That thing looks a little unstable to me… Mechanical “Beanstalk” Work at a height of 22 feet is easily-reached by a mobile hydraulic platform. The user operates’ a manual hydraulic pump that boosts the tubular-steel platform to its maximum altitude in two minutes. It is lowered by pulling a pressure release. Four screw jacks lift […]
ON CALM DAYS, kite enthusiast Domina Jalbert felt frustrated. Although he had kites of all types, he simply couldn't make one fly when there wasn't any breeze.
This frustration led to the Kytoon, a hybrid sky rider that combines the best features of the kite with the best of the balloon. Even the name, Kytoon, is a combination of kite and balloon.
LEARN Commercial DEEP SEA DIVING High paying and fascinating profession. 20 week course. World famous school. Latest equipment. Specialized training in all underwater work. Approved for Veterans. Write for FREE Booklet. SPARLING DIVING SCHOOL Dept. PM-8 1148 WILMINGTON BLVD., WILMINGTON, CALIF.
Blackout “Eye” Searching for persons or objects in total darkness poses no problems for soldiers wearing sniperscopes. Clamped to a helmet, the equipment combines an infrared light source and an electronic telescope. Its energy comes from a power pack and battery which can be carried in a knapsack on the operator’s back.
Child-Size Bulldozer Looks and Works Like the Real Thing Scaled down to child-size, a pedal-operated bulldozer is a realistic model of a Caterpillar diesel tractor, complete with everything except the engine noise. The endless track rolls over four rubber-tired wheels and the tractor is steered by clutch levers just like the real thing. When one […]
I love the label that simply says “Brains”. At first I thought that was an ingredient. Push-Button CONCRETE MIXER THREE men can prepare over a thousand yards of concrete a day in a towering push-button mixer near Phoenix, Ariz. The big tower has six bins which are filled by conveyor belt from stock piles of […]
M/Sgt. Elmer Bender, U.S.M.C.
A COPY of Popular Mechanics Magazine that turned up miraculously in a remote mud village—that was a high spot in our 18 months of captivity by the Chinese Communists. How the magazine got into that part of China I have no idea but it was an old and welcome friend. We read it and reread it from cover to cover.
Chief Electrician's Mate William C. Smith and I were taken prisoner on October 19, 1948, when the light liaison plane I was flying ran out of gas and we had to land on an ocean beach. Ascribe that to a technical malfunction. The gas indicator showed that the tank was almost full even while the engine was turning over for the last time.
Two-Wheel Stroller Two small wheels, a tubular-metal frame and a harness-type seat are all it takes to make a baby stroller developed in Germany. It can be taken almost anywhere because it occupies little space. The child sits in the seat and hangs onto the rectangular frame.
Britain Exports IDEAS IN MOTORING British auto engineers, seeking foreign buyers, have come up with some novel ideas in cars and busses. Above is a piggyback bus which gives passengers on the upper deck a complete view of the countryside. Luxurious interior furnishings cater to the passenger. Britain hopes to export the twin-deck bus Right, […]
WHEN Ernie Simon, pioneer Chicago announcer, was telecasting an interview program one evening, a man pulled out an invention and demonstrated it. Simon was entranced, and it occurred to him that almost everyone from housewife to businessman has a "pet idea" he'll "do something about someday." An offer to show inventions on the program brought an avalanche of useful and weird contrivances.
I’m not sure if this is a sign of progress, or a sign that we have lower expectations for our children, but nowadays embedding a toothpick in the middle of candy is considered a big no-no. After all, how could any child resist a clove-raisin-gumdrop-walnut shell turtle? Candy Turtle Party Favors Utilize Walnut Shells For […]
By Ewart Thomas
ON THE Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah late this month you'll be able to see the oddest collection of fast automobiles ever assembled.
Some will be "competition coupes" with cabs which appear to be squashed flat, one or two may be "twin tank" jobs that resemble a wartime P-38 with the driver in one compartment and the engine in the other. Some will be flat streamliners not much more than knee high.
Each represents its builder's ideas on how to design the world's fastest car, in its class, with the funds available.
READERS-IN-BED can read for hours without back or neck kinks by reclining on a back rest that's hinged to the headboard. Sliding up and down like a window sash, it adjusts to any tilt Between uses, it swings back into the headboard
FAN BRACKET lets you aim the breeze where you like, even down into a tray of ice to cool the air. Its wide legs increase stability
LIPSTICK "matches" at right, won't burn, but they will make milady sparkle. A tiny mirror inside the flap makes her retouching precise
This car is so damn cool. I wish I had one. Mail Buggy Plowing through the mud roads near Bartelso, Ill., is a weird vehicle that combines the traits of a tractor and a car. It was built for a rural mail carrier whose route carried him over wheel-deep mud roads in river-bottom land. Mounted […]
This is the coolest freaking car. It’s like a combination of the Batmobile and a land speeder from Star Wars. Ground-Hugging Motor Car Being Made in Sweden Cruising the streets of Stockholm is a new Swedish car, built so low it seems to glide along the ground. The little car seats two and is designed […]
Lure Holds Live Lightning Bugs One night an Indiana fisherman was having trouble persuading the fish to strike even though they were leaping out of the stream to snap at lighting bugs. The following night the angler returned with a small glass bottle to which he had wired some hooks. He put a half-dozen lighting […]
It’s Small But Smart, This “Suitcase Brain” Not much larger than a suitcase, a new electonic “brain” can handle most of the intracate problems solved by huge automatic computers, some of them almost the size of a basketball court. The small computer, called the Madida for it’s initials (magnetic drum digital differential analyzer) was designed […]
CAMERAS IN DISGUISE Climaxing the mystery yarn of 50 years ago was the instant the intrepid spy or detective clicked his concealed camera, capturing the evidence. Cameras were bulkier then, byt designers disguised them ingeniously. These cameras are displayed at the George Eastman House in Rochester, N.Y. Opera glasses and pistols are sure-fire giveaways for […]