The US Military spent the 1950s developing “Flying Platforms”
Posted: Mon Apr 18, 2022 2:18 pm
Long before Marty McFly tore up Courthouse Square on a Mattel hoverboard, the US military-industrial complex worked secretly to develop their own flying platform technology. The VZ-1 Pawnee was eventually born, and it was a bizarre.
The development of flying platforms began in the 1940s with Charles Zimmerman. An aeronautical engineer, Zimmerman dreamt of providing low-cost flight to everyone. Creatively working to make flight accessible, Zimmerman developed a vertical take-off apparatus called “Flying Shoes,”–a platform with two small engines. The engines were connected to a pair of upwards-facing propellers that the pilot strapped to their feet. The pilot could control the “Flying Shoes” by simply shifting their weight in the direction they wished to move–a form of movement referred to as “kinesthetic control” (much like a bike or surfboard).
https://thedebrief.org/the-us-military- ... -1_pawnee/
The development of flying platforms began in the 1940s with Charles Zimmerman. An aeronautical engineer, Zimmerman dreamt of providing low-cost flight to everyone. Creatively working to make flight accessible, Zimmerman developed a vertical take-off apparatus called “Flying Shoes,”–a platform with two small engines. The engines were connected to a pair of upwards-facing propellers that the pilot strapped to their feet. The pilot could control the “Flying Shoes” by simply shifting their weight in the direction they wished to move–a form of movement referred to as “kinesthetic control” (much like a bike or surfboard).
https://thedebrief.org/the-us-military- ... -1_pawnee/