What do you do with a cutaway hotel? I haven’t the faintest idea. I tossed together some amateur motion-tracking shots and a soundtrack to come up with this.
Author: Lee Wallender
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Scorpene Submarine Cutaway
We have a rather nice cutaway of the Scorpene submarine from Defense Industry Daily. We also have an extra-large cutaway of the entire Scorpene submarine.
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Hotel Cutaway Drawing, 1947
This great cutaway originally comes from a July 5, 1947 Saturday Evening Post ad for Armstrong’s Industrial Insulation. For an extra-sized view, click here and then click a second time on the magnifying glass.
The ad says, in part:
When you look behind the scenes, a modern hotel is an astounding place. Few guests appreciate that their comfort demands such a complex and highly mechanized institution. The men (1) who ordered ice probably don’t know that there’s a complete ice-making plant (12) hidden away in the basement. The dancers in the ballroom (5) don’t stop to think what it takes to provide air conditioning (11). Touch a spigot (2) and ice water spurts out. Turn a valve (4) and heat is waiting. Heat and cold flow through the hotel like lifeblood in its veins. Insulation on the pipes makes it economically possible to put heat and cold where they are needed.
Cutaways don’t get any better than this one. I’m trying to be an upright and honest Web citizen, but I cannot find the attribution for this photo. Here is the original source.
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Hiding Space in HVAC Vent? Interesting But Still a Dumb Idea.
Hidden compartments in houses take all shapes and forms: electrical outlets, hollow books, fake CDs, false cabinet fronts. But what about the heating system? Any dope dealer or jewel thief will tell you that it's easy enough to unscrew the heating register (grille) and stow drugs or diamonds in the metal ductwork. You can improve on this by taping the stash to the top of the duct or even using magnets. Anybody who has ever watched the TV series Breaking Bad knows that Walter White, for a period, tapes his cash to the inside of the heating register. But what about creating a dedicated HVAC compartment?
Hidden Safes, Inc. offers an HVAC vent hiding compartment, and they say that it
...opens like a drawbridge revealing the Secret compartment. The air vent secret compartment comes completely assembled with 2 removable shelves, and 4 fasteners. Simply cut a hole in the drywall or paneling using a razor knife or hacksaw blade and put 4 screws in and you’re finished!
Flaws With This System
Nice idea. But other than the high cost of $259.95 + $15 shipping, I see a few flaws:- Is this supposed to be an HVAC return? A return is a large vent that sucks room air back into the system, so that it can be recirculated. Thus...
- If the heat or AC is running, any perceptive thief or lawman will notice that no air is being pulled into vent.
- If it's not a return, it's a register. Except registers are located in floors or ceilings. That's because ducts cannot run through walls.
- This product requires that you cut space for an entirely new vent. While it's unlikely that anyone will be counting air vents in your rooms, why not try to be as exact about this as possible?
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Closeup of Flying Boat (Generic) Cutaway, 1935
Looking inside the Popular Mechanics 1935 “Flying Boat”:
Kitchen
Welsh rarebit coming right up. Note the ladder leading up to the wing.
Bar
The cover is sharp and crystal-clear. It’s my scanner that blurred the picture. A real-life bartender whipping up a gin gimlet for a guy in a suit.
Sleeping Quarters
Except for those bunk beds, which you are undoubtedly sharing with a stranger, a most civilized way to travel.
