A 1936 flying car, Roosevelt Field and a Tucker engine
Joel Friedman, archivist of the Cradle of Aviation, has forwarded these exclusive Roosevelt Field photos of one of the first attempts to build a flying car ... later linked to a Tucker engine.
Enjoy,
Howard Kroplick
Joel Friedman:
W-5 Arrowbile, Aerobile 1936 = 2pChwM; 100hp Studebaker pusher; v: 120/105/x; ff: 2/21/37. All-metal, tailless, hybrid flying auto capable of 70mph on roads—with its three wheels and single headlight, DMV classified it as a motorcycle! $3,000 (this was hurriedly retracted once a unit construction cost of $7,000 was noted); POP: 3 [X262Y, NR18931/18932], the first of whose registry was transferred to a Breezy-type pusher in 1968; 3 more were reportedly finished in 1939, but never licensed when a lack of financing ended production. Stall- and spin-proof, its simplicity of operation was underscored when Department of Commerce's John H. Geisse, with only 35 hours' flight experience, flew one back to Washington DC in his business suit! Revived briefly in 1958 as Aerobile with a Tucker auto engine (Franklin converted to liquid-cooled) [N54P].
The Waterman Arrowbile – Waldo Waterman was the first American to make a true flying car
A tailless, two-seat, single-engine, pusher configuration roadable aircraft was built in the US in the late 1930’s, the Waterman Arrowbile, and was one of the first of its kind. Only five were produced, one slightly different from the other, especially in the body work.
The last, sixth aircraft was not completed and flown until May 1957. It was a three-seat, roadable version powered by a water-cooled 120 hp (89 kW) Tucker-Franklin. This was cooled by radiators on each side of the engine, fed air by fuselage side scoops.
Photos (1936-1937) courtesy of the Cradle of Aviation
The Waterman W-5 Arrowbile flying over Roosevelt Field in 1936.
Comments
They been trying to make cars fly and float for ever! Even James Bond had flying cars.
AMC Hornet (?) and cars that become submarines Lotus Elite. But in the end, cars do
much better on the ground. Want to fly, get a plane, Want to go to sea, get a boat.
Great piece of history, Thanks