7/11/2006: Unique planeboat

[Undertoad]

xoxoxoBruce sends along this series of the "Cosmic Muffin", a boat located in Ft. Lauderdale.



xoB explains, it was built from the fuselage of Pan Am's, 1940, 'Clipper Rainbow', N19902, one of their 3 Boeing 307 Stratoliners.



The 307 Stratoliner was the world's first commercial transport aircraft with a pressurized cabin, says the Wikipedia entry.



Doesn't look like there's much pressure in this cabin. Would you guess that 66 years after it was built, someone would be using it like this? I suppose it must be highly sea-worthy if it was originally air-worthy...







I want one! But I'll fit the original captain's chairs with something more comfy, thanks very much. The retro look with the metal armrest is standard pilot issue, I know, but this boat isn't built for that. It needs a drink holder at the very least.

[Trilby]

'Cosmic Muffin' would be a good name for a rock band.

[Ibby]

It probably already is a hair metal band, or maybe arena rock... "NOW, PUT YOUR HANDS TOGETHER FOR... BOSTON AND COSMIC MUFFIN!"

Mmm, I want one too. 'S long as I can stay in shallow water. I'm not such a big fan of the deep stuff. To me, being five miles up on top of the water is no different than being five miles up in the air. It's still a damn long way down.

[Nothing But Net]

This looks like something built for a James Bond movie but never used.

Would make a great pick-up line:
"Care to join me for a 7&7 in my 70-foot 707, 7-seaworthy 24/7"

[Emrikol]

I like the Cap'N'Crunch hat!

[fargon]

What powers the beast?

[ferkelparade]

I'd also much prefer to stay in shallow waters with the thing. At that height/width-ratio, it's probably not really seaworthy (although probably not much worse than any other motorboat about that size - smallish motorboats are not the place to have fun in heavy weather, as opposed to smallish sailboats which have the capability to stabilize themselves to some degree when the sea gets rough). Make that thing a submarine, and I'm all set to buy one. Umm...if somebody donates me the cash, that is.

[Pie]

Okay, I just googled "submarine made out of airplane fuselage" and somehow came across this:

LOT-EK has just proposed reusing more than two hundred discarded fuselages from Boeing 727 and 737 airplanes as the major structural components for a new library in Guadalajara.
"The fuselage is the only part of a decommissioned airplane that cannot be effectively recycled," we read. "The cost of its demolition exceeds the profit of aluminum resale. A huge amount of fuselages lay in the deserts of the western states. Boeing 727 and 737 are historically the most sold commercial planes and therefore the most common in these graveyards. They are sold at very low prices completely stripped and in great structural conditions."

Wild! More pics:

[milkfish]

Originally Posted by ferkelparade

At that height/width-ratio, it's probably not really seaworthy

Doesn't one need to know what's going on under the waterline to know that? It could have a bitching combo nose-gear/keel/cargo hold under there.

Not that I know anything about watercraft design personally.

[ferkelparade]

Wow, neat library!

Re Milkfish: of course, we'd need to know what goes on below the waterline to know for sure - however, in the first two photos, it looks very much like a standard water taxi-type hull with the aircraft fuselage stuck on, and those hulls generally extend only a couple of feet under the waterline. From the interior shots, it looks like it's used for short-distance excursions (round trips of the harbor and the like), and it would make sense to use a hull that's adapted for that need.

[Bitman]

Originally Posted by Undertoad

I suppose it must be highly sea-worthy if it was originally air-worthy...

Fry: How many atmospheres can the ship withstand?
Prof. Farnsworth: Well, it's a spaceship, so I'd say anywhere between zero and one.

[bbro]

That is really cool, but I would rather have some sort of deck where you could go outside. Maybe hollow out the back or something. That makes me feel a little claustrophobic!

[dar512]

Why bother to go out onto the water, if you've only got those little windows?

[capnhowdy]

I never knew Ft. Lauderdale was the yachting capitol of the world.

[xoxoxoBruce]

I got some bad information. According to the Boeing history site and this site, the boat was not built from one of the 3 Pan Am Clippers. It was built from the 307B that Howard Hughes bought and refused to surrender for the war effort.