Cheap flights have revolutionised travel. A mere 15 years ago, we weren’t as well-connected as we are today, capable of affordably flying around the world at the drop of a hat or, rather, the click of a button. But what did the unlucky people before us do? We’re so spoiled by cheap flights, it’s sometimes hard to remember the sort of things our predecessors had to put up with. Here are a few reminders of outdated technology that we luckily no longer have to deal with.
1. Zeppelin
Contrary to popular belief, zeppelins weren’t made out of lead. They were actually filled with hydrogen, a wonderfully buoyant element that easily lifted the many loads of passengers that used them during the zeppelin heyday of the 1930s. Unfortunately hydrogen, being the simplest element, is also one of the most reactive gases you could possibly fill anything with.
A single spark would immediately ignite the whole dirigible, something health and safety standards these days could never allow. The Americans would smartly use non-reactive helium in theirs, but being a limited resource, the cost was too high to continue with the silly things at that time. They may be making a comeback…
Cool fact of the day: the spire of the Empire State Building was designed to be a mooring dock for zeppelins (not King Kong as most people assume).
2. Hovercraft
The hovercraft seems like a perfect idea in theory. It flies over water, without friction, thus creating a nippy and smooth ride. But the logistics and cost involved in building what is essentially a massive hair dryer with an insatiable thirst for fuel makes it not worth the time and effort.
You’ll be hard-pressed to find many hovercrafts outside of coastguard services and swamps, such as the ones in southern Florida.
3. Boneshaker
The precursors to modern bikes began to pop up in the early 19th century in Germany and France and were pretty much anything metal that had a seat and at least one wheel. Most common were “boneshakers”, so called because their stiff iron and wooden parts combined with a total lack of suspension made them an incredibly uncomfortable ride.
The most famous early velocipede, the penny-farthing, was created by Victorian hipsters in England who wanted to ride sitting high up so that everybody could look at them.
Unsurprisingly, modern hipsters are still trying to use them, but level-headed people have left their wobbly uselessness in the dust.
4. Horse and carriage
Getting pulled along by horse and carriage is seen as romantic and charming, and tourists still enjoy short stagecoach rides around Central Park in New York as well as the town square of Krakow in Poland. But they stopped using stagecoaches for real journeys because of the sheer number of highwaymen guaranteed to try and rob them.
Dick Turpin and his cronies profited far too much from travellers getting distracted by all the charm – that’s the real reason why humanity doesn’t bother with horse and carriage anymore other than for novelty.
5. Barge
Since around 400BC in China, canals have been one of the most significant forms of long-distance travel. Even after the train boom, transporting goods via the ingenius canal systems throughout the UK and Europe secured the success of the Industrial Revolution.
But do you know how slow these things are? Try going down the Regent’s Canal in London today – the joggers that run along the canal path are quicker.
6. Hot air balloon
Can you imagine going around the world in one of these things? Sure, they’re probably still the perfect form of travel for certain experiences, such as seeing the giant fields of temples in Bagan in Myanmar.
But trying to cover long distances a la Phileas Fogg is a bad idea – mainly because there’s nowhere in the basket to keep a fridge full of champagne and foie gras for the first-class travellers.
7. Short Mayo Composite
The what? The bizarre solution the Short Brothers had to the problem of their planes being incapable of flying long distances was to get one plane to carry another most of the journey. Thus the Short Mayo Composite was born and the fastest cross-Atlantic journey ever made at that point in history occurred in 1938 between Ireland and Canada – just 22 hours!
Whatever you think of that achievement, you can just tell this sort of lazy logic probably came about because they got bored of trying to design a better plane.
(Featured image: puuikibeach)
