Waterman Whatsit

Whatsit was a swept-wing tail-less, airplane designed by Waldo Waterman between 1911 (when he first got the idea) and 1932 (when the prototype was finally in testing phase).

It was intended to be an aircraft which could be landed on the street, and owned by regular people.

Initial designs of the plane were unstable, and it was shelved after some modification, until 1934, when its creator noticed that it met the design specifications of a government request for an inexpensive, "Model-T of the air" for the common man.

The plane was then rebuilt and named the Arrowplane, which became the prototype for the production-line Arrowbile.

The original Whatsit was eventually donated to a museum.

External links

* [http://www.nasm.si.edu/research/aero/aircraft/waterman_what.htm The Waterman Whatsit at the Smithsonian]