University of Texas at Austin

Norman Bel Geddes (American, 1893-1958)
Rendering of Airliner No. 4
Ca. 1929-1932
Charcoal on paper
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Norman Bel Geddes Database

Job 328, Airliner No. 4, 1929-1934

Summary: In designing this tailless “V”-winged monoplane, Bel Geddes sought the expertise of Dr. O. A. Koller, an aeronautical engineer. The plane was to have had a wing span of 528 feet (23 feet shorter than the Washington Monument), carry 451 passengers and a crew of 155, and be supported on water by 60-foot high pontoons. It was projected to be able to make three transatlantic crossings a week and was fundamentally conceived of as a flying ocean liner.

Geddes's design of a flying wing was used in Horizons (job 237).


(click image for description)

Box/Location Folder Description
box 17 328.1 Correspondence, memos 1929-1932. Specification. Research Data.
flat box 6 328.1 2 Drawings mounted on board.
damaged flat files, drawer 4 328.1 6 Drawings of airliner.
box 17 328.2 Photograph captions, c1932. Sketch. Label. 4 Photostats of drawings.
flat file 328.1 2 Photographs of drawings.
flat file 328.2a-b 2 Renderings on board.
photo box 7 328.1-2 9 Photographs of model, rendering, drawings.
negative box 43 328.1 6 Negatives of model. [nitrate]
box 17 328.3 Clipping 1934.
oversize box 7 328.1 Clipping 1934.

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