hi everyone this is jeff of taofledermaus I'm waiting for a part to
get back for one of my cameras but in the meantime I wanted to show you guys
some wild stuff that was invented in the early 1900s just a few years after the
Wright brothers first flight but none of these are aircraft they're all
ground-based vehicles of various designs designed to be driven on ice water snow
even railroad tracks the inventors at this time apparently thought that if
propulsion by a propeller was good enough for airplanes it should work
great for everything else this first vehicle called the win wagon
was basically a car frame in fact you could see the tires that he removed and
replaced with these very sketchy skates with over 100 years of hindsight of what
not to do we know that this thing is a deathtrap on many levels starting from
the back we have a very large homemade propeller that's probably eight feet in
diameter this giant swinging piece of wood is probably the biggest hazard of
all and driving that propeller is an exposed shaft if that driver was wearing
a scarf for example and that got wrapped around the shaft that would not be a
pretty inning next we got the driver himself no seat belt no helmet no safety
gear at all and finally this thing has no brakes this thing's probably capable
of going at least 50 miles an hour on that very slick ice if something
happened and you had to stop real quick well the best bet is probably to jump
off the thing and hope you don't get wound up in that propeller the next
invention is the air propelled motor sledge this was to be used for an
Antarctic expedition can you imagine being that guy in that back sled getting
blasted by that very cold air from that propeller again we have an unguarded
propeller even closer to the driver this time just inches above his head also a
lot of exposed belts and pulleys and stuff like that
this had have been absolutely miserable to ride in the noise coming from that
propeller and engine had been deafening next we have the arrow sleigh number one
which is capable of speeds of 60 miles an hour on snow at least this design has
some kind of braking device as little prongs that look like a drag on the snow
to slow you down while this is a very streamlined looking machine it's got a
high center of gravity and very narrow tracks if you turn to sharp especially
going 60 miles an hour the occupants would get ejected and probably end up in
that propeller next we have the homemade air propeller ice boat they really did
not believe in safety guards back then we got a exposed blade exposed chain or
belt or whatever it's driving that thing and nothing could be more pleasurable
than sitting behind that propwash blasting cold air right in your face but
if you're designing a vehicle for the desert maybe having a giant ten foot six
bladed propeller sitting behind you might keep you cool this thing was
capable of speeds of 50 miles an hour over sand dunes which aren't
particularly flat and smooth besides the obvious safety hazards of this
monstrosity it had a been as a military vehicle the least stealthy thing ever
invented kicking up huge amounts of dust that could be seen for miles and making
a tremendous amount of noise now if one propeller was good too ought to be
better this thing is designed to carry mail down a river it has a large flat
bottom hole and can actually float in one inch of water so in many ways this
is the predecessor to the modern airboat use in swamps and some people even
credit Alexander Graham Bell has created the first airboat seen here the ugly
duckling here we see the Curtis airboat using a more traditional boat hole but
this is a pretty good example of the fixation they had at the time trying to
use propellers to push the air rather than use a traditional water prop that
be quieter more efficient and all that and why would you send power directly to
the wheels when you could have a giant propeller on the back of your
railroad boat thingy here pedestrians beware get too close and they might blow
your hat off and take your head with it this thing kind of an early high-speed
rail was actually tested in Russia while carrying a group of Russian delegates
from Tula Russia to Moscow this thing derailed at a high speed killing seven
people including the inventor just when you thought you saw the last of the win
wagon not only could this thing could travel on wheels ice skates
it could also travel on a little barge this dude was really milking out this
win wig and trying to get it in various magazines and things but the magazine's
absolutely ate this stuff up and really influenced a lot of other inventors to
create equally dangerous machines last but certainly not least we have perhaps
the craziest invention here the air propelled unicycle cruise in the streets
of st. Louie at speeds of 67 miles an hour this dude probably got more ass in
a public toilet during a cholera outbreak I would have loved to see this
thing in action I don't know how he steers it how he breaks in all that but
this thing had a hundred and fifty pounds of thrust from that four foot
propeller driven by a three cylinder radial engine all he lacks is a giant
stereo system plane born to be wild and he could have been right up there with
the Harley dudes of today I hope you enjoyed this video thanks for watching