Well, I let the first one get away, but that Popular Science issue from 1925 - pushing a century old - came in the mail a few days ago.
(Vickchick - I'm glad you got that airboat ad)
If you are near Orlando - I'd love to get that thing on my hi-rez scanner before you get it framed! Drop me a note if interested.
I scanned the article that the cover mentions - and the whole magazine was packed full of such interesting stuff!!! A whole era gone... it looks so out of place today.
There was a second article in there about airboats too....
It seems that guy from the Utah newspaper really didn't know what he was talking about... and for you history buffs, this boat was built in ENGLAND in 1923 or 1924.
I like the trick about the rudder in the water for slow maneuvering. It swings out of the way when up on plane. I'm gonna try something similar on my boat.
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The political INCORRECTNESS is downright refreshing!!!
"only American can apply" and you could order a gun C.O.D. in the mail!!!
Hmmmm.... starting to see some connections!!!
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And this article is pretty cool too.
This boat was built in the early 1920's in the USA and used by the NAVY in San Diego Bay.
Notice what appears to be a 4 masted sailing ship in the background behind that other steamer. How often have you seen a picture of an AIRBOAT in the vicinity of a sailing ship?!!??
This looks like a pretty modern airboat except for the rudder arrangement -
IN 1925!!!
From the looks of things - Sometime real soon we ought to be celebrating the 100th anniversary of the airboat!!!
ccasion4:
ccasion5:
Anyway, I'm posting these things here so that they can be on record for anyone researching the origins of the airboat. These are the earliest mentions I've been able to find.
Technical note: Rick - I'll host these on my airboatmaps.com server for as long as I can - if you'd like to make these images a more permanant part of Southern Airboat - Contact me and I'll get you the files so you can host them where the forum lives. I choose not to put these into the gallery because the way it re-sizes stuff TOO SMALL for a purpose like this.
Enjoy the history y'all.
Feel free to add on to the history with stuff you find in your own searches.
matt.
but the 2nd is probably up north somewhere , them yanks have to stay warm :lol:
