... and the second:
The Strange Mechanism Museum - "This page recommends Experimental projects, Prototypes, Paper plans ,Canceled projects, and many interesting mechanisms."
-- MUCH serious weirdness here (the US AAAV-7 experimental laser vehicle platform; an Australian Navy catamaran; an XB-70 prototype that looks like it came from the old TV puppet show "Thunderbirds"; etc) , yet I was only able to ID one practical joke (an SU-25 crossed with a T-34/85
)*
Seriously, many intriguing historical oddities; well worth checking out.
-Oz
* ... But, perversely intrigued, I found the real-life basis for the joke --
"An original idea came from A. N. Tupolev Bureau: a T-60 light tank was fitted with wings and control surfaces, so that body of the tank was a backbone of the resulting glider.Amazingly, this project advanced beyond paper and was flown in 1940. "
http://aeroweb.lucia.it/~agretch/RAFAQ/KT-40.html
Go figure.
... And, of course, a photograph for the skeptics in the next post (the "edit" function evidently doesn't allow for adding attachments) -- you know who you are ...