Invisible Themepark

Category: 1950s

Cutaways from the 1950s (1950 to 1959).

  • French Baroudeur SE 5000 Fighter Jet Cutaway, 1956

    French Baroudeur SE 5000 Fighter Jet Cutaway, 1956

    A nice G.H. Davis cutaway (note “France” added just above his signature) of a French Baroudeur SE-5000.

    See the landing gear on the Baroudeur?  No?  That’s because the Baroudeur (roughly translated to “adventurer”) is leaving its landing gear behind on the ground.  That’s right, the SE-5000 carried no gear, instead relying on a wheeled trolley to assist its takeoff.  It landed on grassy fields on skids.  This cutaway drawing shows the skids retracted.

    Developed for NATO, this lightweight fighter, with a range of 1,500 miles, never entered production.

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    French Baroudeur SE 5000 Fighter Jet 1956

    Source:  Popular Mechanics May 1956

  • Lark Ground-to-Air Guided Missile Cutaway, 1950

    Even though development of the Lark began during World War II, it was not finished in time to assist U.S. troops.  Development picked up again during 1946-1950, and it was used mainly for testing at sea.

    The real soul of the Lark was in its “brain”:  a set of guidance controls (shown on the cutaway), which made this 1,200 pound missile the “first U.S. surface-to-air missile ever to intercept a moving air target,” according to the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum.

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    Lark Ground to Air Guided Missile 1950

  • White House Cutaway Drawing, 1950

    The occasion for this cutaway of the White House was its $5.4 million, 2 year-long renovation project under President Harry Truman.

    By 1950, the White House was a wreck:  saggy floors, weakened beams, crumbling masonry.  The project gutted the entire inside of the house, replacing it with steel girders, but leaving the outside intact.

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    White House Cutaway Drawing 1950

    Source:  Popular Science September 1950

  • DeHavilland Comet Cutaway, 1950

    The Comet was quite a big deal when it was unveiled in 1950.  Both Popular Mechanics (Popular Mechanics’ deHavilland Comet Cutaway) and Popular Science pulled out all “cutaway stops” to feature this luxurious liner of the skies.

    Here, illustrator Jo Kotula tips the Comet to an angle rarely seen in aircraft cutaways.

    Source:  Popular Science May 1950

  • Atomic Pile Cutaway Drawing, 1950

    A gorgeous noir-like cutaway of an atomic pile by Alexander Leydenfrost.  But why does the drawing look so vague and devoid of details?

    Partially, that was the Leydenfrost style.  His Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel cutaway drawing shows that he emphasized moody shadows and light over the cool and the technical.

    But mainly, at the time of this illustration, atomic production was still a closely guarded secret.  So Leydenfront had to imagine what a pile must look like based on scant information from The Smyth Report.

    Published in July 1945, the Smyth Report, officially known as The Official Report on the Development of the Atomic Bomb Under the Auspices of the United States Government, provided a technical, though generalized, overview of the production of nuclear weapons.

    Click to Enlarge to 1609 x 766 px:

    Atomic Pile Cutaway 1950

    Source:  LIFE February 27, 1950

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