Early Gyro plane
Photo Source:Clipart.com

Popular Science is a magazine that has been around since 1872. I have always found it quite interesting. One of the things that I find fascinating about it is the predictions and new inventions that have been featured over the years. I decided to check out some of these inventions to see how relevant they are today.

One thing that was sort of cool, was a blimp that carried a plane mounted under the carriage. I am not clear on whether the plane was able to take off from that position but I believe that it could. It looks to me like the plane would drop from it's moorings with the pilot in the cockpit and he would start the motor and fly away. As cool as this was, the age of blimps never really materialized. Sure we had a few luxury German Zeppelins, but the gas used in them was too explosive. Who can ever forget how the Hindenburg blew up spewing it's fiery parts all over the airstrip. Blimps and airships were eclipsed by more efficient and larger planes. Their may return as cheap cargo carriers in the future, however.

A doctor actually ran an article stating that certain hobbies can lengthen your life. I guess that a tranquil hobby can help lower blood pressure and take some stress off of a person but I don't think that if we all began to take up certain hobbies the life expectancy of the human race would be extended twenty or thirty years. It was a much simpler time in the 1920s when stories like this came out. In those days we were trying to figure out everything using mechanical theories. The magazine even ran a story showing how Babe Ruth was able to hit so many home runs. I just wonder why no other ball players read the magazine and became home run kings? I am kidding of course, but these types of stories just kept coming.

In 1917 Popular Science ran a cover story about early seaplanes being fitted with a torpedo. This was the forerunner of the torpedo bombers used in World War II. They weren't seaplanes but the principles of torpedo bombing were the same. Today we still have planes that can drop torpedoes but most of the torpedo's duties have been taken up by missiles except for seeking out submarines that are submerged. At the time the magazine ran the story, it was thought that torpedo bombing was a revolutionary idea.

Another idea from 1917 preceded the surfboard with two mini pontoons, each one with a hole in the top for one foot. The idea was to paddle out, with a canoe paddle, while standing in the pontoons and ride the surf back to the beach. The Pontoons were connected in the middle. This idea never caught on with the beach set. I can see why, you really didn't have much flexibility. You had to stand at all times and it seemed to be quite tiring, not to mention trying to balance yourself so you didn't fall over.

In 1922 a new type of aircraft was featured. It had no wings and the pilot sat on top in an open cockpit. A huge fan rotor was mounted under him. The craft was called the Whirling Leaf. Unfortunately, much of the info on this invention has been lost in the tides of history. I can say this, it looks to me as if this thing may have had another rotor in front that faced down and the entire contraption may have spun in a circle as it also developed forward motion. It sort of reminds me of a helicopter that has trouble with it's tail blade and is spinning in a circle. If I am correct about this, it must have been quite an uncomfortable way to travel. Wow, talk about getting air sick!

One invention that has yet to be fully realized is the flying car. One was featured in 1924 in Popular Science. Ironically, it is also featured in the latest edition of the magazine, March 2006, a full 82 years later. It was a sort of airplane that had a covering over it that directed the air blast from the props downward so it could land vertically and roll on the ground with the other autos. The beast looked quite unusual and I am sure that it could have easily been mistaken for some sort of ufo. This was just an early version of an impractical craft that we are still trying to develop today. Will flying cars ever become a reality? There are other considerations that we must think about besides the car itself. The most important consideration is figuring out how to develop lanes in the sky so we don't have these things crashing into each other all over the places. With this we will need traffic control devices such as traffic lights and maybe even stop signs. Areas around places like landing fields will have to be marked off limits to them so that they don't interfere with the planes landing and taking off. Flying cars could present a huge problem for us but not an insurmountable one.

One thing that the magazine predicted that was right on the money was the invention of portable radio, of course theirs filled an entire large piece of luggage, unlike the ones today that can be inside a pair of glasses. I recently got a new one that is only about 1 X 2 inches and is just big enough to hold a AAA battery which will power it for some time. If I would have to haul something around that might weigh about 30 pounds with the battery, I might not like it too much. In it's day the portable radio was quite a technological break through.

In the mid 1920s the magazine ran a story about a sled that had wings. It looked quite interesting to me. I wouldn't have minded an olympic sport called sled jumping. I can see it now, you go down off of a ski jump and you are airborne. I wonder why this never became popular? A similar article featured a skier wearing wings. I bet this would have dramatically increased distances on the ski jump.

The magazine thought that gyro planes were going to become popular and featured a couple of covers showing them. They were on the right track because this was the fore runner of the modern helicopter The difference between a gyro plane and helicopter is that the rotor of the Gyro plane is not powered by a motor and is more like a windmill atop a plane with a piston engine while the helicopter rotor powers the plane forward, backward or up and down.

How do you refill a plane in mid ocean? According to the 1933 edition of Popular Science, one way might be by a ship dragging a huge piece of material behind it while moving at a good speed. The sea plane would ride up on the material while sailors would walk down on it from the ship with a long refueling hose.

There are just so many of these ideas crammed between the pages of this magazine that I could fill three or four articles. Maybe someday I will revisit the subject.