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Flapter

Page history last edited by Kevin McHale 5 years, 11 months ago

back to the Pulp Index

 

     A strange aircraft, capable of hovering, moving vertically, to the sides or even backwards, first seen being used by the Lotta gang. The fuselage is about 6 feet wide and 10 feet long; the long wings are 16' from root to tip, the short wings about 12'. With the long wings fully extended, the wingspan is 38 feet. The wings are made from an unknown translucent material, and can be folded up or back for storage; the fuselage is metal. With the wings folded, a flapter can fit into a space about 19' long, 7' wide and 7' high.

 

     The pilot and one other person stand on a platform at the rear of the flapter; safety belts are provided to keep them from falling off. 

 

     There is no landing gear -- the underside is flat enough to allow for landings directly on the belly. The flapter can float in water. No lights are fitted on the examples seen. The weight of a flapter is unknown. No weapons have been seen in use, but all of them have been fitted with quite-capable smoke dischargers.

 

     There is probably an internal combustion engine fitted into the forward fuselage -- it sounds like one, and there is a visible air intake on the front and vents on the sides; however, the flapter has been seen to hover with the engine shut down. Presumably, the engine and the wings are used only for propulsion and directional control; some unknown effect, rumored to be caused by strange crystals called "levistones", may provide anti-gravitational bouyancy. Either or both pairs of wings can be seen "flapping", or none if the flapter is hovering or gliding, being towed, etc.

 

     Performance:  flapters have been seen moving at speeds of about 100 miles per hour; given the open nature of the craft, the top speed cannot be much higher. Ceiling is unknown, but at least 5,000'. The forward and aft wings are of uneven sizes, and thus it is likely that reverse speed is less than forward speed. 

 

Comments (1)

Kevin McHale said

at 5:06 pm on May 2, 2018

We are going to presume they have installed a couple of fuel tanks at the rear of the platform, along with some 'cargo straps' and leather crew belts, and a 1930s automobile headlight as an aimable spotlight. Top speed will be 97 knots (111½ mph, 180 km/h) at 3000 feet. Less at the 'maximum altitude' of 10,000ft.

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