by 
On this Day:
In 1937, the initial flight of the first successful flying car, Waldo Waterman’s Arrowbile, took place.
The Waterman Arrowbile was a tailless, two-seat, single-engine, pusher configuration roadable aircraft built in the US in the late 1930s. One of the first of its kind, it flew safely but generated little customer interest, and only five were produced.
Design and development
Waldo Waterman’s first flying wing aircraft was the unofficially named Waterman Whatsit, a pusher configuration low swept-wing monoplane with fins near its wing tips. The Whatsit also featured a wing-mounted tricycle undercarriage and a trim foreplane. Powered by a 100 hp (75 kW) Kinner K-5 5-cylinder radial pusher engine, it first flew in 1932.
In May 1935 Waterman completed a submission to the government funded Vidal Safety Airplane competition. This was the Arrowplane, sometimes known as the W-4. This adopted a similar layout to the Whatsit but had a strut-braced high wing on a blunt-nosed, narrow fuselage pod with a tricycle undercarriage mounted under it. Its wings had wooden spars and metal ribs and were fabric covered, with triangular endplate fins carrying upright rudders. Its fuselage was steel framed and aluminium covered. It was powered by a 95 hp (71 kW) inverted inline 4-cylinder Menasco B-4 Pirate pusher engine mounted high in the rear of the fuselage.
The Arrowplane was not intended for production or to be roadable, but its success in the Vidal competition encouraged Waterman to form the Waterman Arrowplane Co. in 1935 for production of a roadable version. The resulting Arrowbile, referred to by Waterman as the W-5, was similar both structurally and aerodynamically to the Arrowplane, though the fins differed in shape, with rounded leading edges and swept-back rudder hinges. For road use the wings and propeller could be quickly detached. The main other differences were in engine choice, the need to drive the wheels and to use conventional car floor-type controls on the road. The air-cooled Menasco was replaced by a water-cooled engine as used by most cars. Waterman modified a 6-cylinder upright, 100 hp (75 kW) Studebaker unit and placed it lower down in the pod, driving the propeller shaft at the top of the fuselage via six ganged V-belts with a 1.94:1 speed reduction. The radiator was in the forward fuselage, fed from a duct opening in the extreme upper nose. On the ground the engine drove the main wheels through a differential gear, as normal, and the car was steered by its nosewheel. The wheels were enclosed in fairings, initially as a road safety measure. Instead of removing the propeller for the road, it could be de-clutched to prevent it windmilling the engine at speed.
The wheel in the two-seat cabin controlled the Arrowbile both on the road and in the air. Outer wing elevons moved together to alter pitch and differentially to bank. The rudders, interconnected with the elevons when the wheel was turned, moved only outwards, so in a turn only the inner rudder was used, both adjusting yaw as normal and assisting the elevon in depressing the inner wing tip. This system had been used on the Arrowplane as a safety feature to avoid the commonly fatal spin out of climb and turn from take-off accident but the raked rudder hinge of the Arrowbile provided the banking component even from a nose-down attitude. There were no conventional flaps or wing mounted airbrakes but the rudders could be operated as brakes by opening them outwards together with a control independent of the wheel. The cabin interior was designed to motor car standards, with easy access and a baggage space under the seats.
The Arrowbile first flew on 21 February 1937, making it a close contemporary of the Gwinn Aircar, and a second prototype with a number of minor modifications followed. Studebaker were interested in the Arrowbile because of the use of their engine and ordered five. The third Arrowbile was the first of this order. However, there was little market response and the line was halted in 1938, with no more production aircraft completed. The production aircraft had several changes, some of which aimed to emphasise the similarities with cars; there was a radiator grille with a single headlight centrally above it and also car type doors and petrol filler cap.
The fourth Aerobile was completed as a conventional, non-roadable aircraft; Waterman initially retained the Studebaker engine but in 1941 replaced it with an air-cooled 120 hp (89 kW) Franklin. In 1943 he modified the wings with slotted flaps and later still replaced the braced wing with a cantilever one, using the wing from the unbuilt fifth aircraft.
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. In the absence of the forward radiator the nose was remodelled, becoming shorter and blunter. The fins were also altered so that the upper and lower leading edges met at an acute angle. At some point this particular Arrowbile was renamed the Aerobile, though it was not a name that Waterman used.
Operational history
In early September 1937 the first three Arrowbiles flew from the factory at Santa Monica to the National Air Races venue at Cleveland, a great circle distance of about 2,060 mi (3,315 km). The first force landed en route, but the other two reached the races and gave demonstration flights (per Wikipedia).
First, a Story:
The news today is that Harley-Davidson has invented a flying motorcycle.
Henceforth, the old bikes will be known as ground Hogs.
Second, a Song:
Thansis1997 has put together a video of 7 cars that really fly on YouTube.com. The vehicles are:
AeroMobil
The AeroMobil is a fascinating vehicle for several reasons; first off, it’s a real flying car. Yes, that can actually fly in real life. You can make use of the AeroMobil for its aerial capabilities or its more mundane road-traveling capabilities. AeroMobil is faster than most traditional flights, and is less stressful and time-consuming than traveling through a traditional airline or ordering for a helicopter.
https://bit.ly/2DUDXc0
PAL-V Liberty
The Personal Air and Land Vehicle is an aircraft manufacturer based in Netherlands. The company has been in business for more than 20 years with the dream of building an actual flying car from the get-go. After years of research and development, it launched its first flying car known as PAL-V Liberty.
http://bit.ly/2LPFIvh
Klein Vision AirCar
In late October 2020, Klein Vision has released a video of its AirCar taking a maiden flight. Similar to Aeromobil, the vehicle is a four-wheel car with only two seats and it does actually fly like an aircraft. There is no instant vertical lift; AirCar needs a runway for takeoff and landing.
http://bit.ly/2MhgllJ
Airbus Pop.Up
Pop.Up as a concept was presented at the 2017 Geneva auto show. It was part helicopter and part car, and Airbus claims that although further development will rely on technologies that at this point are not mature enough, the basic idea actually is feasible. Technically speaking, the Pop.Up is already very close to a form of new transportation which can be produced right now.
http://bit.ly/2LYNjYm
Terrafugia Transition
On display at the New York International Auto Show in April 2012, the Terrafugia Transition brought a tangible evidence to the world that the concept of flying car was not at all imaginary. Now that it is a fully-working model instead of just a prototype, you can actually buy it for an estimated price of $400,000.
https://bit.ly/3sUWl9A
Maverick Flying Car
Developed by Indigenous Peoples Technology and Education Center, the Maverick Flying Car is never intended as a vehicle for the general population, but a vehicle to help reach those in remote locations where transportation is a real challenge. Maverick is an FAA-certified flying car, so it is actually road legal. The vehicle is powered by a fuel-injected 2.5-liter Subaru engine that generates 190 horsepower.
https://bit.ly/3pdJsEZ
Terrafugia TF-X
Known as TF-X, Terrafugia has fitted it with hybrid powertrain to propel the wheels on the ground and two electric rotors for flying. The vehicle does its takeoff vertically instead of requiring high speed run before airborne. The pair of electric motors put in combination with a petrol engine that generates 300 horsepower should theoretically deliver ridiculous amount of megawatt.
https://bit.ly/3sQoY7C
Music used in the video:
Infraction https://bit.ly/2VkpjRh
RomanSenykMusic http://bit.ly/36a1yjT
Here is his video of these 7 flying cars. I hope you enjoy this!
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZIpG7hFHEw)
Thought for the Day:
“Flying cars are not a very efficient way to move things from one point to another.” – Bill Gates
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Have a great day!
Dave & Colleen
© 2021 David J. Bilinsky and Colleen E. Bilinsky
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