.WEAPON FOR MOTORISTS BRANDS THUG WITH DYE
A new weapon for the protection of motorists and shopkeepers not only subdues the most vicious thug, but also brands him for identification in case he should escape. When he is struck with the club-shaped weapon, an airtight membrane breaks, releasing a chemical similar to tear gas and also a spray of aniline dye that indelibly stains, his face, hands, and clothing, thus identifying him.
The guy who invented this would have been rich if it hadn’t been for those pesky speaker pushers.
.HEADSET STAND FOR RADIO
An ornamental wooden headset stand, for use as a distribution center when a number of receivers are used simultaneously, and as a rack for holding the headphones when these are idle, has been introduced. This appliance eliminates any crowding near the equipment. The’ stand may be moved around a room at will, and when the concert is finished, it may be conveniently placed in a corner or closet, out of the way. The outfit has a switch to disconnect any receivers not in use.
Wow. That’s a scary balloon. I’ll bet that will scare away thieves too.
.BALLOON SCARES BIRDS FROM GARDEN
To frighten birds away from a berry patch or a newly planted lawn, where they often do considerable damage in a short time, home gardeners sometimes tie a slightly inflated paper sack to a stick. When it becomes damp, however, the bag is useless, and the string is always getting fouled on the stick. A more efficient and lasting device is shown at the left.
.Corkscrew Plane for Vertical Flight
Can an airplane be built that will fly straight up? Many odd crafts have been built in vain attempts to solve this problem, but J. P. Sellmer, of Stinson Beach, Calif., is pinning his hopes to one of even stranger design than most. His corkscrew airplane, according to him will lift itself by means of a whirling, continuous wing of spiral design. A small propeller will keep the framework from spinning. Though aviation experts offer the idea little encouragement, Sellmer is busily putting the finishing touches to a large model with which he will test his theory.
.Novel War Tank Resembles a Rolling Ball
ROLLING over the ground like a giant ball, a high-speed “tumbleweed tank” proposed by a Texas inventor is a new addition to modern war machines. A spherical hollow steel driving cab is inclosed by a rotating outer shell consisting of two cup-shaped halves fitted with circular traction cleats.
.Bulletless Rifle Practice Improves Aim
No bullets or powder are needed for an odd type of rifle practice demonstrated by British soldiers in the photograph above. A sergeant, seen at the right, holds a tiny target in front of one eye, and looks through a peep hole in the center to check the soldier’s aim by seeing that his gun sights line up with the bull’s-eye.
.INSTRUMENTS PUT ON AUTOS HOOD
So he can read the dials of his car’s instruments without taking his eyes from the road, a Binghampton, N. Y., engineer has redesigned his car and placed them on the hood. A streamline housing for the meters gives the car a distinctive appearance. At night the dials are illuminated by a small light on a standard just in front of the windshield. Hinges of special design are attached to the hood, enabling it to be swung clear of the instrument panel when lifted to fill the crankcase or inspect the engine.
.Huge Truck FOR LAND OR WATER CARRIES SHIPLOAD OF CARGO
IMAGINE a motor truck so large that it dwarfs the biggest locomotive in the world —a veritable ship of the land, rolling on pneumatic tires as high as a bungalow. Fit this juggernaut, in your mind’s eye, with a boat-like hull, a Diesel motor, and an electric drive; add a propeller and rudder so that it can navigate in the water as well as on dry ground; fill its capacious hold with hundreds of tons of cargo, and send it roaring across the continent or through a wilderness to its destination. Then you will have a mental image of the 1,500-ton, amphibian super-truck that Eric R. Lyon, associate professor of physics at the Kansas State Agricultural College, predicts will be the freight-carrying vehicle of the future. To prove it feasible, he himself has worked out the engineering design of such a machine, which he calls the “navitruck,” and which our artist illustrates here and on the cover of this issue.
.Alarm to Keep Motorist Awake Buzzes When Chin Drops
Dozing at the wheel is a common cause of automobile accidents. To eliminate that cause, an inventor has devised an alarm that rings sharply at the motorist’s first nod. It is a small metal gong that is hung from the shirt collar. A trigger at the top sets off the alarm when the dozing driver’s chin drops on it.
.Steam Will Power Tomorrow’s Planes!
The oldest prime mover—steam—is staging a comeback. Read what amazingly logical things can be accomplished with new designs in planes through the use of steam as a power plant and control medium.
by EARL D. HILBURN
Aeronautical EngineerEVERY once in a while we have to “get back to nature”—get back to the simple things our dads used. Often we find that we’ve been on an engineering merry-go-round and that the old gentlemen who were our forbears had some right good ideas in design, but were unable to use them to the fullest extent of their theories because the right materials were not available in iron, or steel, or something else.
And every so often the subject of what tomorrow’s airplane will look like bobs up in some writer’s mind. He is usually hard pressed to get something really new to write about, so he lays it on thick and the resulting pipe dream generally makes an air-minded man who has any air “savvy” pretty sick.
