Popular Science Monthly 



Vol. 92 

 No. 5 



225 West Thirty-ninth Street, New York City 



May, 1918 



$1.50 



Annually 



Using a Ford as an Airplane-Tender 



It could be done if the tender were designed 

 to offer the least possible resistance to the air 



Bv Carl Dienstbach 



FROM afar comes the rolling thunder 

 of the field guns, heavy blasts mark- 

 ing the rhythm of the heavy artil- 

 lery. The sharp staccato of the machine 

 guns and the spiteful cracking of the rifles 

 cannot be heard so far behind the battle 

 line. Undisturbed by the distant din 

 and turmoil the birds are singing, feed- 

 ing and making love as if there were 

 no such things as bloody war and de- 

 struction. 



Suddenly their singing, twittering and 

 chirping cease. Their sharp ear has 

 heard a strange sound to which it has not 

 yet become accustomed as it has to the 

 distant din of battle. It is a whirring 

 sound, at first faint, yet sharp and per- 

 sistent. As it approaches it becomes 

 louder and more terrifying. The birds 

 flutter around and seek shelter. 



A few moments later an airplane of a 

 strange type appears above the treetops, 

 makes a sharp curve and, with a graceful 

 glide, comes to rest upon the clearing 

 which crowns the top of the hill. It is a 

 huge monster. Wings 

 of great expanse and 

 a tail in proportion 

 rest upon a strange big 

 body, streamlined and 

 pro\ided with wheels. 

 The pilot and his ma- 

 chinist descend and 

 from somewhere four 

 other men, wearing sol- 

 diers' uniforms swarm 

 out of the body of the big 

 monster. There is some hurried activity 

 and after a few minutes the big body is de- 



Covered driver's 

 seat 



WirvJshield lowered 

 dvjrir\g -flight 



Alumirxum 

 covered bonnet 



Diagram showin< 

 lining a Ford for 



tached from the airplane, which then, 

 greatly lightened, is ready for its return 

 journey. The pilot and the machinist 

 clamber to their respective places, a 

 hearty "Good luck!" a wave of the hand, 

 and, with a short run the machine rises 

 from the ground and quickly disappears 

 behind the treetops flying in the direction 

 from which it had come a short time 

 before. 



The body of the monster, relieved by 

 the busy hands of the soldiers of its 

 streamlining shell of canvas and alu- 

 minum, proves to be a Ford, carrying 

 two machine guns and a load of ammuni- 

 tion and provisions, in addition to the 

 gasoline required for a long trip. The 

 shell is folded up and loaded on the car 

 by three of the men, while the fourth is 

 busy around the engine, putting it in 

 shape for an immediate start. Five 

 minutes later the Ford is mounted by the 

 four soldiers and chug-chugs away in the 

 direction of the battlefront. 



The scene pictured in the preceding 

 lines is merely imag- 



Body With load inary, but it may 



covered w,th canvas ^^^^^^ ^Ctual, if the 



/5Kart\taiiof suggestion of L. R. 

 Carroll, of Roundup, 

 Montana, is adopted 

 and carried through by 

 the government. 



The giant flyers of to- 

 day have ample lifting 

 power to carry a Ford 

 together with its cargo. 

 Aerial transportation does not balk at the 

 weight to be carried, but at the indifferently 



X(:lothor> light 

 framirx^ 



Motor 



Covered wKeel 



\ method of stream- 

 easy transportation 



643 



