Tag Archives: Smithsonian

No. 30, is that you?

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At the turn of the 20th Century, the U.S. Army fielded an impressive array of “disappearing” guns along the American seacoast and few remain. In all, the Army would order some 75 “super heavy” 12-inch disappearing guns, 128 slightly smaller 10-inch guns on similar mounts, 64 8-inch disappearing guns, and the most common type: 152 assorted 6-inch models.

Of the Army’s mixed bag of 419 disappearing guns in various sizes, just four survive in the U.S. today still mounted on disappearing carriages. Two 10-inch guns are currently located at Battery Worth at Fort Casey on Whidbey Island, Washington, and a pair of remaining 6-inch “sister” guns are installed at two locations 2,200 miles apart– one at Battery Chamberlin on the Presidio in San Francisco and the other at Battery Cooper on Fort Pickens near Pensacola, Florida.

I recently visited with the latter and delved into its strange history.

I present to you, a 6-inch rapid-fire rifled gun, Model of 1905, Serial No. 30, on Disappearing Carriage, Model of 1903, located at Battery Cooper near Fort Pickens on Santa Rosa Island in West Florida, just a few miles off Pensacola Beach. Once common, it is one of just two still in existence in the country in its original format.

More in my column at Guns.com.

Meet the Inflate-o-plane!

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An early idea to help evac pilots lost behind the lines before C-SAR helicopters made it a lick, the 700-pound Goodyear Inflatoplane could be airdropped and, providing the pilot had some spare time on his hands and 250 feet of clear sod could pump it up and fly home.

According to the Smithsonian:

The Inflatoplane’s performance was comparable to that of a J3 Cub. The airplane was wheeled out like a wheelbarrow and inflated in about 5 minutes using less air pressure than a car tire. The two-cycle 40-hp Nelson engine had to be hand-started and held 20 gallons of fuel.

The Inflatoplane carried a maximum weight of 240 lb., had a range of 390 mi., and an endurance of 6.5 hr.s. Its cruise speed was 60 mph. Take off distance on sod was 250 ft with 575 ft needed to clear a 50-foot obstacle. It landed in 350 ft on sod. Rate of climb was 550 ft per min. Its service ceiling was estimated at 10,000 ft.

Twelve Inflatoplanes were designed and built in less than twelve weeks. Development, testing, and evaluation of the inflatable airplane continued through 1972 and the project was canceled in 1973. Goodyear donated two Inflatoplanes, one to the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia, and one to the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.

The aircraft is in storage at the Garber Restoration Facility.

More here