An awful lot of work to make something totally stupid. Having the single wheel at the front is a recipe for instability. If you want anything that handles even vaguely well you want the single wheel at the rear. Then again the Citation never handled with four wheels so it's probably no great loss.
@MarshlandSayyadina, scuse me but the grandaddy of the plane in the film would be the Taylor A-2 Chummy from 1928. The first Cub came a couple of years later. The Fieseler first flew in 1936, the Cub flew six years earlier.
The Taylor Cub was followed by the Taylor J-2 Cub which first flew in 1935 (a year before the Fi156 Storch) and the Piper J-3 Cub which made it into the air in 1938. After a Hiatus caused by WWII the Super Cub was introduced in 1949.
So, in short, the Fieseler Storch grandaddy of the bush planes used in Alaska today? Hardly.
@whitcwa, and why would he do that. If you're attempting a short take off then you will always do it into the wind. Only a complete idiot would even think about, let alone discuss or attempt a short takeoff downwind.
@psulli. Go on then, WTF are you talking about. Why 2000 years? What makes you think the universe has "held this design in its clutches for 2000 years"?
Commenters should search the Telegraph archive for "health and safety". This is a standard Torygraph moan. They can't tell the difference between companies covering their own arses for fear of litigation and health and safety regulations.
There is nothing in health and safety law to suggest that dodgems should not bump. This is one company, just one company, who probably have an over sensitive legal department. The "no bumping" signs can be found on most dodgems and have been there for as long as I can remember. That is all that is needed to protect a company. Call them dodgems, install a prominent no bumping sign and anybody who attempts to sue would be unlikely to succeed.
All well and good (if you happen to have a mobility scooter with a long enough range to need it) but i suspect it would not comply with the construction and use regulations.
The Taylor Cub was followed by the Taylor J-2 Cub which first flew in 1935 (a year before the Fi156 Storch) and the Piper J-3 Cub which made it into the air in 1938. After a Hiatus caused by WWII the Super Cub was introduced in 1949.
So, in short, the Fieseler Storch grandaddy of the bush planes used in Alaska today? Hardly.
There is nothing in health and safety law to suggest that dodgems should not bump. This is one company, just one company, who probably have an over sensitive legal department. The "no bumping" signs can be found on most dodgems and have been there for as long as I can remember. That is all that is needed to protect a company. Call them dodgems, install a prominent no bumping sign and anybody who attempts to sue would be unlikely to succeed.