MANAGEMENT IN AVIATION HISTORY BENCH MARKS
Above: Glenn Curtiss is considered the first to design a plausible roadable aircraſt . Photo: Glenn H. Curtiss Museum. US Patent 1294413, 2/14/1917.
TOP Right: The RoadAir was designed by a “local” resident near the Santa Monica Museum of Flying (CA), Herbert L. Trautman. It made one short hop and never flew again. US Patent 177445, 4/10/1956.
BY GIACINTA BRADLEY KOONTZ
ALMOST
I had the recent pleasure to meet Mike Machat, newly appointed Curator of the Santa Monica Museum of Flying. Mike has always been interested in the preservation of American aviation history but is most famous as an aviation artist and accomplished pilot. I will soon visit the museum to see for myself the aircraft and exhibits which are pertinent to Southern California. Among them is the shiny, light
blue, RoadAir, built in 1959 by Herbert L. Trautman [1897-1988], a prolifi c inventor of diverse gadgets and tools. With a background working at the nearby Douglas Aircraft Company, Trautman designed his one-of-a-kind, RoadAir. If the RoadAir were painted
black, it would resemble the fi ctional Batmobile. Fifteen feet long and seven
6
DOMmagazine.com | nov 2019
ROADABLE AIRCRAFT An airplane capable of being transformed into an automobile by removed or folded wings and tail. Miriam Webster Dictionary 2019
feet wide, the sleek, futuristic fl ying car is supported on a tricycle gear. On the road, Trautman expected the RoadAir to achieve 75mph, and 90mph in fl ight. The monoplane wings unfold from the body of the RoadAir to a width of 25 feet. Had the RoadAir gone into production, Trautman planned to off er it at $10,000. Troutman made the fi rst test fl ight, taxiing easily down the runway until the RoadAir lifted three feet off the ground. Within a few frightening seconds Trautman lost control of the machine, making a forced landing. Man, and machine survived with little damage. However, this was apparently enough to convince Trautman to retire the RoadAir indefi nitely. In 2015 the RoadAir was placed on loan to the Santa Monica Museum of Flying.
I wondered how many prior attempts had been made to build a fl ying car and discovered the list compiled online by the researchers for
Roadables.com, which appears to be a thorough, albeit anonymous, source. Of the (apparently) one hundred attempts to build a fl ying car, I focused on those made by early American aviation pioneers with whom I am familiar, beginning with Glenn Hammond Curtiss [1878-1930].
FIRST – ALMOST A native of New York, Curtiss was originally famous for racing and manufacturing motorcycles and designing engines. By 1915, with facilities at North Island near San Diego, CA, and Hammondsport, NY, Curtiss had developed various
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