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N0KFQ > TODAY 18.10.11 22:38l 52 Lines 2470 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
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Subj: Today in History - Oct 18
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Sent: 111018/2131Z 13003@KB0WSA.MO.USA.NA BPQ1.0.4
Oct 18, 1933:
R. Buckminster Fuller tries to patent his Dymaxion Car
On October 18, 1933, the American philosopher-inventor R.
Buckminster Fuller applies for a patent for his Dymaxion Car. The
Dymaxion_the word itself was another Fuller invention, a
combination of "dynamic," "maximum," and "ion"_looked and drove
like no vehicle anyone had ever seen. It was a three-wheeled,
20-foot-long, pod-shaped automobile that could carry 11
passengers and travel as fast as 120 miles per hour. It got 30
miles to the gallon, could U-turn in a distance equal to its
length and could parallel park just by pivoting its wheels toward
the curb and zipping sideways into its parking space. It was
stylish, efficient and eccentric and it attracted a great deal of
attention: Celebrities wanted to ride in it and rich men wanted
to invest in it. But in the same month that Fuller applied for
his patent, one of his prototype Dymaxions crashed, killing the
driver and alarming investors so much that they withdrew their
money from the project.
When Fuller first sketched the Dymaxion Car in 1927, it was a
half-car, half-airplane_when it got going fast enough, its wings
were supposed to inflate_called the "4D Transport." In 1932, the
sculptor Isamu Naguchi helped the inventor with his final design:
a long teardrop-shaped chassis with two wheels in front and a
third in back that could lift off the ground. In practice, this
didn't turn out to be a great idea: As the vehicle picked up
speed (theoretically in preparation for takeoff) and the third
wheel bounced off the ground, it became nearly impossible for the
driver to control the car. In fact, many people blamed this
handling problem for the fatal crash of the prototype car, even
though an investigation revealed that a car full of sightseers
had actually caused the accident by hurtling into the Dymaxion's
lane.
Many elements of the Dymaxion Car's design_its streamlined shape,
its fuel efficiency_have inspired later generations of
automakers, but Fuller himself was probably best known for
another of his inventions: the geodesic dome. Geodesic domes are
built using a pattern of self-bracing triangles. As a result,
perhaps unlike the Dymaxion Car, they are incredibly strong and
stable_in fact, as one historian writes, "they have proved to be
the strongest structures ever devised."
73, K.O. n0kfq
Another old retired guy
E-mail: n0kfq@winlink.org
N0KFQ@N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA
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