On Giantism

I’ve been looking for these photos (or something like them) for years now

This one’s from the 30s – so it’s not quite what I’m after… but there was a phase in aircraft design when the scalability was pushed to the point of collapse… these huge machines with dozens of propeller engines… then Jet engines were invented, and the terrain changed completely… leaving dinosaurs stillborn.

Some were made I think,

But these picture are mainly renders,

made even cooler with massive guns and Nazi UFOs

(from : via)

But I think it’s a nice example of a certain point in an evolutionary life-cycle… where something becomes so bloated with its own success that it becomes a bit of a sitting duck to something more maneuverable (and cheaper)