Being somewhat in the market for a new car and being somewhat of a guy who is getting (snort!) older, I figured the first order of business was to determine which cars I should not buy. That compelled me to reflect on the class of cars that I call Cantankerous Old Bastard Cars. First, let’s… Continue reading Top 3 Cars of Supercilious Grouchy Old Bastards
Category: Bizarre Transport
Where Is the Missing $3 Million From the Lost Hawaii Clipper?
It’s strange enough that a boat-plane with $3,000,000 in cash would go missing. It’s also strange that it would be so underreported. PanAm Clippers were flying passenger boats that flew from mainland U.S. to China. Because of the Clippers’ limited range, the Clippers hopped from island base to island base, much like a toad hopping… Continue reading Where Is the Missing $3 Million From the Lost Hawaii Clipper?
PanAm Yankee Clipper Cutaway Drawing, ca 1930s
This cutaway drawing shows the PanAm Yankee Clipper (B-314), which was built by Boeing on the base of an XB-15 bomber fuselage. On December 21, 1937, Boeing delivered the first Yankee Clipper to PanAm. The Yankee Clipper was the result of over 6,000 engineering drawings, 50,000 parts, and one-million rivets. But with such complexity… Continue reading PanAm Yankee Clipper Cutaway Drawing, ca 1930s
Hindenburg “A” Deck Cutaway
One of the best, and cheapest, books that I have ever had about the Hindenburg is called Hindenburg: an Illustrated History, by Rick Archbold, with paintings by Ken Marschall. The art is too beautiful to even talk about in this space. But because one interest of Invisible Themepark is cutaways, let’s look at one cutaway… Continue reading Hindenburg “A” Deck Cutaway
Zeppelin Sub-Cloud or Spy Basket: The Ultimate Secret
Zeppelins, despite their mammoth size, are by nature secretive modes of transport. Even when they plied the skies on a regular basis, zeppelins were largely misunderstood by the general public. I think I will puke if I read another book with an overly simplistic wrap-up like this: And the the fiery destruction of the Hindenburg… Continue reading Zeppelin Sub-Cloud or Spy Basket: The Ultimate Secret