I’m doing some research for an In Small Spaces project that has me at the Smithsonian National Air & Space Museum which they claim is the most visited museum in the world. On display there is the first Wright brothers airplane, the Apollo 11 command module, some of the space suits worn by the first humans to go to the moon, and much more. What amazed me the most today were all of the crazy flying machines that people invented – and took up in the air to test out. Imagine flying in some of the small spaces I found today.
The Fulton Airphibian (shown at the left) was an aluminum-bodied car, built with independent suspension, aircraft-sized wheels, and a six-cylinder 165 horse power engine. The fabric wings could be attached to the fuselage which converted the car into a plane. There were four prototypes built and they were was approved as experimental by the FAA. Think of it as a Chitty Chitty Bang Bang of sorts.
The Hiller YH-32 Hornet (shown at the right) was an ultralight helicopter built by Hiller Aircraft in the early 1950s. It was a small and had a unique design that was powered by two ramjet engines mounted on the rotor blade tips. Versions of the Hiller Hornet were built for the United States Army and the United States Navy. Because this helicopter used so much fuel, it could only fly for about 30 minutes. And, while it exhibited powerful lifting capacity, the high noise, poor range, and high night-time visibility of the ramjet flames failed to attract sales.
Visiting the National Air and Space Museum
If you are in Washington, DC – especially if you are near Dulles Airport – I highly recommend a visit to the National Air and Space Museum. While the museum itself is free, it does cost $15 to park in the parking lot. I saw a few World War II vets there today looking at aircraft that they remembered from the war. There were also many more folks there who were just interested in all the flying machines and the history of flight.
