Very cool, but after seeing those I see why the SR-71 won the contest. It's cool on a whole other level.
Given the issues, and solution, that Kelly had with the inlet design on the SR-71 I would hazard a guess that the Kingfish design would have had even greater problems (and maybe no solution, or a lot less speed).
The 247 was a big leap over the Ford Tri Motor and Curtiss Condor and Boeing could have held the lead for a longer time than it did if it hadn't been so greedy and sold the airplane only to its own airline, (United), to get the advantage over the others. That's when Douglas stepped in and offered A REAL LEAP with the DC-1 and shut Boeing down in the Commercial airliner business for 30 years. Interesting story. I was lucky enough to have flown right seat in the Museum Of Flight's 247, a B-17, and flew in the bomb aimer's position in FIFI. I flew a DC-3 and it's the nicest of them all.
30 years, Bob? You don't think the 307 would have sold if the war hadn't interrupted things? A pressurized airplane at that point in time might have become very popular!
I think that the DC-3 proved that it was a perfect fit for a long time.....inexpensive to own, operate, and to maintain. You're correct, though, the 307 filled a unique niche.
Thanks. At my age I can look back at a lot of history. Dinosaur-t0-Dinosaur, I guess. I enjoy participating in a group that has respect for others, shares their knowledge, and keeps the "place clean". I enjoy my acceptance in this forum very much and try to contribute what I can. Of course, it depends on what I can make up during the week.
I was thinking about things past and how people have changed the meaning and content of words. Lately the TV personalities refer to airplanes sitting the tarmac. Does anybody know what that is? For me, that takes me back to my reading "G8 AND HIS BATTLE ACES " in WW1 and how they parked their SPADS on the area in front of the canvas covered hangar to get them out of the dirt and mud. That pad was called ...WAIT...now WAIT...THE TARMAC. And why was it called that? Because it is a mixture TAR and MACADAM. The material of which little roads are made. It's black and about 3 inches thick and would never support anything as heavy as an airliner. Then they call a wheel assembly a TIRE. The wheel itself is called a RIM ( that is the outer edge of it and any other surface). For some reason , the tire itself is still called a tire. How did that happen?
I forgot that. Thinking back, the tyre on the original wheel was a metal ring fastened to the outer surface of the rim to protect it from the road. I never realized how complicated it was to design a wooden wheel so that it accommodated all of the loads that it took.Consideration of side loads when a wagon was traversing the side of a hill as well as on a flat surface. Quite interesting.
When we moved to Puerto Rico in 1959, this is what the local service carrier, Caribbean Atlantic Airlines, was flying. By the time we left 9 years later, they were flying DC-9s. Eventually Caribair was absorbed by Eastern. Image Unavailable, Please Login
Air France L1049 in front of the TWA hangar in 1956 at Midway, still standing today and used by Southwest. Image Unavailable, Please Login
