Buoyed by the reception (thank you everyone!) and the new skills I have learned from building my Early Fairchild Series, I am working again on Airliner No. 4; Norman Bel Geddes' 1929 concept for a gaint flying boat with a 525 foot wingspan.
http://home.att.net/~dannysoar/BelGeddes.htm
We usually consider either the cockpit view or spot plane view when sharing our adventures in Flight Simulator. But many of my encounters with unusual aircraft have been from the ground, or "tower" perspective. (A B-1B made a low level pass for the benefit of our school children three years ago, and we watched the shuttle take off on it's carrier plane just last week.)
So, I was wondering what it would be like to be standing on the ground, watching this monster fly over. I turned on the text at the top of the screen so you could see how low and slow it was flying (I am standing at Blackwood Airpark on the outskirts of town, where the elevation is about 400 ft.):
http://good-times.webshots.com/slideshow/569237136tCBWkx
As you can see, it is a rare snowy dawn as Airliner No. 4 makes a pass over our small town. The black dots you see are men in tuxes; I scattered them and ladies in evening gowns here and there around the plane to give some idea of how big it is.
These series of shots also show the major problem with flying wings and blended wing airplanes (which are being considered right now at Boeing.) One is giving everyone a window; but the other is this: notice that the wingtips of this plane rise and fall a good 100 feet or more as it banks around! In real life, it would be a ride worthy of any amusement park.
While much about this plane looks strange now; when you consider it was concieved in the same timeframe as my Early Fairchild Series; you have to admire the foresight of Bel Geddes (and engineer Otto Koller) of even imagining such a craft. Aerial refueling had only been tried a few times; stressed skin all metal construction was in the future, and 2,000 HP aero engines were a decade or so away. Yet, elements of all of these can be found in Airliner No. 4.
-James
P.S. Erwin Welker also showed me how to program the view keys so I can provide static views at various points throughout the plane without having to use Active camera or other add-ins.
http://home.att.net/~dannysoar/BelGeddes.htm
We usually consider either the cockpit view or spot plane view when sharing our adventures in Flight Simulator. But many of my encounters with unusual aircraft have been from the ground, or "tower" perspective. (A B-1B made a low level pass for the benefit of our school children three years ago, and we watched the shuttle take off on it's carrier plane just last week.)
So, I was wondering what it would be like to be standing on the ground, watching this monster fly over. I turned on the text at the top of the screen so you could see how low and slow it was flying (I am standing at Blackwood Airpark on the outskirts of town, where the elevation is about 400 ft.):
http://good-times.webshots.com/slideshow/569237136tCBWkx
As you can see, it is a rare snowy dawn as Airliner No. 4 makes a pass over our small town. The black dots you see are men in tuxes; I scattered them and ladies in evening gowns here and there around the plane to give some idea of how big it is.
These series of shots also show the major problem with flying wings and blended wing airplanes (which are being considered right now at Boeing.) One is giving everyone a window; but the other is this: notice that the wingtips of this plane rise and fall a good 100 feet or more as it banks around! In real life, it would be a ride worthy of any amusement park.
While much about this plane looks strange now; when you consider it was concieved in the same timeframe as my Early Fairchild Series; you have to admire the foresight of Bel Geddes (and engineer Otto Koller) of even imagining such a craft. Aerial refueling had only been tried a few times; stressed skin all metal construction was in the future, and 2,000 HP aero engines were a decade or so away. Yet, elements of all of these can be found in Airliner No. 4.
-James
P.S. Erwin Welker also showed me how to program the view keys so I can provide static views at various points throughout the plane without having to use Active camera or other add-ins.
