The propeller component of this assembly was manufactured by Ole Flottorp in Chicago, Illinois for James B. Lund and R.D. Dwight, also of Chicago, who designed and constructed a mammoth tandem quadruplane that was eighteen feet (5.5 m) tall, thirty-three feet (10 m) long, and weighed 1,700 pounds (772 kg) during the summer of 1911.
For thrust, they created the twelve-foot- (3.7 m) diameter variable-pitch propeller that featured separate drive and control mechanisms and blades consisting of steel tubes joined to wood tips. Lund and Dwight blamed the small fifty-horsepower (37 kw) motor for being unable to get the giant aircraft, nicknamed the “Flying Bridge,” off the ground at the Aero Club of Illinois’ Cicero Field during the spring and summer of 1912. Unable to gain continued funding, Lund and Dwight abandoned their project soon after.
This object is not on display at the National Air and Space Museum. It is either on loan or in storage.
ca. 1922
United States of America
PROPULSION-Propellers & Impellers
Flottorp Manufacturing Co.
Lund-Dwight
Rotor/Propeller: 379.7 x 41.9 x 33 x 14 x 2.5 x 5.1 cm (12 ft 5 1/2 in. x 16 1/2 in. x 13 in. x 5 1/2 in. x 1 in. x 2 in.)
Steel, Laminated wood, Original Varnish, Aluminum alloy
A19320025000
Gift of Messrs. James B. Lund and Royal D. Dwight
National Air and Space Museum
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