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Fort More Than Mile High?

NEARLY fifty years ago, Gustave Eiffel erected his wonder of the world in Paris—a tower of iron framework 987 feet high. A generation was to pass before this was exceeded in height by a number of the skyscrap-ing office buildings of New York.

Now another French engineer, Henri Lossier, proposes a jump in construction to 6,560 feet, nearly a mile and a quarter high, in the form of a concrete tower, to be part of the defences of Paris. From its cone-shaped hangars, some over a mile above the ground, airplanes could be launched on a minute’s notice; while firmly-mounted anti-aircraft guns at this great elevation would reach invading planes more readily. The recoil of a hundred four-inch guns at once would vibrate it four inches. The details are shown in the illustrations, as also a comparison with a well-known New England mountain. In times of peace, such a structure could be devoted to many purposes; its great height furnishing advantages not otherwise obtainable, such as pure, thin air, and sunshine.
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Odd-shaped “Flying Wing” Is Model For Proposed Sky Liner

KONRAD KRAFT, a young engineer of Thuringia, Germany, has invented a radically new type of airplane in which the wing surface is broken into the form of a W for greater stability in flight. Using a model with a wing span of 2,200 millimeters and a depth of but 280 millimeters Kraft proved that his design was not affected by side winds, and would climb more rapidly than other models. He plans to use his design for a great tri-motored plane having landing wheels in the wing angles and a roomy passenger compartment between the wings. Fuel would be carried in tanks in the hull.

How a jet engine runs on its “nerves”
Auxiliary “nerve center” of a jet’s engine, this complex gearbox transmits the power that runs oil and fuel pumps, generators, and other vital accessories. To produce this intricate unit for J-40 engines, Westinghouse looks to Lycoming for precision production.

From a jet’s mighty engine, these precision gears “take off” power and pass it along to vital accessory equipment at the specific rate required by each different unit. As many as 30 separate gears … as many as 2500 separate machining and assembly operations … go into this gearbox so essential to safe, efficient operation of a jet. And for this tremendously complex production, Westinghouse depends on Lycoming.

Lycoming stands ready to assist you, too. Whether you have “just an idea” that needs development, a problem in the blueprint stage, or a finished metal product that needs precise, speedy fabrication … you can depend on Lycoming’s long-tested ability to meet the most exacting and diverse industrial or military requirements. Whatever your problem—look to Lycoming!

Lycoming’s 2-1/2 million feet of floor space, its more than 6,000 machine tools, and its wealth of creative engineering ability stand ready to serve your needs.

AIR-COOLED ENGINES FOR AIRCRAFT AND INDUSTRIAL USES • PRECISION-AND-VOLUME MACHINE PARTS • GRAY-IRON CASTINGS • STEEL-PLATE FABRICATION
LOOK TO Lycoming
FOR RESEARCH FOR PRECISION PRODUCTION

How a helicopter hangs by its “elbows”

Straight up, straight down, forwards, backwards, or just hovering— the Piasecki “Work Horse” Helicopter’s peculiar flying maneuverability rests in its rotor assemblies. It is these flexible “elbows” that adjust the pitch of the ‘copter’s great blades. Each unit involves more than 625 separate parts. To machine and assemble them, Piasecki depends on Lycoming for precision production.
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It sure would screw up your property value if someone tried to build a billion ton sky-darkening airport over your house. Also I’m not quite sure why it needs to rotate…. bonus feature?

Proposes Orientable Roof-Top Airports For Cities
PROPOSED as a solution to the problem of locating an airport in the heart of any big city, a design for a long orientable runway, which would be mounted on circular tracks atop tall buildings, as sketched above, has been conceived by a French engineer.

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Details on the NX2 — Our Atomic Plane

When will our “hottest” bomber take to the skies? How will it perform? What about the radiation danger? Here are the answers

By JAMES JOSEPH

OUR long-awaited atomic-powered airplane—Convair’s Model NX2—is finally on the drawing boards, its components in various stages of construction and testing.

After 14 years’ research and an investment of close to 1 billion dollars, the plane’s reactor is under test and two different engine systems, both slated for early flight testing, are in advanced development.
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It’s “twins” for Piper … by Lycoming
This is the Piper Apache… the all-new executive plane that brings new economy to the twin-engine field while maintaining high standards of safety and dependability.

It is powered by two proven Lycoming 150-h.p. air-cooled engines designed especially for the Apache. These power plants provide an improved horsepower-weight ratio, new compactness… and are so powerful that the Apache can safely fly and land with a full load on one engine alone.
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New Flying Battleship

Huge All-Metal Biplane, Tested for Uncle Sam, Carries Six Guns and four Tons of Deadly Bombs

NEW war terrors are forecast on this page in our artist’s conception of the new giant bomber, the Curtiss “Condor” swooping down to destroy an industrial center. From its three two-gun nests machine gunners pour streams of bullets at enemy planes attacking from any direction, while the man at the bomb controls manipulates them to drop the explosives through an opening in the fuselage. With 90-foot wing spread and two 600-horsepower motors, the plane, which is all metal, weighs, loaded and manned, over eight tons, including four tons of bombs. In recent tests for War Department and Air Service officials, the huge plane took off in 200 feet and made 100 miles an hour, flying and landing gracefully. It carries 640 gallons of gasoline and has a cruising radius of 800 miles

Air Mattress Dons Wings To Become Emergency Glider

TAKING his cue from the inflated canvas life boats with which many ocean liners are equipped, a Russian inventor has produced a rubberized fabric glider for air liners. While not intended to replace parachutes, it is pointed out that the collapsible glider can be stored in a minimum of space in a large dirigible, and launched through an opening in the hull when necessary.

When deflated, the glider occupies no more space than a trunk, and weighs but 93 pounds. It can be pumped up in less than 15 minutes with an ordinary hand pump, and when inflated becomes an amphibian glider 20 ft. long, with wing spread of 24 ft. In the air the craft is as easy to handle as a conventional glider.

Der plane! Der plane!

Largest Private Plane is Flying Yacht
• THE huge machine illustrated here appears to rival some of the air liners that have figured in trans-ocean flights. It is, however, the property of a wealthy British sportsman. Its cabins are luxuriously furnished as living quarters for protracted trips; the upholstered seats and berths folding to make living and sleeping quarters alternately commodious. Its size and power may be imagined from this view of its exterior.

My favorite quote: “The British jet plane, Gloucester, played an important part in turning back the robot attack on London.”
Damn those robots!

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THE JET PLANES ARE HERE!

THE thrilling story of how the jet-propelled plane was developed in this country in almost complete secrecy was revealed recently. The beginnings go back to 1941.

In the fall of that year, the employees of the Statler Hotel in Boston were puzzled by the behavior of a mysterious English guest named Whitely. He ate his meals in his room, had a private telephone installed which did not go through the hotel switchboard, and asked that all his errands be handled by one bellboy. After a week, he left the hotel.
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The “Dynamic Control” Ocean Liner

By Hugo Gernsback

THE tendency at the present time in airplane building is toward constantly increasing size. It is probably realized by all who have concerned themselves with aircraft that the larger machines are not very far in the future. From the earliest Wright airplane, which weighed approximately 1/2 ton, to the present record holder, the DOX, which weighed fifty tons, took a period of some 26 years. The 10,000 ton airplane, projected on a like time-scale, would, therefore, make its appearance not later than the year 1952. However, with the nature of the present-day technique, it is quite possible, at this moment, that the 10,000 ton plane will be here much sooner.
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