Saturday, February 11, 2017

Build a model of Anton Flettner's Rotor Ship

A fascinating design, built into an experimental ship in 1924 by Flettner and his colleagues.  The ship crossed the Atlantic to South America and then north to New York City, arriving in May 1926. Below, in the city's harbour:



The rotor proved uneconomical to operate, so the design was abandoned.  It was proposed for use in an aircraft, and has seen something of a revival in the last decade.

For a comprehensive set of articles, visit Anton Flettner.

Anyway, plans for a model below, taken from an old Popular Mechanics or Popular Science encyclopedia.



2 comments:

Unknown said...

The model plans look nice, but the model is not a true representation of the Flettner rotor. The model is a Savonius rotor driving a propeller, but the Flettner rotor does not connect with a propeller.

Mister G said...

Thanks for the note!