Legomaniac Strikes Again

You know how sometimes you just can't help yourself? Well, the urge hit me again the other day to build another wacky and improbable airplane from my Odd Duck file. This airplane is called and Autostable and was built in 1913 by persons unknown to the person posting it on the 1000 Aircraft Photos website. It was such an ungainly thing and really posed some construction issues, but I thought What the heck? and had a go at it anyway.


Well, I tried. I managed to capture the essence of the original aircraft, but of course, it was not easy. The original stick landing gear was not meant to be, so I improvised and brought it more up-to-date, making it more like a current homebuilt aircraft. All in all, it really was a fun plane to build -- frustrating, but fun.


And here's a fly-by view just to give you a feel for the design. Actually, I really like this design, now that i"ve gotten it out of my head, and wonder just what it was like to fly this thing. Was it automatically stable, as the name suggests? I suppose we'll never know.


After putting the finishing touches on the Autostable, I got this grand idea in my head for a seaplane airliner, one with seats (or lounges) in its floats. I suddenly saw it all in my head and sat right down and got to work. I had planned to finish off the last Harry Potter book today, but some things are more important.


Here is a detail shot showing the regular seating in the fuselage behind the flight deck, and the lounge seating in the floats. The lounges are accessed through tunnels in the float supports coming from the fuselage, which are also the access ways while boarding the aircraft. Hard to see here.


And last, but not least, an aerial view to give you a look at the overall design as it might be seen from another aircraft over water. The window area in the aft section of the fuselage (beneath the starboard boom and just behind the flap) is -- get this -- an aerial conference room! No amenity was overlooked in this design, let me tell you.