Saturday, January 19, 2008

Personal Helicopter (1943)


This 1943 rendering of a personal helicopter by Alex S. Tremulis appears in the book Yesterday's Tomorrows: Past Visions of the American Future by Joseph J. Corn and Brian Horrigan. The caption from the book is below.
This concept for a high-speed personal helicopter was an early expression of what would become in the years immediately after World War II an extremely popular vision of the future. To many observers, the helicopter seemed to promise wings for city dwellers who might land atop their apartments or office buildings. Unfortunately, helicopters were - and remain - difficult to fly, relatively unsafe, noisy, and energy inefficient.

See also:
Commuter Helicopter (1947)
Transportation in 2000 A.D. (1966)
Vision (Clip 2, 1993)
Nazi Paleo-Futurism (1941)
Year 2000 Time Capsule (1958)
New York in 1960 (1935)
Closer Than We Think! Throw-Away Clothes (1959)
Automobiles Without Wheels (1958)

3 comments:

Greg said...

I still have my original copy from the 80s....great book...and they had a traveling exhibit as well...saw it at the Oakland Art museum...

Anonymous said...

Congrats on your book.

I LOVE the contra-rotating rotors....

Anonymous said...

That blog is great. Thanks a lot!!

Antonio