DID DISASTER DOOM ZEPPELINS?

The World War I defeat of Germany in 1918 halted the airship business temporarily. But under the guidance of Hugo Eckener, the deceased Count's successor, civilian zeppelins became popular in the 1920s. Their heyday was during the 1930s when the airships LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin and LZ 129 Hindenburg operated regular transatlantic flights from Germany to North America and Brazil. The Art Deco spire of the Empire State Building was originally if impractically designed to serve as a dirigible terminal for Zeppelins and other airships to dock.^[4] The Hindenburg disaster in 1937, along with political and economic issues, hastened the demise of the Zeppelin.

INDUSTRY AGAINST AVIATION INNOVATION: Arrow

"The Avro Canada CF-105 Arrow was a delta-winged interceptor aircraft, designed and built by Avro Aircraft Limited (Canada) in Malton, Ontario, Canada, as the culmination of a design study that began in 1953. Considered to be both an advanced technical and aerodynamic achievement for the Canadian aviation industry, the CF-105 held the promise of Mach 2 speeds at altitudes exceeding 50,000 ft (15,000 m), and was intended to serve as the Royal Canadian Air Force's primary interceptor in the 1960s and beyond.

Not long after the 1958 start of its flight test program, the development of the Arrow (including its Orenda Iroquois jet engines) was abruptly and controversially halted before the project review had taken place, sparking a long and bitter political debate.The controversy engendered by the cancellation and subsequent destruction of the aircraft in production, remains a topic for debate among historians, political observers and industry pundits. "This action effectively put Avro out of business and its highly skilled engineering and production personnel scattered... The incident was a traumatic one... and to this day, many mourn the loss of the Arrow."---Wikipedia

Note: To my knowledge there is no other aircraft in the 1950s that has this wing configuration.

"Build a better mouse trap, and the world will beat a path to your door"
                                                             

MASCOTS IN THE NEWS: Suzie Pancake Flattened

Bellingham, Wash. 8/3/10:  IHOP's mascot Suzie Pancake was assaulted by a bystander at about 3 p.m. Tuesday outside of a Bellingham, Wash., restaurant, police say. A 19-year old woman dressed in her pancake suit was outside the IHOP, waving at Passers-by when 22-year old James Manas approached her and began yelling at her and hitting the suit with his hand, Bellingham Police spokesman Mark Young said. A passer-by stopped Manas as he tried to hit her again; Manas then walked to a nearby bus stop, said Young. The woman went inside the restaurant, where the manager called Bellingham police, Young said. Officers found Manas at New Peking restaurant. Manas was cited for disorderly conduct, Young said. Manas told police he had only been joking and that he did not hit the pancake., Young said. The woman was not injured, but was sent home from work early due to distress, Young said.