BelGeddes

Norman Bel Geddes was an industrial  designer who flourished between the wars. He is
well known for his theater designs and his  handsome  and collectable cocktail shakers, cook stoves, radios, Deco window displays, butcher scales,  &c. ....But my favorites are the great visionary projects - the teardrop double decker bus, the tear drop car, the streamlined railroad train, , the factory for Toledo Scale Co, the  restaurants, one on a tower, one in a dam,  the streamlined ship  the floating dance palace, the model of the city of the future in the GM exhibit of the 1940 New York World's Fair. a number of swoopy theaters, the floating airport at the tip of Manhattan. When I was a child I found a copy of his wonderful book, Horizons, in my parents library. I would stare at this great  stuff for hours. It is still one of my favorite possessions.

Bel Geddes  was much impressed by the Dornier DO-X and was convinced that size was the key to safety and steamshiplike comfort.

He designed it with the help of Doctor O.A. Koller who, I read, "was responsible for  the design of over two hundred different airplanes, including the famous Phalz plane used so extensively by Germany during WWI.......without exception all his planes have flown successfully ."

If anyone knows more about  Dr. Koller, please enlighten me.

SOME STATS

COMFORT
 

         THE CREW
1 Captain
1 Mate
2 Navigators
2 Pilots
1 Chief Engineer
2 Engineers
7 Mechanics
2 Radio Operators
2 Electricians
4 Seamen
1 Purser
1 Cashier
2 Telephone
Operators
2 Clerks
1 Stenographer
1 Librarian
1 Baggage Master
2 Baggage Men
1 Chief Steward
1 Chief Dining-
   Room Steward
2 Head Waiters
2 Wine Stewards
24 Waiters
7 Bus Boys
1 Chief Bar Steward
9 Bar Stewards
1 Chief Deck Steward
6 Deck Stewards
1 Chef, 6 Cooks,
2 Dishwashers, 24 Room Stewards, 16 Room Stewardesses. 1 Doctor , 1 Nurse, 1 Gymnast,  1 Masseur, 1 Masseuse, 1 Barber, 1 Hairdresser, 1 Manicurist,  7 Musicians, I Shop Attendant, 1 Children's Room Stewardess

 SAFETY

"The interior of the auxiliary wing contains a thoroughly equipped engine room, with machine and repair shops, and carries  six motors in reserve." There is a small railroad  so the engines can be  changed in flight, and moved around at ease within the auxiliary wing. The nonfunctioning motor can be replaced with a reserve motor within five minutes and broken motor  run over to the machine shop and to be repaired on the spot.

Bel Geddes figured that while it required 20 engines to lift the ship off the water, only 12 were needed to fly  at cruising speed, so it would be possible to remain in the air on just half the engines with which it was equipped. He considered this a safety factor of 2.

The pontoons carried 6  completely enclosed 40 ft lifeboats capable of carrying 110 people apiece. They were to have engines, windows along the side, radio gear, and food and water for 2 weeks..

If this didn't prove adequate,  the Airliner carried two small seaplanes with folding wings. These,  could be launched in the air or on the water. They were to get help in an emergency.

MONEY

Bel Geddes worked it all out and I can do no better than to quote from the book.

"Originally, certain Chicago business men were interested in the possibility of constructing this plane with the idea of operating it between Chicago and London via the St. Lawrence River and Great Circle Route. Careful figures based on a detailed study of all factors involved indicate that the venture is practicable from a commercial viewpoint. The flying time of this plane between Chicago and Plymouth is forty-two hours. She is refueled in flight while passing over Newfoundland. She is able to make three crossings a week, due allowance being made for overhauling in port. This Is a great advantage in competition with ocean liners, the fastest of which can make only one crossing a week. The cost of building, equipping and furnishing a modern ocean liner approximates $60,000,000. Air Liner Number 4 can be built, equipped, and furnished for approximately $9,000,000. Assume that after the air liner has made half a dozen successful round trips on schedule, she will thereafter be filled to capacity. Further, assume that the price per passenger will be the same as an average first-class steamship passage, say $300. Furthermore, realize that the accommodations of this air liner are equal in spaciousness and comfort to the most modern ocean liner. The revenue per trip from fares will then be $135,300 and for the three trips a week, $405,000. Mail $48,000 and baggage $17,000, giving a weekly gross revenue of $470,900. The cost of crewwages for the week will approximate $8,000; fuel and maintenance $121,500; supplies, food and other items, $10,000. Insurance, office rent, salaries and overhead $76,750; depreciation on plane based on only a three-year life, $57,700; which totals a weekly operating expense of $273,950. This shows a net weekly revenue of $196,950. The plane, therefore, returns 10 percent on the investment and amortizes its cost in approximately three years, whereas, owing to greater original cost and higher operating expense, the modern ocean liner cannot pay for herself in many, many times this period."

I think there must have been something to the Chicago business men. I don't think he had given up by the time he wrote the book in 1932. He closes the chapter by remarking that....

"Chicago, for instance, under influences that will arise concomitantly with intercontinental aviation, may easily become as much a world metropolis as New York"

...& NOW?

This isn't as daffy as it seems to us as we hustle about on the verge of the third millennium. The Airliner #4  was proposed in 1929 to be flying in 1940. And sure enough by 1940 Transatlantic airliners were large luxurious flying boats.

So lets not loose heart. It sure would make a swell cruise ship for carting  the folks around the Caribbean. Heck I'd  pay my $10 for the movie - lots of Ritzy Retro night life, neato special effects for the desperate launching of the the two small planes to warn the world that  Nazis had kidnapped everyone....

I've been toying with the idea of a model with 10 tiny electric motors, each carrying two propellers, one on each end. It seems a natural for foam. Of course the radio guys could do a complete interior complete with a working orchestra that  you could view through the windows.

For some awe inspiring renderings of the Airliner #4 cruising over a fantastic city by  Andy Lacow, an interesting  artist with a taste for such good things. Click the clicker.
ANDY LACKOW (CLICK)

I love this thing and if anyone knows more please write me.
dannysoar@worldnet.att.net

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