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Admiral Byrd's hybrid motorhome.

By Leigh Dorrington: Admiral Richard Byrd was called up by President Roosevelt himself in the days immediately before WWII, and ordered to Antarctica to survey and claim the area in a real life “race with Nazi scientists.” Admiral Byrd’s Snow Cruiser was a mobile laboratory and barracks built in 1939 to support four men for up to a year in Antarctica. The 55-foot behemoth was powered by two 150 hp six-cylinder diesel engines driving electric generators that powered 75 hp General Electric motors mounted in the hub of each wheel—a gasoline-electric hybrid. Each tire was 10-feet tall and an airplane rode on top of the Cruiser. Here, the completed vehicle pitched into a ditch in October 1939, near Delphos Ohio, where it drew crowds for several days, before being loaded onto Byrd's ship bound for Antarctica.

editor: learn more at The Foggiest Notion & a nice video at Critical Past

Publié:
mercredi janvier 11th, 2012
Inconnu
20 Janvier 2012, 11:05
We are just completing the restoration of Admiral Byrd's 1924 Willys-Knight after finding it in an antique shop in Maine in very poor condition. It had been pulled out of a shed on Byrd's estate at Tunk Lake in Maine. With any luck it will debut at the Rally of the Giants at Knebworth in July.
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Inconnu
13 Janvier 2012, 01:31
David,

The report states- "By the early 1960s the ice sheet supporting the Snow Cruiser had migrated seaward and broken off. By all accounts, Dr. Poulter’s hopeful but impractical invention now lies at the bottom of the Ross Sea. There will never be another vehicle like her."

Tony.
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Inconnu
12 Janvier 2012, 21:26
David,

Read the page that appears when you click "The Foggiest Notion" link and all will be revealed.
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David Barker
12 Janvier 2012, 17:36
What happened to it? Does it still exist in some museum in the States, or is it entombed somewhere in Antarctica, or did the ship sink taking the behemoth with it?
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Inconnu
12 Janvier 2012, 16:37
I repeat: his name was NOT Robert, but Richard. And he was also an early collector of antique cars. So please give him the honour and set his name right.

Oliver
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Inconnu
12 Janvier 2012, 10:32
Ahem....his name was Richard Evelyn Byrd, not Robert.

BTW: Admiral Byrd was also an enthusiast who collected old cars. One of these managed to find a place in my garage.

saludos,
Oliver
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Inconnu
12 Janvier 2012, 06:06
Admiral Richard E. Byrd
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Inconnu
12 Janvier 2012, 01:18
In the early 1940s, Admiral Byrd
visited Kingsport Tennessee. My parents took me to hear him speak.
I got his autograph and I still have it.
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