There is this crazy picture of a plane or a boat or both...?
This is just a drawing, I know, but if this aircraft does not exist, is there perhaps a similar looking one in reality?
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$\begingroup$ I believe the golden bar/pillar in the right foreground is a palm tree trunk. $\endgroup$– ToddDec 22, 2017 at 19:08
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3$\begingroup$ For "existence" and what this means you have to post a question on the stack exchange philosophy site. $\endgroup$– user7241Dec 22, 2017 at 19:20
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14$\begingroup$ I really like the windows in the wings. $\endgroup$– jamesqfDec 22, 2017 at 19:55
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1$\begingroup$ @TannerSwett It was probably this one en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hughes_H-4_Hercules $\endgroup$– user7241Dec 22, 2017 at 20:29
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1$\begingroup$ @TannerSwett The Spruce Goose would dispute that claim, and had a total height of 79 feet. The fuselage height on the H-4 was only 30 feet (your 39 foot is total height, probably closer to 18 for the fuselage only). $\endgroup$– Ron BeyerDec 22, 2017 at 20:29
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5 Answers
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is there perhaps a similar looking one in reality?
Not really, however the fictional five-deck flying boat depicted is clearly an extrapolation of flying boats of the first half of the 20th century.
Visually, the Short Empire class is the most similar:
- domed cockpit at front of hull
- hull chines
- four radial engines mounted in-wing with three-blade propellers
- conventional empennage
Photo of a Short Empire, Public Domain
Photo of a Short Sunderland, CCASA3.0 Nick.D
The largest all-metal flying boat developed for civilian passenger service was the Saunders-Roe Princess which only had two passenger-decks.
Photo of a Saunders-Roe Princess, Public Domain
The largest flying boat was probably the Hughes H-4 Hercules, popularly known as the Spruce Goose. It was designed for military transport (hence no windows). I believe it would have accomodated both troops and military vehicles but probably no more than two decks.
Photo of Hughes H-4 Hercules, Public Domain
answered Dec 22, 2017 at 21:55
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5$\begingroup$ @RalphJ: There you go. Answer edited. I didn't initially include it because I couldn't really find a picture that showed the similarity well and which wouldn't require obtaining copyright permission. Someone will probably suggest Boeing Clipper next and it will end with arguments about Ekranoplan etc. ;-) $\endgroup$ Dec 22, 2017 at 23:53
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1$\begingroup$ That's a nice picture, and I promise I won't suggest going into the Ekranoplan! Dang, but Hughes' plane was a beast! $\endgroup$– Ralph J ♦Dec 23, 2017 at 0:13
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This was part of an ad campaign for Timken Roller Bearings in 1946. It is a drawing by George Shepherd.
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2$\begingroup$ I'm disappointed that it does not exist. Thanks for the answer $\endgroup$ Dec 22, 2017 at 20:01
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8$\begingroup$ It wouldn't fly from the way it looks. $\endgroup$– user7241Dec 22, 2017 at 20:31
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8$\begingroup$ It's worth noting that the (magnificent) recent Ghibli animated biopic film The Wind Rises features craft something like this in the dream sequences. (It's a movie about Jiro Horikoshi, the dude who designed the Zero. The film features both absolutely realistic actual aircraft, and in the dream sequences, strange fantasy aircraft.) $\endgroup$– FattieDec 22, 2017 at 23:07
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2$\begingroup$ @jjack - Are "would it fly" questions off-topic? $\endgroup$– RichardDec 24, 2017 at 11:35
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2$\begingroup$ @Fattie If you like The Wind Rises you might also like Porco Roso. $\endgroup$– ChloeDec 26, 2017 at 4:35
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5$\begingroup$ @mins perhaps I am missing something, but this seems like a very decent attempt at an answer. $\endgroup$– J WDec 24, 2017 at 11:34
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$\begingroup$ It seems to have far less in common with the fictional aircraft in the picture in the question than aircraft shown in earlier answers. $\endgroup$ Dec 25, 2017 at 23:29
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1$\begingroup$ This is the most accurate and informative answer here, in the search for the real equivalent of the illustration in question. Good one! $\endgroup$– FattieDec 26, 2017 at 22:28
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1$\begingroup$ That thing held the record for twenty years for number of people carried in a plane. $\endgroup$– FattieDec 26, 2017 at 22:33
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The only successful plane with inhabited wing might have been the Junkers G.38, (which was explored in Germany by the character in studio Ghibli "the Wind Rises".)
SaRo P.192 "Queen"
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5$\begingroup$ The holes in the wing for the P.192 are jet engine intakes, no? $\endgroup$– user7241Dec 23, 2017 at 7:58
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4$\begingroup$ Ah, that's where the engines are. I was wondering. $\endgroup$ Dec 23, 2017 at 11:55
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1$\begingroup$ the second plane looks like a space craft, a war space craft to be honest $\endgroup$ Dec 24, 2017 at 23:05
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$\begingroup$ It has a fairly brawny look to it. I myself don't see the spacecraft resemblance though. $\endgroup$– user7241Dec 26, 2017 at 0:19
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1$\begingroup$ Quite right, as I mention above ... It's worth noting that the (magnificent) recent Ghibli animated biopic film The Wind Rises features craft something like (the OP image) in the dream sequences. (It's a movie about Jiro Horikoshi, the dude who designed the Zero. The film features both absolutely realistic actual aircraft, and in the dream sequences, strange fantasy aircraft.) The sequences involving the Junkers G.38 have perfectly realistic exteriors, and the interior is kind of a larger-then-life dream-fantasy. $\endgroup$– FattieDec 26, 2017 at 22:27
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That 5-decker design is outdone, amongst never-built flying boats, by Norman Bel Geddes' Airliner No. 4 design concept from 1929, with nine decks:
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1$\begingroup$ Ahhh .. Norman Bel Geddes. Brilliant answer! $\endgroup$– FattieDec 26, 2017 at 22:30