Escape in an Inflatable Airplane? The Goodyear Inflatoplane

Get an entire year of both CuriosityStream and Nebula for just $ here: Support Mustard on Patreon: Mustard Store: Website: Twitter: Maybe it wasn’t as bad of an idea as you might think. In 1956, Goodyear combined their expertise in building inflatable airships and rubber tires, to develop an inflatable airplane. A plane small and light enough to pack up inside the family station wagon, that could be fully inflated and ready for flight in just five minutes. Earlier attempts at building inflatable aircraft had failed because inflated rubber was a poor material choice for aircraft, resulting in planes that were too slow, wobbly and structurally unstable to be of practical use. But Goodyear’s newly developed material called Airmat promised increased rigidity when inflated, while still being li