| | Thumbnail | | Creator | Date | Title / Author / Date / Location | Price | | | Description |
| 5297 |  | Details | Armstrong, Edward Robert | 1927 |
| Armstrong Seadrome map Floating airstrips Atlantic repeater station |
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Armstrong, Edward Robert |
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| 1927 |
| LOC:1405 |
| $750.00 | Armstrong--Edward-Robert | Armstrong-Seadrome-map-Floating-airstrips-Atlantic-repeater-station | Very rare cyanotype (blueprint) engineering diagrams from 1927 and a Seadrome route map related to Edward Robert Armstrong's Seadrome System, a proposed system of floating airports. Armstrong's Seadrome was the first major concept for a stable floating structure at sea. Its design influenced the later development of the semi-submersible drilling rig. [1]. Armstrong's Seadrome Map (center of sheet) shows locations of repeater structures and airports planned to be anchored in the Atlantic Ocean. Only available original map of the Seadrome concept signed by Armstrong.
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In the late 1920's aircraft did not have the capacity to carry passengers non-stop across the Atlantic. Armstrong's Seadrome System was designed to anchor huge landing fields in the Atlantic Ocean at 375 mile intervals, enabling short-range aircraft to hop across the Atlantic.
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Signed at bottom right corner "E.R. Armstrong 5/16/27."
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This diagram shows Armstrong's Seadrome semi-submersible concept, modified and adapted for use as a repeater station for trans-Atlantic cable traffic. The repeater stations were conceived in order to increase the bandwidth of cables across the Atlantic, which in the late 1920's was limited to a single telephone conversation. Through the use of Armstrong's semi-submersible repeater stations and two cables Bell Telephone engineers calculated that eight circuits across the Atlantic Ocean might be achievable. In the end, the floating repeater station idea was scrapped as it was believed impractical. [2]
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[1] Pease, F. T. The Armstrong Seadrome: World's First Semi-Submersible Design ??? The Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers. 13th Offshore Symposium, 24 February, Houston, Texas. January 21, 2004.
[2] Jacobs, O.B. Bell Laboratories Record. Vol XXXV. Number 6. June 1957. p. 207.
[3] https://sites.google.com/site/richardarthurnorton/edwardr.armstrong |