Craziest Flying Machine Ever Built

Link Scroll down for today's pictures & links. Craziest Flying Machine Ever Built This ungainly combination of four helicopters and one huge military airship, the Piasecki PA97 Helistat, takes the prize as probably the most ill-conceived and poorly-executed flying machine concept in history. Check out the flimsy metal work by which all these heavy helicopters were attached to a helium blimp's body: apparently they did not expect the sort of vibration that choppers would produce... and the whole bizarre structure crumbles (predictably) to the ground. Link All four helicopters were remotely controlled by a single pilot; "the combination of a large blimp with powered lift made the 343 feet (104.57 m) long helistat the largest dynamic lift aircraft in the world." - more info. Today's pictures & links: Do you recognize this future? This is our smartphone future, as imagined in 1930 (image via) See more predictions in the "Technikträume um 1900" series on Spiegel.de. ------------ "The Beetle Sphere", by Ichwan Noor Jakatara-based sculptor Ichwan Noor has come up with a giant sculpture of a 1953 Volkswagen Beetle, all crumpled up into a ball: (image via) ------------ Beautiful, Evocative Photograph of New York in 1944 Almost as good as time travel... check out the hustle, color and (one can almost hear the din and noise) bustle of everyday life in New York City: click to enlarge - (click to enlarge; image via) Check even out even more 1940s New York on this great page. ------------ Mixed fresh links for today: International Space Station Toolbox - [geek tech] Construction of a Mega-Ship - [awesome photos] The harrowing story of how Vladimir Putin "stole a ring" - [strange] Two Churches Go on a Vendetta - [funny, pics] How to Take Control of a Mega Yacht - [by faking GPS signals] The Mystery of the "Pulp Fiction" Suitcase - [weird article] This is almost as good as the "Great Escape" movie - [true story] Incredible Camouflaged Animals - [wow nature] The Billionaire Who's Trying to Go Broke - [amazing] Purple, Beautiful, Royal Starfish - [wow nature] Soon? Open-source Airplane Costs Only $15,000 - [geek tech] This is what happens inside a forest fire - [wow video] Cat stuck to a balloon, mystified... - [fun video] This Rocket Goes Up... and Down (as intended) - [wow video] Young Al Bano & Romina Power: Beautiful Song - [music video] Most Bizarre Fishing Lures - [strange, hobby] Most Outrageous Textbook Blunders - [weird] Most Beautiful Mosques in the World - [architecture] ------------ American Grill Restaurant in 1918 Russia! Seen in Vladivostok, where at the time Americans (and American military) could be seen quite frequently: (left image via, right image credit: Heritage Auctions) On the right you can see completely unique currency: "American Grill Roubles" "While we are not completely certain, this appears to be one of the few numismatic artifacts extant from one of America's forgotten military adventures, the dispatch of American armed forces to Siberia at the close of World War I to aid the White armies fighting the Soviets during the Russian Revolution. American and British troops were landed at Vladivostok where they were garrisoned for over a year, largely abandoned by the Wilson administration and eventually withdrawn after it became apparent that the Red Army was going to assume control over all Russia despite American misgivings. This piece, from the "American Grill," dates from the American occupation of Vladivostok in 1919" ------------ Pink Panther featured a pretty rad car: "Pink Pistons" on steroids (image credit: Robson Kay via Bloomberg.com) This is the original "Pink Panther" car created for the 1970s TV show, by designer Jay Ohrberg (who was also responsible for the groovy 1960s Batmobile). ------------ Beautiful Hobbiton-like Trailer This truly adorable tiny travel trailer is a DIY project, discovered at this thread. Here is the full album of how it was made. (image via) For more of the wonderful ideas of designing and building a "Hobbit-like" house, check out our popular article Environmentally-Friendly Houses: ------------ Gorgeous Hard SF Space Art This is the latest work by Swedish concept artist Andree Wallin: featuring neat detail and a total Robert A. Heinlein "Golden Age" of Space Sci-Fi feel. Almost could be an illustration to Heinlein's classic story "The Green Hills of Earth": (click image to enlarge, art credit: Andree Wallin) ------------ Niteroi Contemporary Art Museum, Rio de Janeiro Did it just land, or is it about to get launched? - (image via) ------------ Catching up! (illustration by David Plunkert for the "Runner’s World", via) ------------ This is U.S. Debt, Visualized Quite impressive! $16, 394 TRILLION. (image via) See the whole series of pictures, including the "World Debt Visualized" here. ------------ Seriously Weird Graffiti Spotted Poor Mickey! The mouse got deconstructed, with psychedelic and vicious overtones: Graffiti by Nichos, The Weird ------------ "Peace to the World, and Death to Imperialism!" This propaganda car was going around Soviet villages in the early 1960s: (image via) ------------ Best way to make spaghetti, period (original unknown) READ THE PREVIOUS ISSUE -> READ ALL BISCOTTI ISSUES HERE -> Make sure to check our daily updates on Facebook!