Waterman Whatsit
Encyclopedia
The Whatsit was a swept-wing
, tail-less airplane designed by Waldo Waterman
between 1911 (when he first got the idea) and 1932 (when the prototype was finally in testing phase). It was intended to be an aircraft which could be landed on the street, and owned by regular people.
Initial designs of the plane were unstable, and it was shelved after some modification, until 1934, when its creator noticed that it met the design specifications of a government request for an inexpensive "Model-T of the air" for the common man. The plane was then rebuilt and named the Arrowplane, which became the prototype for the production-line Arrowbile.
The original Whatsit was eventually donated to a museum.
Swept wing
A swept wing is a wing planform favored for high subsonic jet speeds first investigated by Germany during the Second World War. Since the introduction of the MiG-15 and North American F-86 which demonstrated a decisive superiority over the slower first generation of straight-wing jet fighters...
, tail-less airplane designed by Waldo Waterman
Waldo Waterman
thumb|200px|Waldo Waterman in 1920Waldo Dean Waterman was an inventor and aviation pioneer from San Diego, California...
between 1911 (when he first got the idea) and 1932 (when the prototype was finally in testing phase). It was intended to be an aircraft which could be landed on the street, and owned by regular people.
Initial designs of the plane were unstable, and it was shelved after some modification, until 1934, when its creator noticed that it met the design specifications of a government request for an inexpensive "Model-T of the air" for the common man. The plane was then rebuilt and named the Arrowplane, which became the prototype for the production-line Arrowbile.
The original Whatsit was eventually donated to a museum.