Ten years later we had the unfortunate answer to this question.
Can Cities be Annihilated from the Air?
IN contemplating the horrors of war, those whose natural instincts are inclined to peace look upon the newest weapons of war as threatening swift extinction of the whole civilized —that is to say, city—population. Such writers as Wells have pictured all the world’s great centers of population uninhabited and uninhabitable, after a war carried on with new death-dealing devices. They recall the fall of ancient empires which perished completely with their capitals—like Nineveh, Babylon, Tyre and Carthage—and others—like Rome—which barely escaped; and they wonder if Paris and London and New York are similarly to be obliterated when the scientific world war comes.
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New De Luxe Sleeper Planes
THE day was, when to ride in an airplane was an adventure, and one which involved a degree of “roughing it.” The newest plane design carries all the facilities of luxury and comfort afforded by any form of transportation; made possible by the great size of the new high-speed transports. The new Douglas Sleeper Transports, of American Airlines, pictured here, have a wing span of 95 feet, an over-all length of 65 feet, and height of 17-1/2; feet; the gross weight is 24,000 pounds, and they can carry 24 passengers each as day planes, or 16 as night passengers, with sleeping accommodations.
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Belgian Helicopter Stays Aloft 10 Min. to Set Record
A QUEER Belgian helicopter, entirely without wings, recently set a new world’s record for heavier-than-air craft designed for vertical ascent by remaining in the air for 9 minutes and 58 seconds.
The strange craft has a centrally located aircraft motor mounted on a framework of steel tubing.
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Yup, that’ll work. No Problem.
Sensational German Paddle Plane Built On “Flapping Wing” Principle
FROM Germany comes the news of another attempt to produce a plane of the rotating wing, or “paddle” variety. Unlike the well-known Dr. Rohrbach’s paddle-plane design, the latest attempt to get away from conventional airscrews as a means of propulsion does not depend upon the paddles as a sole means of lift as well as propulsion. Rather, it seeks to adapt the paddle principle to an otherwise normal airfoil.
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Skyscraper Airport for City of Tomorrow
WHAT the metropolitan skyport of tomorrow may look like, as conceived by Nicholas DeSantis, New York commercial artist, is shown in the illustration below. His remarkable proposal, embodied in a model that he has completed after five years’ study of the project, calls for a 200-story building capped by an airplane field eight city blocks long and three blocks wide. A lower level of his “aerotrop-olis,” as he has named it, offers a port for lighter-than-air craft. Hangars for planes and airships occupy the top fifty floors.
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That sure is an interesting way to refuel a plane…
NEW MAIL PLANE HIDES WHEELS AS IT RISES
When the newest of the mail planes leaves the ground, the landing wheels swing backward and tuck themselves away in the lower side of the wing. A study in streamlining, the 158-mile-an-hour “Boeing Monomail” is shaped so that its speedy passage through the sky meets with the least possible air resistance. Recently the all-metal craft was placed in regular service on the air mail route between Chicago and San Francisco.
A glance at this low-wing monoplane’s lines shows how far airplane designers have progressed since the “bird-cage” biplanes, crisscrossed with struts and wire braces, of fifteen years ago. The “Mono-mail’s” fuselage tapers like a cigar, and is broken only by a low windshield for the pilot. Around the motor a newly-developed type of cowling further reduces wind resistance.
Floating Runways for Seaplanes
TO enable take-off of seaplanes with heavy loads—especially the additional fuel which is required for transoceanic flights—a new apparatus has recently been invented to launch them on the water, but not from it. As shown, it comprises a track, supported above the water by pontoons; so that the seaplane is given the advantage, not only of its own power, but also of a mechanical pull. It can maneuver itself, in the water, up the track; and the latter, being pivoted, can turn to the wind at the moment prevailing.
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