If my dad had really loved me, he would have built me one of these.
Boy Won’t Need Dad’s Car Now!
Thirteen-year-old Jimmy Richardson of Tucson, Ariz., is the envy of all his friends with a midget auto built by his father. What’s more, he rides all week on 56 cents worth of gas — the cost for one tankful. The car is made of 20-gauge steel trimmed in stainless steel for a snappy appearance. It stands 2-1/2 feet high, is five feet long and has a ground clearance of only five inches. Built on a frame of bed rail with knee action in front and regular coil springs in the rear, the entire machine weighs about 300 pounds.
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A Diving Helmet from a Water Heater
THEY go down to the sea in old water heaters along the Atlantic coast these days, now that some young man with a leaning toward aquatic sports has proved how easy it is to make an excellent diving helmet from a metal water heater which will enable its wearer to walk comfortably on the sea floor 35 feet and more below the surface. A few feet of garden hose, two pairs of bellows, a couple of valve boxes and a cylindrical metal boiler of the type used in most homes for heating water, are the essentials for building one of these helmets.
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Have Fun in a Boat But DON’T DROWN
SWIMMIN’ time again, with a world of fun—and some serious hazards, too. As usual there’ll be tipped boats and other horseplay. G. E. Tatum, safety engineer for a public utility, offers common-sense advice on how to have fun and stay alive. In case your boat tips you overboard, Tatum says, rock it to slosh out as much water as possible, then crawl over the stern
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Well, not really, but it certainly looks like one.
Twists Test Bodies
This Ford is leaping into the air on one of its 200 trips around the “body-twist” course at the Dearborn test track. Here
body and frame are subjected to extreme torsion stresses—first in one direction, then the other—as indicated by the whipping aerial. The test is one of a series that experimental Ftfrds must undergo.
From DRAWING BOARD to PROVING GROUND
WHEN a “flock of geese” turned out to be a fleet of airplanes, an idea was born in the mind of an engineer. And that idea led to the development of an entirely new design for automobiles.
Ever alert for ideas that may result in a more efficient motor, a better brake or a safer steering system, the engineer usually is the first to catch a vision of what is to come. Then, from its conception in the engineer’s brain, every new car and every part in it traces a trail of trial and error over the drafting board, through wind tunnel and precision tests, to the proving ground and Anally into actual production.
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Seems like that would be a pretty slow rescue…
U.S. Navy Blimps Learn New Role for Sea Rescues
With the aid of new airship inventions, U. S. Navy blimps can now “anchor” ” 100 feet above the sea, and pick up ill sailors or victims of shipwreck. A circular disk called a “drogue,” dropped into the sea at the end of a cable, keeps the craft’s nose pointed steadily into the wind.
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What will those scientists think of next?
Armrest for Car
Easy-chair comfort for the car driver is provided by an adjustable armrest which hooks over the back of the front seat. The driving aid—a flexible metal bar with a sliding cushion—fits all cars. A small lever permits the foam-rubber cushion to be adjusted to the most comfortable height, then locked in place. The metal bar is covered with fabric to prevent damage to the car upholstery.
