u/Serendipitian

Just an overall concentrate of (sensible) weirdness : here is the smallest nuclear submarine of the US Navy, capable of deep diving (up to 724 meters), and equipped with tandem wheels to "drive" on the seafloor for maximal discretion.

Sources :

- First image courtesy of Defense Imagery via Wikimedia Commons (primary source link broken)

- Second image courtesy of H. I. Sutton via Covert Shores, alongside most of the available information about the NR-1.

HMS Furious was odd from the start, but became increasingly so. It was initially intended as the third ship of the Courageous class, designated as a "large light cruiser". This classification may appear oxymoronic, however the concept of "light cruiser" was not dependent on displacement but on the number of main guns ; since the ships of the Courageous class were fitted with only two turrets sporting a single barrel each they fell under that category - in spite of their 240 meters of length and 20,000 tons of displacement.

It is precisely because of this curious combination of size and weapons arrangement that the Furious was selected to be refitted as an aircraft carrier during its construction : her forward turret was removed and replaced by an inclined deck stretching from the central superstructure to the bow {image 1}. This cumbersome architecture meant that while it was somewhat easy for a plane to take off, landing on the deck required pilots to approach at an angle from behind and violently swerve at the last moment after passing the superstructure. Surprisingly, one pilot was brave enough to attempt the maneuver : Edwin Harris Dunning managed to land on the moving Furious on the 2nd of August 1917. Tragically his second attempt on the 7th of the same month would prove to be fatal : at touchdown, a sideways gust of wind lurched his Sopwith Pup on the starboard side of the ship {image 2}. After this incident, no pilot would attempt to land on a ship for the rest of the First World War.

Still the Furious kept operating as an aircraft carrier, and in November 1917 her aft turret was also removed to accomodate for a second, larger deck intended to carry more planes and serve as a platform for airships {image 3}. Note that the central superstructure remained in place, which forced the parked planes to cross from one deck to the other on lateral ramps. Perhaps surprisingly the Furious actually carried out an aeronaval operation during WWI with the Tondern Raid in July 1918 (targeting airship hangars near Tønder, in southwestern Jutland). Although the aircrafts were not supposed to (and did not) return to the ship, it was considered a tactical success worthy of replication.

The lessons learned from the structural issues of HMS Furious helped develop a better architecture for aircraft carriers as early as 1918 with the launch of HMS Argus - the first carrier to feature a continuous flight deck (even though its size limited its capabilities to the training of pilots at sea). Ultimately the Furious itself would be retrofitted with a continuous deck from 1921 to 1925 {image 4}.

Although there is some leeway to interpret what the notion of an "aircraft carrier" entails, as a ship intended to launch and recover aircraft with a wheeled landing gear, HMS Furious is historically the first aircraft carrier, even if not a very successful one at first.

Sources :

- Maritime Quest - HMS Furious

- Naval Encyclopedia - HMS Furious (1917)

- Samil History - Edwin Harris Dunning

Images : (1) ; (2) ; (3) ; (4)

There seems to be a slight difference of curvature, which is consistent across all colours.

Partial recreation of this cutaway poster.

From top to bottom :

- Bloch MB.220

- Dewoitine D.338

- Lioré et Olivier LeO H-246

- Lioré et Olivier LeO H-470

As Mongolia is a landlocked nation, the Sükhbaatar III patrols lake Khövsgöl and offers tours to the public to cover its expenses. Its crew consists of seven sailors - of which it is said that only one can swim - making it the smallest naval force in the world.

(Limited) Further reading here : Shipshub - Mongolian Naval Force

Further reading : Kustomrama - Ed Roth's Road Agent

Back in 1672, the Belgian jesuit priest and mathematician Ferdinand Verbiest (1623 - 1688) designed a prototype of a steam-powered carriage relying on a "water wheel"-like mechanism. Although this solution provided only a limited amount of power, Verbiest presented a working prototype to the Chinese emperor Kangxi in 1678, which is occasionnally hailed as the first example of a motorised vehicle - even though it never amounted to anything more than a curious novelty.

Sources :

- Museo Galileo - Ferdinand Verbiest’s Steam Cart

- The fourth slide is an 18th Century print of the machine, taken from Wikimedia Commons

Nicknamed "la boîte à sel" ("the salt box") in France due to its inclined hood that was reminiscent of the kitchen appliance.

Minifigure-scale, 8084 parts.

The rate of the discrepancy seems to be roughly a half-plate for every 33 plates.

Update : Given the input of several commenters who attempted to replicate this phenomenon, it appears this is a batch-specific issue likely caused by an overworn factory mould. Therefore, this observation should not be extrapolated to all pieces of those shapes - even if it may be somewhat common.

En fouillant les archives de Tisséo Collectivités, je suis récemment retombé sur plusieurs projets avortés de liaison ferroviaire tels que la Ligne D, la Ligne F, ou encore le projet de RER Nord. C'est suivant cette impulsion que je me suis amusé à imaginer quelles lignes supplémentaires pourraient être ajoutées à cette métropole encore fort déficitaire en transports de grande capacité, en combinant propositions préexistantes et idées personnelles. Ce travail n'a rien d'une étude d'urbanisme rigoureuse et consiste davantage en un exercice créatif, mais je mentirais en prétendant qu'il ne traduit pas une authentique ambition.

I) Metro :

1. Les lignes A et B sont prolongées jusqu'à l'Union (probablement à proximité de la Grande Halle) afin de faciliter les correspondances au nord, ainsi que de les connecter à une nouvelle ligne périphérique. Aussi, le prolongement de la ligne B vers Labège est intégré comme tel ;
2. La ligne C est intégrée dans l'ensemble du schéma, avec la subtilité que son éventuel prolongement vers la zone industrielle d'En Jacca est considéré comme structurant pour permettre sa connexion à une nouvelle ligne périphérique à l'Ouest ;
3. Une ligne D est créée pour desservir la rive gauche de la Garonne, de l'oncopole jusqu'au MEETT. Fatalement, une bonne partie de son tracé suit de près celui de la ligne de tram T1, mais compense cette redondance en assurant une desserte directe de l'aéroport et du centre-ville de Blagnac (tout en renforçant la desserte de la Cartoucherie et de Purpan) ;
4. Une ligne E périphérique, la "Ligne Rose", est créée pour assurer la desserte des agglomérations de première, voire deuxième couronne sans nécessiter de passer par le centre-ville. En outre, le MEETT serait derechef directement desservi et des zones denses telles que Malepère bénéficieraient enfin d'un transport lourd en site propre. Toutefois, certaines sections de cette ligne présentent des stations très espacées, comme au niveau de Pouvourville ou à l'est de Colomiers et de l'Aéroport à cause tantôt de faible densité ou de zones d'activités dépourvues de point de ralliement majeur.

II) Tramway :

1. La ligne T1 est prolongée de deux arrêts jusqu'au Grand Rond, avec des voies de garage qui viendraient remplacer tout ou partie du parking des allées Paul Sabatier ;
2. La ligne T2 est rétablie de l'Aéroport à Palais de Justice et est prolongée jusqu'à Ramonville ;
3. Une ligne T3 est créée entre l'Aéroport et Saint-Jean, suivant la proposition de 2016 ;
4. Une ligne T4 est créée entre l'Aéroport et Ramonville, suivant une partie des tracés des deux lignes précédentes. Entre les Ponts-Jumeaux et Matabiau ce projet implique de repenser les abords du Canal du Midi, probablement en plaçant les voies de part et d'autre du canal, suivant le sens de circulation automobile actuel (ce qui nécessiterait des passerelles supplémentaires au niveau des arrêts) ;
5. Une ligne T5 est créée entre Odyssud-Ritouret et Bruguières afin d'assurer une desserte à travers la Garonne au nord de l'agglomération sans allonger exagérément la ligne T1. Un doublement ferré du pont de Gagnac est à envisager pour cette ligne ;
6. Une ligne T6 est créée entre Portet Saint-Simon et la gare de Colomiers pour renforcer la desserte de Francazal, le lycée de Tournefeuille et Plaisance du Touch. J'admets être modérément convaincu de l'intérêt de cette ligne, qui existe surtout pour remplir un espace qui était un peu vide sur le plan, et surtout de la faisabilité de sa construction dans ce qui risque fort d'être des rues étroites ;
7. Une ligne T7 est créée entre Castanet-Tolosan et Balma-Gramont, en suivant étroitement le tracé existant des sites propres des Linéo 1 et 6. Reste encore une fois le problème du passage dans des rues étroites.

III) RER (ou SERM, faut-il dire désormais) :

Le réseau de RER intégré à ce plan est repris du projet proposé par le blog Actu TER Occitanie et qui comporte 6 lignes :

1. Castelnau d'Estrétefonds <-> Baziège
2. St-Sulpice-sur-Tarn <-> Baziège
3. Brax-Léguevin <-> Carbonne
4. Castelnau d'Estrétefonds <-> Carbonne
5. St-Sulpice-sur-Tarn <-> Auterive
6. Brax-Léguevin <-> Auterive

IV) Autres projets :

La ligne Téléo est prolongée jusqu'à Basso Cambo, pour assurer une meilleure diamétralisation entre les lignes A, B et D. Un éventuel prolongement vers Montaudran n'a pas été considéré sur ce plan, mais cet omission pourrait être révisée dans une version ultérieure.

Ce plan se focalisant sur les transports "lourds" en site propre, le réseau bus n'a pas été pris en compte, mais il est évident que ces nouvelles lignes imposeraient de le repenser.

Je serais curieux de connaître vos avis et vos propositions.

Minifigure scale, 7898 parts.

With bonus Flaptor, of course.

In 1905, Louis Blériot established a partnership with Gabriel Voisin to design and build airplanes. This short-lived collaboration would result in two failures - the Type III and Type IV - and would eventually be dissolved in November 1906. The unsuccesful attempts at building viable prototypes convinced Blériot that a change in paradigm was needed to achieve a powered flight and thus - as all his previous models had been biplanes - he designed and built his first monoplane prototype.

The plane managed its center of gravity by putting the engine at the back of its fuselage, immediately next to the pilot, and extending the rest of the structure towards the front. This unorthodox configuration (even for the time), with what looked like an elongated neck protruding forwards, drove Blériot to call his prototype the "Canard" ("Duck"). Ironically, this architecture proved unstable and the operational history of the plane was mostly comprised of damages to its undercarriage. Nevertheless it managed to take off for brief periods of time on two occasions on the 5th and 9th of April 1907, starting what would end up being a very successful career for Blériot.

The Type V was by no means the first plane to feature this architecture (after all, the Wright Flyer followed the same logic), but since Blériot later became a powerhouse among aviation pioneers, it appears that his designation for this prototype became the naming convention for planes with small control surfaces in front of their main wings.

Sources :

- Vintage Aviation News : First Flight of the Blériot V Monoplane

- Louis Blériot, un véritable pionnier de l'aviation (in French)

- "Toute l'aviation" by Edmond Blanc, courtesy of Gallica (in French)

- L’Histoire de l'aviation – des origines à 1914 : 1907. Monoplan Blériot type V « Canard » (in French)

Back in 1857, French naval engineer Félix du Temple de la Croix designed a small model of a monoplane aircraft which he patented under the name "Canot Planeur" ("gliding dinghy"). This early concept (whose diagrams are featured in the third picture) was powered with a wind-up clockwork mechanism and happened to be fairly forward-thinking in how it incorporated a retractable landing gear.

A few iterations later, Félix du Temple and his brother Louis designed a full-scale version of their prototype able to seat a pilot. Their initial plans for the propulsion of the plane relied on the recently developed Lenoir gas engine (in particular the 1861 version) but this motor proved insuffiently powerful. Thus the brothers fell back on a steam-powered solution, and ended up developing a lightweight boiler efficient enough to catch the attention of the French Naval Ministry, which ordered a substantial number of them to equip its fleet.

The monoplane prototype itself apparently managed to briefly hop above the ground during a flight test in 1874 with the help of a ski glide, but not much is reported beyond this event. Félix du Temple submitted a patent in 1876 for an improved version of his boiler, described as designed "to obtain the highest possible contact surface for the smallest possible volume", and the plane itself was showcased to the public during the Paris World Fair of 1878, but it seems to have been relinquished afterwards.

Sources :

- On Verticality - Felix du Temple's Monoplane

- Century of Flight - Félix du Temple (1823 - 1900)

- L’Histoire de l’aviation – Des origines à 1914 : 1857. Canot aérien des frères du Temple de la Croix (in French)

Dans un monde meilleur, Aérospatiale aurait damé le pion aux États-Unis avec ce genre de technologie.

Concept trouvé dans "French Secret Projects 3" par Jean-Christophe Carbonel.

Image tirée de Towards Reusable Launchers - A Widening Perspective (J'ai beau fiévreusement écumer le web, je ne parviens pas à trouver une meilleure résolution pour cette illustration).

Designed by Romanian inventor Henri Coandă and built with the support of Gustave Eiffel, this prototype was publicly presented during the second "Aeronautical International Exhibition" in Paris in October 1910, and constitutes the earliest example of a motorised aircraft devoid of a propeller. At the time, turboreators had not yet been invented and thus this plane relies on a motorjet - a configuration in which the compressor of the combustion chamber is driven by a piston engine, rather than a turbine.

The title of this post oversimplifies the topic in the sense that there is no consensus whether or not this plane actually left the ground - and Coandă's later testimonies are often contradictory, especially in how they try to reframe this prototype as a precursor to modern jet engines despite the fact that they rely on completely different technical solutions. Nevertheless, it remains an interesting and ambitious oddity, even if it may not have been particularly historically relevant.

La Citröen SM a déjà été mentionnée à plusieurs reprises ici, mais jamais dans sa forme la plus quintessentiellement "Giscardpunk", tant dans l'excès que dans l'esthétique.

Voici donc la SM Proto Michelin de 1972, conçue pour tester la puissance maximale délivrable sur une voiture à traction ; en l'occurrence avec un V6 Maserati de 300 chevaux.

Source des photos (avec un peu plus d'informations) : Citroen SM Michelin : La Super SM !

Since there was significant enthusiasm shown towards the car in my previous post, I figured it would be more convenient to showcase the wheeled vehicles I made for my Adventurers revamp in a separate post.

(Slides 1 to 5) : The car I associate to the team of the protagonists is a 1931 Ford Model A Phaeton. The variant with the convertible top down is a complete afterthought for this photoshoot but I was curious as to how it would look.

(Slides 6 to 9) : The car I associate to the antagonist is a 1932 Maybach Zeppelin DS8 "Stromlinien" Spohn. The antagonist in question is supposed to be an original character but I now realise that the face I gave him makes him resemble Señor Palomar. I'll let you decide the way you choose to interpret it - after all the identity of Adventurers villains has a history of being confusing.

Virtual model ; heavily inspired by Lavishlump's Cirno Fumo.