The Weird World of Folk Aviators
With his whimsical sculptures, Gregory Bryant celebrates early ideas about winged flight.
- By Rebecca Maksel
- Air & Space magazine, May 2012
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Carolyn Russo, NASM
Bryant has been with the Museum since 1978, and with the Registrar's office since 1997. "The Registrar's office maintains the legal documentation that supports our title to the objects in our collection. My position," says Bryant, "gives me a comprehensive overview of our holdings, from 19th century Chinese kites, to our V-2 missile, to balloon memorabilia to artifacts from the space station."
Inspired by the folk aviators he has researched, in his spare time Bryant is writing a fantasy novel incorporating lighter-than-air concepts.
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Comments (2)
Someone should try to build one of these vehicles to see if it actually flies. Some of them really do look as if they could.
Posted by Gray Stanback on June 4,2012 | 06:20 PM
I think I understand what the designers were going for in 10 of 13. (Proto-helicopter)
The mattress thing is probably a deflector to protect the pilot and props from rotor wash and anything its vortex would pull down into them (or pull the vehicle up into) One of the other propellers looks like a pusher or tractor prop, and the other one is probably for steering, since I don't imagine steering the main rotor looks to be an option.
Why I can imagine those features so clearly is either a sign of my total misunderstanding of aerodynamics or a sign of truly deranged thinking. Either way, an amazing set of designs from dreamers.
Posted by Travis Taylor on June 22,2012 | 02:49 PM