Crazy Aircraft That Never Flew | Part 1: Airliners & Transports

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  • เผยแพร่เมื่อ 30 พ.ย. 2024
  • In today's special video we are taking a look at some of the wilder designs and concepts for airliners and transport aircraft. Following on from this will be a couple of episodes looking at various military aircraft as well.
    Today's aircraft include:
    Saunders-Roe Duchess: A jet-powered flying boat concept that was envisioned in the late 1940s.
    Sanders-Roe Queen: An considerably larger jet-powered flying boat, that was designed upon request by P&O.
    Junkers J1000: A design for a large almost flying wing, dating from the mid-1920sl
    Airliner No.4: A huge design concept for what was essentially a flying cruise ship (much like the Saro Queen), the brainchild of Normal Bel Geddes.
    Boulton-Paul P.144 & P.146: Two VTOL concepts, one small, one vaguely insane, both very cool looking.
    Tupolev Tu-404: A giant blended-wing airliner concieved in the early 1990s.
    Rolls-Royce Griffith Concept: A supersonic transport that is based on several patents applied by Alan Arnold Griffith.
    ***
    Producing these videos is a hobby of mine. I have a passion for history, and personally own a large collection of books, journals and other texts, and endeavor to do as much research as possible. However if there are any mistakes, please don't hesitate to reach out and correct anything :)
    Sources:
    archive.org/de...
    discovery.nati...
    www.amazon.com...
    www.amazon.com...
    www.amazon.com...

ความคิดเห็น • 489

  • @RexsHangar
    @RexsHangar  2 ปีที่แล้ว +98

    Hope you enjoyed this 'hypothetical' video, regular historical content will resume next time ;)

    • @98407re
      @98407re 2 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      Thanks for sharing this - it was fun to watch and I learned a lot!

    • @힐만94
      @힐만94 2 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      It's great video.. I haven't heard many of these concept airliners, especially Airliner Number 4...

    • @Simon_Nonymous
      @Simon_Nonymous 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Bloody right, it has right cheered me up in fact, more of this escapism I say!!

    • @crazybarryfam
      @crazybarryfam 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      You know with so many people still living close to the water, it is surprising flying boats haven't found a niche or made any sort of comeback.

    • @deltavee2
      @deltavee2 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      @@crazybarryfam I can't speak for any other countries but here in Canada that niche is filled by float planes, mostly bush planes. A properly kitted out Twin Beaver is a very nice bit of kit to vacation in, I'm told. Makes sense since we have a stupefying amount of the world's total fresh water and a completely unreasonable percentage of all the lakes on the planet. Ice age, y'know.
      Cheers from E. Ontario!

  • @MrRandomcommentguy
    @MrRandomcommentguy 2 ปีที่แล้ว +278

    "Smithers, I've designed a new plane! I call it the Spruce Moose, and it will carry 200 passengers from New York's Idlewild Airport to the Belgian Congo in 17 minutes!" - Charles Montgomery Burns.

    • @justin3415
      @justin3415 2 ปีที่แล้ว +17

      GET IN! Sir I don't think,I said get in...that is a great scene haha.

    • @emjackson2289
      @emjackson2289 2 ปีที่แล้ว +22

      Is this comment too late for the 1630 autogyro to the Prussian Embassy in Siam?

    • @antoniothegunexpert5955
      @antoniothegunexpert5955 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      Who else watched that episode?

    • @IrishRhapsody
      @IrishRhapsody ปีที่แล้ว +4

      ​@@emjackson2289only by just under 500 years. If you run, you may just catch the next suborbital transfer

    • @1bert719
      @1bert719 ปีที่แล้ว +9

      Reminds me of the time in 1903 when Charles Lindbergh flew the Wright flyer 15 miles on a thimble full of corn oil, single handedly winning the civil war. I pieced American history together. Mostly from the Simpsons. 😉

  • @owllymannstein7113
    @owllymannstein7113 2 ปีที่แล้ว +298

    The j-1000 is insane considering it was designed only 21 years after airplanes were invented.

    • @jirivorobel942
      @jirivorobel942 2 ปีที่แล้ว +16

      After the first successful powered airplanes were produced. Before that, there were lots of gliders, observation kites and other heavier-than-air machines, but engine development was lagging behind. Helicopters were known to be a valid concept for a long time, but they had to wait even longer before suitable engines were available.

    • @josephschultz3301
      @josephschultz3301 2 ปีที่แล้ว +6

      @@jirivorobel942 Eh, the sheer audacity of the J-1000's design was still impressive and way ahead of its time.
      Gliders are all well and good, _cute_ even, but putting an engine on an aircraft changes just about everything. Now you need to worry about the weight of the engine, the weight of the fuel, how to balance the craft properly with this added weight, how to balance the craft _without_ the fuel weight too (because it fluctuates). How is the craft going to handle and perform, as well? Gliders _all_ move relatively slowly, but with powered aviation comes much, much greater speeds. So now we need well-trained pilots capable of handling these beasts of the air, not to mention more resilient material to build them from.
      _Engines change everything._ Just ask ships, yo.

    • @Tallorian
      @Tallorian 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      It was the time of dreaming indeed. Kinda sad that the reality took over, and he ended up making Ju-52 instead.
      Whats interesting is that dreaming of unorthodox things isn't completely over - after all Tu-404 was a recent design, and unlike with Bel Geddes's flying cruise ship fantasy, you can be sure that if those people made it into models and presented around, they were prepared to produce it and were convinced that it's a working and viable design.

    • @CrusaderSports250
      @CrusaderSports250 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@josephschultz3301 whilst putting engines on aircraft did allow speeds to rapidly increase, the earliest craft were slower than some of the gliders of the day and C of G problems with the small fuel tanks was not a great issue, as aircraft got larger and faster all these issues would appear but as they developed so did the pilots abilities, having said that how would a modern pilot being used to a modern cockpit fare when presented with a pioneer plane, whose flight envelope was dubious at the best of times!.

    • @SpeckleKen
      @SpeckleKen 10 หลายเดือนก่อน

      Or 23 years if, as seems likely, Gustave Whitehead undertook controlled, powered flight in August 1901.
      (The Wright brothers were much better self-publicists.)

  • @unknowntraveller8633
    @unknowntraveller8633 2 ปีที่แล้ว +103

    Always love the 1930's aircraft designs.

    • @JessHull
      @JessHull 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      yeah they're so cool. I wish I could have an original Piper J3

    • @nightshadow848
      @nightshadow848 2 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      They were certainly ambitious considering the stuff that was going on in the world at the time.

    • @doankhang9496
      @doankhang9496 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@nightshadow848 i always love looking at crazy aircraft like these

  • @georgespalding7640
    @georgespalding7640 2 ปีที่แล้ว +101

    One of the big problems with the "Cruise Ship in the Air" designs was if the plane ran into turbulence, the Grand Piano in the lounge could end up in your lap.

    • @johnjephcote7636
      @johnjephcote7636 2 ปีที่แล้ว +10

      Then there is the distinct possibility of hitting a log or a dug-out canoe that could wreck one's landing. A RAF Sunderland crewed by Australians did make an emergency grass landing, having thrown anything moveable (and not human) out...it had been peppered with flak from a U-Boat.

    • @Johnketes54
      @Johnketes54 2 ปีที่แล้ว +11

      Back in 1958 we emigrated to Australia by ship and the canteen tables were bolted to the floor,A lip around the table to prevent your meal from sliding of

    • @davidjones332
      @davidjones332 2 ปีที่แล้ว +7

      In fairness, that applied equally to ocean liners; I've heard accounts of the crew on the QE2 having to lash down the piano.

    • @FelipeJaquez
      @FelipeJaquez 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Less of a problem then dealing with modern restrictions.

    • @maxhill7065
      @maxhill7065 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Imagine all the injuries on the dancefloor too haha

  • @conservativemike3768
    @conservativemike3768 2 ปีที่แล้ว +14

    The flying boats were GORGEOUS!

  • @mingology7767
    @mingology7767 2 ปีที่แล้ว +74

    After seeing these aircraft designs of past aviation professionals, now I see the viability of my 5 year old nephew’s aircraft designs…

  • @Claymore5
    @Claymore5 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    I love the Princess, Duchess and Queen series - fabulous aircraft!

  • @josenighthawk
    @josenighthawk 2 ปีที่แล้ว +25

    Norman Bel Geddes was a noted industrial designer with an imagination to match Antoni Gaudi and Frank Lloyd Wright! .. He started as a scene designer for the theater and went on to design some of the wildest and most imaginative cars, interstate highway, transportation, and airplane concepts ever imagined! .. (BTW, he was also the father of noted 40s, 50s actress, Barbara Bel Geddes.) ... His 'Airliner Number 4' with all of its passenger cabins, lounges, gyms, dining and dance halls, baths, and more!, all fitted onto its single wing-fuselage, and its two massive pontoons - along with two external planes (in hangers!) for emergencies, on top of the fuselage! - is the WILDEST, MOST FANTASTIC plane concept EVER Imagined! ... This plane was mostly designed to be a flying ocean liner, flying between Chicago and London, for a leisure flight of between 30 and 40 hours! ... (Oh, Lord ... please have some Sci Fi channel develop a retro-Art Deco series on it!)

    • @gizmonicman9879
      @gizmonicman9879 2 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      An excellent summation of Norman Bel Geddes' life! I wonder if the amazing 'Airliner Number 4" seaplane he designed could be made into a working R/C model?

    • @CrusaderSports250
      @CrusaderSports250 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@gizmonicman9879 what scale?, even in seventy second it would be huge, just so wish it is possible 😊.

    • @RonJohn63
      @RonJohn63 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      He was also the father of Barbara Bel Geddes.

    • @survivingworldsteam
      @survivingworldsteam 8 หลายเดือนก่อน

      I know I am late to the party commenting on this, but I made a model of Norman Bel Geddes' Airliner No 4 for Microsoft Flight Simulator. You could look around the cockpit (which I did not finish fleshing out), look out the tail and see one of the planes stored in the tip of the floats, down the wing, and the control room in the wing on top.
      What he failed to mention is the wing on top was supposed to contain extra engines in addition to the ones actually being used, and they could be swapped out in flight using a built-in railway! I tried to picture all of this in my model of the control room, with the extra engines sitting there. Like most flying boats, the pilot would have probably telegraphed the control room what speed he wanted, and they would have adjusted the individual engines to suit.
      There would have been to major issues with his original design. When a flying boat is attempting to take off, the drag of the water on the hull tends to make the nose want to porpoise down. Most large flying boats countered this by having the wings with engines set way back, on smaller ones, the engines were angled upwards to try and counteract the rotating tendency when the throttle was advanced. Having the wing with the engines so far forward and so high up would have made it even worst on Airliner #4, which is probably why he moved it to the back in a later design.
      A bigger issue that could not be solved so easily is the fact that as the airplane banked, the passenger cabins on the tips would rise and fall by tens, even hundreds of feet at the tips. One could imagine trying to walk down the promenade deck when a bank begins; and having to hang on for dear life to keep from tumbling down the deck to the other wingtip.
      Still, it was fun imagining how it all would have worked had it been built. I "flew" it once from Chicago to Plymouth, though it left it to fly on its own over the Atlantic while I slept and did other things during the day. I never released it because I could not finish the cockpit to my liking; but you can see it here:
      facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.4440172976955
      Some other calculations I came up with were:
      * 20 engines of 1,900 HP each; one third were envisioned to be running during cruise. A similar German DB603 engine had a specific fuel consumption of 0.474. At a cruise setting of 1,160 HP and a 45-hour flight; I came up with 1,044,00 HP/hr, and 82,202 gallons consumed during flight. (It was to be refueled in flight over Newfoundland.) 0.054 gallons per passenger mile.
      I roughly calculated the volume of the broad bottoms of each float, since that most likely would be the location of the tanks. In my final weight calculations, I came up with the following:
      * 152,200 lbs of humans on board
      * 9,132 lbs food
      * 129,120 lbs of water (based on 35 gallons per person the entire flight)
      * 10,000 lbs other payload and fluids
      * 662,600 pound empty weight
      * 1,275,300 max weight, leaving 312,248 lbs, or 51,868 gallons; 25,934 gallons per float, with arial refueling over Newfoundland.
      I could see pumps lifting the fuel to surge tanks in the auxiliary wing pylons, where individual pumps pumped it out to the each engine. The freshwater tanks could also be in each pylon, providing a head of water pressure for the passenger spaces.

  • @JackClayton123
    @JackClayton123 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    I love the aircraft of the 30’s, especially the flying boats.

  • @Dr_Jebus
    @Dr_Jebus 2 ปีที่แล้ว +150

    Very psyched for the new series. Though watching these always makes me a little sad... there's an alternate universe out there where P&O cruises are onboard massive flying cruiseliners, and commercial flights are all VTOL, but our universe decided to opt for 'sane' choices.

    • @carlosandleon
      @carlosandleon 2 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      it's darwinian. Only the best win. Those other designs are pure trash.

    • @georgespalding7640
      @georgespalding7640 2 ปีที่แล้ว +19

      I like to believe that on some Alien Planet in another Galaxy, these magnificent enormous airplanes are flying aloft with a more favorable atmosphere and propulsion system to enable the safe flight of these heavy beasts.

    • @marcussoininen2084
      @marcussoininen2084 2 ปีที่แล้ว +13

      @@carlosandleon That's not how it works. The "good enough not to warrant further development at this time" win. The best is always over the horizon.

    • @carlosandleon
      @carlosandleon 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@marcussoininen2084 Yeah but that clearly doesn't apply to these designs lol

    • @CrusaderSports250
      @CrusaderSports250 2 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      @@marcussoininen2084 and sometimes it's the political situation that dictates regardless, where companies get pigeon holed to produce one type of product, similar to actors being typecast, Bruce Willis in a romantic comedy anyone?.😊.

  • @SynthoidSounds
    @SynthoidSounds ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Wow! Some of these I knew about, others are completely off the charts "crazy", but fascinating. The behemoth flying ocean liner takes 1st prize on this list, although the supersonic VTOL at the very end is a serious contender. What is truly remarkable is how early some of these concepts were dreamed up, and in some cases, actually constructed and flown. The Junkers J1000 was truly way ahead of its time. Thanks for compiling and posting this.

  • @karbengo
    @karbengo 2 ปีที่แล้ว +117

    The Aircraft in the thumbnail strongly remind me of the "Titanium Turkey", a giant flying wing airliner featured in an episode of Disney's Talespin cartoon. :)

    • @alexanderdeburdegala4609
      @alexanderdeburdegala4609 2 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      I was just gonna say this lol!

    • @MisterOcclusion
      @MisterOcclusion 2 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      I remembered that too. I had to look up an image and it's almost identical!

    • @MM22966
      @MM22966 2 ปีที่แล้ว +12

      No doubt Tailspin animators were mining for ideas.

    • @obrysii
      @obrysii 2 ปีที่แล้ว +8

      Definitely based on that aircraft!

    • @karamelapple8007
      @karamelapple8007 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Incorrect the one on tailspin was called the spruce goose

  • @shelbykingnfs7216
    @shelbykingnfs7216 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    "...and an inclination for sanity"
    The dry humour of your videos is just brilliant!

  • @jsl151850b
    @jsl151850b ปีที่แล้ว

    *Thanks!*
    As airplanes were thought to replace ocean liners, early designs were flying ocean liners.

  • @davidrivero7943
    @davidrivero7943 2 ปีที่แล้ว +9

    100% of Artist renditions are always so lofty. As a Kid with free yearly access to Miami's Auto Show made me realize that as good as many looked ,some cars were Concept and never to be seen again. Very interesting Birds .TY for the peeks.

  • @Scodiddly
    @Scodiddly 2 ปีที่แล้ว +59

    Puts me in mind of every other Jules Verne story, which depended on a hither-to unforeseen new source of energy to make the revolutionary vehicle actually work.

    • @Ensign_Cthulhu
      @Ensign_Cthulhu 2 ปีที่แล้ว +16

      Verne's generation, and pretty much every generation up to the end of the Second World War (and maybe a bit beyond?) knew in their hearts that there was still much to discover, and at least to the layman it didn't seem beyond reason (at least to them) that SOMETHING (TM) would come along to make it work.

    • @JFrazer4303
      @JFrazer4303 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Granted, back in the '30s, a state of the art huge aircraft engine barely put out 700 hp...

  • @TastyBusiness
    @TastyBusiness ปีที่แล้ว +1

    The P.146 looks like something straight out of Thunderbirds, or maybe Stingray. Edit: I stopped the video to post that, only to continue the video a moment later, and was happy to hear you say exact same thing. Wild!

  • @DanielJamesEgan
    @DanielJamesEgan 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    It’s hilarious to see all these early designs with the knowledge that eventually what won out was a pointy tube with wings and not some sort of flying triangular monstrosity.

  • @JessHull
    @JessHull 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    I can't wait for the next video!!!

  • @alankohn6709
    @alankohn6709 2 ปีที่แล้ว +6

    Sometimes you just wish they were built out of sheer cool factor

  • @BronzeGiant
    @BronzeGiant 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    "Something straight out of Thunderbirds." A Fellow Anderson fan.

  • @frankmccann29
    @frankmccann29 ปีที่แล้ว

    Delightful! Hard work. Thank you for your time.

  • @extremechimpout
    @extremechimpout 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    This channel is gold! So happy i found it

  • @Teladian2
    @Teladian2 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Airliner number 4 was resurrected in the Disney Cartoon, "Tailspin". It was the brainchild of Howard Huge, and called the Titanium Turkey..

  • @deansneed3243
    @deansneed3243 2 ปีที่แล้ว +20

    I love Airliner No.4. it's so wonderfully ridiculous!

    • @jimsvideos7201
      @jimsvideos7201 2 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      The fact that it would have a librarian kills me.

    • @Karldin83
      @Karldin83 2 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      Would love to live in a world where this kind of madness made it into reality

    • @RatPfink66
      @RatPfink66 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Truly a flightship - the concept Claude Dornier was aiming for with the Do X (the biggest plane of its era, yet much, much smaller than this).

  • @ifga16
    @ifga16 2 ปีที่แล้ว +24

    Some of these designs must have been seen by Gene Roddenberry when he was creating the Star Trek universe. The monster Geddes sea plane for one.

    • @ericpode6095
      @ericpode6095 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      I was thinking that some of these designs look more like (sci-fi) space craft when I read your comment!

    • @eekee6034
      @eekee6034 2 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      Certainly. Several of these designs were still doing the rounds in the 1980s, in books and magazine articles with very similar themes to this video.

  • @kiplingslastcat
    @kiplingslastcat ปีที่แล้ว +1

    "The Dutchess" was beautiful!

  • @L.Pondera
    @L.Pondera 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    If only these things were more explored in video games. Instead of surviving aboard a space ship, imagine aboard a flying cruise ship in full 30s deco. It's like bioshock levels of crazy.

  • @marc1829
    @marc1829 2 ปีที่แล้ว +12

    Great work, really appreciate your hard graft in locating rare images of these aircraft. Can't wait for the next episode.

  • @109-w7v
    @109-w7v 2 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    For an aviation nut this channel is heaven. Thank you.

  • @kringe700
    @kringe700 2 ปีที่แล้ว +11

    About hypothetical military aircraft, I think several insane (and impractical) asymmertical aircraft design that were never left the drawing board (asides from the already covered BV 141) deserve mention.

    • @allangibson2408
      @allangibson2408 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Or not so hypothetical - look up the Junkers G38 airliner that was rebuilt as a bomber by the Japanese as the Mitsubishi as the Ki-20…

  • @somerandomguy___
    @somerandomguy___ 2 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    I love how these past few episodes have been dedicated to absolute *behemoths*

  • @shogun2215
    @shogun2215 2 ปีที่แล้ว +16

    Ah I'm so glad you covered the Saunders-Roe flying boats, some of their plans were just...absurd.

    • @Ushio01
      @Ushio01 2 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      It's surprising Saunders-Roe lasted as long as it did as a company as they never really had any successes. Still if I had Bezos money rather than Blue Origin I would totally be funding the building of stuff like the Saunders-Roe Queen as a one-off just to see if it would work!

    • @sakkra93
      @sakkra93 5 หลายเดือนก่อน

      Still, I'd be willing to give my left kidney to see the SARO Queen fly!

  • @hobbyhermit66
    @hobbyhermit66 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Bel Geddes had a certain flare. Wouldn't mind having a model of both ship and air liner. I'd drive the heck out of that car.

  • @LongPeter
    @LongPeter 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    That Number 4 just screams "I am from a time when fuel was practically free!".

  • @danstone8783
    @danstone8783 2 ปีที่แล้ว +6

    The J 1000 would make a really nice luxury space-liner.

  • @ohppig1
    @ohppig1 2 ปีที่แล้ว +15

    I've always loved Air Liner #4. Norman Bel Geddes was an industrial designer and a very influential one. He was not an engineer and it shows. This and other projects are in his design manifesto Horizons (1932) is in the public domain, though look for a one with good scans since it was more a coffee-table book.

    • @mpetersen6
      @mpetersen6 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      His daughter wasn't bad looking either.

    • @henrikgiese6316
      @henrikgiese6316 2 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      As designed it probably wouldn't have been stable, but if that could be managed it might actually work as a flying cruise ship. It's so large that it could get usable altitude from ground effect. Speed would of course be terrible, but if the whole point is to get your passengers to spend their money in bars and shops that's not a disadvantage! 😀

  • @Daniel_cheems
    @Daniel_cheems 2 ปีที่แล้ว +21

    This channel is pure gold, I'm so glad I discovered it!
    Mustard and Paper Skies used to be like this.
    I hope you can keep bringing unique and interesting content in the future.

    • @davidmok108
      @davidmok108 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      And there’s Found and Explained too! All pretty good channels…

    • @EricHamm
      @EricHamm 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Also Dark Skies does same style content. Curious Droid also covers aerospace from a engineering standpoint. What happened to Mustard and Paper Skies besides upping their 3D modeling render game? There's only so many obscure planes to cover and only so many recently found documents.

    • @CD-ek3iq
      @CD-ek3iq 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      drachinifel

    • @madkills10
      @madkills10 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@EricHamm dark skies has so many errors tho, they and their other channels are not on this level.

    • @Ushio01
      @Ushio01 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@davidmok108 Found and Explained has too much made up bullshit to take seriously. It's more click bait than fact.

  • @changeshifter4852
    @changeshifter4852 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    This was an interesting detour Rex, thank you. _Thunderbirds are go!_

  • @joelmerrill
    @joelmerrill 2 ปีที่แล้ว +13

    I was in the first grade in 1961. My grandfather who saved everything gave us a set of Encyclopedia Britannica’s from around 1921. I wasn’t old enough to read them but I remember looking through them before Dad threw them away. There was an article that I think was about traveling to the moon in the future. It had a drawing of a giant biplane. It looked like it was fabric covered like airplanes of that day. It had a fuselage the size of an ocean liner and a wingspan that was at least quarter of a mile wide with dozens of little motors mounted along the wings. Even as a 6-year-old kid, I thought they were crazy and I wondered if they were really that ignorant about space.

    • @theobserver9131
      @theobserver9131 2 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      Fun comment! But the part that really stuck with me is your father throwing out old set of encyclopedia. It pains me to read that.

    • @theobserver9131
      @theobserver9131 2 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      Apparently your understanding of the universe and physics was more advanced at six years old than that of many adults today.

    • @ronfullerton3162
      @ronfullerton3162 2 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      @@theobserver9131 I believe that I would have to agree with you on that one! Some of those "mature" bodies do not seem to have brains that developed after the toddler years.

    • @joelmerrill
      @joelmerrill 2 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      @@theobserver9131 Besides being 40 years old, they had been stored in his garage and some had been wet and they all smelled musty.

  • @bobkile9734
    @bobkile9734 2 ปีที่แล้ว +6

    10:50
    Wait, airliner No 4 had a theoretical top speed of 150 MPH?!? That’s roughly 130 knots. An empty Boeing 747 with full flaps STALLS at that speed. That’s granted that it could fly and be stable at all. With all that thrust so high above the center of drag, i can only imagine the craft front flipping endlessly.

    • @JFrazer4303
      @JFrazer4303 ปีที่แล้ว

      Many flying boats had and today still have such silly looking above the wing engines.
      See the successful Savoua Marchetti S55 of the 30s, along with numerous successful planes like the Walrus, and several Dornier flying boats. The Do-18, and 24.

    • @bobkile9734
      @bobkile9734 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@JFrazer4303
      See, the thing is, those planes also all had conventional designs, with main wings mounted close to the center of mass, and a long fuselage which mounted the stabilizers. Those planes did, and do, suffer from thrust-induced nose down pitch when the pilots fire-wall the throttles, especially at low airspeeds. This theoretical plane was effectively a flying wing. Conventional planes are stable because having the vertical and horizontal stabilizers on the tailplane, far from the center of mass, gives them leverage to keep the nose straight into the air flow. Shorten that fuselage close to the main wings, and there wont be enough leverage to be effective.

    • @survivingworldsteam
      @survivingworldsteam 8 หลายเดือนก่อน

      ​ @bobkile9734 which is why in a later redesign, he moved the auxiliary wing further back; it is shown @8:05 and @8:23.

  • @Peter_Morris
    @Peter_Morris 2 ปีที่แล้ว +6

    I think of all the videos I’ve watched on this channel, this has to be among my top 5. I love learning about real planes, but you give these fanciful dream birds deference and respect that really makes them come alive in a way where we can almost see the reasoning behind what, to us, seems absolutely ludicrous.
    Well done!

  • @osprey1645
    @osprey1645 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Yay another flying boat fan!

  • @Shipfixer
    @Shipfixer 8 หลายเดือนก่อน

    Wouldn't it have been a thrill to fly on board one of these flying cruise liners! Especially the one with the huge observation deck in the rear or the one with passenger cabins in the wings!

  • @JackClayton123
    @JackClayton123 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    My Grandfather was a (Royal Navy) marine engineer and ended up working on Vickers flying boats in the 1920’s in Montreal.

  • @brucermarino
    @brucermarino 2 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    Wonder-filled!

  • @oriontaylor
    @oriontaylor 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Hugo Junkers was quite a visionary and seems underrated today.

  • @sakkra93
    @sakkra93 5 หลายเดือนก่อน

    The SARO flying boats look beautiful! What a sight they would have been! Imagine seeing the SARO Queen flying overhead!?

  • @tonywatson987
    @tonywatson987 2 ปีที่แล้ว +9

    Great channel and super research! I've always loved these wacky projects and have a few books on secret projects of the Luftwaffe and RAF, so seeing these really ticked my boxes - looking forward to future episodes, thanks Rex!

  • @freequest
    @freequest 2 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    10:20 can see where the inspiration for "The High Country" came from, supposedly a vast flying craft that has been in the air since the 1940s, where it has been upgraded and built on up to the present day. And houses a time machine.
    Fascinating Sci-Fi novel.

  • @eekee6034
    @eekee6034 2 ปีที่แล้ว

    It's great to see these old designs I read about in the 80s, and some new to me too. :)

  • @aaronk534
    @aaronk534 2 ปีที่แล้ว +7

    At minute 10, I notice on the bottom, it's marked "hangars." I assume they expected mail and supply planes n such to dock mid flight? Great video

    • @youtubevanced4900
      @youtubevanced4900 2 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      Good spot. I wonder if that is what they intended. Or maybe it was too carry a sort of shuttle service when they arrived at places.

    • @madkills10
      @madkills10 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Another commenter mentioned that it would store 2 planes on board 'for emergencies'.

  • @Icspiders247
    @Icspiders247 2 ปีที่แล้ว

    After seeing how people drive regular cars not having flying cars today is probably a blessing.

  • @JohnJohansen2
    @JohnJohansen2 2 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    In some weird prospect, I actually love the design.

  • @ecyor0
    @ecyor0 2 ปีที่แล้ว

    13:12 was gonna say, I saw that picture and the profile IMMEDIATELY put me in mind of the Firebird airliner

  • @Beausabre
    @Beausabre 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    9:51 - are we just going to walk right be the fact that the deck drawings for the Bel Geddes show that it had hangars for TWO onboard aircraft.?!?!

  • @IconW
    @IconW 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    I love odd aircrafts and the calm narration so subbed and waiting for more videos.

  • @1bert719
    @1bert719 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    I've only ever seen the huge Bel meddes design featured in a reprinted boys comic from the 1950's. It always reminded me of the Dalek flying saucer from the Peter Cushing movie sequel. Another intriguing design was an airliner derived from the Avro Vulcan that looked decidedly less futuristic than the delta wing bomber.

  • @SuperAmin1950
    @SuperAmin1950 2 ปีที่แล้ว

    OMG...a lot of these designs relied on VTOL technology; for the time, that's just phenomenal¡☆!

  • @johnjephcote7636
    @johnjephcote7636 2 ปีที่แล้ว

    I remember the Princesses but never saw the Short Shetland and those two were big. All those Conways could have thrusted the wings ahead of the fuselage while it was still trying to unstick from the oggin.

  • @youtube.youtube.01
    @youtube.youtube.01 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Great collection of featured aircraft for dreamers! Between model airplane package artwork, comic book art, and sci-fi movie models, lots of aviation fantasy was provoking thought and awe in public dreamer's circles. It's hard to imagine an airplane that weighed more than a Big-Boy locomotive.

  • @bigblue6917
    @bigblue6917 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    The wing of the Duchess does look a bit like that of the Handley Page Victor with its scimitar curve and engines in the wing roots.

  • @RedRacerN27
    @RedRacerN27 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Titanium Turkey from TaleSpin is a reference to Airliner Number 4

  • @mikearmstrong8483
    @mikearmstrong8483 2 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    The P146; yep, definitely belongs in Thunderbirds. In fact, I think it is standard equipment for Trans Imperial Airways.

  • @torte007
    @torte007 ปีที่แล้ว

    Tu-404 plane not found, the name fits perfectly.

  • @gedq
    @gedq 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Did Gene Rodenberry ever see Bell Geddes' air liner I wonder? Rodenberry was 8 in 1929, which is about the right age to fall in love with that design.

  • @custardo
    @custardo 2 ปีที่แล้ว +7

    Obviously you'll need a full orchestra to drown out the noise of 20 engines

    • @JessHull
      @JessHull 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      several, likely.

  • @victorn.c.3643
    @victorn.c.3643 ปีที่แล้ว

    i really like the idea behind the junkers, it looks very smart (and not too ugly).

  • @ThePandionknight
    @ThePandionknight 2 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    I would love to see some of these aircraft built now, with todays materials and engineering applied.

  • @pickeljarsforhillary102
    @pickeljarsforhillary102 2 ปีที่แล้ว +5

    Sky Captain approves.

    • @unknowntraveller8633
      @unknowntraveller8633 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      I was thinking Dan Dare would have said yes to these early designs

  • @burtbacarach5034
    @burtbacarach5034 2 ปีที่แล้ว +8

    One thinks that maybe some of these early designers might have been smoking something other than tobacco.Great video,looking forward to more of this series.

  • @ronaldharris6569
    @ronaldharris6569 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Crazy billionaire money I would have to build that Boulton Paul 5 seat VTOL

  • @petric334
    @petric334 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    I used to draw designs for gigantic flying wing passenger craft when I was a kid. This had to be the source material, which I don't remember. They all had promenades.

  • @philgray8063
    @philgray8063 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Airliner #4 - from the plans you showed, also had 2 airplane hangars, with aircraft depicted with folded wings... surprised mention wasn't made of this...

  • @davidlalremruata
    @davidlalremruata 2 ปีที่แล้ว

    Your channel is so well researched and so brilliantly presented I must offer my humble appreciation salute.
    Salute, sir. Your service is much appreciated even here in the northeastern hills of India, Aizawl.

  • @ekscalybur
    @ekscalybur 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    If your seaplane, when pulling into a harbor, immediately becomes that cities tallest building, you're doing it right!

  • @jimsvideos7201
    @jimsvideos7201 2 ปีที่แล้ว

    Good gravy these aero engineers have some wild ideas!

  • @beawalker9201
    @beawalker9201 2 ปีที่แล้ว

    Thank you the best thing i have viewed in a long while looking forward to so much more

  • @SanderAnderon
    @SanderAnderon 2 ปีที่แล้ว

    beautiful oddities, love it

  • @coreyandnathanielchartier3749
    @coreyandnathanielchartier3749 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    If I was writing a thesis for an aeronautical engineering PHD, I would use this 'Airliner #4' as a subject. Proving whether or not this thing could even fly would be a huge study in engineering. Having failed at that, I'd just utilize the Soviet tactic of copying my classmate's paper.

  • @theconfederacyofindependen7268
    @theconfederacyofindependen7268 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    You'll know that both J.1000 and Saunders Roa Queen inspired the ML-422 Pegasus Flying Boat, a long range Airliner which by the looks of it is expected to be a cruise ship cause of how it looked, the ML-422 Pegasus might have 3 variants, the original, the Airborne Glider and Troop Transport, and a Bomber

  • @kai_plays_khomus
    @kai_plays_khomus 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Wasn't the _Airliner No. 4_ even featured in an episode of TaleSpin when Baloo got deceived into flying to some island because his very special gyroscoping compass or something similar was required to build a megalomanic airplane there? It's been 25 years and I have seen this episode exactly one as a child, but I'm almost certain to recognize the design. Furthermore the show is set exactly at the right time for this inspiration to make sense.

  • @SasNolan
    @SasNolan 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    If someone remembers cartoon "Tail Spin" there was an aircraft that closely resembles No.4, so you could say it got its moment in some cultural adaptation

  • @ross.venner
    @ross.venner 2 ปีที่แล้ว

    As a little boy, I remember watching the Princess lumbering overhead. Awesome!

  • @roykliffen9674
    @roykliffen9674 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Norman Bel Geddes? I had to look it up, but he turns out to be the father of Barbara Bel Geddes, an actress most people know from the soap "Dallas" (though performing in much more)

  • @jekanyika
    @jekanyika 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    13:06 I immediately though of Thunderbirds, it seems I am not alone.

  • @kymmoulds
    @kymmoulds 2 ปีที่แล้ว

    Well done and thanks for making the video. It was very interesting and entertaining.

  • @DiecastDreamCustoms
    @DiecastDreamCustoms 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    I've never been able to say this about a plane before, but... Does the J1000 make anyone else feel queasy? Seriously... My brain is screaming at me that something is wrong with it. I can't process it... Regardless... VERY cool video. Keep it up! -Vic

  • @Unfassbarer
    @Unfassbarer ปีที่แล้ว

    Danke!

  • @1944GPW
    @1944GPW 2 ปีที่แล้ว +5

    Love the channel, keep up the great work! These what-if's are wonderful. I've seen more of these types of drawings in old pre-war and post-war issues of 'The Aeroplane' and such, so a good trawl through there could yield some more. Interesting how the giant bombers in the movie of HG Wells' 'Things to Come' looks somewhat reminiscent of the Airliner No. 4.

  • @Vespuchian
    @Vespuchian 2 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    Oh wow, the Airliner #4 was a 'real' aircraft. I had always assumed it had been invented from whole cloth for the old TailSpin cartoon as the 'Titanium Turkey'.

  • @robinstevenson6690
    @robinstevenson6690 ปีที่แล้ว

    I can see why you and Drachinifel get along, keep it up!

  • @alfnoakes392
    @alfnoakes392 ปีที่แล้ว

    13:15 "...something straight out of Thunderbirds..." any 'airport scene' in Thunderbirds is great for repeated freezing frames and spotting which model-kit jet-fighter front ends and wings etc have been glued onto which airliner fuselages : ) Which was obviously how 'planes were going to be by 2000 or so ...

  • @jasonstarnes3838
    @jasonstarnes3838 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    SR princess was a beautiful aircraft.

  • @malcolmtaylor518
    @malcolmtaylor518 10 หลายเดือนก่อน

    Always liked the futuristic aircraft of the film, "the shape of things to come". The Bel Geddes is of that type.

  • @bob_the_bomb4508
    @bob_the_bomb4508 2 ปีที่แล้ว +5

    I’d fly on the Duchess…it looks right…

  • @davidwright7193
    @davidwright7193 2 ปีที่แล้ว +5

    So the Defiant wasn’t the oddest thing Boulton Paul designed…

    • @WarblesOnALot
      @WarblesOnALot 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      G'day,
      Pretty much everything Boulton and Paul ever designed was so oddball ugly and counterintuitive, and most things they built were as useless as Tits on a Bull...; that one is forced to the conclusion that the entire "Enterprise" was always either a Porkbarrel Make-Work Pogrom to distribute Government money to employ uselessly over-industrialised Pommies...; or it was only ever a Private Enterprise Front-Company, operated as a Money-Laundering "Cover" for some other activity which actually made money, elsewhere.
      Drugs, or Arms, or People-Trafficking, perhaps.
      It was Slavery which
      Made
      Britain
      Rich...
      After all is
      Said
      And all is
      Done
      (With a
      Gun).
      Such is life,
      Have a good one...
      Stay safe.
      ;-p
      Ciao !

    • @CrusaderSports250
      @CrusaderSports250 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      The Defient was built to a ministry spec, and as a concept it was perfectly valid, unfortunately reality gets in the way, but it did make a good night fighter, it found its niche and so doesn't really deserve the condemnation often heeped upon it, many aircraft didn't shine in their intended roles but had success elsewhere so let's give the Defient a break 😊.

  • @tonbopro
    @tonbopro 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    looking forward to the next update already,Geddes is very much an icon of the time and still inspires us;love Griffith‘s vision too

  • @tra-viskaiser8737
    @tra-viskaiser8737 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Wasn't the airliner cruise liner of this video one of the awesome designs used in the disney tvshow talespin? Or tailspin.. it was set in the 30s but with the jungle book characters. I swear I remember seeing this massive thing...
    Airliner number 4 i believe is what it is in this video.