Heavy Metal
- Thread starter amazinblue82
- Start date
I was reading in a magazine recently about the introduction of the portholes by Buick. In '49 I think.... In the article they mentioned all of the copies put on so many cars today. I agree with you, they look... bad!!
I like to catch the guys with stick on ventiports on their cars... "I like Buicks too... which one do you wish this was?"
The vents: then
In 1948, Joe Funk, a modeler for Buick, got the OK from Buick’s head of design, Ned Nickles, to cut a set of holes in the fenders of Nickles’ Roadmaster convertible and fit them with lights hooked up to the distributor; they glowed amber when a cylinder fired, like the fire-spitting exhaust of a fighter plane.
His supervisor, manufacturing manager Edward Ragsdale, chastised him for “ruining” his new car, but Buick general manager Harlow Curtice liked the look. In fact, he ordered the holes added to the ’49 model year Roadmasters, even though they were seven short months away from production.
The portholes, branded “Cruiser-Line Ventiports” by GM’s marketing, didn’t come with amber lights like Nickles’ car, but they did act as heat extractors—at least on the 1949 Buicks they did.
The next year they moved from the fenders to the hood’s sides but no longer functioned as vents, closed up after owners complained kids were stuffing things in their cars’ engine compartments.
(This Russell Brockbank cartoon, which inspired the Ventiports’ “mouseholes” nickname, points to another reason they may have been shut up.)
Design Icons: The reason Buick’s portholes are no longer functional - Autofocus.caIn 1948, Joe Funk, a modeler for Buick, got the OK from Buick’s head of design, Ned Nickles, to cut a set of holes in the fenders of Nickles’ Roadmaster convertible and fit them with lights hooked up to the distributor; they glowed amber when a cylinder fired, like the fire-spitting exhaust of a fighter plane.
His supervisor, manufacturing manager Edward Ragsdale, chastised him for “ruining” his new car, but Buick general manager Harlow Curtice liked the look. In fact, he ordered the holes added to the ’49 model year Roadmasters, even though they were seven short months away from production.
The portholes, branded “Cruiser-Line Ventiports” by GM’s marketing, didn’t come with amber lights like Nickles’ car, but they did act as heat extractors—at least on the 1949 Buicks they did.
The next year they moved from the fenders to the hood’s sides but no longer functioned as vents, closed up after owners complained kids were stuffing things in their cars’ engine compartments.
(This Russell Brockbank cartoon, which inspired the Ventiports’ “mouseholes” nickname, points to another reason they may have been shut up.)
That's exactly what the article I read said!! It must have been quoting the same source.
cm23uoc
Old Man with a Hat
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It showed up consistently on different sources for decades, confirmed by head Designers then still alive, so pretty surely true that way.
Specifications
- Length: 17.0 metres (55 feet 9 inches)
- Width: 6.06 meters (19 feet 11 inches)
- Height (wheels retracted): 3.7 meters (12 feet)
- Height (wheels extended): 4.9 meters (16 feet)
- Fully loaded Weight: 34,000 kg (75,000 lb)
- Range: 5,000 miles (8,000 km)
- Maximum Speed: 48 km/hour (30 miles/hour)
- Self-Sufficiency: 1 year under the most extreme conditions
- Fuel Capacity: 9,463 liters (2,500 US gallons) stored under the floor
- Additional Fuel Capacity: 3,785 liters (1,000 US gallons) stored on the roof, to be used by the plane
- Crew Size: 5 people
- Estimated Final Cost: $300,000
- Cabin Compartments: control cabin, machine shop, combination kitchen/darkroom, storage for fuel, food, two spare tires
Powertrain Configuration: Diesel-Electric Hybrid (2 diesel engines, 2 generators, 4 electric motors)
Diesel Engine Model: Cummins H-6 engine
Diesel Engine Power Rating: 112 kW (150 horsepower) @ 1800 rpm – 224 kW (300 horsepower) total combined power for 2 engines
Diesel Engine Configuration: 6-cylinder inline; naturally aspirated
Diesel Engine Displacement: 11.0 liters (672 cubic inches)
Diesel Engine Bore and Stroke: 124 mm (4 7/8 inch) bore x 152 mm (6.0 in) stroke
Electric Generator Manufacturer: General Electric
Electric Drive Motor Manufacturer: General Electric
Electric Drive Motor Power Rating: 56 kW (75 horsepower) – 224 kW (300 horsepower) total combined power for 4 motors
Tire Manufacturer: Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company
Tire Dimensions: 3,048 mm (120.0 in) outer diameter x 1,676 mm (66.0 in) inner diameter x 851 mm (33.5 in) width
Lotta cool information/photos here: The Antarctic Snow Cruiser
In 1939, scientists and engineers at Chicago’s Armour Institute of Technology designed and built a massive new vehicle intended for use in Antarctic exploration. The Antarctic Snow Cruiser measured 55 feet long, weighed more than 37 tons fully loaded, and rolled on four smooth 10-foot-tall tires designed to retract and allow part of the vehicle to scoot across crevasses.
The Institute loaned the $150,000 machine to the U.S. government for its upcoming Antarctic expedition headed by Rear Admiral Richard Byrd, and had the Snow Cruiser driven from Chicago to Boston (at a top speed of 30 mph) to be loaded on the ship the North Star. The crew managed to deliver the Snow Cruiser to the Antarctic ice, but the design proved faulty, and the vehicle was soon converted to a stationary crew quarters, never to leave Antarctica again.
The diesel-electric hybrid powertrain was severely underpowered, and the smooth tires, designed for swampy terrain, offered very little traction, sinking into the snow. More than 75 years later, the world is still unsure where it is—the Antarctic Snow Cruiser could remain buried somewhere under sheets of ice, or it could have broken off with an ice floe, eventually sinking to the bottom of the ocean.
The Institute loaned the $150,000 machine to the U.S. government for its upcoming Antarctic expedition headed by Rear Admiral Richard Byrd, and had the Snow Cruiser driven from Chicago to Boston (at a top speed of 30 mph) to be loaded on the ship the North Star. The crew managed to deliver the Snow Cruiser to the Antarctic ice, but the design proved faulty, and the vehicle was soon converted to a stationary crew quarters, never to leave Antarctica again.
The diesel-electric hybrid powertrain was severely underpowered, and the smooth tires, designed for swampy terrain, offered very little traction, sinking into the snow. More than 75 years later, the world is still unsure where it is—the Antarctic Snow Cruiser could remain buried somewhere under sheets of ice, or it could have broken off with an ice floe, eventually sinking to the bottom of the ocean.
65sporty
Old Man with a Hat
That is cool, I will have to read those other articles about it. Just breezing over what you posted it sounds like it may have been a epic fail for what it was intended for.
65Fury440
Senior Member
OOPS!
yes sir.. hope you get to read the stuff.
and yes, an EPIC engineering fail. its Achilles Heel, despite remarkable advanced features at the time, is most obvious in the 65Fury440 vid at #349"
Just think of where it had to operate ..and just look at it. Dont overlook the forest for the trees
Miss America IX. Built 1931. First boat to do 100MPH
Lost, Found, Restored. Original powered by two packard V12's, today two GM Rat 427s. Vid is a hoot .. POV from behind the wheel. Its loud so careful at work.
More info and story:
Charles Mistele - Miss America IX | Hagerty Articles
Lost, Found, Restored. Original powered by two packard V12's, today two GM Rat 427s. Vid is a hoot .. POV from behind the wheel. Its loud so careful at work.
More info and story:
Charles Mistele - Miss America IX | Hagerty Articles
I'd rather hear her with two V12's... but still cool.
Suprised never had this plane here. Please .. no politics on this one .. just the hardware
My aerospace buddies say this is pretty good performance for a 747 .. those who really know say its UNDERSTATED. Nobody says its a Mach 1 airframe tho (need to nosedive to do it, then stuff starts coming off the plane).
My aerospace buddies say this is pretty good performance for a 747 .. those who really know say its UNDERSTATED. Nobody says its a Mach 1 airframe tho (need to nosedive to do it, then stuff starts coming off the plane).
General characteristics (Source: Boeing VC-25 - Wikipedia)
Crew: 26: 2 pilots, flight engineer, navigator,[3] and cabin crew
Capacity: 76 passengers
Length: 231 ft 10 in (70.6 m)
Wingspan: 195 ft 8 in (59.6 m)
Height: 63 ft 5 in (19.3 m)
Max. takeoff weight: 833,000 lb (375,000 kg)
Zero fuel weight: 526,500 lb (238,800 kg)
Powerplant: 4 × General Electric CF6-80C2B1 turbofans, 56,700 lbf (250 kN) each
Performance
Maximum speed: Mach 0.92 (630 mph, 1,015 km/h) at 35,000 ft altitude
Cruise speed: Mach 0.84 (575 mph, 925 km/h) at 35,000 ft altitude
Range: 6,800 nmi (7,800 mi, 13,000 km)
Service ceiling: 45,100 ft (13,700 m)
Crew: 26: 2 pilots, flight engineer, navigator,[3] and cabin crew
Capacity: 76 passengers
Length: 231 ft 10 in (70.6 m)
Wingspan: 195 ft 8 in (59.6 m)
Height: 63 ft 5 in (19.3 m)
Max. takeoff weight: 833,000 lb (375,000 kg)
Zero fuel weight: 526,500 lb (238,800 kg)
Powerplant: 4 × General Electric CF6-80C2B1 turbofans, 56,700 lbf (250 kN) each
Performance
Maximum speed: Mach 0.92 (630 mph, 1,015 km/h) at 35,000 ft altitude
Cruise speed: Mach 0.84 (575 mph, 925 km/h) at 35,000 ft altitude
Range: 6,800 nmi (7,800 mi, 13,000 km)
Service ceiling: 45,100 ft (13,700 m)
I'd rather hear her with two V12's... but still cool.
couple things:
an auction piece for Miss America VIII (8). kinda "salesman-ish" Mecum piece.. but interesting. Obscure reference to Offenhauser was something i didnt know.
Miss America X (10)
Miss America IX (9) With its Packards (first 70 Seconds have it running
Different but related. Just a cool sled. 1937 Packard Vert, V12
This one is so cool i probably have it here already. To Do it justice, gotta play it LOUD.
The Blackbird is here .. I just found something new. 10 fun facts. Friggin' LOVE this plane.
A piece from Finland. I picked it for the slo-mo mid-section. Between 2:50 and 3:00 mark at finish line, i saw something I NEVER knew but read about later .. see IF you notice what I saw
hey, that thing has a Hemi. You all know this ... I am always fascinated tho. 13 minutes, goes by fast. Popular Mechanics -- so it almost makes ya smarter.
300rag
It's Not Going to Shift Itself
The vortex?
