Wonder how old this is?

My father worked on the project; he was cinematographer for many of the flights. When the fatal accident happened, he and his co-workers blamed the pilot (unfortunately I was too young to understand why). Peter Garrison wrote an article in Flying using material I sent to him and an interview with someone familiar with it called, "The Wrong Stuff". I was disappointed with that title, as I thought the concept brilliant.
 
It says 1956 in the caption on the video.

The thing was pretty scary in it's failure mode. It's right up there with this contraption that is on loan from the Smithsonian to the Pima Air Museum. It was a wooden bladed helicopter backpack which the sign observed that if the pilot stumbled the blades would hit the ground and turn into lethal shrapnel.
 

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There used to be one at the Test and Evaluation museum at Pax River, but it was in pretty sad shape. Don't know if it made the move when the museum moved.

Nauga,
out of the gate
 
nauga said:
it was in pretty sad shape.
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I can only imagine what 66 years of age does to rubber (or "rubber-type materials", as purported to be used in the Inflatoplane).
 
All I could think of with that woopy plane thing was he's flying that around in the wheelchair he's going to need if he gets a hole in his envelope
 
Goodyear made twelve prototype "Inflatoplanes" between 1956 and 1959.

Goodyear Inflatoplane - Wikipedia

Goodyear Inflatoplane.jpg

It's no speedster.

Performance

  • Maximum speed: 72 mph (116 km/h, 63 kn)
  • Cruise speed: 60 mph (97 km/h, 52 kn)
  • Stall speed: 37 mph (60 km/h, 32 kn)
  • Range: 390 mi (630 km, 340 nmi)
  • Endurance: 6 hours 30 minutes
  • Service ceiling: 10,000 ft (3,000 m)
  • Rate of climb: 550 ft/min (2.8 m/s)
  • Take-off run: 250 ft (76 m) on sod
  • Take-off distance to 50 ft (15 m): 575 ft (175 m) on sod
  • Landing run: 350 ft (107 m) on sod
 
Briar Rabbit said:
https://fb.watch/beepG_8x3a/
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There was one on display at an exhibition at IAD (Dulles) in 1972, "Transpo 72" I think the event was called. I was just a teenager, but it seemed an unlikely/impractical endeavor even then.

The exhibition was a blood-bath - a formula one mid-air was a fatal, Major Joe Howard of the Thunderbirds was killed when his F4 crashed - he got out, but it didn't go well. Then a towed hang glider pilot (Australian fellow, I think) crashed, and died later from his injuries. Not sure why those few days didn't put me off flying all together. But youth is resilient.
 
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