Palomar Observatory Cutaway 1947

Famed Palomar Observatory, just outside of San Diego, CA, had not yet been finished at the time this cutaway drawing was published. The drawing shows the observatory’s massive 200-inch mirror that, at that moment, was being finished at optical labs at Cal Tech, Pasadena, CA.  The disk of glass was 17 feet in diameter, and… Continue reading Palomar Observatory Cutaway 1947

Consolidated Vultee Clipper (PanAm) Cutaway, 1945

I’m not certain when this Rolf Klep cutaway was produced, but the magazine text mentions that V-E Day was upcoming, so I’ll put it at 1945. This 160 ton aircraft was expected to be able to take 200 passengers from New York to London in 9 hours. Consolidated ventured that it would build about 15… Continue reading Consolidated Vultee Clipper (PanAm) Cutaway, 1945

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

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

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