Popular Mechanics Flashback: The Cockpit Of The Rocket Propelled Airships Of The Future

you don't land with this ship, you beam down

The understatement of the year:
"At a speed of ... 15,000 miles per hour, landing would present as much of a problem as the actual flight."
Ya think?

Why aren't they wearing shirts?

Didn't you know, you fly faster when you aren't wearing a shirt.

I wonder if they belonged to ALPA ? maybe that was in the contract that they could fly without shirts

Love how that one guy is shackled in

Love how the one guy is shackled in position

@ Wayne Bookout --

At landing speed of 15,000 mph (I can't stop laughing) you wouldn't need much in the way of flaps, wouldja?

@ Wayne Bookout --

You gotta hand it to Popular Mechanics, always a laugh a minute. By the way, wouldn't taxi speed be about 1,200 mph? LOL LOL LOL (God, this article is so funny.)

Steam punk.

It's the May 1932 edition of Popular Mechanics. Look it up on Google Books under "At the controls of an Aircraft of the Future" popular mechanics pg 734. They have a large volume of PM books dating to the early 1900's as well!

What's the date on that?

It look like russian technology...

That's nothing! A report in a 1946 issue of the same magazine described an electric catapult to launch aircraft and went on to enthuse: "Electric 'slingshots' may soon be launching giant passenger sky liners from postage-stamp airfields and roof-top city airports. Two such devices at naval airports can now get airplanes as large as B-17s and B-24s into the air in a few seconds with take-off runs of less than 500 feet. And they do it so smothly that passengers zoom to 120mph in that distance with no more discomfort than if they were home in bed with their feet in the air!" Seems aviation took a wrong turn somewhere in the last 70 years!