The Inflatoplane

Developed by Goodyear in the 1950s, the Inflatoplane could fit in the trunk of a car, and then be inflated to full size in 10 minutes. The idea was that the air force could drop inflatoplanes to pilots stranded in enemy territory, allowing them to fly themselves to safety. But the project was eventually abandoned because of a series of accidents, and the military's concern that the plane could too easily be shot down. Link: bendbulletin.com

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Alex Boese Alex is the creator and curator of the Museum of Hoaxes. He's also the author of various weird, non-fiction, science-themed books such as Elephants on Acid and Psychedelic Apes. Paul Di Filippo Paul has been paid to put weird ideas into fictional form for over forty years, in his career as a noted science fiction writer. Contact Us

Posted By: Alex - Wed Aug 15, 2012
Category: Inventions | Military | Air Travel and Airlines

Comments

Sounded like a plan! Better to let the pilots get captured, tortured, and killed than be given a chance to GTFOOD.

Posted by Expat47 in Athens, Greece on 08/15/12 at 11:44 AM

It would be neat to have one of those in the trunk of your car. Road out? No problem!

Posted by Harvey on 08/15/12 at 01:45 PM

An idea that probably won't make a return what with the rise of the drones - no pilot, no casualty.

Posted by KDP on 08/15/12 at 03:19 PM

Inflatable planes would be much easier to shoot down, but it would be better than nothing as Expat said.

Posted by Patty in Ohio, USA on 08/15/12 at 07:36 PM

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