Whiffs found surfing

[The Wooksta!]

Personally, I like the four-bladed propeller. It makes the Bf 109 look much beefier, and I wonder how a respective late version (maybe a 'K'?) could look like?

This one is from a German site - you probably know it:

Apparently there were two Bf 109K-14s built at the end of the war with 4 blade props but there's no hard core evidence to back it up.  A Mosquito four blade prop will fit a 109 nicely.  Well, the spinner will, not sure if the Merlin and the DB605 have the same rotation.  Used it to do a K14 years back (1996!)

The canopy side blisters in the Matchbox Mosquito are very handy for the gun blisters too.

[Captain Canada]

Love those giant bombers ! Imagine one of those flying over you ?

The French joke was pretty neat too....

[Dizzyfugu]

Personally, I like the four-bladed propeller. It makes the Bf 109 look much beefier, and I wonder how a respective late version (maybe a 'K'?) could look like?

This one is from a German site - you probably know it:

Apparently there were two Bf 109K-14s built at the end of the war with 4 blade props but there's no hard core evidence to back it up.  A Mosquito four blade prop will fit a 109 nicely.  Well, the spinner will, not sure if the Merlin and the DB605 have the same rotation.  Used it to do a K14 years back (1996!)

The canopy side blisters in the Matchbox Mosquito are very handy for the gun blisters too.

As a side not to this, one Me 410 prototype (V14?) was tested with four-bladed props. Looks pretty mean (saw it on a photo in a German book about heavy Luftwaffe fighters), but it remained a one-off and serial aircraft stuck with the three-bladed type.

[pyro-manic]

Proposed desert crossing vehicle, from 1931-32:

http://www.retronaut.com/2013/05/model-of-a-desert-crossing-vehicle

Pretty much a landship.

[Captain Canada]

That's wild ! They even built a model of it ! Wonder where the model is now ? Wonder what kind of speeds were envisioned, or if it had suspension ?

[Madoc]

Pyro,

A "landship," yeah, that seems about right.  I'd imagine it'd be built with a watertight body and make use of big honkin' diesel engines driving generators which powered big honkin' electric motors at each wheel.  There'd have to be some sort of suspension involved.  Otherwise the vibration from running over regular terrain - let alone open country - would be prohibitive. 

Still though, it's a grand concept. 

Imagine a modern version.  Rubber tires in place of the bare metal.  This, to improve traction as well as absorb vibration.  I think I'd go with disks as opposed to spokes.  And perhaps individually sprung and articulating wheel units for more mobility and smoothing of the ride.  And a nuke for a power plant.  The body would be waterproof, at the least, and be nice and wide.  Thus, there'd be plenty of room for plenty of passengers and plenty of room for all sorts of things.  A "cruise ship on wheels," perhaps?  I could see placing the wheels close enough to each other that there'd be no risk of "crowning" where the front wheels clear an obstacle but the vehicle bottoms out before the rear wheels can engage.  I think I'd also enclose a goodly portion of the wheels lest dirt, debris, and dust get tracked up from them onto the rest of the vehicle.  It'd be quite the think to work up!

[Hobbes]

The closest real machine is the T100 by French truck company Berliet:



The largest truck in the world at the time (late 1950s), 15 m long, 5 m wide and 4.5 m high.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berliet_T100

[Captain Canada]

Awesome !

If I was going to stop and take photos of it, I probably wouldn't park the Citroen under it !

[kitnut617]

That thing is tiny Harro -- this below can be seen today in Sparwood BC, and even this is tiny compared to some others I've seen 'Up-North'

http://maggiephotgraphy.wordpress.com/2012/03/10/weekly-photo-challenge-contrast/

[zenrat]

I wouldn't want to cross open desert in one of the big modern dump trucks.  While they are designated "off highway" they are not really up to driving on rough terrain and operate on dozed and graded haul roads inside the mine sites they are made for.
These teeny tiny trucks (a mere 25 Tons) on the other hand have much better off road capability and are fun to drive (albeit a bit odd until you get used to the whole cab pivoting when you turn the wheel).

[FAR148]

Found this while researching for a future project.... Future Chinese navy?





Steven

[Captain Canada]

Pretty neat photo....if a little ambitious ! Wonder how they're planning on recovering, crewing, refueling etc. all those aeroplanes on that little boat 

[Dizzyfugu]

Pretty neat photo....if a little ambitious ! Wonder how they're planning on recovering, crewing, refueling etc. all those aeroplanes on that little boat 

That's what I wondered about, too?

[JayBee]

Obvious really. It is the throw away society. They arrive as flat packs, are assembled, launched, and when they run out of fuel just dump them.
All the crew members for the aircraft are not going to be around for long so they do not need proper quarters on-board the ship, and as for food, well they do not need it do they. They are not going to be around long enough to complain about being hungry.

[scooter]

Obvious really. It is the throw away society. They arrive as flat packs...