- TWA Moonliner
The TWA Moonliner was a futuristic exhibit at
Tomorrowland atDisneyland in the 1950s that markedTWA product placement byHoward Hughes .At 80 feet tall it was the tallest structure in the park -- eight feet taller than the
Sleeping Beauty Castle . Adjoining the rocket was the "Rocket to the Moon" exhibit/show.It was designed by
John Hench , one of the original DisneyImagineers , with the help of rocket scientistWernher von Braun , and resembled aV-2 rocket depicting what travel would be like in 1986.Its "retractable" legs were said to resemble TWA's famedLockheed Super Constellation . It featured port holes, a cockpit, and a boarding ramp. The Moonliner was to be powered by atomic power.After Hughes left TWA the airline pulled the sponsorship of the Moonliner and it became the Douglas Moonliner named after new sponsor
Douglas Aircraft Company .The moonliner stayed at the park until 1967. A scaled down version with the familiar TWA red stripes but without the TWA logo was added as part of the new
1998 version of Tomorrowland and is used to promoteCoca-Cola "Delivering refreshment to a thirsty galaxy." It sits next to the building that used to house Rocket to the Moon, now Redd Rockett's Pizza Port.A 32-foot version of the Moonliner, known as the TWA Moonliner II, was placed on top of the
TWA Corporate Headquarters' Building inKansas City, Missouri .External links
* [http://www.lunar.org/docs/LUNARclips/v4/v4n5/Moonliner.html Lunar.org history]
* [http://www.davidszondy.com/future/Living/spaceholiday.htm Space holidays]
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