design

7 unusual propeller-driven vehicles

1. the bennie railplane - 1922

back in the 1920s george bennie designed and built the railplane, a propeller-driven monorail initially intended to travel between glasgow and edinburgh.

the design was way ahead of its time, the railplane capsule home to a 4-blade propeller at each end, each of these powered by its own electric motor - the result a cruising speed of 120mph.

a test track was built and demonstrations given to many astounded members of the public and potential backers of this futuristic mode of transport but ultimately the idea was dropped due to the projected costs and the start of the 2nd world war.

there’s a short clip below, the quality’s a bit shit but it’s still good to see some footage.

2. the rail zeppelin - 1929

the rail zeppelin was designed by frank kruchenberg, also responsible for designing zeppelin airships.

this dangerous looking beast was home to a huge bmw aircraft engine which drove the rear-mounted 4-blade wooden propeller, the resultant power responsible for a new train speed world record of 145mph in 1931.

the zeppelin was eventually scrapped due to the high risk design - it was extremely difficult to find insurance for the vehicle due to the propeller, especially on a public railway.

3. the dringos prop-locomotive - 1919

even before the rail zeppelin was designed the ‘dringos prop-locomotive’ prototype was being tested on tracks in berlin, a 2-blade propeller attached to each end of the train helping it achieve a speed of 60mph. higher speeds were probably achievable but not pushed for due to the ‘primitive chassis and braking system’ of this prototype.

outside interest for the concept was apparently lacking.

4. the leyat helica - 1913

the model in the photo above was the first marketed version of the leyat helica, a propeller driven car designed by a frenchman called marcel leyat, a guy who actually designed and built planes until the beginning of the 2nd world war.

above: the leyat helica sport

above: this particular helica reached a record speed of 170kmh in 1927. the photo was taken that day.

5. the helicron no.1 - 1932

this beauty was discovered in a french barn 7 yrs ago, apparently after being left there by the owners in the 1930s.

when found it needed a complete restoration and was rebuilt using most of the original parts. these days the huge wooden propeller helps the helicron reach a top speed of 75mph.

short clip below of the helicron no.1 in action..

6. propeller driven bicycle - 1936

the article below is taken from a copy of popular science magazine in 1936 and i know nothing more about this particular invention.

what i do know is that it’s one of the best pictures i’ve ever seen and that the amount of pedalling required to get that propeller moving at any decent rate must’ve been immense.

no wonder the guy looks close to death.

7. the aerosan - 1909

aerosans/aerosleds are basically propeller-driven sleds that were originally used in russia for recreational purposes.

around 10 yrs after their conception a number of aerosans were developed specifically for the soviet red army, uses including mail-delivery, border patrol and relatively rapid medical support.

a number of different models were designed, more can be read about them here.

sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

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