels on either side are raised or lowered in response to the steering gear, to tip the bus slightly and change the direction of travel. Small fore and aft wheels come into action only when stopping or starting. A stabilizing fin keeps the car level at high speeds.
