Triple-hull flying boat

[Tophe]

Classifying archives sent by my penfriend Max, I found a weird "tripod flying boat" designed by Glenn Curtiss. See
http://www.google.com/patents?id=hp1nAAAAEBAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=patent:1358527
Surprising: triple-hull triplane flying-wing flying-boat, wow! The skies would have been less boring if such machines had become the favorite of airlines.
(1916-1920 patent)

 

[Stargazer]

Tophe, you've made my day! The huge Curtiss buff in me can only thrill and marvel at the sight of such an original design associated with that great (and in fact largely unknown) inventor and entrepreneur. This one's for all those who might think Curtiss was a conservative designer... ;D

 

[Johnbr]

That is a great find thanks.

 

[hesham]

Very nice my dear Tophe,


thank you very much.

 

[taildragger]

Doesn't seem like a great idea structurally. When on the water in any but the calmest seas, two hulls would be floating and one hanging. Wave action would continuously shift the loads between the hulls, flexing the airframe till it wore out.

 

[SAustin16]

A very beautiful flying machine. Would have been nice to see it fly overhead. Stall characteristics might have been interesting.