This short, silent film from the collection of Jeff Vilencia, shows some of the inventions that were developed by Franklin A. Dobson of Newport Beach, California. These included the Convertiplane, an experimental vertical take-off and landing aircraft, and the Aircar experimental hovercraft. The two are connected in that the one inspired the other. Dobson stated, ”My work (with ground effect vehicles) started as a by-product of a Vertical Take-Off design effort. I thought there should be some way to increase the ground effect of a helicopter by enclosing the rotor downwash, so I worked out the plenum chamber theory and later the annular jet. At the time, I wasn’t aware of work being done elsewhere, either in the United States or Great Britain. ‘To test my theory, I built a six-foot model with the help of a friend, using a homemade double rotor from an earlier VTOL experiment, plus a belt-drive from a chain saw engine. One whole weekend was devoted to the job, and the resulting vehicle, while hardly the ultimate in efficiency, checked the performance predictions quite closely.”
The film begins with shots of a model or miniature mock-up of the Convertiplane. This was a flying wing design that featured a rotor on a pinion which could rotate 90-degrees and thereby switch from a helicopter to airplane configuration. It’s unclear if this craft ever flew. FAA records indicate it was tail N89P, first registered in 1956.
At :51, a boy works in the Dobson machine shop / garage on the Convertiplane which is taking shape. At 1:31, another version of the model aircraft is shown with contra-rotating props. Dobson’s home is then shown, followed at 2:00 with shots of various molds and jigs used to create parts. At 2:20, the F.A. Dobson Co. building is shown (location unknown). Various shots follow of the larger versions under development. At 3:46, workers apply resin to the wing structure. At 5:17 the wing is painted and engine lowered for installation. At 5:50 plywood is used in construction of a primitive, remote control hovercraft which is shown operating at 6:30. (This is very likely the six-foot model Dobson mentioned, that used a chainsaw engine.) At 7:40, POV shots from aboard a Dobson Aircar hovercraft are shown. At 8:30 the Dobson Aircar is shown gliding over a lake. At 9:30, the Aircar is shown maneuvering out of a hangar and flying over an asphalt tarmac and then the beach. The Aircar footage likely dates to the early 1960s, when Dobson’s “Air Dart” design caught the attention of Popular Science magazine and became a brief sensation. Dobson went on to found a company called AIRCARS, Inc. and marketed kits and plans for the vehicle which were sold through magazine ads. According to Popular Science July 1963, the complete kit was going to sell for about $700, or one without an engine $500, and plans were going to be a mere $2. It’s unclear how many ended up being built, and none appear operational today. The vehicle used chromoly tubing covered with plastic fabric, with a plywood and aluminum cockpit and a two cycle, 10-15 hp engine. It cruised at about 4 inches off the ground and could apparently carry 300 lbs.
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This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com
