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Plans for Flying Confederate War Machine Discovered in Rare Bookshop

Old plans for a confederate flying machine have arisen . . . from a rare bookshop. These plans detail a war machine that flew above Civil War battlefields. If brought to fruition during the time plans were drafted, it would have beat the Wright brothers to the punch by about 40 years.

Plans for a Confederate Flying Machine Found, Will be Auctioned

Confederate plans for flying warcraft now up for auction. (Photo: RR Auction)

Confederate designer — and dentist — R. Finley Hunt’s plans and papers detailed machines that would bomb opposing troops during the Civil War. Innovation New Daily (via Live Science) has more:

But hunt found it difficult to find an engineer willing to build the device, despite getting the help of Confederate president Jefferson Davis to have the proposal considered. Letters between Hunt and a Confederate review board show that other engineers had strong doubts about the “steam flying machine.” First, the engineers said Hunt had dramatically overestimated the engine’s power and ability to keep the machine flying. They also described another error in Hunt’s reasoning as being “so obvious on reflection that no discussion is required.“ ”When they turned him down, it was over the science of it,” Bobby Livingston, vice president of sales and marketing with RR Auction, told InnovationNewsDaily. “But they considered it, and considered it a lot.”

This didn’t stop him. As the papers show, he even pitches the idea to the then Confederate president Jefferson Davis. After the Civil War, Innovation News Daily reports that Hunt got a patent for his designs and created a couple working models. Although none of them got off the ground:

“It looks to me like he’s 40 years before the Wright brothers with a rotary engine driving propellers, but I don’t know how close he was,” Livingston said. “He never got the money to do it.”

The papers will go up for auction Sept. 15 through 22 at the Space and Aviation Artifacts auction.

Comments (63)

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  • TheGreyPiper
    Posted on September 15, 2011 at 12:50am

    Agree with meanjeep; the weight/power limitations of a steam engine would be prohibitive. There’s a reason powered flight had to wait until the advent of the internal combustion engine.

    /That thing could no more have flown than a European swallow trying to carry a coconut.

    Report Post » TheGreyPiper  
  • banjarmon
    Posted on September 15, 2011 at 12:33am

    Rare Bookshop
    A thing of the future!!!

    Report Post » banjarmon  
    • GUT_CHECK
      Posted on September 15, 2011 at 7:59pm

      that and a dollar, will get you a dollar

      Report Post »  
    • tharpdevenport
      Posted on September 15, 2011 at 8:29pm

      Actually, according to xe.com, a dollar will get you 0.72 in Europe. I don’t even think you can get anything for a dollar in Dollar General anymore.

      Somebody like “Mythbusters” should build this — see if it works. Heck, Beck should try it, it would make a fascinating special on GBTV.

      Report Post » tharpdevenport  
    • jb.kibs
      Posted on September 16, 2011 at 12:52am

      where does one find a rare bookshop? :P

      Report Post »  
    • tharpdevenport
      Posted on September 16, 2011 at 1:38pm

      That would be telling.

      Report Post » tharpdevenport  
  • meanjeep
    Posted on September 14, 2011 at 11:49pm

    The obvious answer is the thing would never have flown steam powered carrying itself, a pilot, it’s own fuel and a payload of ammo given the power plant materials technology of the era. Certainly visionary and facinating relic that would be a treasure if reproduced and made available for aviation history buffs to ponder the viable portions of the work. Rarely if ever does perfection begin with the first prototype.

    Report Post »  
  • flagbearer
    Posted on September 14, 2011 at 11:30pm

    It’s a good story line. I can’t wait to see the movie.

    Report Post »  
  • thegodfather
    Posted on September 14, 2011 at 11:28pm

    I hear you bro….I had plans for the I Pad years ago

    Report Post » thegodfather  
  • anotherGlen
    Posted on September 14, 2011 at 11:13pm

    Well, you know how smart them scientists are, when they say the argument is over, it is over. There is no way anyone could ever build a flying machine. Same today with global warming, or cooling, or climate change, or whatever. And Al Gore invented the airplane too!

    Report Post » anotherGlen  
    • Armed Patriot
      Posted on September 16, 2011 at 7:17am

      The Earth has a temperature. If you go down a couple of miles, its millions and millions of degrees.

      Report Post » Armed Patriot  
  • Donald727
    Posted on September 14, 2011 at 11:12pm

    All through history there have been “Flying Machine” proposals. This is just another one.

    Report Post » Donald727  
    • GhostOfJefferson
      Posted on September 15, 2011 at 7:22am

      I suspect this one is a bit different in that it suggests a plausible power supply (untested of course at the time) to provide powered flight. Most “flying machine” proposals in the past involved balloons, gliders, or human powered silliness (or rockets).

      Report Post » GhostOfJefferson  
    • Shotgun167
      Posted on September 16, 2011 at 12:58am

      The Wright brother were successful for one reason…aluminum.

      It was still a pricy, and rare commodity during their time. A steel or cast-iron boiler or engine would simply be to heavy for any primitive airfoil (or even for most of our more advanced airfoils).

      You are correct. There have been designs throughout the ages. But none could be viable until the right conditions were set in place. The key condition for powered flight just happened to be aluminum.

      Report Post »  
  • wisehiney
    Posted on September 14, 2011 at 10:59pm

    Hot dam Cap’n! Lemme fly that thang! Ahl bomb their arse to molasses!

    Report Post »  
  • searching for the Truth
    Posted on September 14, 2011 at 10:27pm

    Well, Da Vinci had em all beat.

    Report Post »  
  • BowHuntingTexas
    Posted on September 14, 2011 at 10:06pm

    ”
    Innovation New Daily (via Live Science) has more:

    But hunt
    ”

    Sheez. But hunt what and with what?

    Report Post » BowHuntingTexas  
  • HuckleberryFriend
    Posted on September 14, 2011 at 9:47pm

    I smell a new episode of Mythbusters brewing.

    Report Post » HuckleberryFriend  
    • wordweaver
      Posted on September 15, 2011 at 12:16am

      My thinking exactly. They won’t be able to resist doing this one. I predict: BUSTED!

      Report Post » wordweaver  
  • zoro51
    Posted on September 14, 2011 at 9:45pm

    TSA would have made u strip nude just to get on board if it ever made it..

    Report Post » zoro51  
  • JimmyP
    Posted on September 14, 2011 at 9:36pm

    It was a green machine!

    Report Post » JimmyP  
  • booger71
    Posted on September 14, 2011 at 9:34pm

    Lincoln was not a fan of States rights.

    Report Post » booger71  
    • mauijonny
      Posted on September 14, 2011 at 10:35pm

      Davis was not a fan of the Declaration of Independence – freedom is good, but we need boundaries, hence the Bill of Rights and the Constitution, then the Emacipation Proclamation. Sheesh.

      Report Post » mauijonny  
  • Rayblue
    Posted on September 14, 2011 at 9:33pm

    The South almost rose before it rose again.

    Report Post » Rayblue  
  • Veritas
    Posted on September 14, 2011 at 9:30pm

    As someone who is interested in history and in no way being a real historian, I am always fascinated by things like this, that if they had come to fruition would have changed our history in ways we could never fathom. If this could have been done by the South, it would have probably changed the outcome of the war. Imagine if the USA had been able to build the atom bomb in the first few months of WWII or if JFK was never killed or ……. The answers are of course are just things of fantasy and fiction novels.

    Report Post » Veritas  
    • teddrunk
      Posted on September 15, 2011 at 7:35am

      If JFK had lived the list of Hollywood starlets the CIA would of had to kill by “suicide” would of been much higher.

      Report Post »  
  • ChristDiedForU
    Posted on September 14, 2011 at 9:29pm

    So, the “Wild, Wild, Wild West” was for real?!

    Report Post »  
  • Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
    Posted on September 14, 2011 at 9:24pm

    Interesting indeed, I wonder if it could have actually worked…maybe the mythbusters could make it happen, or attempt to.

    Report Post » Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}  
  • 1casawizard
    Posted on September 14, 2011 at 9:20pm

    That was a good pipe dream. To get something flying with ordinance to drop would still be a few years away even with no design problems.

    Report Post » 1casawizard  
  • In The Right
    Posted on September 14, 2011 at 9:18pm

    If only Hunt had succeeded the CSA could have retaliated against the tyrannical Lincoln by bombing The White House and demanding capitulation.

    Report Post »  
  • German Dude
    Posted on September 14, 2011 at 9:17pm

    And why is this new?

    Report Post » German Dude  
    • Trestin Meacham
      Posted on September 14, 2011 at 9:45pm

      Because it redefines the history of aviation, and 19th Century technology.

      Report Post »  
    • Shotgun167
      Posted on September 16, 2011 at 1:03am

      It doesn’t redefine anything. The contraption would never have gotten off the ground. The physics of powered lift are easy to understand, and the materials and machining techniques needed to build a viable flying machine DID NOT EXIST at that time in history. This was not the only “design” for a flying machine that was touted throughout history, but none of the others could possibly work either.

      Report Post »  
  • Marengo Ohio Patriot
    Posted on September 14, 2011 at 9:16pm

    Damn Yankees

    Report Post »  
    • ScottIvlow
      Posted on September 14, 2011 at 9:25pm

      I can see Glenn Beck next project by the plans from the auction build the aircraft just to see if this engineer got it right. Using a steam engine however isn’t such a good idea for an aircraft though. Or just use it for props in his new studio.

      Report Post »  
  • RootsOfTruth
    Posted on September 14, 2011 at 9:16pm

    He was trying to get it going before Obama tries to shut down avaition plants

    Report Post » RootsOfTruth  
  • shirelover
    Posted on September 14, 2011 at 9:16pm

    that would be incredible if someone would/could build a working model, “Hello, History Channel?”

    Report Post » shirelover  
    • ScottIvlow
      Posted on September 14, 2011 at 9:27pm

      I just post above GB’s next project. Forget the theme park idea this will be it.

      Report Post »  
  • Azreal
    Posted on September 14, 2011 at 9:13pm

    I hope this goes into a Confederate Museum, and not just into some private citizen’s library.

    Report Post » Azreal  
    • ScottIvlow
      Posted on September 14, 2011 at 9:29pm

      Or in any Cival War museum.

      Report Post »  
    • Trestin Meacham
      Posted on September 14, 2011 at 9:47pm

      I’m pretty sure the Chinese will end up owning this.

      Report Post »  
    • HD Veteran
      Posted on September 14, 2011 at 11:26pm

      Trestin Meacham
      Posted on September 14, 2011 at 9:47pm

      I’m pretty sure the Chinese will end up owning this.

      LOFL

      Report Post » HD Veteran  
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