A Different Kind of Hybrid

摘要

In the early 1970s, Henry Smolinski, a California engineer formerly employed by North American Aviation and Rocketdyne, believed he had the solution to the intractable problem of how to combine an airplane and a car in a single vehicle. Rather than start from scratch, he thought, why not take the wings, rear engine, and tail from a Cessna Skymaster and attach them to an existing car in such a way that they could be conveniently disconnected? The Skymaster, Cessna's attempt at a twin that would be easy to control after an engine failure, had a high wing, engines at both ends of the fuselage, and tail surfaces supported on booms projecting aft from the wings. It seemed tailor-made for Smolinski's scheme, as did the Ford Pinto, an inexpensive, low-slung compact that was lighter than most American cars.