British RAF Typhoon Fighter Cutaway Drawing, 1944

  The RAF’s Typhoon was termed an “Engine With Wings” by Popular Science because of its 2,200 horsepower, 24 cylinder power plant–a massive engine at the time. The Typhoon carried four 20 mm cannon.  With its capacity for carrying two 500 lb. bombs, one under each wing, the Typhoon could be a fighter-bomber as well… Continue reading British RAF Typhoon Fighter Cutaway Drawing, 1944

British R.A.F. Mosquito Cutaway Drawing, 1943

  The R.A.F. Mosquito was a zippy, nimble aircraft, its fuselage built of plywood on a balsa wood core and its wings made of spruce and birch.  Other than mechanical working parts, this made the Mosquito nearly all wood. The Mosquito’s crew of two could take the 18,500 lb. craft to relatively low altitudes to… Continue reading British R.A.F. Mosquito Cutaway Drawing, 1943

Yestermen With Titanium Balls: F. Bert Farquharson at the Tacoma Narrows Bridge, 1940

What to call these men who, in decades past, did fearsome things for a purpose and did so with utter aplomb?  While dangerously close to yes men, the term yestermen works for me. He’s the man who saves the woman from falling off of Mt. Rushmore–all without taking off his tie.  The polar opposite would… Continue reading Yestermen With Titanium Balls: F. Bert Farquharson at the Tacoma Narrows Bridge, 1940

Office Ventilation Cutaway, ca 1940s

One of the great things about the old Fortune magazine was how it often treated extremely mundane subjects with great wonder and awe.  Not only would they profile the high-level anticts of John D. Rockefeller, William Randolph Hearst, and Henry Ford, but they would take things down to the opposite end of the spectrum and… Continue reading Office Ventilation Cutaway, ca 1940s

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… Continue reading Hotel Cutaway Drawing, 1947