Popular Science looks at adverts for DIY projects that graced its back pages. The pièce de résistance of the lot is, no contest, the Space Ranger flying platform.
I remember seeing this as a lad and wondering if the most likely outcome of building one was a) crashing to the ground with a sickening thud, b) flipping over and mid air and returning to earth independently with the platform following a second later, c) vanishing in a propane-fuelled fireball that the neighbours would talk about for years or d) sitting anchored solidly to the earth as the sputtering thrusters set fire to the dandelions while fervently hoping that nobody was watching.
It was originally proposed as a military recon platform, leading most likely to
ReplyDeletee) Getting shot to pieces by the enemy when the god-awful roar of the engine advertised your position to everybody within a five-mile radius.
What all of the proponents neglected to mention was that it only carried enough fuel for about two minutes "air time". Just long enough to climb above the treeline and get hit by a MANPAD, in other words.
cheers
eon