May 24, 2006

Proposes Orientable Roof-Top Airports For Cities (Jul, 1938)

Filed under: Aviation, Impractical — @ 8:07 am
Source: Mechanix Illustrated ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Jul, 1938
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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.

Details on the NX2 — Our Atomic Plane (Jan, 1961)

Filed under: Aviation, Impractical, War — @ 7:57 am
Source: Science And Mechanics ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Jan, 1961
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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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May 23, 2006

Seeks 300 m.p.h. With Motorcycle Powered By Auto Engine (Jul, 1935)

Filed under: Motorcycles — @ 8:50 am
Source: Modern Mechanix ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Jul, 1935
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Seeks 300 m.p.h. With Motorcycle Powered By Auto Engine
THREATENING to smash all existing motorcycle speed records, Fred Luther, Los Angeles racer, has just completed assembling an unique motorcycle which he claims will exceed 300 m. p. h. Powered by a six-cylinder Plymouth automobile engine with fan end generator removed, his special racing job is now undergoing a series of speed tests on the Pacific Coast. The 1,500-pound machine has a wheelbase of 85 inches and an over-all length of 115 inches. The frame is a standard one which has been lengthened and reinforced with steel tubing. Luther steers his motorcycle through two large sprockets connected by a 3/4-inch chain. The steel plates, mounted in front of the rear wheel, act as brakes when lowered.

May 22, 2006

Harley Davidson Ad: Fore-wheel brake (Oct, 1927)

Filed under: Advertisements, Motorcycles — @ 2:31 pm
Source: Popular Science ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Oct, 1927
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Fore-wheel brake
First time in America!

The most advanced models in the history of the motorcycle industry, with improvements that are being talked about from coast to coast.

Outstanding feature for 1928 is the Fore-Wheel Brake — doubled safety. Other improve-ments are: Throttle controlled motor oiler—air cleaner—positive gearshift lock gate.

Greater stability! Increased safety! Longer life! Streamlines that make each model a beauty! Five minutes in the saddle will convince you that this is the mount you have been looking for.

No increase in prices. Solo Twins as low as $310 f. o. b. factory. See your local dealer. Send coupon for catalog.

Harley Davidson Motor Co.
DEPARTMENT P.S. MILWAUKEE. WIS.

New Model Sport-Solo Twin
Pace-setter for 1928! Has all the new features of standard Twin and in addition has smaller wheels—25″ x 3.85″ balloon tires—roadster handlebars. Dow-metal pistons, racing type, optional at slight increase in price. The ideal solo mount —wonderfully smooth acceleration and even flow of power.

Heavily Armored Police Car Is Immune To Bandit Bullets (May, 1935)

Filed under: Automotive, Crime and Police — @ 7:14 am
Source: Modern Mechanix ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: May, 1935
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Heavily Armored Police Car Is Immune To Bandit Bullets

IT WOULD take the most daring bandit in the world to put a bullet through the new armored car built by an American manufacturer for police work in a foreign country— for in doing so, he would have to let the auto run over him and shoot up through the floorboards. In other words, the automobile is entirely bullet-proof.

The whole body is covered with a sheet of bullet-proof steel; the windows are of inch-thick, shatter-proof glass with rubber lined gun ports on the front, sides and rear.

May 20, 2006

The “NOSE-TEST” will tell you the plain truth about ANTI-FREEZE (Dec, 1934)

Filed under: Advertisements, Automotive — @ 7:18 am
Source: Modern Mechanix ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Dec, 1934
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The “NOSE-TEST” will tell you the plain truth about ANTI-FREEZE

From the standpoint of evaporation there are two kinds of anti-freeze—the kind that boils away and the kind that does not boil away. There is no middle ground. Some boil-away antifreezes, however, have been “treated” to “decrease evaporation,” and many car owners may get the impression that such products are all-Winter, one-shot, non-evaporating anti-freeze. Such an impression would be wrong. For such anti-freezes boil off rapidly when the engine is operating at high speed. An easy way to make sure that you get an all-Winter, one-shot product is by the lack of odor. Eveready Prestone is absolutely odorless—all boil-away anti-freezes, on the other hand, have a noticeable odor.

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May 19, 2006

It’s “twins” for Piper … by Lycoming (Apr, 1954)

Filed under: Advertisements, Aviation — @ 9:21 am
Source: Scientific American ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Apr, 1954
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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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May 17, 2006

New Flying Battleship (Oct, 1927)

Filed under: Aviation, War — @ 2:50 pm
Source: Popular Science ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Oct, 1927
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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

POLO ON FOUR WHEELS (Jan, 1951)

Filed under: Automotive, Sports — @ 7:29 am
Source: Popular Mechanics ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Jan, 1951
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POLO ON FOUR WHEELS

TAKE a generous helping of polo, a little soccer and a dash of pushball, shake them vigorously with stripped-down automobiles and you’ve got Moto Polo—the newest California sports craze.

Protected by a heavy steel bumper that completely encircles the car and a sturdy framework of steel piping, each driver tries to butt the five-foot rubber ball through the opponent’s goal, using his mechanical “steed” as a mallet. Drivers often roll their cars over at high speeds without damage or injury. They are strapped in the seats with airplane-type web belts and wear crash helmets, just in case.

When smacked by a speeding car, the 200-pound rubber ball sometimes bounces 100 feet or more down the field. It often pops 50 feet straight upward when hit by two cars.

The game is played on a regulation football field or in the infield of an automobile race track. There are only three players on each team and one of them serves as goalie. Four 20-minute quarters are played. The cars are Fords, vintage 1935 and 1936, stripped down to the chassis.

The referee rides around in a Jeep (also equipped with steel hoops) dodging in and out as he watches for fouls. He calls decisions with colored lights during night games. In daytime games, he fires blank cartridges.

Two Bakersfield, Calif., brothers, Bill and B. J. Goodman, invented the new sport. They build Moto Polo cars in the garage where they run a trucking business.

Moto Polo drivers have to be skillful judges of timing and distances. The cars, although old and worn, must be kept in first-class condition as the outcome of the game depends on quick starting and stopping.

Air Mattress Dons Wings To Become Emergency Glider (Apr, 1936)

Filed under: Aviation — @ 7:22 am
Source: Modern Mechanix ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Apr, 1936
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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.

May 14, 2006

Mobile Broadcasting Booth (Aug, 1951)

Filed under: Automotive, Radio — @ 2:30 pm
Source: Popular Mechanics ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Aug, 1951
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This is a pretty cool looking vehicle.

Mobile Broadcasting Booth
Radio reporters and commentators view news events at firsthand from the weatherproof press box built on a truck chassis for the Columbia Broadcasting System. As many as four commentators can broadcast simultaneously from the observation platform at the rear of the truck. The Plexiglas windows provide full vision on three sides. A plastic bubble atop the truck gives full forward vision. The truck has a high-frequency transmitter powered by its own generator. It has a range of 35 miles from the home station and can tie into telephone cables for longer transmission.

Tandem Bike Tows Loaded Cart in Gas-Rationed Europe (Feb, 1941)

Filed under: Automotive, Bicycles — @ 9:37 am
Source: Popular Mechanics ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Feb, 1941
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Tandem Bike Tows Loaded Cart in Gas-Rationed Europe
Many ingenious methods of cartage have been devised in Europe because diversion of gasoline for war purposes has curtailed the use of automobiles and motor trucks. In Sweden two youths pedal this tandem bicycle to tow a loaded cart in truck-and-trailer fashion.

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