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It was intended to carry 600 well-heeled passengers across the Atlantic at a
stately 87 knots. Its amenities were steamship-like — staterooms, ballrooms, dining rooms, a main salon with a 35-foot ceiling — and arranged on several levels. For landing it had two gigantic pontoons because an airport of sufficient size was unimaginable. It was to be propelled by 20 1,900 hp engines disposed along an auxiliary wing above the main one, and would carry six spare engines to be swapped in if needed during a two-day trip from Chicago to London. Bel Geddes took the precaution of consulting with an airplane designer, one Otto Koller, who had reportedly worked for the old Pfalz Aircraft of World War I fame, to ensure that his dream could actually fly. A flying wing design of moderate sweep and aspect ratio, it was aerodynamically sound and quite good-looking in a Buck Rogers sort of way. Pfalz airplanes had always been well-streamlined, and the 4, like the Douglas DC-3 of which it was a contemporary, clearly took streamlining seriously. Whether it could have been equipped with all of the luxurious amenities envisioned for it, however, while remaining within the projected empty weight of 330 tons, is very doubtful. |
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